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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

Australian Sentenced to 20 Years in Indonesia; Iraq Insurgents Continue Operations; Viagra Possibly Linked to Blindness; Tom DeLay vs. "Law & Order"

Aired May 27, 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, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening everyone. A young woman sent to a foreign jail for a crime she swears she didn't commit. 360 starts now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): Australians outraged.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't why you had a bloody trial. They didn't take anything of our witnesses into account.

COOPER: A beauty school student found guilty of drug smuggling. Her sentence stuns a nation. Tonight, is Schapelle Corby really a drug smuggler, or has she been framed for a crime she didn't commit?

Dead or alive? Iraq's most wanted man, Abu Musab al Zarqawi. A terror Web site says he's still in charge, others say he's badly wounded. Tonight, if Zarqawi is gone, what happens to the fighting in Iraq?

Designer knock-offs, a $1 billion industry, but where is the money going? Tonight, accusations from Capitol Hill that terrorists profit when you buy faked goods.

Can Viagra cause blindness? New warning labels being considered. Tonight, separating from fact from fiction about the dangers of the little blue pill.

And he came face-to-face with nature nature's fury on the high seas. Tonight, hear how this man survived tethered to his boat 300 miles from land.

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

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: And a good Friday evening to you.

We begin with the wave of shock and anger rolling across Australia. Reaction to the drama unfolding far away in an Indonesian courtroom, where an Australian woman was convicted today of smuggling drugs and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Schapelle Corby says she is innocent. Her family is outraged.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Schapelle will be coming home soon. I don't know why you had the bloody trial. They didn't take any of our witnesses into account!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Tonight, CNN international's Becky Anderson has more on the controversial case and its tumultuous end as we take a look at our world in 360.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The story begins with this happy photo of 27-year-old Australian beauty school student Schapelle Corby, her brother and two friends, as they headed off to a beach vacation in Bali in Indonesia. That's when the group arrived there, police arrested her after finding roughly nine pounds of marijuana in her luggage.

SCHAPELLE CORBY, CONVICTED OF DRUG SMUGGLING: I swear, my God is my witness. I did not know the marijuana was in my bag.

ANDERSON: Corby's defense was that someone else had placed the drugs in her bag. But, under Indonesian law she had to prove it. Facing the potential of a death penalty or life in prison, emotions ran high throughout the trial. There were fainting spells and outbursts from family members.

Corby's case is being a cause celeb on both sides of issue. With Indonesian anti-drug campaigners calling for her conviction while Australians, including actor Russell Crowe, have been coming to her defense.

RUSSELL CROWE, ACTOR: When there is such doubt, how we can as a country stand by and let a young lady, as an Australian, rot away in a foreign prison. That is ridiculous.

ANDERSON: Yet the three-judge panel deciding Corby's fate was unimpressed by her claims of innocence, essentially ruling out evidence from every defense witness and convicting her of the crime.

The actions of the accused were a danger to the community. The judgment read. This was a transnational crime that could damage the minds of young people.

From the back of the courtroom, Corby's mother and sister continued to defend her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not all right! How dare you!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We swore on the Bible to tell the truth and your fellow lied!

ANDERSON: As she left the courtroom for the last time, Corby tried to calm her family. And from her mother, shouted words of encouragement.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Schapelle, you will come home. Our country will bring you home.

ANDERSON: But outside of courtroom, a far angrier mood as her sister read a statement to the press.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To our family and friends, we love you all. Schapelle is innocent. This is unfair and unjust. The case now enters a phase and we will stand by Schapelle every step the way. The laywers have done their best. And with the support all of the Australians, thank you. Schapelle will be coming home soon. I don't know why they had bloody trial. They didn't take any of our witnesses into account!

ANDERSON: And this is how we last saw Schapelle Corby, being hustled Karaboten (ph) Prison to begin her penalty. Not death, or even life, but still a 20-year sentence.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: And Anderson, Corby's lawyers say they will appeal. And the Australian government is also offering to send two lawyers to aid in the appeal. There are also negotiations under way to let Corby serve her term in Australia -- Anderson.

COOPER: Yeah. What is reaction been like in Australia? I know they're paying attention very closely?

ANDERSON: Well, best described as an ocean of emotion I would say. There has been a huge outpouring of sympathy, of anger and now of shock. Australians have followed every twist and turn in this extraordinary story. They were glued to their TV sets. And we saw the pictures as the verdict was broadcast live to the nation.

Let me tell you, this is why a recent survey showed 90 percent of Australians believed that the beautician from Queensland is innocent. Buying the defense case, which says the drugs were planted on her by baggage handlers, as part of a fairly sophisticated smuggling operation that evidently went wrong. Nine out of 10 Australians pushed the fact that she has no criminal convictions. And there's absolutely no evidence of drug involvement in the past -- in her past.

And perhaps, Anderson, more importantly, she's not prepared to say she is guilty even though that would mean the potential for a pardon. And the problem here is that without an admission of guilt, the appeal process is a nonstarter -- Anderson.

COOPER: All right, Becky Anderson, thanks very much.

Well, Schapelle Corby's ordeal puts a spotlight on harsh drug laws. And not just those in Indonesia. Around the globe, sentences range from deportations, to beats, prison and even the death penalty. Once you are caught, there's usually no easy way out. CNN's Brian Todd investigates.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You took the word of a liar! And he's one of your people!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How dare you!

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Schapelle Corby's 20-year sentence may seem harsh, but experts say her claim that she didn't know she was carrying marijuana into Indonesia carried little weight with the judges.

DICK ATKINS, INTERNATIONAL ATTORNEY: In most countries, if you have drugs in your possession, in your suitcase or on you, the fact that you don't know about it or you were set up or you were carrying someone else's bag that is no excuse whatsoever, and you're going to be sentenced to the full extent of the law.

TODD: Dick Atkins is an international attorney who's worked with hundreds of clients accused of drug possession or trafficking while traveling abroad.

Combining Atkins' expertise with information on the U.S. State Department's Web site, we found the countries where foreign nationals are most likely to actually be executed for possession or trafficking in drugs -- China, Iran, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Singapore.

On occasion, in Saudi Arabia and Singapore, possession of narcotics can result in a sentence of beating then deportation or prison.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stop!

TODD: Corby could have gotten the death penalty in Indonesia, but it's rare for a foreign national to be executed there. Dick Atkins says the same is true in Thailand. But he says, in many of these countries, your fate depends on your nationality.

ATKINS: There is a double standard. And quite often, if you're from Africa, if you're from a developing country, you'll be executed. There aren't that many people protesting or making a big fuss. But our State Department and the media, if you're a westerner, will make a big fuss.

TODD: But escaping the death penalty doesn't always mean escaping death. Atkins says, in so many developing nations, especially in Africa and South America, where they don't have the death penalty, prison conditions are so bad you're just as likely to die inside.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Here's a fast fact on how you can prevent someone from tampering with our own luggage in this post-9/11 world. The Transportation Security Administration has approved this lock which they can open with special tools in case they need to physically inspect your bags, because you know they don't want you to lock your bags with just any old lock. This lock will prevent them from damaging your own locks or luggage.

The TSA's tools only work with locks from two specific companies -- Travel Century and Safe Skies. Coming up next tonight on 360, startling claims about impotence drugs, talking about like Viagra and Cialis. New reports saying they can cause blindness. Maybe your mother was right. 28 million men take this stuff. Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports. You should not miss this one.

And a big surprise in the Michael Jackson trial today after that so-called confession tape was shown, both sides rested their cases. Is it good news or bad news for Jackson, though. We are live at the courthouse.

And a little later, the pets left behind when soldiers go off to war. Heartbreaking story. Remember this little dog? Scrappy Dappy Doo, they called him, we brought you last night? We will give you an update on what has happened to him and other dogs.

All that ahead. First your pick, the most popular stories on CNN.com right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: There's a disturbing new report out tonight about a possible devastating side effect of popular impotence drugs like Viagra and Cialis. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is investigating whether the drugs cause a rare form of blindness. Already, the government is looking into reports that 38 users of Viagra suffered permanent vision loss. To put that in perspective, 28 million men take these drugs, so 38 is a relatively small number, but alarming nevertheless. 360 MD Dr. Sanjay Gupta is following the story, joins us from Atlanta with the latest -- Sanjay.

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, yeah, the numbers are very small, that's the first thing to point out here; 38 Viagra users, also four Cialis users and one user of Levitra having these sorts of problems.

Important to put this in context a little bit. There has been some known visual problems with Viagra in the past. Not blindness per se, but difficulties with colors. Actually, seeing bluish and greenish hues after use of this particular medication. So there is a little bit of a history there.

But now what we're specifically talking about is a sort of stroke-like thing in the back of the eye. That's the optic nerve there. Those are some of the blood vessels actually turning dark. That's what happens in this particular condition, and what is causing a permanent sort of visual problem here.

We're talking about all of the various drugs for erectile dysfunction, again, Viagra, Levitra and Cialis. If you look at that, again you see the animation there, but what's important to point out is that this is just an association. No one yet, Anderson is drawing an exact link between any of these medications and blindness. They're saying they're seeing this in small numbers. They're investigating a little bit further right now, Anderson.

COOPER: All right. I want to listen to what the Pfizer Vice President Michael Berelowitz had to say about the reported problems linked to his drug, to Viagra. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL BERELOWITZ, PFIZER: We've looked in 103 studies at 13,000 patients. And basically remembering, these are the patients who have erectile dysfunction. These are people who have erectile dysfunction by the very people who will be taking this treatment, and we did not see any cases, we did not see any cases of NAION in those studies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: I mean, he seems to be inferring there's absolutely no connection. What have these studies found?

GUPTA: You know, it's interesting, Anderson. I have talked to the researchers who actually conducted these studies in detail about this. What you will find, first of all, interestingly, is if you look at this sort of stroke condition of the eye, it exists in the general population among people who have never taken one of these medications. That's worth pointing out.

But in the people who did take the medications, what got everyone's antenna sort of up was the timing association. Meaning, they take the medication, then they'd have a visual problem. They wouldn't take the medication, they didn't have a visual problem. Then they would take it again, and the visual problem would come back. So it was that timing that sort of got everyone sort of concerned.

Again, it's an association at this point. They haven't proven that it actually causes this, but they do say that the same people who are most likely to be taking these drugs, Viagra, Cialis and Levitra, are also the same people who are more likely to just have these strokes in the first place. So it's hard to figure out what's causing what here, Anderson.

COOPER: So a patient comes to you and says, should I stop taking these? Should I keep taking them? What do you tell them?

GUPTA: Well, first of all, you know, there's no direct link now between the drugs and the blindness. So you can't say for sure to stop taking these medications. If you've ever had a problem with your eyes in the past, if you are at high risk because of high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, history of smoking, things like that, then you could be at higher risk for stroke. Then it's probably worth talking to your doctors about. Numbers are very small, Anderson. Most of the people watching today, they will never have this happen to them.

COOPER: All right. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, appreciate it.

We're following a couple of other stories right now cross country and around the world. Erica Hill from HEADLINE NEWS has that at about 16 past the hour. Hey, Erica.

ERICA HILL, CNN HEADLINE NEWS ANCHOR: Hi, Anderson.

Saudi Arabia's King Fahd is in the hospital. A Saudi diplomatic source says the 82-year-old monarch is suffering from pneumonia-like symptoms. Fahd's condition is said to be quite serious, though not necessarily life-threatening. Special forces that protect the royal family have been told to be on alert.

On now to Santa Maria, California. A surprise in the Michael Jackson trial case. Both sides have rested. Ted Rowlands is live at the courthouse for us -- Ted.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Erica, the jury has heard all the evidence in this case. The last evidence they saw was a videotape of the accuser detailing the alleged molestation to sheriff deputies. We expected that after that tape was played, we would hear from the defense, but in somewhat dramatic fashion, the defense rested as well after the tape was played. Jurors had been given a four-day break. They'll hear closing arguments most likely Wednesday of next week, and they could get the case as early as Thursday -- Erica.

HILL: Tough to believe we may actually be nearing the end. Ted Rowlands, live for us in Santa Maria, thanks.

On to Atlanta, Georgia. Fifty-one hours now and counting. These are live pictures of a murder suspect perched 18 stories above the street atop a construction crane. He's been there since Wednesday afternoon. Police say he has refused offers for food and water. They'd been busy trying to talk him down.

And in Lima, Peru, steed off the stage! Check this one out. A horse carrying a model dressed in a wedding gown falls off the catwalk. It happened yesterday at a benefit fashion show held for diplomats at the Brazilian embassy.

COOPER: Aye!

HILL: Surprisingly -- yeah, aye is right. No one including the horse...

COOPER: Ahh!

HILL: ... was seriously hurt, but it's hurting you. The video is killing you, huh?

COOPER: Yeah. Well, I am glad the horse wasn't hurt or anyone else. You know, there's a great philosopher who once said something which I think is a propos to this. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ah, it hurts. It's painful. But no one's dead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Just keep that in mind. No one's dead.

HILL: Do it. Do it.

COOPER: Our thanks to Rick Sanchez for letting us play that again. Appreciate it.

HILL: We appreciate it.

COOPER: Erica Hill, thank you. Always good to talk to you. See you again...

HILL: You win this one, by the way.

COOPER: Surprise -- we like to surprise each other with things from time to time.

Coming up, we'll talk again in about 30 minutes.

Coming up on 360, is Bill Frist on the ropes? Charges the senator's role as majority leader could be doing damage to any ambitions he has to be the president. We'll look into that.

And, a remarkable story. This guy's boat was hammered by storms. He was 300 miles from land. The boat flipped. He bobbed in the ocean waiting for a rescue. He was tethered to a dying crewmate. Incredible story of survival tonight.

Also later, an update on Scrappy Dappy Doo -- that dog abandoned by soldiers gone to war. He may be getting some happy news thanks to some viewers out there. We'll tell you about it ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: The Memorial Day holiday weekend couldn't come sooner for Senator Bill Frist, after all this has been a pretty rough week for the majority leader. The Republican lawmaker has had a few political setbacks, you might say. And that could be problem for a man who may want to be president.

CNN's Ed Henry reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As a heart surgeon, Bill Frist knows the most important rule of medicine. First, do no harm. But like Bob Dole before him, Frist is now learning a nasty rule about the Senate, being majority leader can sometimes do nothing but harm to your presidential ambitions. A lesson drilled home during a brutal week, which started with moderates dealing Frist a blow on judicial filibusters, and ended with Democrats outfoxing Frist to block the nomination of John Bolton. CHUCK TODD, EDITOR, THE HOTLINE: And now Democrats are smelling blood in the water and they went after him hard. He's got to get Bolton through. If he doesn't get Bolton through ought all, I think that Frist is going to feel like he has worst problems than he does now.

HENRY: Frist was left flustered in pointing the finger on Thursday night, when Democrats mustered enough votes to stop Bolton, President Bush's pick to be ambassador to the United Nations.

SEN. BILL FRIST (R), MAJORITY LEADER: But I think what America has just seen is an engagement of another period of obstruction by the other side of the aisle, and it looks like we have, once again, another filibuster.

HENRY: Frist, though, can't just blame Democrats for his woes. His efforts to champion conservative causes have generated heat from various quarters. Some conservatives were furious he couldn't stop seven of his own troops from cutting the deal that adverted a nuclear showdown over the president's judicial nominees. And medical expert were upset when Frist intervened in the case of Terri Schiavo, a cause celeb for conservatives. The criticism, Frist offering a medical opinion by watching videotapes of the brain-damaged woman.

FRIST: And I would simply ask, maybe she's not in this vegetative state, and she's in this minimally conscience state in which case the diagnoses upon which this whole case has been based would be incorrect.

HENRY: But political analysts note the presidential race is three years away, so the majority leader has time to recover.

TODD: He's in a powerful fund-raising spot. That said, he's got some work to do.

HENRY: That work will be complicated by the debate over embryonic stem cell research, a majority of the Senate, including many Republicans, wants to increase federal funding for the research. But president has threatened to veto, putting Frist in the hot seat yet again. Such complications may explain why, out on the campaign trail out in New Hampshire, Frist has already started reminding voters, he's got a tough job balancing so many egos.

FRIST: Being majority leaders is like being the groundskeeper at a cemetery.

(LAUGHTER)

FRIST: You've got a lot of people underneath you, but nobody's paying any attention.

HENRY: Frist is just hoping the joke isn't on him.

Ed Henry, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE) COOPER: Dead or alive, Iraq's most wanted man, Abu Musab al- Zarqawi. A terror Web site says he's still in charge. Others say he's badly wounded. Tonight, if Zarqawi is gone, what happens to the fighting in Iraq?

Designer knock-offs -- a billion-dollar industry, but where is the money going? Tonight, accusations from Capitol Hill that terrorists profit when you buy faked goods.

And he came face-to-face with nature's fury on the high seas. Tonight, hear how this man survived tethered to his boat 300 miles from land. 360 continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Tonight, we're getting another conflicting report about the health of the most wanted man in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. An Islamic Web site says the Jordanian militant quote, "Well and leading the jihadi operations." Earlier this week, Internet postings reported that the terrorist Zarqawi was wounded. Truth is, we do not know what his condition is, if he's alive or dead. The question is does it really matter? Judging by what you're about to see, the answer may be no.

CNN's Ryan Chilcote takes us "beyond the Headlines."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Young Abu al- Haraf (ph) receives a final farewell from his comrades before getting in the truck.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): One push on this button, and I'll be with God in heaven.

CHILCOTE: Moments later, his truck is barreling along towards, the narrator tells us, a group of U.S. soldiers. Then there's an explosion.

It's all part of a propaganda video for the terrorist organization Unity of God and Jihad, known since late last year as al Qaeda in Iraq, run by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. But if Zarqawi is severely wounded or even dead, would the insurgency change?

BRIG. GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS, U.S. ARMY (RET.): We will see no change. If Zarqawi is completely out of the picture, if he's dead, if he's been removed from country and he can't be brought back in because of concern for his life, then somebody else is going to step up.

CHILCOTE: Besides, these analysts say, he has already rendered himself nearly irrelevant. Maybe making major decisions, but mostly delegating to a terror network that has seen explosive growth.

And Zarqawi's network is not the only independent-minded part of the insurgency. Almost all the analysts agree there's a sizable portion of terror mercenaries out there, professional bandits ready to carry out any act of violence in exchange for money.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We're here at your place. We killed two of them, and they went away. We're going to stop them.

CHILCOTE: And there is a so-called home-grown indigenous Iraqi resistance, made up primarily of Ba'athist supporters of the former regime and against the U.S.'s presence.

The Ba'athists are a powerful force in the insurgency. Experts say they're well funded with stolen millions from the former regime. They have good organizational skills as former soldiers under Saddam. And they are mostly secular, but not letting ideological differences get in the way of a common cause, willing to work with other terror groups.

BOBBY GHOSH, "TIME" MAGAZINE: They sometimes work together, but they like to keep each other at a certain arm's length. They see each other as the enemy's enemy, but not quite as a friend.

CHILCOTE: U.S. military commanders thought the big turnout in Iraq's first Democratic election in half a century would take the steam out of the insurgency, but not for long. Now the insurgents are said to be setting their sights on spoiling Democratic milestones to come.

So how to stop them? The consensus seems to be the U.S. will have to just wait it out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The best thing the U.S. military can do is to make it clear that they are going to stay the course for as long as it takes. It's a marathon. You know, whoever runs out of breath first loses.

CHILCOTE: And a loss to the insurgents would allow Zarqawi's network and all the different terror factions to see their dream of Iraq realized.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, a different kind of terror warning was issued this week by a U.S. senator in the form a consumer alert. Senator Susan Collins of Maine says, and I quote, "counterfeiting, because it's extremely lucrative and easy to get into, is the mechanism that terrorist groups have discovered and are exploiting."

The senator's comments were prompted by testimony from U.S. law enforcement officials who told the Senate Homeland Security Committee they'd traced profits from counterfeit goods to supporters of terrorist organizations like Hezbollah or Hamas.

So, buying knock off designer handbags or pirated DVDs may, ultimately, help terrorists according to this senator. Scary thought, since counterfeit goods are regularly available. CNN's Deborah Feyerick found out during a walk during New York City's streets.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A long canal street in virtually every store selling handbags, buying a knock-off is pretty easy. It's just a matter of knowing how.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I swapped the tag over.

FEYERICK (on camera): To put the Prada over?

(voice-over): One way is swapping the tag, replacing a no name bag with a name brand label like Gucci, Kate Spade, Chanel.

With our hidden camera filming, this guy went in the back to get a Prada label. In another store, when our CNN producer ask, one watchful clerk warned the other to be careful.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ...a couple of them. Be careful.

FEYERICK: Sellers nervous, because of police raids that have largely forced the trade underground. What used to be out front, is now under the counter.

Former N.Y.P.D. detective Andrew Oberfeldt worked Canal Street for years helping seize counterfeit goods. Now a private eye, he helps big companies protect their labels. Under a recent walk together, it didn't take long before everyone knew we were there.

(on camera): It's fascinating when one of the women saw us coming, she took her merchandise and started putting it away and then everybody got out their Nextels and started radioing each other. So, there's a real communication network, even on this one block.

ANDREW OBERFELDT, FRM. NYPD DETECTIVE: Well, the blocks are organized. They're all friend and neighbors in a lot of instances. They might be from the same province or they've just -- from having shops next to each other, they look out for one another.

FEYERICK (voice-over): And when he says the blocks are organized, that's police talk.

BRIAN O'NEIL, DEPUTY INSPECTOR, NYPD: This isn't, know you, someone just on the street making a quick dollar. These things are manufactured. They're then sold, they're imported. You're talking about a very large business.

So, it's not just a simple, well let me buy this for 20 bucks. It's a good bargain. You are supporting organized crime.

FEYERICK: Around the world, counterfeit goods equals a $300 to $500 billion a year business. And experts say it leads it all sorts of crimes.

TIM TRAINER, INTERNATIONAL ANTICOUNTERFEITING COALITION: I think most people wouldn't want to think of themselves as spend anything money that may go toward promoting child labor, trafficking in narcotics, things like that. FEYERICK: The thing is it's not illegal to buy the phony goods, it's only illegal to sell them. Ask detective John Markey. He'll tell you everyone knows where to get them.

JOHN MARKEY, NYPD COUNTERFEIT UNIT: The tour bus actually stops there, I think. It's one of their big stops there.

FEYERICK (on camera): Is that frustrating on some levels?

MARKEY: It's very frustrating.

FEYERICK: There's an endless people of supply to buy these things.

MARKEY: Right. And there's and endless supply of material. It's to a point now where it is out of control. It's -- I mean, you go anywhere. You go all over the place. Like you said, Canal Street, you walk down Canal Street and it's all over the place.

FEYERICK (voice-over): Because for sellers the risks are pretty low.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you had a handful of heroin, that would that put you in jail for 24 years, eight to 24 years. If you had a truckload full of handbags, you're not going to do any jail time. In federal court you might, but it's really the exception not the rule.

FEYERICK (on camera): We blurred the faces of store clerks in this story, because even though they're break the law, none had been arrested or charged with a crime. We contacted business organizations in Chinatown, and the only one that would comment told us over the phone, it is nothing do with stores that sell fake merchandise.

The vendors themselves quickly ducked into their stores whether they saw us passing with cameras. By the time we finished our walk down one block of Canal Street, we had more than a dozen young men following us and the ex-detective with us recognized them as being part the counterfeit operation.

Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Coming up tonight on 360, a routine trip becomes a nightmare at sea. Find out how one man braved the deadly ocean waters tethered to his boat and made it out alive. We'll tell you how.

Plus, is "Law & Order" going after House Majority Leader Tom DeLay? Go inside the buzz on Capitol Hill tonight.

And remember these guy? Scrappy Dappy Doo, they called him. A dog abandoned by soldiers on their way to Iraq. A lot of them face being put to sleep, and a lot of you responded to they're plight. An update on Scrappy Dappy and other pups that have been left behind.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COOPER: Well, millions of viewers tuned in this week to watch "Lost" on ABC. It was the season finale. But you are about to meet one man who knows all too well what is like to be lost at sea. A routine trip to sea became a fight to stay alive for one Connecticut man. Here is Dan Lothian.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LOCHLIAN REIDY, LOST AT SEA: Big picture of the Hartford Courant. This was taken as I was getting onto the Coast Guard boat.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 58-year-old Lochlian Reidy has been to hell and back. And it all happened in 24 hours.

REIDY: And I was upside down in the ocean, tumbling in the ocean. I couldn't see at that point, the salt had gotten into my eyes.

LOTHIAN: Reidy, who was first mate, and four others had been sailing from Connecticut to Bermuda earlier this month. He had made the crossing more than a dozen times. There was no reason to be nervous.

REIDY: Not any concern at all.

LOTHIAN (on camera): You had done this many times before?

REIDY: Yep.

LOTHIAN: You knew what it was like.

REIDY: I knew what the boat could do or could take.

LOTHIAN (voice-over): But the Almeisan, the 45-foot-long sailboat was about to be pushed to extremes, as halfway to their destination, the crew got trapped in a violent storm.

REIDY: It just started to get stronger and stronger and stronger.

LOTHIAN: Then it happened.

REIDY: In the blink of an eye, I didn't even have time to think about what had happened.

RONALD BURD, SAILOR: Sounded like a car dropped on the -- on the boat.

REIDY: And he just slipped it over you.

LOTHIAN: Reidy was wearing this harness, tethered to the boat, when he and two other crew members who were also strapped in were thrown into the Atlantic.

As the boat righted itself, they all climbed back on, but the damage was done. BURD: It blew out the windshield, which is like a two-by-five foot plexiglas.

REIDY: The water was well over my knees. So we were taking on water.

LOTHIAN (on camera): The retiree who works part-time for a storm water management company says he and the captain, 65-year-old Thomas Tighe, began preparing the crew to abandoned ship. But while struggling to control a life raft in winds that reached 55 miles per hour, another wave hit.

REIDY: It washed Tom off the stern of the boat, flipped the life raft upside down and me out of it, and then into the ocean, and tore all the lines away from the yacht.

LOTHIAN (voice-over): The captain and first mate watched as the life raft and the heavily-damaged sailboat with three on board quickly drifted away. In the violent seas, 300 miles away from land, they linked their harness lines, and Reidy prayed.

REIDY: I said, are we ever going to get saved? Is this going to turn out OK?

LOTHIAN: He says a cloud shaped like the hand signal for OK reassured him, as did warm thoughts of seeing his daughters again. But every 30 to 40 seconds, monster waves chipped away at his determination to survive.

REIDY: They were very dark, menacing. They were steep. The top of the wave would just curl right over and come down. Just fall on top of you. There would be waves on top of waves.

LOTHIAN: Breathing without taking in water became difficult. For the captain, it soon became impossible.

REIDY: As I was just swimming over to give him mouth-to-mouth, he just looked really distressed, and at that point, he just -- you could see he just expired.

So, I made up my mind's mission to get him home, somehow. And my thoughts at that point were, for that to happen, I had to be found. And for that to happen, I had to be alive. So I would do everything I could to make it happen.

LOTHIAN: Back on the battered sailboat, the crew struggled to stay afloat for 14 hours, before the Coast Guard, following an emergency positioning device, located and rescued them.

BURD: I always felt I'd make it. I knew we'd make it.

LOTHIAN: But Reidy, with a beacon to attract attention, was bobbing in the ocean, still connected to the body of his friend. One search plane had come and gone. He began drifting into hallucinations. REIDY: First I saw was the Nautilus gym and all the equipment associated with the Nautilus gym. I'm floating into it. And shortly after that, I saw a porch with -- a wooden porch.

LOTHIAN: Then he thought he saw a ship, about to drift behind palm trees.

(on camera): There are obviously no palm trees out there.

REIDY: Well, there wasn't anything out there. But there was a ship, though. The ship was real.

LOTHIAN (voice-over): Some 24 hours after his nightmare began, the crew of a merchant tanker, which had been on the lookout, dropped a cargo net and pulled him to safety.

The sailboat captain's body, which had drifted away during the rescue, was recovered about an hour later.

REIDY: Just so many well-wishers.

LOTHIAN: Back home in Connecticut, Reidy, who had been comforted by cards and calls from close friends, now walks with a slight limp after injuring his right knee. And he has a few scrapes and bruises. But he survived with a new respect for the sea.

REIDY: You may think you have it all figured out, but if the sea wants to, if nature wants to, it'll trick you, and you just have to resolve yourself to overcome whatever it is that it's done to you.

LOTHIAN: Dan Lothian, CNN, Woodbridge, Connecticut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Man, I can't even imagine what that's like. Erica Hill from HEADLINE NEWS joins us now with the latest, about 15 to the hour. Hey, Erica.

HILL: Anderson, an explosion strikes a Muslim shrine in Pakistan, killing at least 17 people. Several hundred other people were inside the shrine at the time of the bombing. There are conflicting reports right now as to the origin. Some say it was a suicide bomber; others say the explosive was planted under a stage.

In Los Angeles, a former aide to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is cleared in a fund-raising case. David F. Rosen was found not guilty of accepting gifts that prosecutors said were meant to buy influence and access to the senator. Rosen is the former national finance director for Clinton. The senator was not charged.

Well, if you drive and live in these three states, this story may be a little insulting. A new study says you're the dumbest drivers around. GMAC Insurance gave more than 5,000 licensed drivers the standard written driving test. Those from Rhode Island scored the worst, followed by Massachusetts and New Jersey. The smartest drivers were from the Northwest, Oregon and Washington. And Mr. Green Acres, Eddie Albert, has died. Albert's career spanned over a half-century. He starred in more than 100 roles in the movies and on TV. Eddie Albert was 99 years old. Quite a life -- Anderson.

COOPER: Yeah, a great life indeed. He was in the Navy, and he was nominated for two Oscars, which I didn't realize.

HILL: I didn't either. See, you learn something new every day.

COOPER: An amazing career. Erica Hill, thanks. We'll see you again in about 30 minutes.

HILL: Thank you. Have a great weekend.

COOPER: You too.

Coming up next on 360, "Law & Order" versus House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. A real tussle in the world of "Raw Politics." We'll take you inside.

Plus, many don't want to see these pups go. We told you about them yesterday, how they were left behind because of the war, soldiers abandoning them, they may be put to sleep. A lot of you have written in. Tonight, an update.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: So the NBC show "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," like its sister shows "Law & Order" and "Law & Order: SVU" and "Law & Order: Trial by Jury" -- this is getting annoying -- likes to say its storylines are ripped from the headlines. Well, tonight, the show itself is making some headlines. On a recent episode, a few words spoken by an actor have caused a kerfuffel on Capitol Hill, angering Tom DeLay, the House majority leader, who has been battling ethics charges lately. Maybe you've heard. CNN's Judy Woodruff on the "Raw Politics" of "Law & Order."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: The worst criminal offenders are pursued by the detectives of the major case squad.

JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This week, they hit the hammer, whose name came up on Wednesday's episode of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's an African-American judge, an appellate court judge, no less.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) is setting up the task force. People are talking about multiple assassination teams.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Looks like the same shooters, CSU found the slug in a post, matched it to the one that killed Judge Barton. Maybe we should put out an APB for somebody in a Tom DeLay T-shirt. WOODRUFF: A dig at House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's verbal assault on...

REP. TOM DELAY (R-TX), HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER: An arrogant, out of control, unaccountable judiciary.

WOODRUFF: In the wake of Terri Schiavo's death. An assault critics say went too far.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, Mr. DeLay, can we ask you about this "Law & Order" controversy.

WOODRUFF: DeLay wasn't talking to reporters, but he fired off a letter to the president of NBC, accusing the show of manipulating his name, denouncing what he calls a reckless disregard for the suffering initiated by recent tragedies, and a great disservice to public discourse.

The show's executive producer, Dick Wolf, brushes off DeLay's indignation, saying "I do congratulate Congressman DeLay for switching the spotlight from his own problems to an episode of a TV show."

Politicians and TV characters have tussled before.

DAN QUAYLE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT: It doesn't help matters when prime-time TV has "Murphy Brown," a character who supposedly epitomizes today's intelligent, highly-paid professional woman, mocking the importance of fathers by bearing a child alone, and calling it just another lifestyle choice.

WOODRUFF: Perhaps, Tom DeLay could learn from Dan Quayle, because when political people take on fictional characters, the fictional characters often win.

Judy Woodruff, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: All right, let's find out what's coming up at top the hour on "PAULA ZAHN NOW." Hey, Paula.

ZAHN: Hi, Anderson. We're going to wrap up our week of survivor stories tonight. Tonight, we're going to take a look at a woman who escaped the jaw death thanks to her own incredible bravery and the bravery of a very loyal friend. She was riding her bicycle a desert trail, when suddenly she was attacked by a mountain lion. An incredible story of courage, about beating the odds at the top of the hour.

And plus we'll focus in on a Marine battalion that's been particularly hard hit in Iraq and hear the amazing stories of bravery there, too, as we head into the Memorial Day weekend.

COOPER: All right, Paula, see you then. About seven minutes from now. Coming up next on 360, saving the dog, the rescuers call Scrappy Dappy Doo, and also cats like this one. It's the story we brought you yesterday. We'll give you an update on Scrappy, and many other abandoned pets facing a possible death sentence. They've been abandoned by soldiers going off to the war. We'll show you how to help if you want.

And later, do you know what your kids are putting in their high school yearbooks? You might be surprised and not in a good way. We'll show you some disturbing things the class of 2005 come -- came up with.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Well, in a moment we'll have an update on the pets we introduced you to last night who'd been abandoned by soldiers going off to war.

But first, it's that time of the year again, for high school seniors to dawn the cap and gown and graduate. Besides the diploma, what would graduation be without the yearbook? A permanent reminder of youth memories and for me one really bad haircut or actually many -- several years of bad haircuts. Yearbooks are usually filled with accomplishments and cheesy messages, you know, let's really stay in touch. I don't like you that way, but I really value your friendships. But these days however, some kids are putting disturbing things in their yearbooks. Here's tonight's "Fresh Print."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): Aw, the last days of high school, cramming for exams, preparing for the prom, waiting to see just how humiliating your yearbook picture will be, and what your pals will print about your academic career. Gone are the days when it was page after page of roses are red violates blue and too good to be forgotten. Nope, in some high schools across the country, this year's yearbooks have been less about cute little comments and more about controversy. Take Boynton Beach High in Florida, where student superlatives included this, white senior Melissa Finley (ph), holding her African-American boyfriend Robert Richards on a leash over the caption, most whipped. Robert's mom was clearly most furious.

JACQUELINE NOBLES, ROBERT RICHARDS' MOTHER: I don't want my son to be depicted in the picture that represents something from my past or anybody else's past.

COOPER: At Waxahachie High in Texas, Sadoyia Jones posed proudly with the rest of her class's national honor society. Proudly until she saw herself listed, not by her name but as simply "Black Girl."

SHADOYIA JONES, LISTED AS "BLACK GIRL" IN YEAR BOOK: I just feel like all my achievements, everything that I've been working so hard for just went down the drain.

COOPER: The school said it was a mistake, a place holder that should have been removed before the book went to print. And officials say they'll issue replacement pages. Finally the fun-loving kids at Mesa Ridge High in Colorado, the clever class of 2005, labeled one student, most likely to assassinate President Bush. The Secret Service wasn't laughing, they launched an investigation. The school recalled the books and blacked out the offending caption with markers. So maybe it's just a case of kids being kids. You have to wonder what they'll think of the memories they've left for their fellow students when they're, oh, 10th reunion comes along.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, an update now tonight. We were flooded with e- mails from you on the story that we aired last night about the flood of abandoned cats and dogs in the area around Fort Stewart Georgia. Many of you were very upset about the prospect a lot of the pets would wind up being euthanized if adoptive homes weren't found. A lot of them were left behind by soldiers going off to Iraq.

I want to give you an update. The Liberty County Georgia Animal Center says, it's gotten hundreds e-mails since our story aired last night, with a lot of offers to adopt abandoned pets. In particular, they've gotten, at least, 50 offers it adopt the dog we featured, nicknamed Scrappy Dappy Doo. The biggest job for them now is -- they say, is to figure out exactly who should get Scrappy. If you still -- that is Scrappy right there. If you'd still like to help, you can contact the shelter via e-mail at animals@libertycountyga.com. That's animals@libertycountyga.com.

We also wanted to give you some additional information which was sent in by one of our viewers. Pam from Cheshire, Connecticut writes, "There is an organization devoted solely to fostering military pets whose owners are being deployed. I'm speaking of netpets.org, Military Pets Foster Project." So, netpets.org. "Military Pets Foster Project has successfully fostered over 8,000 pets since their inception the week following 9/11.

So, for those of you who are interested. The site here, www.netpets.org. Click on the Military Pets Foster Projects. That's www.netpets.org. Click on the Military Pets Foster Project.

If you've got something on your mind, we always love to hear from you, day or night. At now it's 360 -- or actually it's cnn.com/360 and click on the instant feedback link. I'm Anderson Cooper, thanks for watching 360 tonight. CNN's prime time coverage continues with Paula Zahn. Have great weekend everyone.

Hey, Paula.

END

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Aired May 27, 2005 - 19:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening everyone. A young woman sent to a foreign jail for a crime she swears she didn't commit. 360 starts now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): Australians outraged.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't why you had a bloody trial. They didn't take anything of our witnesses into account.

COOPER: A beauty school student found guilty of drug smuggling. Her sentence stuns a nation. Tonight, is Schapelle Corby really a drug smuggler, or has she been framed for a crime she didn't commit?

Dead or alive? Iraq's most wanted man, Abu Musab al Zarqawi. A terror Web site says he's still in charge, others say he's badly wounded. Tonight, if Zarqawi is gone, what happens to the fighting in Iraq?

Designer knock-offs, a $1 billion industry, but where is the money going? Tonight, accusations from Capitol Hill that terrorists profit when you buy faked goods.

Can Viagra cause blindness? New warning labels being considered. Tonight, separating from fact from fiction about the dangers of the little blue pill.

And he came face-to-face with nature nature's fury on the high seas. Tonight, hear how this man survived tethered to his boat 300 miles from land.

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

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: And a good Friday evening to you.

We begin with the wave of shock and anger rolling across Australia. Reaction to the drama unfolding far away in an Indonesian courtroom, where an Australian woman was convicted today of smuggling drugs and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Schapelle Corby says she is innocent. Her family is outraged.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Schapelle will be coming home soon. I don't know why you had the bloody trial. They didn't take any of our witnesses into account!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Tonight, CNN international's Becky Anderson has more on the controversial case and its tumultuous end as we take a look at our world in 360.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The story begins with this happy photo of 27-year-old Australian beauty school student Schapelle Corby, her brother and two friends, as they headed off to a beach vacation in Bali in Indonesia. That's when the group arrived there, police arrested her after finding roughly nine pounds of marijuana in her luggage.

SCHAPELLE CORBY, CONVICTED OF DRUG SMUGGLING: I swear, my God is my witness. I did not know the marijuana was in my bag.

ANDERSON: Corby's defense was that someone else had placed the drugs in her bag. But, under Indonesian law she had to prove it. Facing the potential of a death penalty or life in prison, emotions ran high throughout the trial. There were fainting spells and outbursts from family members.

Corby's case is being a cause celeb on both sides of issue. With Indonesian anti-drug campaigners calling for her conviction while Australians, including actor Russell Crowe, have been coming to her defense.

RUSSELL CROWE, ACTOR: When there is such doubt, how we can as a country stand by and let a young lady, as an Australian, rot away in a foreign prison. That is ridiculous.

ANDERSON: Yet the three-judge panel deciding Corby's fate was unimpressed by her claims of innocence, essentially ruling out evidence from every defense witness and convicting her of the crime.

The actions of the accused were a danger to the community. The judgment read. This was a transnational crime that could damage the minds of young people.

From the back of the courtroom, Corby's mother and sister continued to defend her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not all right! How dare you!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We swore on the Bible to tell the truth and your fellow lied!

ANDERSON: As she left the courtroom for the last time, Corby tried to calm her family. And from her mother, shouted words of encouragement.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Schapelle, you will come home. Our country will bring you home.

ANDERSON: But outside of courtroom, a far angrier mood as her sister read a statement to the press.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To our family and friends, we love you all. Schapelle is innocent. This is unfair and unjust. The case now enters a phase and we will stand by Schapelle every step the way. The laywers have done their best. And with the support all of the Australians, thank you. Schapelle will be coming home soon. I don't know why they had bloody trial. They didn't take any of our witnesses into account!

ANDERSON: And this is how we last saw Schapelle Corby, being hustled Karaboten (ph) Prison to begin her penalty. Not death, or even life, but still a 20-year sentence.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: And Anderson, Corby's lawyers say they will appeal. And the Australian government is also offering to send two lawyers to aid in the appeal. There are also negotiations under way to let Corby serve her term in Australia -- Anderson.

COOPER: Yeah. What is reaction been like in Australia? I know they're paying attention very closely?

ANDERSON: Well, best described as an ocean of emotion I would say. There has been a huge outpouring of sympathy, of anger and now of shock. Australians have followed every twist and turn in this extraordinary story. They were glued to their TV sets. And we saw the pictures as the verdict was broadcast live to the nation.

Let me tell you, this is why a recent survey showed 90 percent of Australians believed that the beautician from Queensland is innocent. Buying the defense case, which says the drugs were planted on her by baggage handlers, as part of a fairly sophisticated smuggling operation that evidently went wrong. Nine out of 10 Australians pushed the fact that she has no criminal convictions. And there's absolutely no evidence of drug involvement in the past -- in her past.

And perhaps, Anderson, more importantly, she's not prepared to say she is guilty even though that would mean the potential for a pardon. And the problem here is that without an admission of guilt, the appeal process is a nonstarter -- Anderson.

COOPER: All right, Becky Anderson, thanks very much.

Well, Schapelle Corby's ordeal puts a spotlight on harsh drug laws. And not just those in Indonesia. Around the globe, sentences range from deportations, to beats, prison and even the death penalty. Once you are caught, there's usually no easy way out. CNN's Brian Todd investigates.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You took the word of a liar! And he's one of your people!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How dare you!

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Schapelle Corby's 20-year sentence may seem harsh, but experts say her claim that she didn't know she was carrying marijuana into Indonesia carried little weight with the judges.

DICK ATKINS, INTERNATIONAL ATTORNEY: In most countries, if you have drugs in your possession, in your suitcase or on you, the fact that you don't know about it or you were set up or you were carrying someone else's bag that is no excuse whatsoever, and you're going to be sentenced to the full extent of the law.

TODD: Dick Atkins is an international attorney who's worked with hundreds of clients accused of drug possession or trafficking while traveling abroad.

Combining Atkins' expertise with information on the U.S. State Department's Web site, we found the countries where foreign nationals are most likely to actually be executed for possession or trafficking in drugs -- China, Iran, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Singapore.

On occasion, in Saudi Arabia and Singapore, possession of narcotics can result in a sentence of beating then deportation or prison.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stop!

TODD: Corby could have gotten the death penalty in Indonesia, but it's rare for a foreign national to be executed there. Dick Atkins says the same is true in Thailand. But he says, in many of these countries, your fate depends on your nationality.

ATKINS: There is a double standard. And quite often, if you're from Africa, if you're from a developing country, you'll be executed. There aren't that many people protesting or making a big fuss. But our State Department and the media, if you're a westerner, will make a big fuss.

TODD: But escaping the death penalty doesn't always mean escaping death. Atkins says, in so many developing nations, especially in Africa and South America, where they don't have the death penalty, prison conditions are so bad you're just as likely to die inside.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Here's a fast fact on how you can prevent someone from tampering with our own luggage in this post-9/11 world. The Transportation Security Administration has approved this lock which they can open with special tools in case they need to physically inspect your bags, because you know they don't want you to lock your bags with just any old lock. This lock will prevent them from damaging your own locks or luggage.

The TSA's tools only work with locks from two specific companies -- Travel Century and Safe Skies. Coming up next tonight on 360, startling claims about impotence drugs, talking about like Viagra and Cialis. New reports saying they can cause blindness. Maybe your mother was right. 28 million men take this stuff. Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports. You should not miss this one.

And a big surprise in the Michael Jackson trial today after that so-called confession tape was shown, both sides rested their cases. Is it good news or bad news for Jackson, though. We are live at the courthouse.

And a little later, the pets left behind when soldiers go off to war. Heartbreaking story. Remember this little dog? Scrappy Dappy Doo, they called him, we brought you last night? We will give you an update on what has happened to him and other dogs.

All that ahead. First your pick, the most popular stories on CNN.com right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: There's a disturbing new report out tonight about a possible devastating side effect of popular impotence drugs like Viagra and Cialis. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is investigating whether the drugs cause a rare form of blindness. Already, the government is looking into reports that 38 users of Viagra suffered permanent vision loss. To put that in perspective, 28 million men take these drugs, so 38 is a relatively small number, but alarming nevertheless. 360 MD Dr. Sanjay Gupta is following the story, joins us from Atlanta with the latest -- Sanjay.

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, yeah, the numbers are very small, that's the first thing to point out here; 38 Viagra users, also four Cialis users and one user of Levitra having these sorts of problems.

Important to put this in context a little bit. There has been some known visual problems with Viagra in the past. Not blindness per se, but difficulties with colors. Actually, seeing bluish and greenish hues after use of this particular medication. So there is a little bit of a history there.

But now what we're specifically talking about is a sort of stroke-like thing in the back of the eye. That's the optic nerve there. Those are some of the blood vessels actually turning dark. That's what happens in this particular condition, and what is causing a permanent sort of visual problem here.

We're talking about all of the various drugs for erectile dysfunction, again, Viagra, Levitra and Cialis. If you look at that, again you see the animation there, but what's important to point out is that this is just an association. No one yet, Anderson is drawing an exact link between any of these medications and blindness. They're saying they're seeing this in small numbers. They're investigating a little bit further right now, Anderson.

COOPER: All right. I want to listen to what the Pfizer Vice President Michael Berelowitz had to say about the reported problems linked to his drug, to Viagra. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL BERELOWITZ, PFIZER: We've looked in 103 studies at 13,000 patients. And basically remembering, these are the patients who have erectile dysfunction. These are people who have erectile dysfunction by the very people who will be taking this treatment, and we did not see any cases, we did not see any cases of NAION in those studies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: I mean, he seems to be inferring there's absolutely no connection. What have these studies found?

GUPTA: You know, it's interesting, Anderson. I have talked to the researchers who actually conducted these studies in detail about this. What you will find, first of all, interestingly, is if you look at this sort of stroke condition of the eye, it exists in the general population among people who have never taken one of these medications. That's worth pointing out.

But in the people who did take the medications, what got everyone's antenna sort of up was the timing association. Meaning, they take the medication, then they'd have a visual problem. They wouldn't take the medication, they didn't have a visual problem. Then they would take it again, and the visual problem would come back. So it was that timing that sort of got everyone sort of concerned.

Again, it's an association at this point. They haven't proven that it actually causes this, but they do say that the same people who are most likely to be taking these drugs, Viagra, Cialis and Levitra, are also the same people who are more likely to just have these strokes in the first place. So it's hard to figure out what's causing what here, Anderson.

COOPER: So a patient comes to you and says, should I stop taking these? Should I keep taking them? What do you tell them?

GUPTA: Well, first of all, you know, there's no direct link now between the drugs and the blindness. So you can't say for sure to stop taking these medications. If you've ever had a problem with your eyes in the past, if you are at high risk because of high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, history of smoking, things like that, then you could be at higher risk for stroke. Then it's probably worth talking to your doctors about. Numbers are very small, Anderson. Most of the people watching today, they will never have this happen to them.

COOPER: All right. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, appreciate it.

We're following a couple of other stories right now cross country and around the world. Erica Hill from HEADLINE NEWS has that at about 16 past the hour. Hey, Erica.

ERICA HILL, CNN HEADLINE NEWS ANCHOR: Hi, Anderson.

Saudi Arabia's King Fahd is in the hospital. A Saudi diplomatic source says the 82-year-old monarch is suffering from pneumonia-like symptoms. Fahd's condition is said to be quite serious, though not necessarily life-threatening. Special forces that protect the royal family have been told to be on alert.

On now to Santa Maria, California. A surprise in the Michael Jackson trial case. Both sides have rested. Ted Rowlands is live at the courthouse for us -- Ted.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Erica, the jury has heard all the evidence in this case. The last evidence they saw was a videotape of the accuser detailing the alleged molestation to sheriff deputies. We expected that after that tape was played, we would hear from the defense, but in somewhat dramatic fashion, the defense rested as well after the tape was played. Jurors had been given a four-day break. They'll hear closing arguments most likely Wednesday of next week, and they could get the case as early as Thursday -- Erica.

HILL: Tough to believe we may actually be nearing the end. Ted Rowlands, live for us in Santa Maria, thanks.

On to Atlanta, Georgia. Fifty-one hours now and counting. These are live pictures of a murder suspect perched 18 stories above the street atop a construction crane. He's been there since Wednesday afternoon. Police say he has refused offers for food and water. They'd been busy trying to talk him down.

And in Lima, Peru, steed off the stage! Check this one out. A horse carrying a model dressed in a wedding gown falls off the catwalk. It happened yesterday at a benefit fashion show held for diplomats at the Brazilian embassy.

COOPER: Aye!

HILL: Surprisingly -- yeah, aye is right. No one including the horse...

COOPER: Ahh!

HILL: ... was seriously hurt, but it's hurting you. The video is killing you, huh?

COOPER: Yeah. Well, I am glad the horse wasn't hurt or anyone else. You know, there's a great philosopher who once said something which I think is a propos to this. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ah, it hurts. It's painful. But no one's dead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Just keep that in mind. No one's dead.

HILL: Do it. Do it.

COOPER: Our thanks to Rick Sanchez for letting us play that again. Appreciate it.

HILL: We appreciate it.

COOPER: Erica Hill, thank you. Always good to talk to you. See you again...

HILL: You win this one, by the way.

COOPER: Surprise -- we like to surprise each other with things from time to time.

Coming up, we'll talk again in about 30 minutes.

Coming up on 360, is Bill Frist on the ropes? Charges the senator's role as majority leader could be doing damage to any ambitions he has to be the president. We'll look into that.

And, a remarkable story. This guy's boat was hammered by storms. He was 300 miles from land. The boat flipped. He bobbed in the ocean waiting for a rescue. He was tethered to a dying crewmate. Incredible story of survival tonight.

Also later, an update on Scrappy Dappy Doo -- that dog abandoned by soldiers gone to war. He may be getting some happy news thanks to some viewers out there. We'll tell you about it ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: The Memorial Day holiday weekend couldn't come sooner for Senator Bill Frist, after all this has been a pretty rough week for the majority leader. The Republican lawmaker has had a few political setbacks, you might say. And that could be problem for a man who may want to be president.

CNN's Ed Henry reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As a heart surgeon, Bill Frist knows the most important rule of medicine. First, do no harm. But like Bob Dole before him, Frist is now learning a nasty rule about the Senate, being majority leader can sometimes do nothing but harm to your presidential ambitions. A lesson drilled home during a brutal week, which started with moderates dealing Frist a blow on judicial filibusters, and ended with Democrats outfoxing Frist to block the nomination of John Bolton. CHUCK TODD, EDITOR, THE HOTLINE: And now Democrats are smelling blood in the water and they went after him hard. He's got to get Bolton through. If he doesn't get Bolton through ought all, I think that Frist is going to feel like he has worst problems than he does now.

HENRY: Frist was left flustered in pointing the finger on Thursday night, when Democrats mustered enough votes to stop Bolton, President Bush's pick to be ambassador to the United Nations.

SEN. BILL FRIST (R), MAJORITY LEADER: But I think what America has just seen is an engagement of another period of obstruction by the other side of the aisle, and it looks like we have, once again, another filibuster.

HENRY: Frist, though, can't just blame Democrats for his woes. His efforts to champion conservative causes have generated heat from various quarters. Some conservatives were furious he couldn't stop seven of his own troops from cutting the deal that adverted a nuclear showdown over the president's judicial nominees. And medical expert were upset when Frist intervened in the case of Terri Schiavo, a cause celeb for conservatives. The criticism, Frist offering a medical opinion by watching videotapes of the brain-damaged woman.

FRIST: And I would simply ask, maybe she's not in this vegetative state, and she's in this minimally conscience state in which case the diagnoses upon which this whole case has been based would be incorrect.

HENRY: But political analysts note the presidential race is three years away, so the majority leader has time to recover.

TODD: He's in a powerful fund-raising spot. That said, he's got some work to do.

HENRY: That work will be complicated by the debate over embryonic stem cell research, a majority of the Senate, including many Republicans, wants to increase federal funding for the research. But president has threatened to veto, putting Frist in the hot seat yet again. Such complications may explain why, out on the campaign trail out in New Hampshire, Frist has already started reminding voters, he's got a tough job balancing so many egos.

FRIST: Being majority leaders is like being the groundskeeper at a cemetery.

(LAUGHTER)

FRIST: You've got a lot of people underneath you, but nobody's paying any attention.

HENRY: Frist is just hoping the joke isn't on him.

Ed Henry, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE) COOPER: Dead or alive, Iraq's most wanted man, Abu Musab al- Zarqawi. A terror Web site says he's still in charge. Others say he's badly wounded. Tonight, if Zarqawi is gone, what happens to the fighting in Iraq?

Designer knock-offs -- a billion-dollar industry, but where is the money going? Tonight, accusations from Capitol Hill that terrorists profit when you buy faked goods.

And he came face-to-face with nature's fury on the high seas. Tonight, hear how this man survived tethered to his boat 300 miles from land. 360 continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Tonight, we're getting another conflicting report about the health of the most wanted man in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. An Islamic Web site says the Jordanian militant quote, "Well and leading the jihadi operations." Earlier this week, Internet postings reported that the terrorist Zarqawi was wounded. Truth is, we do not know what his condition is, if he's alive or dead. The question is does it really matter? Judging by what you're about to see, the answer may be no.

CNN's Ryan Chilcote takes us "beyond the Headlines."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Young Abu al- Haraf (ph) receives a final farewell from his comrades before getting in the truck.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): One push on this button, and I'll be with God in heaven.

CHILCOTE: Moments later, his truck is barreling along towards, the narrator tells us, a group of U.S. soldiers. Then there's an explosion.

It's all part of a propaganda video for the terrorist organization Unity of God and Jihad, known since late last year as al Qaeda in Iraq, run by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. But if Zarqawi is severely wounded or even dead, would the insurgency change?

BRIG. GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS, U.S. ARMY (RET.): We will see no change. If Zarqawi is completely out of the picture, if he's dead, if he's been removed from country and he can't be brought back in because of concern for his life, then somebody else is going to step up.

CHILCOTE: Besides, these analysts say, he has already rendered himself nearly irrelevant. Maybe making major decisions, but mostly delegating to a terror network that has seen explosive growth.

And Zarqawi's network is not the only independent-minded part of the insurgency. Almost all the analysts agree there's a sizable portion of terror mercenaries out there, professional bandits ready to carry out any act of violence in exchange for money.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We're here at your place. We killed two of them, and they went away. We're going to stop them.

CHILCOTE: And there is a so-called home-grown indigenous Iraqi resistance, made up primarily of Ba'athist supporters of the former regime and against the U.S.'s presence.

The Ba'athists are a powerful force in the insurgency. Experts say they're well funded with stolen millions from the former regime. They have good organizational skills as former soldiers under Saddam. And they are mostly secular, but not letting ideological differences get in the way of a common cause, willing to work with other terror groups.

BOBBY GHOSH, "TIME" MAGAZINE: They sometimes work together, but they like to keep each other at a certain arm's length. They see each other as the enemy's enemy, but not quite as a friend.

CHILCOTE: U.S. military commanders thought the big turnout in Iraq's first Democratic election in half a century would take the steam out of the insurgency, but not for long. Now the insurgents are said to be setting their sights on spoiling Democratic milestones to come.

So how to stop them? The consensus seems to be the U.S. will have to just wait it out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The best thing the U.S. military can do is to make it clear that they are going to stay the course for as long as it takes. It's a marathon. You know, whoever runs out of breath first loses.

CHILCOTE: And a loss to the insurgents would allow Zarqawi's network and all the different terror factions to see their dream of Iraq realized.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, a different kind of terror warning was issued this week by a U.S. senator in the form a consumer alert. Senator Susan Collins of Maine says, and I quote, "counterfeiting, because it's extremely lucrative and easy to get into, is the mechanism that terrorist groups have discovered and are exploiting."

The senator's comments were prompted by testimony from U.S. law enforcement officials who told the Senate Homeland Security Committee they'd traced profits from counterfeit goods to supporters of terrorist organizations like Hezbollah or Hamas.

So, buying knock off designer handbags or pirated DVDs may, ultimately, help terrorists according to this senator. Scary thought, since counterfeit goods are regularly available. CNN's Deborah Feyerick found out during a walk during New York City's streets.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A long canal street in virtually every store selling handbags, buying a knock-off is pretty easy. It's just a matter of knowing how.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I swapped the tag over.

FEYERICK (on camera): To put the Prada over?

(voice-over): One way is swapping the tag, replacing a no name bag with a name brand label like Gucci, Kate Spade, Chanel.

With our hidden camera filming, this guy went in the back to get a Prada label. In another store, when our CNN producer ask, one watchful clerk warned the other to be careful.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ...a couple of them. Be careful.

FEYERICK: Sellers nervous, because of police raids that have largely forced the trade underground. What used to be out front, is now under the counter.

Former N.Y.P.D. detective Andrew Oberfeldt worked Canal Street for years helping seize counterfeit goods. Now a private eye, he helps big companies protect their labels. Under a recent walk together, it didn't take long before everyone knew we were there.

(on camera): It's fascinating when one of the women saw us coming, she took her merchandise and started putting it away and then everybody got out their Nextels and started radioing each other. So, there's a real communication network, even on this one block.

ANDREW OBERFELDT, FRM. NYPD DETECTIVE: Well, the blocks are organized. They're all friend and neighbors in a lot of instances. They might be from the same province or they've just -- from having shops next to each other, they look out for one another.

FEYERICK (voice-over): And when he says the blocks are organized, that's police talk.

BRIAN O'NEIL, DEPUTY INSPECTOR, NYPD: This isn't, know you, someone just on the street making a quick dollar. These things are manufactured. They're then sold, they're imported. You're talking about a very large business.

So, it's not just a simple, well let me buy this for 20 bucks. It's a good bargain. You are supporting organized crime.

FEYERICK: Around the world, counterfeit goods equals a $300 to $500 billion a year business. And experts say it leads it all sorts of crimes.

TIM TRAINER, INTERNATIONAL ANTICOUNTERFEITING COALITION: I think most people wouldn't want to think of themselves as spend anything money that may go toward promoting child labor, trafficking in narcotics, things like that. FEYERICK: The thing is it's not illegal to buy the phony goods, it's only illegal to sell them. Ask detective John Markey. He'll tell you everyone knows where to get them.

JOHN MARKEY, NYPD COUNTERFEIT UNIT: The tour bus actually stops there, I think. It's one of their big stops there.

FEYERICK (on camera): Is that frustrating on some levels?

MARKEY: It's very frustrating.

FEYERICK: There's an endless people of supply to buy these things.

MARKEY: Right. And there's and endless supply of material. It's to a point now where it is out of control. It's -- I mean, you go anywhere. You go all over the place. Like you said, Canal Street, you walk down Canal Street and it's all over the place.

FEYERICK (voice-over): Because for sellers the risks are pretty low.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you had a handful of heroin, that would that put you in jail for 24 years, eight to 24 years. If you had a truckload full of handbags, you're not going to do any jail time. In federal court you might, but it's really the exception not the rule.

FEYERICK (on camera): We blurred the faces of store clerks in this story, because even though they're break the law, none had been arrested or charged with a crime. We contacted business organizations in Chinatown, and the only one that would comment told us over the phone, it is nothing do with stores that sell fake merchandise.

The vendors themselves quickly ducked into their stores whether they saw us passing with cameras. By the time we finished our walk down one block of Canal Street, we had more than a dozen young men following us and the ex-detective with us recognized them as being part the counterfeit operation.

Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Coming up tonight on 360, a routine trip becomes a nightmare at sea. Find out how one man braved the deadly ocean waters tethered to his boat and made it out alive. We'll tell you how.

Plus, is "Law & Order" going after House Majority Leader Tom DeLay? Go inside the buzz on Capitol Hill tonight.

And remember these guy? Scrappy Dappy Doo, they called him. A dog abandoned by soldiers on their way to Iraq. A lot of them face being put to sleep, and a lot of you responded to they're plight. An update on Scrappy Dappy and other pups that have been left behind.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COOPER: Well, millions of viewers tuned in this week to watch "Lost" on ABC. It was the season finale. But you are about to meet one man who knows all too well what is like to be lost at sea. A routine trip to sea became a fight to stay alive for one Connecticut man. Here is Dan Lothian.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LOCHLIAN REIDY, LOST AT SEA: Big picture of the Hartford Courant. This was taken as I was getting onto the Coast Guard boat.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 58-year-old Lochlian Reidy has been to hell and back. And it all happened in 24 hours.

REIDY: And I was upside down in the ocean, tumbling in the ocean. I couldn't see at that point, the salt had gotten into my eyes.

LOTHIAN: Reidy, who was first mate, and four others had been sailing from Connecticut to Bermuda earlier this month. He had made the crossing more than a dozen times. There was no reason to be nervous.

REIDY: Not any concern at all.

LOTHIAN (on camera): You had done this many times before?

REIDY: Yep.

LOTHIAN: You knew what it was like.

REIDY: I knew what the boat could do or could take.

LOTHIAN (voice-over): But the Almeisan, the 45-foot-long sailboat was about to be pushed to extremes, as halfway to their destination, the crew got trapped in a violent storm.

REIDY: It just started to get stronger and stronger and stronger.

LOTHIAN: Then it happened.

REIDY: In the blink of an eye, I didn't even have time to think about what had happened.

RONALD BURD, SAILOR: Sounded like a car dropped on the -- on the boat.

REIDY: And he just slipped it over you.

LOTHIAN: Reidy was wearing this harness, tethered to the boat, when he and two other crew members who were also strapped in were thrown into the Atlantic.

As the boat righted itself, they all climbed back on, but the damage was done. BURD: It blew out the windshield, which is like a two-by-five foot plexiglas.

REIDY: The water was well over my knees. So we were taking on water.

LOTHIAN (on camera): The retiree who works part-time for a storm water management company says he and the captain, 65-year-old Thomas Tighe, began preparing the crew to abandoned ship. But while struggling to control a life raft in winds that reached 55 miles per hour, another wave hit.

REIDY: It washed Tom off the stern of the boat, flipped the life raft upside down and me out of it, and then into the ocean, and tore all the lines away from the yacht.

LOTHIAN (voice-over): The captain and first mate watched as the life raft and the heavily-damaged sailboat with three on board quickly drifted away. In the violent seas, 300 miles away from land, they linked their harness lines, and Reidy prayed.

REIDY: I said, are we ever going to get saved? Is this going to turn out OK?

LOTHIAN: He says a cloud shaped like the hand signal for OK reassured him, as did warm thoughts of seeing his daughters again. But every 30 to 40 seconds, monster waves chipped away at his determination to survive.

REIDY: They were very dark, menacing. They were steep. The top of the wave would just curl right over and come down. Just fall on top of you. There would be waves on top of waves.

LOTHIAN: Breathing without taking in water became difficult. For the captain, it soon became impossible.

REIDY: As I was just swimming over to give him mouth-to-mouth, he just looked really distressed, and at that point, he just -- you could see he just expired.

So, I made up my mind's mission to get him home, somehow. And my thoughts at that point were, for that to happen, I had to be found. And for that to happen, I had to be alive. So I would do everything I could to make it happen.

LOTHIAN: Back on the battered sailboat, the crew struggled to stay afloat for 14 hours, before the Coast Guard, following an emergency positioning device, located and rescued them.

BURD: I always felt I'd make it. I knew we'd make it.

LOTHIAN: But Reidy, with a beacon to attract attention, was bobbing in the ocean, still connected to the body of his friend. One search plane had come and gone. He began drifting into hallucinations. REIDY: First I saw was the Nautilus gym and all the equipment associated with the Nautilus gym. I'm floating into it. And shortly after that, I saw a porch with -- a wooden porch.

LOTHIAN: Then he thought he saw a ship, about to drift behind palm trees.

(on camera): There are obviously no palm trees out there.

REIDY: Well, there wasn't anything out there. But there was a ship, though. The ship was real.

LOTHIAN (voice-over): Some 24 hours after his nightmare began, the crew of a merchant tanker, which had been on the lookout, dropped a cargo net and pulled him to safety.

The sailboat captain's body, which had drifted away during the rescue, was recovered about an hour later.

REIDY: Just so many well-wishers.

LOTHIAN: Back home in Connecticut, Reidy, who had been comforted by cards and calls from close friends, now walks with a slight limp after injuring his right knee. And he has a few scrapes and bruises. But he survived with a new respect for the sea.

REIDY: You may think you have it all figured out, but if the sea wants to, if nature wants to, it'll trick you, and you just have to resolve yourself to overcome whatever it is that it's done to you.

LOTHIAN: Dan Lothian, CNN, Woodbridge, Connecticut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Man, I can't even imagine what that's like. Erica Hill from HEADLINE NEWS joins us now with the latest, about 15 to the hour. Hey, Erica.

HILL: Anderson, an explosion strikes a Muslim shrine in Pakistan, killing at least 17 people. Several hundred other people were inside the shrine at the time of the bombing. There are conflicting reports right now as to the origin. Some say it was a suicide bomber; others say the explosive was planted under a stage.

In Los Angeles, a former aide to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is cleared in a fund-raising case. David F. Rosen was found not guilty of accepting gifts that prosecutors said were meant to buy influence and access to the senator. Rosen is the former national finance director for Clinton. The senator was not charged.

Well, if you drive and live in these three states, this story may be a little insulting. A new study says you're the dumbest drivers around. GMAC Insurance gave more than 5,000 licensed drivers the standard written driving test. Those from Rhode Island scored the worst, followed by Massachusetts and New Jersey. The smartest drivers were from the Northwest, Oregon and Washington. And Mr. Green Acres, Eddie Albert, has died. Albert's career spanned over a half-century. He starred in more than 100 roles in the movies and on TV. Eddie Albert was 99 years old. Quite a life -- Anderson.

COOPER: Yeah, a great life indeed. He was in the Navy, and he was nominated for two Oscars, which I didn't realize.

HILL: I didn't either. See, you learn something new every day.

COOPER: An amazing career. Erica Hill, thanks. We'll see you again in about 30 minutes.

HILL: Thank you. Have a great weekend.

COOPER: You too.

Coming up next on 360, "Law & Order" versus House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. A real tussle in the world of "Raw Politics." We'll take you inside.

Plus, many don't want to see these pups go. We told you about them yesterday, how they were left behind because of the war, soldiers abandoning them, they may be put to sleep. A lot of you have written in. Tonight, an update.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: So the NBC show "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," like its sister shows "Law & Order" and "Law & Order: SVU" and "Law & Order: Trial by Jury" -- this is getting annoying -- likes to say its storylines are ripped from the headlines. Well, tonight, the show itself is making some headlines. On a recent episode, a few words spoken by an actor have caused a kerfuffel on Capitol Hill, angering Tom DeLay, the House majority leader, who has been battling ethics charges lately. Maybe you've heard. CNN's Judy Woodruff on the "Raw Politics" of "Law & Order."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: The worst criminal offenders are pursued by the detectives of the major case squad.

JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This week, they hit the hammer, whose name came up on Wednesday's episode of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's an African-American judge, an appellate court judge, no less.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) is setting up the task force. People are talking about multiple assassination teams.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Looks like the same shooters, CSU found the slug in a post, matched it to the one that killed Judge Barton. Maybe we should put out an APB for somebody in a Tom DeLay T-shirt. WOODRUFF: A dig at House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's verbal assault on...

REP. TOM DELAY (R-TX), HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER: An arrogant, out of control, unaccountable judiciary.

WOODRUFF: In the wake of Terri Schiavo's death. An assault critics say went too far.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, Mr. DeLay, can we ask you about this "Law & Order" controversy.

WOODRUFF: DeLay wasn't talking to reporters, but he fired off a letter to the president of NBC, accusing the show of manipulating his name, denouncing what he calls a reckless disregard for the suffering initiated by recent tragedies, and a great disservice to public discourse.

The show's executive producer, Dick Wolf, brushes off DeLay's indignation, saying "I do congratulate Congressman DeLay for switching the spotlight from his own problems to an episode of a TV show."

Politicians and TV characters have tussled before.

DAN QUAYLE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT: It doesn't help matters when prime-time TV has "Murphy Brown," a character who supposedly epitomizes today's intelligent, highly-paid professional woman, mocking the importance of fathers by bearing a child alone, and calling it just another lifestyle choice.

WOODRUFF: Perhaps, Tom DeLay could learn from Dan Quayle, because when political people take on fictional characters, the fictional characters often win.

Judy Woodruff, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: All right, let's find out what's coming up at top the hour on "PAULA ZAHN NOW." Hey, Paula.

ZAHN: Hi, Anderson. We're going to wrap up our week of survivor stories tonight. Tonight, we're going to take a look at a woman who escaped the jaw death thanks to her own incredible bravery and the bravery of a very loyal friend. She was riding her bicycle a desert trail, when suddenly she was attacked by a mountain lion. An incredible story of courage, about beating the odds at the top of the hour.

And plus we'll focus in on a Marine battalion that's been particularly hard hit in Iraq and hear the amazing stories of bravery there, too, as we head into the Memorial Day weekend.

COOPER: All right, Paula, see you then. About seven minutes from now. Coming up next on 360, saving the dog, the rescuers call Scrappy Dappy Doo, and also cats like this one. It's the story we brought you yesterday. We'll give you an update on Scrappy, and many other abandoned pets facing a possible death sentence. They've been abandoned by soldiers going off to the war. We'll show you how to help if you want.

And later, do you know what your kids are putting in their high school yearbooks? You might be surprised and not in a good way. We'll show you some disturbing things the class of 2005 come -- came up with.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Well, in a moment we'll have an update on the pets we introduced you to last night who'd been abandoned by soldiers going off to war.

But first, it's that time of the year again, for high school seniors to dawn the cap and gown and graduate. Besides the diploma, what would graduation be without the yearbook? A permanent reminder of youth memories and for me one really bad haircut or actually many -- several years of bad haircuts. Yearbooks are usually filled with accomplishments and cheesy messages, you know, let's really stay in touch. I don't like you that way, but I really value your friendships. But these days however, some kids are putting disturbing things in their yearbooks. Here's tonight's "Fresh Print."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): Aw, the last days of high school, cramming for exams, preparing for the prom, waiting to see just how humiliating your yearbook picture will be, and what your pals will print about your academic career. Gone are the days when it was page after page of roses are red violates blue and too good to be forgotten. Nope, in some high schools across the country, this year's yearbooks have been less about cute little comments and more about controversy. Take Boynton Beach High in Florida, where student superlatives included this, white senior Melissa Finley (ph), holding her African-American boyfriend Robert Richards on a leash over the caption, most whipped. Robert's mom was clearly most furious.

JACQUELINE NOBLES, ROBERT RICHARDS' MOTHER: I don't want my son to be depicted in the picture that represents something from my past or anybody else's past.

COOPER: At Waxahachie High in Texas, Sadoyia Jones posed proudly with the rest of her class's national honor society. Proudly until she saw herself listed, not by her name but as simply "Black Girl."

SHADOYIA JONES, LISTED AS "BLACK GIRL" IN YEAR BOOK: I just feel like all my achievements, everything that I've been working so hard for just went down the drain.

COOPER: The school said it was a mistake, a place holder that should have been removed before the book went to print. And officials say they'll issue replacement pages. Finally the fun-loving kids at Mesa Ridge High in Colorado, the clever class of 2005, labeled one student, most likely to assassinate President Bush. The Secret Service wasn't laughing, they launched an investigation. The school recalled the books and blacked out the offending caption with markers. So maybe it's just a case of kids being kids. You have to wonder what they'll think of the memories they've left for their fellow students when they're, oh, 10th reunion comes along.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, an update now tonight. We were flooded with e- mails from you on the story that we aired last night about the flood of abandoned cats and dogs in the area around Fort Stewart Georgia. Many of you were very upset about the prospect a lot of the pets would wind up being euthanized if adoptive homes weren't found. A lot of them were left behind by soldiers going off to Iraq.

I want to give you an update. The Liberty County Georgia Animal Center says, it's gotten hundreds e-mails since our story aired last night, with a lot of offers to adopt abandoned pets. In particular, they've gotten, at least, 50 offers it adopt the dog we featured, nicknamed Scrappy Dappy Doo. The biggest job for them now is -- they say, is to figure out exactly who should get Scrappy. If you still -- that is Scrappy right there. If you'd still like to help, you can contact the shelter via e-mail at animals@libertycountyga.com. That's animals@libertycountyga.com.

We also wanted to give you some additional information which was sent in by one of our viewers. Pam from Cheshire, Connecticut writes, "There is an organization devoted solely to fostering military pets whose owners are being deployed. I'm speaking of netpets.org, Military Pets Foster Project." So, netpets.org. "Military Pets Foster Project has successfully fostered over 8,000 pets since their inception the week following 9/11.

So, for those of you who are interested. The site here, www.netpets.org. Click on the Military Pets Foster Projects. That's www.netpets.org. Click on the Military Pets Foster Project.

If you've got something on your mind, we always love to hear from you, day or night. At now it's 360 -- or actually it's cnn.com/360 and click on the instant feedback link. I'm Anderson Cooper, thanks for watching 360 tonight. CNN's prime time coverage continues with Paula Zahn. Have great weekend everyone.

Hey, Paula.

END

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