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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Katrina Batters Florida; AIDS in Africa; Cindy Sheehan's Protest; Suicide and Depression; Journal Editor Receives Hate Mail
Aired August 26, 2005 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, GUEST HOST: Hello, everyone. Hurricane Katrina strikes Florida. At least six people are dead, many areas are flooded, and the worst might not be over. It's 7:00 p.m. on the East Coast, 4:00 p.m. in the West. 360 starts now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: Hurricane Katrina, a sleeper storm ravages Florida and leaves to gather strength again. Is it just a hint of what's to come?
Also, you are there. If your home is a castle, then can this one stand up to a siege of hurricanes?
What do you think? His wife jumped to her death. Then a judge said he didn't take her depression seriously, so he's responsible. 360 investigates.
Also, do you really know the difference? When someone is down versus when they're struggling with profound depression? 360 owner's manual for when to get help.
What's going on here? A torrent of vicious hate mail for the chief editor of the prestigious "Journal of the American Medical Association." How a respected scientist and a staunch Catholic became the target of anti-abortion forces. Tonight, good medicine or bad faith?
And deeply mysterious. Four friends found dead deep in a cave. Pitch dark, hidden tunnels and no witnesses. What did happen so far out of sight?
Live, from the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is ANDERSON COOPER 360.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And hello, everyone. I'm Carol Costello. Anderson has the night off.
Here are some of the questions we'll be looking at over the next hour. Now, after clobbering Florida, Hurricane Katrina is gathering strength in the Gulf. The question is, when and where will it strike again?
Grief and blame. Should a husband be held accountable for his wife's suicide, even though he said he did everything he could to save her?
And depression. Millions suffer from it. But do you know if someone in your family is depressed, and would you be able to spot the danger signs?
But we begin with the unexpected fury of Hurricane Katrina. At this hour, the storm is getting stronger. Forecasters say it could grow into a dangerous Category 4 hurricane, meaning its winds could exceed 131 miles per hour. That is a frightening scenario, considering the destruction it's already visited on Florida, leaving at least six people dead and more than one million people without power.
CNN is your hurricane headquarters. We begin with CNN's David Mattingly. He's in Palmetto Bay, Florida. Hello.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): How bad is it?
(voice-over): Eric Garcia's (ph) house used to sit at the end of a cul-de-sac that now looks more like a neighborhood lake. His family was inside, as waters a foot deep poured through their new southwest Miami-Dade County home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The kids were all on top of the bed. We weren't sure -- the electricity was still on, so we didn't want anyone to get electrocuted. So they were just sitting on their beds, crying.
MATTINGLY: They first tried to stop the flood with towels and comforters, but no luck. Hurricane Katrina dumped 15 inches of rain, too much water too quickly to keep the house dry. By morning, they were among thousands either stranded by flooded streets or struggling with the sudden damage to cars and property.
Being insured gives them some confidence they can recover, but there's a lot of heart-breaking work ahead.
(on camera): Like so many South Floridians, the family here hunkered down when Katrina came ashore, confident that their house could easily weather a Category 1 storm. What they hadn't counted on were the flood waters, and as far as they're concerned, the waters can't go away quickly enough.
(voice-over): Water still bubbles up from under the newly laid hardwood floors. They had just moved in a week ago, and belongings were still in bundles on the floor. New appliances were still in boxes in the kitchen. Everything now is either soaked or ruined.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, we didn't lose any lives. The children were safe. We were safe. So the things can be purchased again. They're just material.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just material. Can't replace a human life, so. MATTINGLY: Garcia (ph) and his family waited patiently for renovations to be completed before they moved in. Now, they will look for other accommodations, while they wait for repairs that could take months.
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MATTINGLY: Garcia's (ph) neighbors tell him they've never seen this kind of a water problem here. They believe the problems started late -- earlier in the summer, with so much rain that the ground was saturated. When the 15 inches of rain fell here last night, it just had no place to go -- Carol.
COSTELLO: And to further illustrate what you say, David, tonight we have dramatic video of a hurricane rescue. Take a look at this. This is what it looked like just a few short hours ago. The Coast Guard, you see the helicopter in the air, a family of five is below. This Coast Guard helicopter had to hoist them aboard. This family stranded on an island off of Everglades City. The parents and three children were pulled into that helicopter, as I said. They'd been reported missing since yesterday. They didn't return home from a trip at sea. They were flown to the hospital, and tonight, they are said to be in good condition. So a successful rescue effort there.
Tracking Katrina for us is CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano, who joins us live in Palmetto Bay. So where is Katrina heading?
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, into the Gulf of Mexico. And the problem there, Carol, is the Gulf of Mexico waters are very warm, very toasty. And as you know, hurricanes feed off of warm waters. Anything that's over 80 degrees is a plus. Waters in the Gulf of Mexico, some of which exceed 85 degrees. So that's never a good sign, especially when it goes right in the middle of that water.
Take a look at the satellite picture. This thing has had a bit of an erratic track, a very erratic life. Didn't really want to gather any strength as it headed through the Bahamas, finally did so, and then headed west, and eventually a southwestern turn, which is pretty rare for hurricanes. But now heading on a more westerly track into that Gulf.
Now, here's the forecast track from the National Hurricane Center. Winds right now, 100 miles an hour, that makes it a cat 2 storm. But you notice that eventually, the weather pattern will shift somewhat. We do have a little trough, a little system that's going to come through the northern plains, and that will act to draw up the storm, eventually make that northern turn we're so used to.
Places of interest: Morgan City, Louisiana, which got the second landfall from Hurricane Andrew 13 years ago. That is on the left side of our cone of uncertainty, and all the way over towards the Panama City area. In the middle of that cone is your greatest probability for landfall, likely to be during the day on Monday.
And as you mentioned, Carol, looks to be like it could easily strengthen to a Category 3, or maybe even a Category 4 storm, which would have devastating wind results.
This was a Category 1 storm when it made landfall yesterday, or last night. Most of which brought heavy rain. I'm standing in a spot similar or very close to where David Mattingly visited, as far as flooding range of 15 to 18 inches of Doppler estimated rainfall right here. But there was also wind damage, Carol, with this storm. It was a Category 1 storm, it had winds of 80, 85 miles an hour. We didn't really play up the fact that it would have damaging winds, but let me tell you, there's really no such thing as a minimal hurricane. Hurricane-force winds are called that because they do damage. We had it today. If this thing re-strengthens to a Category 3 or 4, I don't want even to look at the damage when it makes landfall in the northern Gulf of Mexico Monday night. Back to you.
COSTELLO: I couldn't believe when people kept saying, "oh, it's only a Category 1 storm."
MARCIANO: Yeah, a bit of a wakeup call, for sure.
COSTELLO: Absolutely. Thank you, Rob.
As Katrina gathers strength preparing for its final assault on the Gulf Coast, residents from the Florida Panhandle to Louisiana are boarding up their homes, expecting the worst from a potential Category 4 hurricane.
One person has gone a step farther, though. He has built a house he says is completely hurricane-proof. CNN's Jonathan Freed is at that house right now. It's a dome building in Santa Rosa Island, Florida.
Jonathan, explain.
JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, hi, Carol. Absolutely. We're here in Pensacola Beach, Florida, and behind me is what's called the dome of a home.
Carol, if you're driving by here, you cannot help but stop and stare at this thing.
Let me give you a sense of where we are. Over here, we're about 150 yards away from the Gulf of Mexico right there. Now, this home is built to withstand, as you pointed out, the force of a hurricane.
Let me give you an example about that. Come back here, and if you see what used to be their neighbors, there's nothing there. The homes that were next door here were just completely razed by last year's hurricane season here in Florida.
Joining me now is the member of the family that built this home, Rick Kuklinsky. Thank you for joining you.
RICK KUKLINSKY, FAMILY MEMBER: You're welcome.
FREED: So what is it about the shape, this dome shape that really allows this home to withstand the force of a hurricane? KUKLINSKY: Well, it's a monolithic design. The ground is built up and bermed to the side. It's a dome shape, so when the wind hits it, it breaks around, so it doesn't have, you know, the sheer force to knock it down, so it will withstand tremendous forces.
FREED: So with other more traditional homes, with flat walls, the wind just impacting right on the walls there, and adding stress.
KUKLINSKY: Right.
FREED: Here, the wind just breaks right around the side.
KUKLINSKY: Like an airplane wing kind of thing.
FREED: OK. Now, part of the construction here involves actually inflating a balloon in order to cover over that dome. How does that work?
KUKLINSKY: Well, it's sprayed with -- a balloon is blown up. It's sprayed with foam and then shot with concrete to coat it. And inside the concrete, there's rebar. So basically, we're making a cooler -- a cooler home. There's no infiltration of moisture whatsoever.
So long-term, this home will be here for a couple of lifetimes.
FREED: So if you've ever played with papier mache as a kid and covered over a balloon with newspaper dipped (INAUDIBLE), it's kind of a high-tech version of that?
KUKLINSKY: That's correct. That's correct. This is sort of experimental. Mr. Siegler (ph) has spent five years developing the concept, and Ivan (ph) proved that it worked. The break-away worked, the house stood.
FREED: And talking about things and break-away, that sort of thing, let's go inside here. Now, the whole house is built on pilings.
KUKLINSKY: Right.
FREED: And you can park, what, a half-a-dozen cars down here?
KUKLINSKY: When you say pilings, it's a different design. Pilings are usually -- they're every 10 foot, that you have a post. This home has a perimeter ring with the pilings going down to a certain depth, and they're reusable pilings. But it gives us a free space, which was a unique design.
FREED: And the storm surge will come -- the waves will come right through?
KUKLINSKY: Gush right through, that's the plan.
FREED: And that's kind of like you were describing before, if you took a glass of water. KUKLINSKY: That's what a storm surge is like. A lot of people don't understand this. If you took a big tumbler, put a piece of cardboard on top, flipped it over and lifted up the glass, and the water goes out. You multiply that by 20, 30 miles, that's what happens. And it starts right here at the beach.
FREED: And speaking about right out here. Come on, Rick. Let's show people the one thing last seasons hurricanes actually washed away. And we're talking about the staircase that's here in the front of the house. But this is really a break-away staircase.
KUKLINKSY: Right, this is built to wash away, when an intense surge comes, this breaks away from the home and it doesn't take the home with it. It's an expendable piece of structure.
FREED: OK. Now, what's it like inside? I think people would imagine if the wind is whipping around the outside of a dome like this, they would think it's probably quite noisy during a storm.
KUKLINSKY: Well, it's been amazing. Mr. Seigler stayed here during Ivan with about four other people. And they actually slept through the intense part of Ivan. And it was just quiet inside.
FREED: They slept through the storm?
KUKLINSKY: They slept through the storm, yeah, the main part of it. They were up to about midnight, but then during the main eye they were sleeping and weren't disturbed. It's like being in a cooler. This is a concrete, huge, massive structure that is going to be here forever. It's an amazing feat that these pulled off. And it works.
FREED: If people want more information about this type of construction, where can they go?
KUKLINSKY: Domeofahome.com. In fact, universities are using this Web site. It's a massive thing. Domeofahome.com. They can got to that, find out everything about the dome, the construction, et cetera.
FREED: All right. Rick Kuklinsky, thank you very much for showing off your house with us.
KUKLINSKY: I'm glad to have you guys here.
FREED: And Carol, we'll through it back to you.
COSTELLO: That's fascinating. Jonathan Freed many thanks to you.
When hurricanes hit, you'd be surprised what people stock up on first. Here's the 360 download, the top selling item at Wal-Mart during a hurricane is beer. Well, its no surprise that the other big hurricane purchases are bottled water, canned goods and flash lights. But here's a strange one, hurricanes seem to create a craving for pop tarts, sales for the strawberry variety pop up seven times.
Erica Hill -- now you know, Erica. Erica Hill from Headline News joins us with some of the other stories we're following.
ERICA HILL, HEADLINE NEWS: I don't know, strawberry pop tarts and beer? I'd about go pizza and beer, but that's just me.
COSTELLO: A hurricane does funny things to people. I don't know.
HILL: Indeed it does. Indeed it does.
All right. We'll get you caught up on the headlines now, Carol. Nice to see you, by the way.
Two brothers once detained in the Natalee Holloway case have been arrested again, this time on suspicion of rape and murder. Satish and Deepak Kalpoe were taken into custody today. Authorities say that on May 30, when Holloway was seen leaving an Aruban nightclub with the brothers and one other person right before she died. Now prosecutors say there are new facts and circumstances in the case, but wouldn't elaborate.
Meantime, in Iraq another soldier has died. The Pentagon announcing today a U.S. soldier was killed in Ramadi on Tuesday during a battle with insurgents. He is the 74th troop to die this month. 1,873 have been killed since the war began in Iraq.
In Europe, floodwaters starting to subside, but there could be more rain on the way. And that is not what they want to hear. At least 43 people now have been killed by overflowing rivers and lakes in Switzerland and other parts of central and eastern Europe. Recovery efforts are under way, although there are concerns the forecasted ran could trigger more mudslides in the region.
And a follow-up to a story that hit us pretty hard personally, by us I mean all of CNN. This month's computer attack, the FBI says an 18-year-old Moraccan and a 21-year-old resident of Turkey have been arrested for creating and spreading computer worms that shut down many networks, including the one at CNN. The most damaging worm had targeted computers running Windows 2000 and early versions of Windows XP, which is why many of us got hit, Carol.
COSTELLO: Well, I'm just glad they caught the alleged worms who were responsible for the worm.
HILL: Ba-dum-ching.
COSTELLO: Da-dun. Thank you, Erica. We'll see you again in about 30 minutes.
360 Next, the war of words over the war in Iraq. Two sides battle outside the president's vacation ranch in Crawford, each with a strong message. We'll take you inside their war of words.
Also tonight, survivors AIDS in Africa. For children, it's more than just pills and medicine. 360 MD Sanjay Gupta travels on a journey of urgency and hope. And a little later, inside a dark and deadly exploration, searching caves. More and more Americans are going under and risking their lives.
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COSTELLO: Things are going to get louder on the doorstep of President Bush's vacation home in Crawford, Texas this weekend. More anti-war protesters are expected to join Cindy Sheehan's vigil. At the same time, supporters of President Bush will be holding their own rally in town. It's battle where, for both sides, the message is well-rehearsed. CNN's Ed Lavandera is in Crawford.
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ED LAVENDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The "You Don't Speak for Me, Cindy" caravan rolled into Glendale, Arizona a few nights ago. Deborah Johns is the lead driver. She describes herself as the other mother who speaks for thousands of military families supporting the Iraq war. Her son served two terms in Iraq and came home alive.
DEBORAH JOHNS: We have been silent too long and the Cindys of the world are the ones that have gotten and been the squeaky wheels that are getting the grease.
LAVENDERA: The small caravan looks like a grassroots response to Cindy Sheehan's protest, but it's funded and organized by MoveAmericaForward.com, a conservative group that formed the caravan to counter Cindy Sheehan's protest.
It's organized rallies in California, Arizona and Texas. Crawford is the last stop.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bring my son home!
LAVENDERA: Cindy Sheehan likes say she's simply the spark of a movement that has mobilized thousands, but the spark turns into a flame with the help of a public relations firm and a nonprofit group funded by Ben Cohen. He's the Ben in Ben&Jerry's ice cream.
The anti-war protest strategy is to surround Cindy Sheehan with other grieving mothers and wives.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm here because Cindy has given me hope for the first time in a long time.
LAVENDERA: The message they try to send is that the protest is bigger than just one woman.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But I know I speak for thousands of them. I know we speak for thousands of them, when we want to know what is the noble cause our children died for, what is the noble cause they're still fighting for and dying for every day?
LAVENDERA: This is protesting in the media age, grassroots movements, with sophisticated relations techniques, choreographing photo ops, helping spread the message but at the same time trying to preserve that grassroots image.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't do it to them what you did to us in Nam.
LAVENDERA: The rhetoric seems to distorts reality. With these protesters getting so much attention you might get the impression Crawford is overrun with activists. It's not. The crowds rarely seem to top 200 people. Each side wants to you think there are many more who believe in their cause. For now, it's a matter of perception.
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LAVENDERA: And this is the main street of Crawford you see behind me where many people will be gathering this coming weekend. And Cindy Sheehan has already said that in the next few days, she will be heading to Washington, D.C., a bus caravan heading for there to continue on her message, and she can expect that no matter where she goes from here, the other side will be speaking out just as loudly -- Carol.
COSTELLO: That's a safe bet. Ed Lavandera, live in Crawford tonight.
Up next on 360, on a continent with limited resources the deadly AIDS virus strikes particularly hard at Africa's children. 360 MD Sanjay Gupta has found a place where people are gathering to get them some care.
Also tonight...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALEXANDER (last name removed), HUSBAND: Medication was not working. It was a tough, tough time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: A husband says he tried to help his depressed wife. So should he be blamed for her suicide?
And a bit later, millions suffer from various forms of depression. How can you spot signs of it in others? We'll tell you.
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COSTELLO: Throughout this week, 360 MD Sanjay Gupta has been reporting about a crisis of epidemic proportions: The scourge of AIDS in Africa. The AIDS virus is also infecting the most vulnerable of Africa's people, the children. Most of them will succumb to the disease, and just a few are lucky enough to get the proper care. Sanjay Gupta reports from Kenya with tonight's "World in 360."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He's a priest from Providence, Rhode Island. But for more than 13 years, Father Angelo D'Agostino, known as Father Dag, has watched over the orphans of Africa's AIDS epidemic here in Nairobi, Kenya.
(on camera): It's unbelievable work. And obviously, a lot of people will watch and say, that's just remarkable that there's people like you. But what -- how did you get inspired to do it in the first place?
FATHER ANGELO D'AGOSTINO: No inspiration. It was a matter of necessity.
GUPTA (voice-over): Father Dag trained as an Air Force surgeon before becoming a Jesuit priest, and later became a psychiatrist, one of the first psychoanalyst priests in the history of Roman Catholicism. But nothing could truly prepare him or anyone for this.
In the cruel logic of AIDS, many of these children are not just orphans. They too, are infected with the virus. And in a world of limited resources, that means tough choices.
The children living in Father Dag's orphanage get anti-retroviral drugs, or ARVs, life-saving drugs to fight off AIDS. And with limited supplies, most of the other children in his care that he sees through the outreach program get no medicine.
(on camera): Just 15 minutes from here, the Nyumbani orphanage houses 94 children with HIV, all of them living seemingly happy and healthy lives.
But this is the stark reality for more than 2,000 others. The Nairobi slums -- mud huts, dirty water and sheer poverty. So how do you decide who is going to live where?
D'AGOSTINO: We have a waiting list, and you can't take them all. It's first come, first serve. I mean, and if the laboratory studies show that they're in a range that they need to have it, they always get it.
We used to have two or three deaths a month. Funerals right here at the cemetery. And now, funerals are a very rare occasion.
GUPTA: Twenty-three-year-old Dennis Ungane (ph) came to the program when he was 11. He is the oldest orphan here. By all accounts, he was not supposed to live this long.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Almost all of them were my friends.
GUPTA: Dennis (ph) came here with his twin brother in 1993, when AIDS was an automatic death sentence. While Dennis (ph) has never been sick enough to need the medicine, his brother wasn't so lucky.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My brother, I guess, didn't take it, because at that time, they weren't available in Kenya. And if they were, he would have survived. GUPTA: He died eight years ago.
Why exactly is it so difficult to get children on the drugs they need to live? Well, a lot more adults than kids have HIV, so drug manufacturers don't make as much of the pediatric medicine, because it's more expensive to produce.
D'AGOSTINO: ARVs are unique. You know, other medicines, drug companies will give you samples and supplies for a while, but they won't give us samples or free supplies of the ARV, because if they do, and the child thrives and lives, the minute they cut off the supply, the child will die.
GUPTA: For sure, the numbers are still staggering. Nearly 2 million children infected, half a million dying, most in sub-Saharan Africa.
But for now, a small handful in the slums of Nairobi are surviving.
D'AGOSTINO: With the advent of the medication, they'll be living to be teenagers, which we never expected. So it's very hopeful. Yeah, hopeful.
GUPTA (on camera): Sort of brings a smile to your face.
D'AGOSTINO: Oh, yeah, they're very, very hopeful.
GUPTA (voice-over): Healthier and more hopeful. After many years, Father Dag is finally beginning to see the tide turn.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA: And really interesting, Carol, such a difficult decision every day, deciding between who is going to get into this orphanage and get the medicines, and who is not. Impossible decisions, really.
What struck me the most, though, when I was there, was that these medications really work. You give the medications, these ARV medications, to people with AIDS, and within a few days, they improve significantly. So people's lives are being saved. We found a story of hope out there, Carol.
COSTELLO: And thank God for Father Dag, what a guy. That's awesome. Thank you, Sanjay.
GUPTA: Thank you, Carol.
COSTELLO: And we'll see you again later in the show.
GUPTA: Thank you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: What do you think? His wife jumped to her death. Then a judge said he didn't take her depression seriously, so he's responsible. 360 investigates.
Also, do you really know the difference? When someone is down versus when they're struggling with profound depression? 360's owner's manual for when to get help.
And deeply mysterious. Four friends found dead deep in a cave, pitch dark, hidden tunnels and no witnesses. What did happen so far out of sight? 360 continues.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Says he did all he could to help his wife, but tonight the husband of a woman who committed suicide is accused of not doing enough to save her. CNN's Rick Sanchez has more on a tragic and emotional story that could have far-reaching consequences.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Alex and Sophia (last name removed) married in their 20s, had two daughters, and then, like so many immigrant families, they left their native Russia, in search of a new beginning here in America. Sophia made it clear to her family, she was determined to make the most of it.
ALEXANDER (last name removed), HUSBAND: You see, I will try my best. I will finish college. I will get a good paying job, and she did it.
ANNA (last name removed), DAUGHTER: It showed me how education is so important and taking care of your family at the same time, and so she was like wonder woman.
SANCHEZ: While Alex worked as a custodian, Sophia went to college, graduating with honors, becoming a lab technician. Their life in Brooklyn seemed like the picture of happiness, but all that changed, when Sophia turned 50. She suddenly started behaving oddly, suffering from strange delusions.
ANNA (last name removed): When you look at her, you thought she was somewhere else, like she wasn't paying attention to you and she was like in a different, like, you know, world.
SANCHEZ: Sophia had horrible hallucinations. People were out to hurt her, she thought, didn't even trust her own husband. Sophia was hospitalized twice, diagnosed with major depression, and prescribed anti-psychotic medication.
ALEXANDER (last name removed): Medication was not working. It was tough, tough time.
SANCHEZ: And it only got tougher from there. Alex became worried during one bad psychotic episode, so worried, he said, he called a nearby psychiatric clinic that weekend, on Saturday, and again on Sunday. ALEXANDER (last name removed): Her condition was going down, down the hill.
SANCHEZ: And you said, I want to you see her.
ALEXANDER (last name removed): I want somebody to help.
SANCHEZ: The clinic told him to wait, until Sophia's psychiatrist was in, on Monday. But when he finally got Sophia's doctor on the phone Monday, he says, help was the last thing he got.
ALEXANDER (last name removed): She told me, I cannot see your wife, it's not a scheduled appointment.
SANCHEZ: So she told you to go to the emergency room?
ALEXANDER (last name removed): She told me to go to the hospital, that's it, this is the answer.
ALEXANDER (last name removed): For Alex, not the answer he was hoping for. He says he knew Sophia would resist any attempt on his part to take her to the hospital, that she would take it as an attempt to put her away. Not knowing what else to do, he chose to wait. It was on the fourth floor of this building on a June night that (last name removed) says he went to bed with his wife next to him. Suddenly, he was awakened by the sound of an ambulance. He looked next to him, and his wife wasn't there. He ran to a window, and says what he saw them haunts him to this day.
ALEXANDER (last name removed): My wife on the street. With a beautiful head, blood all over.
SANCHEZ: Just four days before her eldest daughter's wedding, Sophia jumped to her death, from the fire escape of their Brooklyn apartment. Alex filed a lawsuit against the psychiatric clinic for wrongful death. But in a surprising twist, the defense filed a counter suit against Alex, claiming he was liable for refusing to follow the doctor's orders and take his wife to the hospital.
ALAN KELHOFFER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Are we going to make the doctors act as if they were a police force and follow up with a patient's spouse or loved one or parent every time they call on the patient's behalf and the doctor gives instructions. The doctors are not the police.
SANCHEZ: So when these other lawyers say you may be partially responsible too, you say to them what?
ALEXANDER (last name removed): How you can blame a Brooklyn library custodian who doesn't know nothing about medicine, who doesn't know how the brain works.
SANCHEZ: In a potential landmark decision the judge ruled that Alex does bear some responsibility for his wife' suicide. All Alex knows is he misses his wife, and Anna misses her mother. They both say Sophia would be alive today, if it wasn't for what they consider to be the negligence of the psychiatric clinic.
ALEXANDER (last name removed): A real sick person, who needs attention, who needs support and help, lost in the process, in bureaucratic process.
SANCHEZ: Rick Sanchez, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: So legally and ethically speaking, do you think the husband should be blamed for causing his wife's suicide? I took that issue up earlier with CNN Legal Correspondent Jeffrey Toobin and Bruce Weinstein, the ethics guy and author of "Life Principles: Feeling Good by Doing Good."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: You know, when I first heard about this case, it seemed to me like an Ally McBeal episode. You can almost see the lawyers sitting around at the hospital thinking to themselves, hmm, how can we fight this? And then they target this poor husband. I mean --
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I mean, remember, you're going to have to remember who started it. This husband, he's a grieving husband.
COSTELLO: But see, you're already putting it into a context of a game.
TOOBIN: But he's a plaintiff. I mean, he started this. He is filing this lawsuit. There would be no lawsuit if he didn't file it. So he files a lawsuit, and the defense lawyers say, understandably, who is really at fault here? And, you know, there is some comparative negligence going on here, and I think, based on the facts, and the judge's opinion that the judge was right. That the husband is, at least, partially responsible for what happened here.
COSTELLO: But a part of me cannot see how, because he called the doctor, right? She didn't have time to get on the phone or she was off. She couldn't even speak to her patient, who was very mentally ill, knowing she was suicidal.
TOOBIN: And he spoke to the social worker who said get this woman to the emergency room. He didn't do it. You know, I'm sorry.
COSTELLO: Yes. But he also said that the only person that she trusted was this doctor.
BRUCE WEINSTEIN: The woman in this case did not have decision- making capacity. This woman was not able to think through the implications of her decision, and so the principle of respect for patient autonomy didn't apply here because her wish was not authentic, it did not reflect what she really wanted. It would have been wrong to meet her. COSTELLO: But don't you think from the husband' perspective, that he was rather confused, too, for a very long period of time, he cared for his wife.
WEINSTEIN: But the psychiatrist said no. I'm not in a position to help her the way she needs to be helped. You need to go to an emergency room. You don't need a degree in medicine to be able follow that advice.
TOOBIN: Also, remember something else. He is her husband. He's not some stranger on the street. A stranger on the street wouldn't have this kind of responsibility. He's the husband, and the law, and I think basic morality says, you know, we are more responsible for our spouses than we are for just strangers.
COSTELLO: OK. So if I started smoking tomorrow, is my husband responsible for me getting cancer?
WEINSTEIN: No, but he would have --
TOOBIN: I'd be filing suit shortly. Of course not.
COSTELLO: Seriously, if I become overweight, and I'm prone to all of these health conditions, is he responsible for my weight gain?
WEINSTEIN: He's responsible for failing to, at least, express his concern for you and say, you know, I care about you. You're the most important person in my life, and I'd like you to rethink your decision to smoke and to --
COSTELLO: Yeah, but ethically and morally, I can understand that, but legally I cannot.
WEINSTEIN: There is a difference.
TOOBIN: There is a difference, but remember, you know, starting to smoke is not an immediate emergency situation. If, as a result of your smoking, you have a heart attack on the floor, and your husband decides to watch "Monday Night Football" instead, well, then maybe he is legally responsible.
COSTELLO: Doesn't this send out a chilling message for every person whose loved one has committed suicide?
WEINSTEIN: Well, for one thing, it's not a court's decision to decide the social implications of their decision. Their job is to look at the facts, look at the rules of law, and then make a decision accordingly. The implications of that are for people like us to discuss.
COSTELLO: Well, no, I think...
TOOBIN: The courts are more responsible for the implications of their decision, but I'm not really too troubled by this decision, because you know, if a spouse is told, "get your spouse to the emergency room," and he didn't, and he doesn't, well, then I think maybe you lose the chance to sue.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: 360 next, how can you spot signs of depression in people who are close to you? 360 MD Sanjay Gupta tells us what to look for.
And a little later, how not to visit Jennifer Aniston at home unannounced and going through the front door without knocking. We'll tell you what happened to one guy who tried.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Back with 360 and warning signs of depression. Most bouts of depression are not as necessarily as extreme as the case we saw before the break, but how can you spot it in a spouse, or family member, or friend, and when do you need to call for help?
360 MD Sanjay Gupta has the answer. He joins us now live.
So, Sanjay, how can you tell that somebody is really depressed, or just down?
GUPTA: Yeah, it can be challenging, for sure, Carol. A couple of things to remember. First of all, the chance of someone having a major depressive disorder at some point in their life is pretty significant. About one in 10 people do. That's about 20 million American adults every year, having some sort of major depressive disorder of some sort.
And we're not talking about just feeling sad, but actually feeling significantly down in the dumps. And sometimes, that can last for weeks at a time.
What's most striking is that there is an actual sort of chemical imbalance that's going on in the brain. Take a look at these two brains. This is a 35-year-old woman who is depressed. This is a PET scan, a type of brain scan, and she was in part of a research study. On the left, a depressed brain. And then after she was treated, a recovered brain.
I put up these scans, Carol, to show you that there is actually some significant chemical changes going on in the brain. Most people won't get a PET scan if they're having some of these symptoms, so they'll just go see their doctor.
Things to look out for specifically, though, are specific things like they're feeling sad, anxious, they have an empty mood, again, lasting for some time. Hopelessness, pessimism as well, guilt, worthlessness, helplessness as well. Less interested in normal activities, and specifically things that you used to enjoy you just don't enjoy anymore. Less energy, fatigued, slowing down, or changing in sleeping and eating patterns.
Now, a lot of people, Carol, might be looking at that and saying, well, that's me, I've had those symptoms from time to time. And again, we're talking about when these symptoms last for weeks upon end, and they don't seem to go away. Nothing seems to make them better, Carol.
COSTELLO: Let me ask you this, when someone is depressed to the point of being suicidal, I've always heard if they have a plan to kill themselves, that's when you really start to worry. Is that true?
GUPTA: Well, certainly if someone's starting to actually contemplate specific suicide, that's certainly a time to worry. And you know, some of the statistics are pretty alarming, actually. The bad news about depression, according to the National Institutes for Mental Health, 15 percent of people who have major depression actually go on to have some sort of suicide attempt. That's the bad news. The good news is that, if treated, about 80 percent of the people can get significantly better with treatment.
So there's good news and bad news there. Of course, a plan like that, Carol, can be a significant red flag.
COSTELLO: All right. I guess the safe bet is to take them to the emergency room if you suspect something is seriously wrong.
GUPTA: There are psychiatric emergency rooms, absolutely, so that would be a good idea.
COSTELLO: All right. Thank you, Sanjay.
GUPTA: Thank you.
COSTELLO: 360 next, backlash over a controversial report about fetal pain. We'll tell you why one abortion opponent is getting hate mail from other abortion opponents.
Plus, the wrong way to visit your favorite star. We'll tell you what happened at the home of actress Jennifer Aniston.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: In tonight's "Weekender," Erica Hill from HEADLINE NEWS joins us with some of the stories you'll be talking about this weekend. Hello, Erica.
HILL: Hi, Carol, again. Yes, victories today for two states that campaigned hard to save their Air Force bases. You can bet folks are going to be talking about this one. The Base Realignment and Closure commissioners today voted to keep South Dakota's Ellsworth Air Force Base and its 4,000 jobs open. The Pentagon had recommended closure there, and a reprieve of sorts for Cannon Air Force Base. That's in Clovis, New Mexico. It will not close altogether, but operations there will be greatly reduced.
Meantime, a warning tonight for home owners from the Federal Reserve chairman. Alan Greenspan cautioned Americans against thinking the value of their homes and other investments will always rise. Greenspan also warned that huge trade and budget deficits threaten the long-term health of the nation's economy. The Food and Drug Administration has delayed for 60 days a decision on whether to allow nonprescription sales of the emergency contraception pill known as Plan B. The FDA will use the time to determine whether age should be a factor when the drug is bought.
And this, really no way to get close to your favorite star. A man strolled into Jennifer Aniston's unlocked home in Malibu yesterday, saying I was just there looking for Jennifer. She happened to be away. When confronted by two of Aniston's employees, he ran out of the residence. The 48-year-old man was arrested on the beach a short while later. He was charged with trespassing. And you know, even if she was home, probably wouldn't have been too excited to see him.
COSTELLO: Well, I know a simple solution to this problem, though, don't you? Like lock your doors.
HILL: Lock your door. Yeah. You would think, but I guess if she wasn't home, she wasn't there to supervise it. I don't know. But...
COSTELLO: Lock your doors, for goodness sakes.
HILL: Lock your doors, people, come on!
COSTELLO: Thank you, Erica. See you again in about 30 minutes.
Let's find out what's coming up at the top of the hour on "PAULA ZAHN NOW." Hello, Paula.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Carol. That's nothing that would ever occur to any of us who live here in New York City.
COSTELLO: Nothing at all.
ZAHN: Thanks. At the top of the hour, we'll have the very latest on the path of Hurricane Katrina. We'll see how people in South Florida are doing in the wake of this deadly and dangerous storm.
Also, can you imagine living to 100, 120, 130? The incredible discovery that may one day mean the end of aging as we know it. Carol, I can't guarantee what any of us will look like at 130, but they're saying with this discovery, perhaps we will live to 100 and...
(CROSSTALK)
COSTELLO: ... that whole quality of life issue.
ZAHN: Well, that is another important thing that we will tackle tonight.
COSTELLO: All right. Thank you, Paula.
360 next, a controversial fetal pain report has turned some abortion opponents against one of their own. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: A couple of days ago, we told you about a new report that says fetuses are likely not to feel pain until around the seventh month of pregnancy. Well, that report got a lot of abortion opponents upset. Some went as far as to send hate mail to the editor-in-chief of the "Journal of the American Medical Association," which published the report. But it turns out that the editor-in-chief, Dr. Catherine DeAngelis, is herself a Roman Catholic and a strong opponent to abortion. I spoke with her earlier.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: So you didn't think such vitriol would ever be directed at you personally?
CATHERINE DEANGELIS, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, JAMA: Well, good heavens, this was not an abortion article. This was a continuing medical education article for physicians, and in this section, we tried to provide physicians and other health care professionals with the latest scientific information on a topic that we feel they should have some knowledge, or they tell us they want some articles to help them. And this is cutting-edge, state-of-the-art, the best available scientific evidence regarding the whole issue of pain. And if anyone reads the article, they will see that. It never occurred to me that it would raise such anger and hate.
COSTELLO: Oh, but it did. I want to read to our viewers some of the e-mails that you received. Here's one of them. It says, "Your license should be stripped. You should get a real job. Eternity will definitely bring justice for you."
DEANGELIS: I hope so.
COSTELLO: Well, when you're reading -- when you're reading this type of e-mail, I mean, what goes through your mind?
DEANGELIS: Well, it's -- those are not as bad as "I spit on your soul." "May you rot in hell." After I read about the fifth or sixth one, and they were just coming at me, I just had to -- I actually went and walked around the block.
COSTELLO: I want to read another one. This one says, "I'm wondering if your mother ever thought about aborting you. What made her keep you? And more importantly, whether you would appreciate her decision to give birth to you?"
Now, the irony here is you're a very staunch Catholic. You don't even believe in abortion.
DEANGELIS: Absolutely, and Carol, I can tell you that I, personally, know, and I don't know how many people can say this, I once put my life on the line rather than even think, nevermind do, even consider an abortion. I put my life at risk. That's how strongly I feel about it. However, however, I believe, because of other experiences I have, that every woman should have the right to make that same decision that I did.
COSTELLO: You know, something that may have added fuel to the fire, though, two of the people that were involved in this study, one performs abortions, she's a doctor, and the other has worked for a pro-abortion rights organization. Let me read you this e-mail that you received about that. It says: "These are people with years of professional and ideological investment in the pro-abortion cause, not some neutral team of medical professionals. We think readers and viewers have a right to know who's filtering the information they're being presented with."
That's reasonable, isn't it?
DEANGELIS: Absolutely. And well, first of all, they're actually two people there who are obstetricians, and part of the scope of practice legally in the United States, you would assume they perform abortions, so that's not a surprise.
I was somewhat taken aback when I found out that one of the authors, who is a lawyer, and is currently a medical student, supposedly worked for NARAL, which is the pro-abortion group. I don't know what the medical student will say about why she didn't reveal it. I had -- I really wish she had. I would have published that in the disclosures.
But it certainly would not have altered the decision to publish it. Because this is sound science.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Dr. Catherine DeAngelis.
I'm Carol Costello. CNN's prime-time coverage continues with Paula Zahn. And by the way, I will be filling in for Aaron Brown later on, after "LARRY KING LIVE." Hello, Paula.
END
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