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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

BTK Killer in Court; Jackson Trial Update; Abu Ghraib Scandal Revisited

Aired May 03, 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, everyone. The alleged BTK killer in court tonight. The clues that were left behind. 360 starts now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): The alleged BTK killer pleads not guilty to 10 counts of murder. Tonight, we take you beyond the headlines, retracing a killer's steps and revisiting the homes where BTK committed his heinous crimes.

The prosecution wraps up its case against Michael Jackson, but did they prove the pop star is a predator?

A brain-damaged firefighter hurt in the line of duty suddenly speaks after 10 years of silence. How could it happen? 360 MD Sanjay Gupta on a hero firefighter's remarkable recovery.

What really happened inside those prison walls? Find out tonight. A 360 exclusive. The first American soldier punished for Abu Ghraib abuse. He's out of jail and ready to talk.

And the runaway bride's future father-in-law says she is welcome back, but do her friends feel the same way? Tonight, find out what they say about her state of mind and what might have led to her pre- marriage meltdown.

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

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: And good evening again. We begin tonight with an infamous serial killer and the man suspected of being him. Tonight, the accused BTK killer -- stands for bind, torture and kill -- was arraigned in a Wichita courtroom. Dressed in a dark suit -- you see him there -- Dennis Rader could easily have passed as one of his own defense attorneys. The former church leader charged with 10 counts of murder. He remained silent while the judge entered a not guilty plea for him.

Now, we don't know if Rader is the BTK killer. A jury will make that decision. We do know, however, that someone was the BTK killer. And for 30 years, that someone turned the city into his sick, twisted playground. He liked games, sending police and TV stations puzzles and codes and crosswords to decipher. Hidden in those messages, clues to the crimes and to the killer's real identity. Clues that will play a role in Dennis Rader's upcoming trial, clues that we are still trying to understand tonight. CNN's David Mattingly reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At first look, it appears to be a nonsensical mess of 323 letters and 14 numbers. But look closer, and you'll see why some now believe this is a BTK code, possibly revealing his tactics and maybe even his identity.

(on camera): When you started looking at this, how did you find all this information out here?

GLEN HORN, KAKE NEWS DIRECTOR: Basically, everyone in the newsroom started looking at it as a puzzle too. And you know, it's like a crossword or like one of the word games. And you just started looking for words.

What is absolutely amazing in this, though, is unlike any other crossword or any other word game where you are looking for words, as you start to see these words, the reactions of people here in the newsroom is oh, my God.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He talked about the relationship (INAUDIBLE).

MATTINGLY (voice-over): The code was delivered to Wichita station KAKE almost a year ago, withheld from the public until now. It seems to spell out a three-part chapter, a how-to guide for BTK.

HORN: After the suspect had been apprehended and they had somebody in custody, we felt like the benchmark for what we could and could not release was certainly lowered.

MATTINGLY: The first section seems to describe how the killer stalks a victim. Some words are easy to find. Prowl, spot victim, follow, fantasies, steam builds, and go for it. Another section suggests possible disguises. Realtor, insurance, serviceman, fake ID, and handyman.

HORN: Probably the -- what he pretended to be to perhaps gain entry into some of these homes. Interesting enough, maybe he's filling out his story right here in this word puzzle.

There's part of his address on there. We've seen Dennis Rader, D. Rader.

MATTINGLY: Overnight, it has become the hottest word puzzle in Wichita. Viewers of the KAKE Web site contact the station with their own surprising findings in the BTK code.

(on camera): And what are you finding here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a strange reference to the number 2043, which is this writer says also is a reference to a chemical term, which notice the initials are BTK. MATTINGLY (voice-over): But the most surprising finding of all may be in a small set of numbers, 622 and zero. Slightly out of sequence, but identical to the house number of BTK suspect Dennis Rader.

TIMOTHY RODGERS, ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR, "THE WICHITA EAGLE": Would you have seen it before Mr. Rader was arrested? Probably not. Now that it's there, hey, someone should have seen it, you know, so...

MATTINGLY (on camera): Are we possibly reading more into this than we need to?

RODGERS: I think you could be, or it could have been his way of trying to provide the clues, and saying, hey, it was all there in front of your face, you just didn't see it.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): Also a recipient of numerous BTK communications over the years, "The Wichita Eagle" newspaper reports finding 130 words, numbers and phrases in the code. But many seem to have no connection to the case, or do they?

What is clear to those who have poured over these cryptic communications is that the killer seemed to enjoy playing games.

RODGERS: Maybe that situation was like, I handed you what I was doing or how you could find me. You just weren't smart enough to put it together.

MATTINGLY (on camera): But there is the popular theory among those close to the investigation that the killer wanted to be caught, and that these cryptic messages were his way of telling police how to do it.

David Mattingly, CNN, Wichita, Kansas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, the games may be over, but the memories are most certainly not -- not for the people of Wichita and not for the families who live in the homes where the BTK killer came calling. CNN's Jonathan Freed takes us "Beyond the Headlines."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When word went around Wichita that police arrested a suspect in the BTK serial killings, aside from the victims families and investigators, no one was more relieved than the people now living at the city's most infamous addresses. 1311 South Hydraulic, where Shirley Vian was murdered on March 17th, 1977. Diane Boyle calls it home today.

DIANE BOYLE, OWNS HOME TARGETED BY BTK: So everything we have got in here is kind of a mess. But this is the room where it happened.

FREED: What happened was Shirley Vian's 5-year-old son answered the door that March day and let in a stranger. Police say it was BTK, who locked all the children in the bathroom and then tied up and strangled Vian.

(on camera): Do you feel anything from the room or when you're in the room, or is it just ancient history?

BOYLE: No, I feel it's kind of a cold room to me as far as compared to the rest of my house.

FREED (voice-over): Boyle says she didn't know three years ago that she was buying a house with a dark history. A neighbor told her, after she'd moved in.

BOYLE: And I realize there was a killing, a BTK killing in the neighborhood. And I figured it was down the street or up the street. And she looked at me and she says, oh Diane, she says, it's your house.

FREED (on camera): What did you think?

BOYLE: I was in shock.

FREED: Did it change the way you felt about the house?

BOYLE: I love the house, but it's -- it had that eerie feeling.

FREED (voice-over): And from that point on, Boyle couldn't help worrying the killer would return one day.

BOYLE: He knows the layout of the house. He knows where the house is at. He might show up.

FREED: While BTK never came back, Boyle still had plenty of uninvited visitors.

BOYLE: There isn't anything like sitting on the front porch and finding somebody coming down the street, and they come to a complete stop and they're pointing at you.

FREED: These days, the curious are also driving by other BTK crime scenes.

(on camera): Some of the murders happened in this room.

GREG LIETZ, OWNS HOME TARGETED BY BTK: Yeah, the two people were in there.

FREED (voice-over): Greg Lietz lives at 803 North Edgemoor, where Joseph Otero, his wife Julie and two of their children were killed on January 15th, 1974. They are BTK's first known victims, strangled in a main floor bedroom and in the basement.

Lietz shows us where the killer cut the phone line before going inside, his sinister trademark.

LIETZ: See where the electric meter is? About that height... FREED: Lietz is determined to stay positive, despite his home's violent past.

LIETZ: A home, like I say, is heaven if you make it. It's not what happened there before; it's what happening there now.

FREED: Both Lietz and Boyle are encouraged by the arrest of Dennis Rader, but say the prosecution still has to make the case stick.

BOYLE: I feel a little bit better that they have somebody, but I'm still not going to let my guard down by keeping my doors unlocked.

FREED: She is anxious for the community to move on.

Jonathan Freed, CNN, Wichita, Kansas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, 360 next -- the case against Michael Jackson. Now, the prosecution is about to rest. Probably going to happen tomorrow. Question is, have they proved their case? A lot of surprises from witnesses. We'll see where the case now stands.

Also tonight, imagine your loved one is brain-damaged, unable to speak for 10 years, then suddenly starts talking. It happened to a family of this man, a firefighter hurt on the job, 10 years of silence broken. Our 360 MD Sanjay Gupta reports.

Also ahead tonight, rescued dolphins returned to the big blue. Dozens of them were on the brink of death after a massive stranding off the Florida coast. Tonight, the rescue effort that saved their lives. All that ahead. First, let's look at your picks, the most popular stories right now on CNN.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Oh, yes: the entourage, the umbrella, the tinted SUV, even the arm band -- it's all about image for Michael Jackson these days. According to a forensic accountant to testified today for the prosecution, that image is masking a serious money problem. The witness said Jackson is facing hundreds of millions of dollars of debt and what he called a looming financial crisis.

Now D.A. Tom Sneddon is expected to rest his case tomorrow, then the defense, of course, will call their witnesses. But the truth of the matter is that several witnesses for the prosecution have already helped the defense start to make their case.

CNN's Rusty Dornin reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Promises, promises. District Attorney Thomas Sneddon made some hefty ones to the Michael Jackson jury in his opening statements, but those promises became problems when some of his witnesses just didn't live up to expectations. The accuser's mother was the first major backfire. She refused to answer questions and was unpredictable and often evasive.

LINDA DEUTSCH, ASSOCIATED PRESS: She put on a German accent. She snapped her fingers. She performed, and her answers were sometimes contradictory. They brought out facts about her having lied in the past, and she admitted it.

(SCREAMING)

DORNIN: There was plenty of salacious testimony about Jackson's behavior around young boys. The accuser's brother claims he say Jackson molesting his brother twice, but some experts say juries need to be absolutely convinced to convict on molestation charges.

CRAIG SMITH, FMR PROSECUTOR: My sense of the testimony of the alleged victim was that the alleged victim fell a little short of being positive, certain, and unequivocal.

DORNIN: Sneddon also told the jury, former bodyguard Cris Carter (ph) would say how he saw Jackson gave the accuser alcohol. It never happened. Carter is jailed in Las Vegas. He's facing charges of kidnapping and bank robbery. But the biggest blow to Sneddon's string of promises was Jackson's ex-wife, Debbie Rowe. The district attorney guaranteed the jury they would hear her say she was forced to do a video, portraying Jackson in a positive light.

JIM MORET, LEGAL ANALYST: Debbie Rowe, we were told, was going to say, I was coached, and I was coerced to make the video. She said just the opposite. She said, I wasn't coached. I didn't even read those questions. Nobody forced me to do anything.

DORNIN: In tying up their case, the prosecution spent hours showing the jury hundreds of phone calls made by Jackson's team. Some say Sneddon failed to prove Jackson directly conspired to hold the accuser's family hostage.

DEUTSCH: He is supposed to be the chief conspirator. He should be the head of the conspiracy, and so far they have nobody saying that he ordered these things to happen.

DORNIN: Some legal experts say the biggest problem for the district attorney is making the jury believe the molestation happened when they say it did.

DEUSTCH: After the documentary has shown on television, after the rebuttal video has been made, after everybody has gotten up in arms at Jackson all over the world, because of the documentary, that, at that point he then suddenly decides he's going to molest this child. That's where the timeline is a problem.

DORNIN (on camera): A problem defense attorney Thomas Mesereau will be happy to point out to the jury when it's his turn to take center stage.

Rusty Dornin, CNN, Santa Maria, California. (END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: And, Erica Hill from Headline News joins us with the latest at about 16 past the hour.

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

On Capitol Hill, lawmakers have agreed to an $82 billion spending package for Iraq and Afghanistan wars and reconstruction. Now, most of that cash -- nearly 76 billion -- is for military operations. The House will vote on the measure Thursday. The Senate votes next week.

In southern California, an investigative team is now looking into eight freeway shootings in the past two months. The latest one happened just yesterday on Highway 14. No one was hurt. One of the shootings have killed four people in recent weeks.

In Colorado Springs, Colorado, charges of religious harassment under investigation now at the Air Force Academy. In a recent report the group Americans United for the Separation of Church and State claimed cadets are pressured to attend chapel and to take religious instruction, particularly in the evangelical Christian faith.

Chicago, Illinois -- acupuncture to the rescue. The practice, real or fake, can help reduce the frequency of migraines, according to a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Researchers aren't sure why, but they say it may all be psychological.

And, that's the latest from Headline News. Anderson, a little hope there, you never know.

COOPER: Still looks painful to me, but I heard it's not. Anyway, have you ever had it?

HILL: I never had it, but I also never had a migraine, so, maybe compared to a migraine, it's not bad pain at all.

COOPER: Not to bad. All right, Erica, we'll see you again in about 30 minutes.

Coming up next, though, on 360, a brain-damaged firefighter, unable to speak -- this is just an incredible story. He was unable to speak for 10 years, suddenly starts talking. He thought he had been out for about three months, a remarkable story. 360 M.D. Sanjay Gupta tells us about it.

Also ahead tonight, a story you won't see anywhere else. A soldier who admits he abused Iraqi prisoners and served his sentence is now out of prison, back at home, and, tonight, he explains how it all went so terribly wrong inside the prison walls.

And a little later, released into the ocean: dolphins that were on the brink of death set free. We're taking you into the water for the rescue mission that saved their lives.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COOPER: Well, tonight a medical story that will make you smile. A firefighter injured on the job, brain damaged, silent for 10 years, suddenly without warning starts to talk. How long have I been gone, Donald Herbert asked. He thought it was maybe three months, it was 10 whole years. His infant son had grown, and he has a lot to catch up with.

360 M.D., Sanjay Gupta, a neurosurgeon looks in tonight to the mystery of this firefighter's reawakened brain.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was knocked down the stairs when the roof caved in.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: On that snowy night in 1995, firefighter Donald Herbert lay pinned under a mound of debris. The fire around him racking his body and his brain. He would survive able to walk in gesture, but the brain damage he sustained during his fall rendered him blind and virtually speechless. Then this week nine and a half years after his accident, Herbert stunned everyone by summoning words and memories.

And according to the "New York Times" he called home and the phone was answered by his 13-year-old son Nicholas who was just a toddler at the time of the accident. Herbert was stunned saying, that can't be. He's just a baby. He can't talk.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I never thought for a moment that he would ever come out of it. It was so devastating an injury.

GUPTA: It's a feat brain specialist agree is nearly impossible.

DR. DANIEL BARROW: When patients have a severe head injury they do recover in many instances, but that recovery usually will occur over a period of a year or maybe two to three years at the most. For somebody to make a dramatic improvement nine and a half years after an injury is quite distinctly unusual.

GUPTA: There have been other anomalies. In 1996, eight years after being shot and sustaining brain damage a police officer Gary Dockery (ph) suddenly came to, bantering about old camping trips and telling jokes.

In 2003 after 19 years, Terry Wallace, emerged from a coma calling out for his mom and asking for a Pepsi, please.

And In February, Sarah Scantmon (ph), 20 years after being run down by a drunk driver and left unable to communicate except by blinking yes or no began to speak with family members.

What recent cases have in common the patients were not in a persistent vegetative state, a phrase we heard so often during the Terri Schiavo case. Like Schiavo, most of these patients were not able speak, but unlike her they could communicate with hand gestures, by blinking or move around using a walker. To get a clearer picture of Herbert's case I visited with dr. Daniel Barrow, my chief of neurosurgery at Emory University.

(on camera): Is fluke the right word to use?

BARROW: I don't think it would be the word I would choose. I would prefer a word that describes something that's much more, I think, positive. Fluke kind of connotes a mistake. And this really is a -- this a blessing of some type, and I'm not sure I can explain why. We simply don't know everything there is to know about the human nervous system. It's a very, very complex organ, the brain and spinal cord. And there remains a mystery in terms of understanding how it functions and how it sometimes dysfunctions.

GUPTA (voice-over): A mystery Herbert's family probably can live with. Since he reportedly began speaking, Herbert can only muster one word answers and the thumps up sign. It's unclear whether he'll ever speak again. But after speaking once the chances are pretty good.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Just incredible.

Sanjay, the doctor you talked to described it as a blessing. He couldn't explain why it happened. A lot of people use the term miracle. You use the term anomaly. How do you explain what happened? How do you explain this kind of medical phenomenon?

GUPTA: Well, I think more than anything else -- what it says, Anderson, is that there's a lot of things about the brain that we just don't know still. Neurosurgeons like to use a term called plasticity. And basicly thinking the brain is plastic, something that can be molded. In a child, it's pretty clear that the brain is plastic. Kid can make some pretty significant improvements after head injury. With adults for a long time, it was believed that if a significant head injury occurred, after the first year or so there would be no improvement. But obviously, we're seeing here and with some of the other cases I outline, that there is some plasticity in adults brains, as well, Anderson.

COOPER: Remarkable. Sanjay Gupta, it's good to have a neurosurgeon on the staff of CNN.

GUPTA: Glad to be here for you.

COOPER: Appreciate it.

What really happened inside those prison walls -- find out tonight. A 360 exclusive. The first America soldier punished for Abu Ghraib abuse. He's out of jail and ready to talk.

And the run away bride's future father-in-law says she is welcome back. But do her friends feel the same way? Tonight find out what they say about her state of mind and what might have led to her pre- marriage meltdown. 360 continues.

(END VIDEOTAPE) COOPER: A military panel of six people was selected today to decide just what punishment PFC Lynndie England will receive. Now, she's the soldier seen in a lot of those photos from Abu Ghraib Prison from the abuse scandal. And yesterday she pled guilty to seven charges against her. She's certainly not the only guilty party. One was convicted, six other Americans also entered guilty pleas. But with all the many investigation what is still not clear is why this all happened.

Tonight we're giving you an exclusive look inside Abu Ghraib with a young man who was there. And We'll learn what made him participate in the madness. The story of Armin Cruz is tonight's "World in 360."

Here's Ed Lavandera.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We met Armin Cruz in a parking lot near the Plano, Texas, house he's moved back into with his family.

(on camera): How's it going?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) Army.

LAVANDERA: Ed Lavandera.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ed.

Too long in Iraq and then, of course, the other thing...

LAVANDERA: We've come to talk about the Iraqi prison abuse scandal. It's not the kind of publicity families like, but Cruz is back home after serving a six and a half month prison sentence, Armin wants to talk. But instead of going to his house, he takes ups to his home away from home.

This is the Plano Martial Arts Academy. Armin has trained here since he was 11. He's trying to regain his old black belt form.

The war in Iraq kept Armin away for more than two years. This gym is even more special now. It's one of the few places where he can escape the scandal that followed him home.

ARMIN CRUZ, FORMER U.S. SOLDIER: These people know who I am. And they know what I went through for the most part. And there's no judging. They know deep down, I'm a pretty decent person.

LAVANDERA: The incident that haunts Armin lasted almost 30 minutes. Late at night on October 25th, 2003, guards were punishing three Iraqi inmates for raping a 15-year-old boy.

CRUZ: We had no idea what to do. And there was clearly no guidelines on what to do. And felt that these personnel should be punished for raping another person. And we took it a few steps too far, way too far. LAVANDERA: Cruz is seen in one of the infamous photos. He and other soldiers ordered the inmates to get naked, handcuffed them, and forced them to crawl on the floor. He says anger took over when he walked into the room.

CRUZ: My mind took over and went into a self-defense mode. I saw more of -- three insurgents or three mortar men, launching mortars at us. And injured me and killed many of my friends.

LAVANDERA: A month before that night, a mortar attack exploded in a tent where Cruz prepared for another night of work as an intelligence analyst. He pulled two men to safety and spent an hour trying to save his best friend's life. But in the end, Travis Frederick (ph) died.

CRUZ: Seeing a person with an arm blown off and brain matter coming out of his forehead, and multiple -- a couple of dozen wounds to the chest, it's going to stick with you and affect you.

LAVANDERA: Sergeant Frank Krapf was there. He says Cruz changed that night. Months of war and escaping death had taken its toll.

SGT. FRED KRAPF, U.S. ARMY: He wasn't his usual talkative and active and jovial, fun-loving and -- self.

LAVANDERA: Cruz earned a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star during his service in Iraq.

CRUZ: This is the Purple Heart citation award. And this is all I got for the Bronze Star one. Got a copy. The Army chose not to award it to me because of the court-martial incident.

LAVANDERA (on camera): Would it mean a lot to you to get it?

CRUZ: You have no idea. I sweat and bled in that country to earn it. And I would really love to be able to see it, the real certificate and the medal.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Cruz blames himself for what happened and doesn't want anyone to think he's making excuses. Prosecutors say the alleged rape that triggered the abuse that night might never have really happened, but Cruz is rebuilding his life. Now that a bad conduct discharge has ended his military career, his friends have faith Cruz will erase the scar.

PEGGY NOLAN, FRIEND OF CRUZ: He's probably punished himself worse than the Army did. I really do not think that that one small incident should be held against him for the rest of his life. I think that he has suffered enough.

LAVANDERA: Armin Cruz works out every day in this tae kwon do gym. He says he needs to rediscover the physical and the mental strength that escaped him that night in Abu Ghraib.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Plano, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: And we're joined now by the young man you just met, Armin Cruz himself, and by his attorney, Stephen Karns. We appreciate both of you being with us.

I want to show you that picture again, where you see yourself inside the prison. As you see that photo now, what do you think when you see it?

CRUZ: I think it's clearly a disgraceful thing. I partook with fellow soldiers in the abuse of detainees and didn't show the moral courage or the ability to stand up and stop anything.

COOPER: I think it's hard for a lot of people to put themselves in your shoes and put themselves in that photo. I want to read what Army Specialist Israel Rivera said about your involvement in the abuse. He said: "Cruz and the other people were making the prisoners act as though they were having sex, using their feet to push on the detainees' hips so they would be touching each other. The detainees were screaming for Allah, begging them, and begging me to make them stop."

As you look at it now, why do you think you did this?

CRUZ: Well, first off, I don't believe -- there's a couple of things out there that were false that never got proved in the court- martial proceedings. There was no homosexual acts. We were punishing, wrongfully so, clearly, but punishing people for raping a boy. Yes, they did get stripped down and they did get pushed around. They did get -- they were told to roll left and roll right.

COOPER: So you're saying there was no sexual content to what you were making them do?

CRUZ: There was no homosexual acts. That's what I'm saying, yes, sir.

COOPER: OK.

CRUZ: It's just something that he felt he said he needed to do, for whatever his reasons were.

COOPER: In the piece, you said that sort of the anger took over.

CRUZ: Absolutely.

COOPER: Explain that.

CRUZ: Like you said, like you saw in the piece, I walked in there, and shortly right after seeing these three rapists being punished, it didn't look like rapists to me anymore. And my mind's eye saw nothing but a bunch of Iraqis who attacked us and tried to kill us. And the rage and the anger took over inside me. And I wanted to get redemption for killing Travis (ph) and injuring me.

COOPER: You are not one of the people who posed with prisoners...

CRUZ: No.

COOPER: And Steven, you say that a difference should be made between your client, between Armin, and Lynndie England or Charles Graner, who are seen posing with naked prisoners. Why should there be a distinction made?

STEPHEN KARNS, CRUZ'S ATTORNEY: Absolutely. I mean, I think Armin's case is easily distinguishable from those cases, because first of all, he accepted responsibility from the very beginning...

COOPER: Pled guilty.

KARNS: Right.

CRUZ: Yes, sir.

COOPER: And the next day you actually reported...

CRUZ: The next morning.

COOPER: The next morning.

KARNS: The level of his involvement was a lot less. His involvement was for 20 or 30 minutes during the one-hour time period that he was there. He didn't initiate it. It wasn't his idea. He didn't orchestrate it.

And then, also, the mortar attack occurred a month before this. He watched one of his good friends die. I mean, his body was just torn apart. Soon thereafter, he asked for help from the combat stress team and didn't get that help. And I think, also, just not only his level of involvement, the context in which it occurred, but also just the overall total soldier. I mean, he had earned a Bronze Star leading up to that time period, and those soldiers hadn't. And I think their sentences will reflect that.

COOPER: And why did you the next day report what had happened?

CRUZ: I felt that the MP chain of command -- I went to the day shift NCOIC, which is a fancy way of saying the sergeant in charge, should be aware of what the night shift troops were doing and be able to handle it at whatever level he deems necessary.

COOPER: Because that's, I mean, in the military, that's a hard thing to do, to, you know, to talk about what your friends or what your -- your colleagues are doing.

CRUZ: There is definitely a sense of brotherhood. And it's multiplied by the sense of combat. But nonetheless, you need to do the right thing.

COOPER: Is your life forever changed by this? Or is this something you can move on from? I mean, you have done your time. You confessed. You served your sentence. CRUZ: I think everybody who goes to Iraq is going to come back a changed person, regardless of the situation. Come out unscathed, come out hurt, went to a court-martial or didn't. So I think everyone who goes is going to come back a different person on some level.

COOPER: Armin Cruz, I hope you're able to move on and you've done your time, and I appreciate you being with us tonight. And Stephen, thanks very much for being here also.

CRUZ: Thank you.

COOPER: Coming up next on 360, we're going to lighten up a little bit. The runaway bride, we're going to talk to one of her friends. Was there ever any clues that she would actually skip her wedding date?

Also tonight, several dolphins released back into open waters. A look at the rescue effort that saved their lives.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Well, Georgia officials are still investigating the events leading up to the disappearance of Jennifer Wilbanks. Now, they've yet to decide if they're going to press criminal charges or now, but, really, no matter what the legal trouble for Jennifer Wilbanks, her fiance, her family and her friends are still standing by her. The father of her fiance, John Mason, has told CNN that the run away bride, characterized by the media, is not the woman he knows. Earlier today I spoke with one of her friends, Cami Ledford and got a glimpse into Jennifer's personality.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Cami, you worked with Jennifer. You jogged with her. You went to one of her eight bridal showers. Does she love her fiance?

CAMI LEDFORD, FRIEND OF JENNIFER WILBANKS: Absolutely. I believe that without a shadow of a doubt.

COOPER: What makes you believe that? I mean, you must have had conversations with her. You must have observed her at the bridal shower.

LEDFORD: Yes, when we were talking at the bridal shower, I sat with her at the table, and you just can't fake the sparkle that was in her eyes. She talked about John. She absolutely loves him, from the bottom of her heart. I have no doubt in that.

COOPER: But -- and I don't want to be flip about this -- but, clearly, she is able to fake a lot of stuff, because she bought a bus ticket, about a week before she disappeared. I mean, clearly, she was trying to hide something or was in denial about something. Is she a very private person? Does she talk much about herself, her feelings?

LEDFORD: I've never really talked to her about her feelings. She is just such a pleasure to be around. She is always more worried about how you're doing. She always wants to know how I'm doing, how my children are doing -- never is really one to burden you with her problems. So, it's been a shock to all of us, something that we really didn't see coming.

COOPER: John Mason, her fiance, says he is standing by her. This is what he said yesterday.

JOHN MASON, JENNIFER WILBANKS' FIANCE: She wants to world to know that's not her, and she is very sorry, and she said, you know, in pain, and she's a victim here, as well. She wants everybody to know that, that she's got some things that she has got to figure out.

COOPER: Do you think Jennifer Wilbanks is a victim?

LEDFORD: I think, in a lot of ways, yes. She obviously has some issues that we as her friends were not aware of, and I do believe that she needs help.

COOPER: Her father-in-law, or future father-in-law, potential father-in-law, said to CNN that he hopes that she apologizes to him and to the others who were involved. Last night, the official from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said that she was kind of unapologetic, that she didn't really feel she had anything to apologize for. Do you think she has something to apologize for?

LEDFORD: I think that just in getting back to life, that it probably wouldn't be a bad idea for her to apologize, but that's really up to her, and her family. I'm sure they will reach that decision, soon.

COOPER: As a friend, as a friend who was worried about her when you thought she'd disappeared, been kidnapped, or whatever -- do you feel you personally need an apology?

LEDFORD: I do not, no. I don't take any of this personal. No one asked me to go out and look for her, and if she went missing tomorrow, I'd go out and look for her again. That's just what a friend does. I don't -- I'm not looking for any apology from Jennifer, no.

COOPER: Cami, you're a good friend, and we appreciate talking to you.

LEDFORD: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Time now for a look at other news making headlines at about quarter to the hour. Erica Hill joins us with the latest. Hey, Erica.

HILL: Hi, Anderson.

Iraq's new cabinet has taken office. Most of the politicians named to the transitional government were sworn in today. The group has a little more than three months to write a constitution which will be put before voters later this year. The new leaders must also find a way to curb Iraq's recent uptick in violence.

In New York City, former president Bill Clinton is giving bad food the boot. Clinton and Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee announced a 10-year plan to curb unhealthy eating among children and encourage more exercise. Clinton says he felt obliged to encourage healthy eating and exercise after his own personal struggle with heart disease.

And, in Los Angeles, "American Idol" under scrutiny. I know this is a tough one for you, Anderson, personally. Tomorrow night, ABC's "Prime Time Live" plans to air what it calls, quote, "explosive claims" about the behind-the-scenes activities on the hit Fox show. The focus will be on "Idol" judge Paula Abdul and former finalist Corey Clark who tells ABC he had a sexual relationship with Abdul. He also says Abdul gave him off-camera coaching, and even helped him choose songs to sing. Now, Fox, in response has released this statement saying, quote, "We will, of course, look into any evidence of improper conduct that we receive. In the meantime, we recommend that the public carefully examine Mr. Clark's motives, given his apparent desire to exploit his prior involvement with 'American Idol' for profit and publicity."

And, that's the latest from Headline News at this hour. More to come, though, I have a feeling, tomorrow, after the airing of the...

COOPER: Wasn't that -- weren't the guys' 15 minutes up, like, a year ago?

HILL: Likely, yes, but I think he also has a book coming out or something?

COOPER: Oh, really? What a coincidence. Amazing.

HILL: It's odd, the way these things all...

COOPER: And it's amazing -- isn't it sweeps month?

HILL: I believe it is!

COOPER: Wow. Man, the coincidence...

HILL: It's just funny. The universe is just really wacky sometimes, huh?

COOPER: It's all about, you know, timing. That's what it is. Erica Hill, see you again in about 30 minutes.

Coming up next on 360, a lot more. Saving the dolphins: they were stranded weeks ago. Now they are returning to the wild. Yes, born free. Free willy. An inside look at the rescue efforts in Florida.

A little later -- the fat gap. Your salary could affect -- did you ever notice how fat people have no heads on television? Why is that? Anyway, the fat gap: how your salary could affect your waistline.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Freedom at last for seven rough-toothed dolphins that had been stuck in the Florida Keys. Today volunteers from the Marine Mammal Conservatory brought the mammals about 14 nautical miles off Key Largo and let them go, almost simultaneously. They will be tracked by satellite for about six weeks. The dolphins were among the dozens that grounded in the Middle Keys on March 2. Many of them died; five are still being treated.

Earlier, CNN's John Zarrella spent some time with the volunteers who worked many days and night to make this happen. He takes us, tonight, "Beyond the Headlines."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fantastic. All right. Good girl.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The dolphins needed her help. That was reason enough to be here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, guys that are here for the 12 o'clock shift? You guys can come down here real quick, and get some instructions cause I'm finished suiting up -- that'd be great.

ZARRELLA: More than two dozen rough-toothed dolphins required around-the-clock care.

BANICK: This is going to be my team right here, my name is Kate.

ZARRELLA: For 25-year-old Kate Banick, and the others who came to save the dolphins, this was the most challenging, demanding part of the work.

The animals in a penned off area of a rehabilitation facility had to be hand-fed three times a day. Members of Banick's team held their mouths open with pieces of cloth as she fed them dead herring.

BANICK: It's not natural for them. These guys eat live fish. Today we made the first critical steps in getting them to eat dead fish, and to eat them out of our hands.

ZARRELLA: Banick, a wildlife biologist, came here with a whole lot of determination. She would need every bit of it.

The locals said it was the largest mass stranding they had ever seen. In early March, an estimated 80 dolphins struggled to survive in the chilly shallows off Marathon in the Florida Keys. Some made it back to deep water. Many died. Most of the survivors were loaded carefully on a truck.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One, two, three, lift. OK.

ZARRELLA: In a supermarket semi, 26 who couldn't make it out to sea themselves, were taken to the Marine Mammal Conservancy Rehabilitation Facility in Key Largo. It was their only chance at survival.

BANICK: Every one of these guys was kind of a free chance. If we hadn't stepped in at all, no one had stepped in these guys all probably would have 100 percent died on those shores.

ZARRELLA (on camera): Two of the dolphins, the critical care patients, and one under-weight baby are kept here in this tank where they get constant care. Katey (ph) and Vicky (ph) are literally keeping the dolphins afloat.

(voice-over): The volunteers are in the pool 24/7, holding the animals and keeping their blow holes out of the water so they can breathe. A veterinarian injects the dolphins with vitamin E to help with muscle cramping. These mammals are unable to eat on their own. Kate Banick uses a feeding tube to get them the nutrition they need.

BANICK: Lift the tube. Get all that good stuff in their bellies. So she feels better.

ZARRELLA: As the weeks roll by, the survivors are becoming stronger, more aggressive during feedings. Red 363, the animals are identified by numbers, accidentally gets both the fish and Lloyd Brown's (ph) hand. It's not serious. The pace here is all at once grueling, rewarding and disturbing. Now more than one month into the rehabilitation effort only 12 of the original 26 are still alive.

BANICK: It is saddening when you lose one. It's definitely something you're not looking forward to. But there's really no time to dwell on that because there's so much hope in the future for the rest of them.

ZARRELLA: Banick wonders, has the care, the medication been right? There's not much hard science on how to save a dolphin, it's learn as you go.

(on camera): So, there could be a couple that are pregnant?

BANICK: There could be. Actually one of the one in the tank we're looking at we're suspecting. She's pretty wide, but she could just be a big girl.

ZARRELLA (voice-over): This is a marathon, not a sprint, likely to last weeks not days. Another sunset -- Banick is going on her 30th straight hour. She's seen two since she last slept. Another group of volunteers mans the fence perimeter, shivering in wet suits beneath a sliver of moonlight. As long as there is hope, they will be here.

John Zarrella, CNN, Key Largo, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: And seven of those dolphins released into the water today.

Let's find out what is coming up at the top of the hour on "PAULA ZAHN NOW." Hey, Paula.

PAULA ZAHN, HOST, PAULA ZAHN NOW: Hi, Anderson, thanks.

BTK is our focus tonight. Please join me at the top of the hour for an emotional interview with Steve Relford who watched BTK kill his mother when he was 5-years-old. Today he was in court to witness suspect Dennis Rader's arraignment. We'll also, Anderson, be talking to the district attorney who will be prosecuting the case to get a better sense of what she sees as some of the greatest challenges as she proceeds on this case against Dennis Rader. It should be interesting.

COOPER: Absolutely. About six minutes from now. Thanks, Paula.

Coming up next on 360, does your salary affect how much weight you gain? Closing the fat gap is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: We have been getting a lot of e-mail from you about the missing bride story. Some of you were unhappy with our coverage.

But Robin from Arlington, Virginia, got personal. She writes, "Come on Anderson, cut Jennifer Wilbanks some slack. We all know intelligent, rational women who become psycho brides-to-be in the weeks preceding their weddings. Multiply that times 14 bridesmaids and 600 guest, and the only surprise is that she didn't snap earlier. Give her a break; we all make mistakes. The Mole?"

Man, Robin, that was low. That was very, I have low.

Christine from Parkland, Florida writes, "Anderson, you are usually so calm cool and debonair, much like Fox Muldaur," although I think it was spelled wrong," on 'X Files,' so my husband and I both had to laugh when you were at such a loss of words over the words claim you cleavage lady," used. "We think you were even blushing."

In case you missed it we had a guest last night who suddenly showered herself with confetti while mumbling something about her cleavage. And yes, it did kind of leave me speechless. Any time someone, you know, comes with her own confetti I find a little odd.

Got something on your mind send us an e-mail. Just go to cnn.com/360. Click on the instant feedback link.

Tonight taking the quality to "The Nth Degree." Hey, good news. No kidding. The gap between rich and poor in this country has narrowed dramatically over the course of the last 35 years. Not the wealth gap, the fat gap. It used to be far fewer people making more than $60,000 a year were overweight, than people making $25,000 or under. In 1971, for instance, your fat cats, mostly weren't fat. Less than 10 percent of the better off were obese, as opposed to more than 30 percent of the less welloff.

But look now, in every category at the top and bottom and in between, the American waist has ballooned absolutely democraticly. So that we are -- all of us, however much we earn, porky to just about the same tune, 30 percent give or take a couple of doughnuts. Tell you what, if we weren't already swollen with fries, we'd have reason now to swell with pride.

None of that toffee-nosed British separation of the classes for us, with tall, reedy (ph) aristocrats and lumpy regular folk. No, sir, this is the USA. You can't tell the rich from the poor in this country just by looking. Whether we need to tighten our belts or not, we can't.

All right, we're not all rolling in dough, but we are all rolling. It's a start.

I'm Anderson Cooper, thanks for watching 360. CNN's prime time coverage continues right now with Paula Zahn. Hey, Paula.

END

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Aired May 3, 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, everyone. The alleged BTK killer in court tonight. The clues that were left behind. 360 starts now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): The alleged BTK killer pleads not guilty to 10 counts of murder. Tonight, we take you beyond the headlines, retracing a killer's steps and revisiting the homes where BTK committed his heinous crimes.

The prosecution wraps up its case against Michael Jackson, but did they prove the pop star is a predator?

A brain-damaged firefighter hurt in the line of duty suddenly speaks after 10 years of silence. How could it happen? 360 MD Sanjay Gupta on a hero firefighter's remarkable recovery.

What really happened inside those prison walls? Find out tonight. A 360 exclusive. The first American soldier punished for Abu Ghraib abuse. He's out of jail and ready to talk.

And the runaway bride's future father-in-law says she is welcome back, but do her friends feel the same way? Tonight, find out what they say about her state of mind and what might have led to her pre- marriage meltdown.

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

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: And good evening again. We begin tonight with an infamous serial killer and the man suspected of being him. Tonight, the accused BTK killer -- stands for bind, torture and kill -- was arraigned in a Wichita courtroom. Dressed in a dark suit -- you see him there -- Dennis Rader could easily have passed as one of his own defense attorneys. The former church leader charged with 10 counts of murder. He remained silent while the judge entered a not guilty plea for him.

Now, we don't know if Rader is the BTK killer. A jury will make that decision. We do know, however, that someone was the BTK killer. And for 30 years, that someone turned the city into his sick, twisted playground. He liked games, sending police and TV stations puzzles and codes and crosswords to decipher. Hidden in those messages, clues to the crimes and to the killer's real identity. Clues that will play a role in Dennis Rader's upcoming trial, clues that we are still trying to understand tonight. CNN's David Mattingly reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At first look, it appears to be a nonsensical mess of 323 letters and 14 numbers. But look closer, and you'll see why some now believe this is a BTK code, possibly revealing his tactics and maybe even his identity.

(on camera): When you started looking at this, how did you find all this information out here?

GLEN HORN, KAKE NEWS DIRECTOR: Basically, everyone in the newsroom started looking at it as a puzzle too. And you know, it's like a crossword or like one of the word games. And you just started looking for words.

What is absolutely amazing in this, though, is unlike any other crossword or any other word game where you are looking for words, as you start to see these words, the reactions of people here in the newsroom is oh, my God.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He talked about the relationship (INAUDIBLE).

MATTINGLY (voice-over): The code was delivered to Wichita station KAKE almost a year ago, withheld from the public until now. It seems to spell out a three-part chapter, a how-to guide for BTK.

HORN: After the suspect had been apprehended and they had somebody in custody, we felt like the benchmark for what we could and could not release was certainly lowered.

MATTINGLY: The first section seems to describe how the killer stalks a victim. Some words are easy to find. Prowl, spot victim, follow, fantasies, steam builds, and go for it. Another section suggests possible disguises. Realtor, insurance, serviceman, fake ID, and handyman.

HORN: Probably the -- what he pretended to be to perhaps gain entry into some of these homes. Interesting enough, maybe he's filling out his story right here in this word puzzle.

There's part of his address on there. We've seen Dennis Rader, D. Rader.

MATTINGLY: Overnight, it has become the hottest word puzzle in Wichita. Viewers of the KAKE Web site contact the station with their own surprising findings in the BTK code.

(on camera): And what are you finding here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a strange reference to the number 2043, which is this writer says also is a reference to a chemical term, which notice the initials are BTK. MATTINGLY (voice-over): But the most surprising finding of all may be in a small set of numbers, 622 and zero. Slightly out of sequence, but identical to the house number of BTK suspect Dennis Rader.

TIMOTHY RODGERS, ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR, "THE WICHITA EAGLE": Would you have seen it before Mr. Rader was arrested? Probably not. Now that it's there, hey, someone should have seen it, you know, so...

MATTINGLY (on camera): Are we possibly reading more into this than we need to?

RODGERS: I think you could be, or it could have been his way of trying to provide the clues, and saying, hey, it was all there in front of your face, you just didn't see it.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): Also a recipient of numerous BTK communications over the years, "The Wichita Eagle" newspaper reports finding 130 words, numbers and phrases in the code. But many seem to have no connection to the case, or do they?

What is clear to those who have poured over these cryptic communications is that the killer seemed to enjoy playing games.

RODGERS: Maybe that situation was like, I handed you what I was doing or how you could find me. You just weren't smart enough to put it together.

MATTINGLY (on camera): But there is the popular theory among those close to the investigation that the killer wanted to be caught, and that these cryptic messages were his way of telling police how to do it.

David Mattingly, CNN, Wichita, Kansas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, the games may be over, but the memories are most certainly not -- not for the people of Wichita and not for the families who live in the homes where the BTK killer came calling. CNN's Jonathan Freed takes us "Beyond the Headlines."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When word went around Wichita that police arrested a suspect in the BTK serial killings, aside from the victims families and investigators, no one was more relieved than the people now living at the city's most infamous addresses. 1311 South Hydraulic, where Shirley Vian was murdered on March 17th, 1977. Diane Boyle calls it home today.

DIANE BOYLE, OWNS HOME TARGETED BY BTK: So everything we have got in here is kind of a mess. But this is the room where it happened.

FREED: What happened was Shirley Vian's 5-year-old son answered the door that March day and let in a stranger. Police say it was BTK, who locked all the children in the bathroom and then tied up and strangled Vian.

(on camera): Do you feel anything from the room or when you're in the room, or is it just ancient history?

BOYLE: No, I feel it's kind of a cold room to me as far as compared to the rest of my house.

FREED (voice-over): Boyle says she didn't know three years ago that she was buying a house with a dark history. A neighbor told her, after she'd moved in.

BOYLE: And I realize there was a killing, a BTK killing in the neighborhood. And I figured it was down the street or up the street. And she looked at me and she says, oh Diane, she says, it's your house.

FREED (on camera): What did you think?

BOYLE: I was in shock.

FREED: Did it change the way you felt about the house?

BOYLE: I love the house, but it's -- it had that eerie feeling.

FREED (voice-over): And from that point on, Boyle couldn't help worrying the killer would return one day.

BOYLE: He knows the layout of the house. He knows where the house is at. He might show up.

FREED: While BTK never came back, Boyle still had plenty of uninvited visitors.

BOYLE: There isn't anything like sitting on the front porch and finding somebody coming down the street, and they come to a complete stop and they're pointing at you.

FREED: These days, the curious are also driving by other BTK crime scenes.

(on camera): Some of the murders happened in this room.

GREG LIETZ, OWNS HOME TARGETED BY BTK: Yeah, the two people were in there.

FREED (voice-over): Greg Lietz lives at 803 North Edgemoor, where Joseph Otero, his wife Julie and two of their children were killed on January 15th, 1974. They are BTK's first known victims, strangled in a main floor bedroom and in the basement.

Lietz shows us where the killer cut the phone line before going inside, his sinister trademark.

LIETZ: See where the electric meter is? About that height... FREED: Lietz is determined to stay positive, despite his home's violent past.

LIETZ: A home, like I say, is heaven if you make it. It's not what happened there before; it's what happening there now.

FREED: Both Lietz and Boyle are encouraged by the arrest of Dennis Rader, but say the prosecution still has to make the case stick.

BOYLE: I feel a little bit better that they have somebody, but I'm still not going to let my guard down by keeping my doors unlocked.

FREED: She is anxious for the community to move on.

Jonathan Freed, CNN, Wichita, Kansas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, 360 next -- the case against Michael Jackson. Now, the prosecution is about to rest. Probably going to happen tomorrow. Question is, have they proved their case? A lot of surprises from witnesses. We'll see where the case now stands.

Also tonight, imagine your loved one is brain-damaged, unable to speak for 10 years, then suddenly starts talking. It happened to a family of this man, a firefighter hurt on the job, 10 years of silence broken. Our 360 MD Sanjay Gupta reports.

Also ahead tonight, rescued dolphins returned to the big blue. Dozens of them were on the brink of death after a massive stranding off the Florida coast. Tonight, the rescue effort that saved their lives. All that ahead. First, let's look at your picks, the most popular stories right now on CNN.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Oh, yes: the entourage, the umbrella, the tinted SUV, even the arm band -- it's all about image for Michael Jackson these days. According to a forensic accountant to testified today for the prosecution, that image is masking a serious money problem. The witness said Jackson is facing hundreds of millions of dollars of debt and what he called a looming financial crisis.

Now D.A. Tom Sneddon is expected to rest his case tomorrow, then the defense, of course, will call their witnesses. But the truth of the matter is that several witnesses for the prosecution have already helped the defense start to make their case.

CNN's Rusty Dornin reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Promises, promises. District Attorney Thomas Sneddon made some hefty ones to the Michael Jackson jury in his opening statements, but those promises became problems when some of his witnesses just didn't live up to expectations. The accuser's mother was the first major backfire. She refused to answer questions and was unpredictable and often evasive.

LINDA DEUTSCH, ASSOCIATED PRESS: She put on a German accent. She snapped her fingers. She performed, and her answers were sometimes contradictory. They brought out facts about her having lied in the past, and she admitted it.

(SCREAMING)

DORNIN: There was plenty of salacious testimony about Jackson's behavior around young boys. The accuser's brother claims he say Jackson molesting his brother twice, but some experts say juries need to be absolutely convinced to convict on molestation charges.

CRAIG SMITH, FMR PROSECUTOR: My sense of the testimony of the alleged victim was that the alleged victim fell a little short of being positive, certain, and unequivocal.

DORNIN: Sneddon also told the jury, former bodyguard Cris Carter (ph) would say how he saw Jackson gave the accuser alcohol. It never happened. Carter is jailed in Las Vegas. He's facing charges of kidnapping and bank robbery. But the biggest blow to Sneddon's string of promises was Jackson's ex-wife, Debbie Rowe. The district attorney guaranteed the jury they would hear her say she was forced to do a video, portraying Jackson in a positive light.

JIM MORET, LEGAL ANALYST: Debbie Rowe, we were told, was going to say, I was coached, and I was coerced to make the video. She said just the opposite. She said, I wasn't coached. I didn't even read those questions. Nobody forced me to do anything.

DORNIN: In tying up their case, the prosecution spent hours showing the jury hundreds of phone calls made by Jackson's team. Some say Sneddon failed to prove Jackson directly conspired to hold the accuser's family hostage.

DEUTSCH: He is supposed to be the chief conspirator. He should be the head of the conspiracy, and so far they have nobody saying that he ordered these things to happen.

DORNIN: Some legal experts say the biggest problem for the district attorney is making the jury believe the molestation happened when they say it did.

DEUSTCH: After the documentary has shown on television, after the rebuttal video has been made, after everybody has gotten up in arms at Jackson all over the world, because of the documentary, that, at that point he then suddenly decides he's going to molest this child. That's where the timeline is a problem.

DORNIN (on camera): A problem defense attorney Thomas Mesereau will be happy to point out to the jury when it's his turn to take center stage.

Rusty Dornin, CNN, Santa Maria, California. (END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: And, Erica Hill from Headline News joins us with the latest at about 16 past the hour.

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

On Capitol Hill, lawmakers have agreed to an $82 billion spending package for Iraq and Afghanistan wars and reconstruction. Now, most of that cash -- nearly 76 billion -- is for military operations. The House will vote on the measure Thursday. The Senate votes next week.

In southern California, an investigative team is now looking into eight freeway shootings in the past two months. The latest one happened just yesterday on Highway 14. No one was hurt. One of the shootings have killed four people in recent weeks.

In Colorado Springs, Colorado, charges of religious harassment under investigation now at the Air Force Academy. In a recent report the group Americans United for the Separation of Church and State claimed cadets are pressured to attend chapel and to take religious instruction, particularly in the evangelical Christian faith.

Chicago, Illinois -- acupuncture to the rescue. The practice, real or fake, can help reduce the frequency of migraines, according to a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Researchers aren't sure why, but they say it may all be psychological.

And, that's the latest from Headline News. Anderson, a little hope there, you never know.

COOPER: Still looks painful to me, but I heard it's not. Anyway, have you ever had it?

HILL: I never had it, but I also never had a migraine, so, maybe compared to a migraine, it's not bad pain at all.

COOPER: Not to bad. All right, Erica, we'll see you again in about 30 minutes.

Coming up next, though, on 360, a brain-damaged firefighter, unable to speak -- this is just an incredible story. He was unable to speak for 10 years, suddenly starts talking. He thought he had been out for about three months, a remarkable story. 360 M.D. Sanjay Gupta tells us about it.

Also ahead tonight, a story you won't see anywhere else. A soldier who admits he abused Iraqi prisoners and served his sentence is now out of prison, back at home, and, tonight, he explains how it all went so terribly wrong inside the prison walls.

And a little later, released into the ocean: dolphins that were on the brink of death set free. We're taking you into the water for the rescue mission that saved their lives.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COOPER: Well, tonight a medical story that will make you smile. A firefighter injured on the job, brain damaged, silent for 10 years, suddenly without warning starts to talk. How long have I been gone, Donald Herbert asked. He thought it was maybe three months, it was 10 whole years. His infant son had grown, and he has a lot to catch up with.

360 M.D., Sanjay Gupta, a neurosurgeon looks in tonight to the mystery of this firefighter's reawakened brain.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was knocked down the stairs when the roof caved in.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: On that snowy night in 1995, firefighter Donald Herbert lay pinned under a mound of debris. The fire around him racking his body and his brain. He would survive able to walk in gesture, but the brain damage he sustained during his fall rendered him blind and virtually speechless. Then this week nine and a half years after his accident, Herbert stunned everyone by summoning words and memories.

And according to the "New York Times" he called home and the phone was answered by his 13-year-old son Nicholas who was just a toddler at the time of the accident. Herbert was stunned saying, that can't be. He's just a baby. He can't talk.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I never thought for a moment that he would ever come out of it. It was so devastating an injury.

GUPTA: It's a feat brain specialist agree is nearly impossible.

DR. DANIEL BARROW: When patients have a severe head injury they do recover in many instances, but that recovery usually will occur over a period of a year or maybe two to three years at the most. For somebody to make a dramatic improvement nine and a half years after an injury is quite distinctly unusual.

GUPTA: There have been other anomalies. In 1996, eight years after being shot and sustaining brain damage a police officer Gary Dockery (ph) suddenly came to, bantering about old camping trips and telling jokes.

In 2003 after 19 years, Terry Wallace, emerged from a coma calling out for his mom and asking for a Pepsi, please.

And In February, Sarah Scantmon (ph), 20 years after being run down by a drunk driver and left unable to communicate except by blinking yes or no began to speak with family members.

What recent cases have in common the patients were not in a persistent vegetative state, a phrase we heard so often during the Terri Schiavo case. Like Schiavo, most of these patients were not able speak, but unlike her they could communicate with hand gestures, by blinking or move around using a walker. To get a clearer picture of Herbert's case I visited with dr. Daniel Barrow, my chief of neurosurgery at Emory University.

(on camera): Is fluke the right word to use?

BARROW: I don't think it would be the word I would choose. I would prefer a word that describes something that's much more, I think, positive. Fluke kind of connotes a mistake. And this really is a -- this a blessing of some type, and I'm not sure I can explain why. We simply don't know everything there is to know about the human nervous system. It's a very, very complex organ, the brain and spinal cord. And there remains a mystery in terms of understanding how it functions and how it sometimes dysfunctions.

GUPTA (voice-over): A mystery Herbert's family probably can live with. Since he reportedly began speaking, Herbert can only muster one word answers and the thumps up sign. It's unclear whether he'll ever speak again. But after speaking once the chances are pretty good.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Just incredible.

Sanjay, the doctor you talked to described it as a blessing. He couldn't explain why it happened. A lot of people use the term miracle. You use the term anomaly. How do you explain what happened? How do you explain this kind of medical phenomenon?

GUPTA: Well, I think more than anything else -- what it says, Anderson, is that there's a lot of things about the brain that we just don't know still. Neurosurgeons like to use a term called plasticity. And basicly thinking the brain is plastic, something that can be molded. In a child, it's pretty clear that the brain is plastic. Kid can make some pretty significant improvements after head injury. With adults for a long time, it was believed that if a significant head injury occurred, after the first year or so there would be no improvement. But obviously, we're seeing here and with some of the other cases I outline, that there is some plasticity in adults brains, as well, Anderson.

COOPER: Remarkable. Sanjay Gupta, it's good to have a neurosurgeon on the staff of CNN.

GUPTA: Glad to be here for you.

COOPER: Appreciate it.

What really happened inside those prison walls -- find out tonight. A 360 exclusive. The first America soldier punished for Abu Ghraib abuse. He's out of jail and ready to talk.

And the run away bride's future father-in-law says she is welcome back. But do her friends feel the same way? Tonight find out what they say about her state of mind and what might have led to her pre- marriage meltdown. 360 continues.

(END VIDEOTAPE) COOPER: A military panel of six people was selected today to decide just what punishment PFC Lynndie England will receive. Now, she's the soldier seen in a lot of those photos from Abu Ghraib Prison from the abuse scandal. And yesterday she pled guilty to seven charges against her. She's certainly not the only guilty party. One was convicted, six other Americans also entered guilty pleas. But with all the many investigation what is still not clear is why this all happened.

Tonight we're giving you an exclusive look inside Abu Ghraib with a young man who was there. And We'll learn what made him participate in the madness. The story of Armin Cruz is tonight's "World in 360."

Here's Ed Lavandera.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We met Armin Cruz in a parking lot near the Plano, Texas, house he's moved back into with his family.

(on camera): How's it going?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) Army.

LAVANDERA: Ed Lavandera.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ed.

Too long in Iraq and then, of course, the other thing...

LAVANDERA: We've come to talk about the Iraqi prison abuse scandal. It's not the kind of publicity families like, but Cruz is back home after serving a six and a half month prison sentence, Armin wants to talk. But instead of going to his house, he takes ups to his home away from home.

This is the Plano Martial Arts Academy. Armin has trained here since he was 11. He's trying to regain his old black belt form.

The war in Iraq kept Armin away for more than two years. This gym is even more special now. It's one of the few places where he can escape the scandal that followed him home.

ARMIN CRUZ, FORMER U.S. SOLDIER: These people know who I am. And they know what I went through for the most part. And there's no judging. They know deep down, I'm a pretty decent person.

LAVANDERA: The incident that haunts Armin lasted almost 30 minutes. Late at night on October 25th, 2003, guards were punishing three Iraqi inmates for raping a 15-year-old boy.

CRUZ: We had no idea what to do. And there was clearly no guidelines on what to do. And felt that these personnel should be punished for raping another person. And we took it a few steps too far, way too far. LAVANDERA: Cruz is seen in one of the infamous photos. He and other soldiers ordered the inmates to get naked, handcuffed them, and forced them to crawl on the floor. He says anger took over when he walked into the room.

CRUZ: My mind took over and went into a self-defense mode. I saw more of -- three insurgents or three mortar men, launching mortars at us. And injured me and killed many of my friends.

LAVANDERA: A month before that night, a mortar attack exploded in a tent where Cruz prepared for another night of work as an intelligence analyst. He pulled two men to safety and spent an hour trying to save his best friend's life. But in the end, Travis Frederick (ph) died.

CRUZ: Seeing a person with an arm blown off and brain matter coming out of his forehead, and multiple -- a couple of dozen wounds to the chest, it's going to stick with you and affect you.

LAVANDERA: Sergeant Frank Krapf was there. He says Cruz changed that night. Months of war and escaping death had taken its toll.

SGT. FRED KRAPF, U.S. ARMY: He wasn't his usual talkative and active and jovial, fun-loving and -- self.

LAVANDERA: Cruz earned a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star during his service in Iraq.

CRUZ: This is the Purple Heart citation award. And this is all I got for the Bronze Star one. Got a copy. The Army chose not to award it to me because of the court-martial incident.

LAVANDERA (on camera): Would it mean a lot to you to get it?

CRUZ: You have no idea. I sweat and bled in that country to earn it. And I would really love to be able to see it, the real certificate and the medal.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Cruz blames himself for what happened and doesn't want anyone to think he's making excuses. Prosecutors say the alleged rape that triggered the abuse that night might never have really happened, but Cruz is rebuilding his life. Now that a bad conduct discharge has ended his military career, his friends have faith Cruz will erase the scar.

PEGGY NOLAN, FRIEND OF CRUZ: He's probably punished himself worse than the Army did. I really do not think that that one small incident should be held against him for the rest of his life. I think that he has suffered enough.

LAVANDERA: Armin Cruz works out every day in this tae kwon do gym. He says he needs to rediscover the physical and the mental strength that escaped him that night in Abu Ghraib.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Plano, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: And we're joined now by the young man you just met, Armin Cruz himself, and by his attorney, Stephen Karns. We appreciate both of you being with us.

I want to show you that picture again, where you see yourself inside the prison. As you see that photo now, what do you think when you see it?

CRUZ: I think it's clearly a disgraceful thing. I partook with fellow soldiers in the abuse of detainees and didn't show the moral courage or the ability to stand up and stop anything.

COOPER: I think it's hard for a lot of people to put themselves in your shoes and put themselves in that photo. I want to read what Army Specialist Israel Rivera said about your involvement in the abuse. He said: "Cruz and the other people were making the prisoners act as though they were having sex, using their feet to push on the detainees' hips so they would be touching each other. The detainees were screaming for Allah, begging them, and begging me to make them stop."

As you look at it now, why do you think you did this?

CRUZ: Well, first off, I don't believe -- there's a couple of things out there that were false that never got proved in the court- martial proceedings. There was no homosexual acts. We were punishing, wrongfully so, clearly, but punishing people for raping a boy. Yes, they did get stripped down and they did get pushed around. They did get -- they were told to roll left and roll right.

COOPER: So you're saying there was no sexual content to what you were making them do?

CRUZ: There was no homosexual acts. That's what I'm saying, yes, sir.

COOPER: OK.

CRUZ: It's just something that he felt he said he needed to do, for whatever his reasons were.

COOPER: In the piece, you said that sort of the anger took over.

CRUZ: Absolutely.

COOPER: Explain that.

CRUZ: Like you said, like you saw in the piece, I walked in there, and shortly right after seeing these three rapists being punished, it didn't look like rapists to me anymore. And my mind's eye saw nothing but a bunch of Iraqis who attacked us and tried to kill us. And the rage and the anger took over inside me. And I wanted to get redemption for killing Travis (ph) and injuring me.

COOPER: You are not one of the people who posed with prisoners...

CRUZ: No.

COOPER: And Steven, you say that a difference should be made between your client, between Armin, and Lynndie England or Charles Graner, who are seen posing with naked prisoners. Why should there be a distinction made?

STEPHEN KARNS, CRUZ'S ATTORNEY: Absolutely. I mean, I think Armin's case is easily distinguishable from those cases, because first of all, he accepted responsibility from the very beginning...

COOPER: Pled guilty.

KARNS: Right.

CRUZ: Yes, sir.

COOPER: And the next day you actually reported...

CRUZ: The next morning.

COOPER: The next morning.

KARNS: The level of his involvement was a lot less. His involvement was for 20 or 30 minutes during the one-hour time period that he was there. He didn't initiate it. It wasn't his idea. He didn't orchestrate it.

And then, also, the mortar attack occurred a month before this. He watched one of his good friends die. I mean, his body was just torn apart. Soon thereafter, he asked for help from the combat stress team and didn't get that help. And I think, also, just not only his level of involvement, the context in which it occurred, but also just the overall total soldier. I mean, he had earned a Bronze Star leading up to that time period, and those soldiers hadn't. And I think their sentences will reflect that.

COOPER: And why did you the next day report what had happened?

CRUZ: I felt that the MP chain of command -- I went to the day shift NCOIC, which is a fancy way of saying the sergeant in charge, should be aware of what the night shift troops were doing and be able to handle it at whatever level he deems necessary.

COOPER: Because that's, I mean, in the military, that's a hard thing to do, to, you know, to talk about what your friends or what your -- your colleagues are doing.

CRUZ: There is definitely a sense of brotherhood. And it's multiplied by the sense of combat. But nonetheless, you need to do the right thing.

COOPER: Is your life forever changed by this? Or is this something you can move on from? I mean, you have done your time. You confessed. You served your sentence. CRUZ: I think everybody who goes to Iraq is going to come back a changed person, regardless of the situation. Come out unscathed, come out hurt, went to a court-martial or didn't. So I think everyone who goes is going to come back a different person on some level.

COOPER: Armin Cruz, I hope you're able to move on and you've done your time, and I appreciate you being with us tonight. And Stephen, thanks very much for being here also.

CRUZ: Thank you.

COOPER: Coming up next on 360, we're going to lighten up a little bit. The runaway bride, we're going to talk to one of her friends. Was there ever any clues that she would actually skip her wedding date?

Also tonight, several dolphins released back into open waters. A look at the rescue effort that saved their lives.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Well, Georgia officials are still investigating the events leading up to the disappearance of Jennifer Wilbanks. Now, they've yet to decide if they're going to press criminal charges or now, but, really, no matter what the legal trouble for Jennifer Wilbanks, her fiance, her family and her friends are still standing by her. The father of her fiance, John Mason, has told CNN that the run away bride, characterized by the media, is not the woman he knows. Earlier today I spoke with one of her friends, Cami Ledford and got a glimpse into Jennifer's personality.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Cami, you worked with Jennifer. You jogged with her. You went to one of her eight bridal showers. Does she love her fiance?

CAMI LEDFORD, FRIEND OF JENNIFER WILBANKS: Absolutely. I believe that without a shadow of a doubt.

COOPER: What makes you believe that? I mean, you must have had conversations with her. You must have observed her at the bridal shower.

LEDFORD: Yes, when we were talking at the bridal shower, I sat with her at the table, and you just can't fake the sparkle that was in her eyes. She talked about John. She absolutely loves him, from the bottom of her heart. I have no doubt in that.

COOPER: But -- and I don't want to be flip about this -- but, clearly, she is able to fake a lot of stuff, because she bought a bus ticket, about a week before she disappeared. I mean, clearly, she was trying to hide something or was in denial about something. Is she a very private person? Does she talk much about herself, her feelings?

LEDFORD: I've never really talked to her about her feelings. She is just such a pleasure to be around. She is always more worried about how you're doing. She always wants to know how I'm doing, how my children are doing -- never is really one to burden you with her problems. So, it's been a shock to all of us, something that we really didn't see coming.

COOPER: John Mason, her fiance, says he is standing by her. This is what he said yesterday.

JOHN MASON, JENNIFER WILBANKS' FIANCE: She wants to world to know that's not her, and she is very sorry, and she said, you know, in pain, and she's a victim here, as well. She wants everybody to know that, that she's got some things that she has got to figure out.

COOPER: Do you think Jennifer Wilbanks is a victim?

LEDFORD: I think, in a lot of ways, yes. She obviously has some issues that we as her friends were not aware of, and I do believe that she needs help.

COOPER: Her father-in-law, or future father-in-law, potential father-in-law, said to CNN that he hopes that she apologizes to him and to the others who were involved. Last night, the official from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said that she was kind of unapologetic, that she didn't really feel she had anything to apologize for. Do you think she has something to apologize for?

LEDFORD: I think that just in getting back to life, that it probably wouldn't be a bad idea for her to apologize, but that's really up to her, and her family. I'm sure they will reach that decision, soon.

COOPER: As a friend, as a friend who was worried about her when you thought she'd disappeared, been kidnapped, or whatever -- do you feel you personally need an apology?

LEDFORD: I do not, no. I don't take any of this personal. No one asked me to go out and look for her, and if she went missing tomorrow, I'd go out and look for her again. That's just what a friend does. I don't -- I'm not looking for any apology from Jennifer, no.

COOPER: Cami, you're a good friend, and we appreciate talking to you.

LEDFORD: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Time now for a look at other news making headlines at about quarter to the hour. Erica Hill joins us with the latest. Hey, Erica.

HILL: Hi, Anderson.

Iraq's new cabinet has taken office. Most of the politicians named to the transitional government were sworn in today. The group has a little more than three months to write a constitution which will be put before voters later this year. The new leaders must also find a way to curb Iraq's recent uptick in violence.

In New York City, former president Bill Clinton is giving bad food the boot. Clinton and Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee announced a 10-year plan to curb unhealthy eating among children and encourage more exercise. Clinton says he felt obliged to encourage healthy eating and exercise after his own personal struggle with heart disease.

And, in Los Angeles, "American Idol" under scrutiny. I know this is a tough one for you, Anderson, personally. Tomorrow night, ABC's "Prime Time Live" plans to air what it calls, quote, "explosive claims" about the behind-the-scenes activities on the hit Fox show. The focus will be on "Idol" judge Paula Abdul and former finalist Corey Clark who tells ABC he had a sexual relationship with Abdul. He also says Abdul gave him off-camera coaching, and even helped him choose songs to sing. Now, Fox, in response has released this statement saying, quote, "We will, of course, look into any evidence of improper conduct that we receive. In the meantime, we recommend that the public carefully examine Mr. Clark's motives, given his apparent desire to exploit his prior involvement with 'American Idol' for profit and publicity."

And, that's the latest from Headline News at this hour. More to come, though, I have a feeling, tomorrow, after the airing of the...

COOPER: Wasn't that -- weren't the guys' 15 minutes up, like, a year ago?

HILL: Likely, yes, but I think he also has a book coming out or something?

COOPER: Oh, really? What a coincidence. Amazing.

HILL: It's odd, the way these things all...

COOPER: And it's amazing -- isn't it sweeps month?

HILL: I believe it is!

COOPER: Wow. Man, the coincidence...

HILL: It's just funny. The universe is just really wacky sometimes, huh?

COOPER: It's all about, you know, timing. That's what it is. Erica Hill, see you again in about 30 minutes.

Coming up next on 360, a lot more. Saving the dolphins: they were stranded weeks ago. Now they are returning to the wild. Yes, born free. Free willy. An inside look at the rescue efforts in Florida.

A little later -- the fat gap. Your salary could affect -- did you ever notice how fat people have no heads on television? Why is that? Anyway, the fat gap: how your salary could affect your waistline.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Freedom at last for seven rough-toothed dolphins that had been stuck in the Florida Keys. Today volunteers from the Marine Mammal Conservatory brought the mammals about 14 nautical miles off Key Largo and let them go, almost simultaneously. They will be tracked by satellite for about six weeks. The dolphins were among the dozens that grounded in the Middle Keys on March 2. Many of them died; five are still being treated.

Earlier, CNN's John Zarrella spent some time with the volunteers who worked many days and night to make this happen. He takes us, tonight, "Beyond the Headlines."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fantastic. All right. Good girl.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The dolphins needed her help. That was reason enough to be here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, guys that are here for the 12 o'clock shift? You guys can come down here real quick, and get some instructions cause I'm finished suiting up -- that'd be great.

ZARRELLA: More than two dozen rough-toothed dolphins required around-the-clock care.

BANICK: This is going to be my team right here, my name is Kate.

ZARRELLA: For 25-year-old Kate Banick, and the others who came to save the dolphins, this was the most challenging, demanding part of the work.

The animals in a penned off area of a rehabilitation facility had to be hand-fed three times a day. Members of Banick's team held their mouths open with pieces of cloth as she fed them dead herring.

BANICK: It's not natural for them. These guys eat live fish. Today we made the first critical steps in getting them to eat dead fish, and to eat them out of our hands.

ZARRELLA: Banick, a wildlife biologist, came here with a whole lot of determination. She would need every bit of it.

The locals said it was the largest mass stranding they had ever seen. In early March, an estimated 80 dolphins struggled to survive in the chilly shallows off Marathon in the Florida Keys. Some made it back to deep water. Many died. Most of the survivors were loaded carefully on a truck.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One, two, three, lift. OK.

ZARRELLA: In a supermarket semi, 26 who couldn't make it out to sea themselves, were taken to the Marine Mammal Conservancy Rehabilitation Facility in Key Largo. It was their only chance at survival.

BANICK: Every one of these guys was kind of a free chance. If we hadn't stepped in at all, no one had stepped in these guys all probably would have 100 percent died on those shores.

ZARRELLA (on camera): Two of the dolphins, the critical care patients, and one under-weight baby are kept here in this tank where they get constant care. Katey (ph) and Vicky (ph) are literally keeping the dolphins afloat.

(voice-over): The volunteers are in the pool 24/7, holding the animals and keeping their blow holes out of the water so they can breathe. A veterinarian injects the dolphins with vitamin E to help with muscle cramping. These mammals are unable to eat on their own. Kate Banick uses a feeding tube to get them the nutrition they need.

BANICK: Lift the tube. Get all that good stuff in their bellies. So she feels better.

ZARRELLA: As the weeks roll by, the survivors are becoming stronger, more aggressive during feedings. Red 363, the animals are identified by numbers, accidentally gets both the fish and Lloyd Brown's (ph) hand. It's not serious. The pace here is all at once grueling, rewarding and disturbing. Now more than one month into the rehabilitation effort only 12 of the original 26 are still alive.

BANICK: It is saddening when you lose one. It's definitely something you're not looking forward to. But there's really no time to dwell on that because there's so much hope in the future for the rest of them.

ZARRELLA: Banick wonders, has the care, the medication been right? There's not much hard science on how to save a dolphin, it's learn as you go.

(on camera): So, there could be a couple that are pregnant?

BANICK: There could be. Actually one of the one in the tank we're looking at we're suspecting. She's pretty wide, but she could just be a big girl.

ZARRELLA (voice-over): This is a marathon, not a sprint, likely to last weeks not days. Another sunset -- Banick is going on her 30th straight hour. She's seen two since she last slept. Another group of volunteers mans the fence perimeter, shivering in wet suits beneath a sliver of moonlight. As long as there is hope, they will be here.

John Zarrella, CNN, Key Largo, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: And seven of those dolphins released into the water today.

Let's find out what is coming up at the top of the hour on "PAULA ZAHN NOW." Hey, Paula.

PAULA ZAHN, HOST, PAULA ZAHN NOW: Hi, Anderson, thanks.

BTK is our focus tonight. Please join me at the top of the hour for an emotional interview with Steve Relford who watched BTK kill his mother when he was 5-years-old. Today he was in court to witness suspect Dennis Rader's arraignment. We'll also, Anderson, be talking to the district attorney who will be prosecuting the case to get a better sense of what she sees as some of the greatest challenges as she proceeds on this case against Dennis Rader. It should be interesting.

COOPER: Absolutely. About six minutes from now. Thanks, Paula.

Coming up next on 360, does your salary affect how much weight you gain? Closing the fat gap is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: We have been getting a lot of e-mail from you about the missing bride story. Some of you were unhappy with our coverage.

But Robin from Arlington, Virginia, got personal. She writes, "Come on Anderson, cut Jennifer Wilbanks some slack. We all know intelligent, rational women who become psycho brides-to-be in the weeks preceding their weddings. Multiply that times 14 bridesmaids and 600 guest, and the only surprise is that she didn't snap earlier. Give her a break; we all make mistakes. The Mole?"

Man, Robin, that was low. That was very, I have low.

Christine from Parkland, Florida writes, "Anderson, you are usually so calm cool and debonair, much like Fox Muldaur," although I think it was spelled wrong," on 'X Files,' so my husband and I both had to laugh when you were at such a loss of words over the words claim you cleavage lady," used. "We think you were even blushing."

In case you missed it we had a guest last night who suddenly showered herself with confetti while mumbling something about her cleavage. And yes, it did kind of leave me speechless. Any time someone, you know, comes with her own confetti I find a little odd.

Got something on your mind send us an e-mail. Just go to cnn.com/360. Click on the instant feedback link.

Tonight taking the quality to "The Nth Degree." Hey, good news. No kidding. The gap between rich and poor in this country has narrowed dramatically over the course of the last 35 years. Not the wealth gap, the fat gap. It used to be far fewer people making more than $60,000 a year were overweight, than people making $25,000 or under. In 1971, for instance, your fat cats, mostly weren't fat. Less than 10 percent of the better off were obese, as opposed to more than 30 percent of the less welloff.

But look now, in every category at the top and bottom and in between, the American waist has ballooned absolutely democraticly. So that we are -- all of us, however much we earn, porky to just about the same tune, 30 percent give or take a couple of doughnuts. Tell you what, if we weren't already swollen with fries, we'd have reason now to swell with pride.

None of that toffee-nosed British separation of the classes for us, with tall, reedy (ph) aristocrats and lumpy regular folk. No, sir, this is the USA. You can't tell the rich from the poor in this country just by looking. Whether we need to tighten our belts or not, we can't.

All right, we're not all rolling in dough, but we are all rolling. It's a start.

I'm Anderson Cooper, thanks for watching 360. CNN's prime time coverage continues right now with Paula Zahn. Hey, Paula.

END

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