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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

Rain Drenches Northeast; Pennsylvania Woman Tries to Steal Neighbor's Unborn Baby

Aired October 14, 2005 - 19:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

HEIDI COLLINS, GUEST HOST: Hi, everybody.
I'm Heidi Collins. Anderson is off tonight.

Across the Northeast and southern New England, the headline is waterlogged and worried.

360 starts now.

NARRATOR: A week of record-breaking deadly rain, solid New England homes washed away. Hundreds of people forced to flee. High water getting higher. Walkers become waders.

The D.A. says she tried to steal her neighbor's unborn child, tried to cut the baby right out of her womb. How a quick-thinking teenager intervened and how mother and baby are doing tonight.

More footage of a police beating caught on videotape. New pictures and new sounds and what they may mean for the case against the cops now in trouble. Their lawyer speaks out.

Vikings in rough water. The cruise that allegedly turned into an orgy. The boat's owners tell their side of the story.

COLLINS: Hi, everybody.

The Northeast is soaked, sodden, saturated, submerged and sad.

CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano is out there, he's going to tell us a little bit more about the situation. We'll get to him a little later.

Meanwhile, eight solid days of rain have given new meaning to wet across the region.

Here's what's happening at this moment.

A state of emergency has been declared in New Jersey where flooding has swamped parts of the state and caused sewage to back up into homes.

In Montville, Connecticut, mudslides are the problem for houses near a new shopping plaza. Some people there may have to evacuate.

Conditions are pretty bad to the south and east of Connecticut as well.

CNN's Mary Snow is live now in New Jersey.

And gardens need water there I'm sure, but the Garden State may have already had enough -- right, Mary?

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely right, Heidi.

And the governor saying about 500 people throughout the state have been evacuated.

Behind me, we are in Lincoln Park. Water still high enough to keep about 20 people from their homes, but the water is receding here while in other parts of the state it is actually getting worse.

One of the main areas of concern is the Passaic County. The governor is saying that certain communities face dangerous situations. One of them being Fairfield Township, where police today went door to door asking people in one community along the Passaic to leave their homes.

One of the new problems, though, today and one of the big concerns is along the coast. While we've had river flooding here, in Monmouth County, New Jersey, there has been coastal flooding. And the National Guard came in to assist evacuations in the town of Spring Lake. There were about 350 homes that had to be evacuated. Some people were taken out by boat; others who saw roads impassable and cars submerged under water.

The New Jersey State Police and the National Guard have been activated according to the governor. And what is one of the main concerns now is what happens into tomorrow, because here in northern New Jersey the real test will come when the Passaic River crests, and that is expected to happen in the morning -- Heidi?

COLLINS: All right.

Mary Snow, thanks for that.

We want to go straight to Atlanta now, where we have Dave Hennen standing by. He's going to tell us a little bit more about the overall weather scenario.

Dave, we're looking at a state of emergency now in New Jersey.

DAVE HENNEN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, that's right, Heidi.

The good news is we think the rain is going to begin to move out of New Jersey and the heavier rainfall will be moving back into Connecticut, moving into Massachusetts as well.

You can see where we have the latest flood warnings in effect. Those are the areas in the darkest green.

And we have seen the heaviest rainfall into northern parts of New Jersey. So much of the river system here, including the Passaic and various rivers in northeastern sections of New Jersey, are under the flood warnings, as you can see. And it's going to take a while before the rivers eventually crest and we begin to get out of this mess.

Most of the rain moving out of New Jersey, though -- that's the good news -- with the heavier rainfall now moving into Long Island, moving into southern Connecticut, where the flood watches continue in effect.

Some parts of Long Island we saw considerable amounts of rain during the afternoon hours, up to six to eight inches of rain in some locations. So flooding being reported over much of Long Island. It is reported to be widespread as well.

And the radar over much of the Northeast continues to show a large area of rain, Heidi. So we're not out of this yet. We will be, though, by late in the weekend.

Back to you.

COLLINS: Wow. I sure hope so.

All right, Dave, thank you.

This now is the kind of story that is almost impossible to imagine except that we've seen it before.

An attack on a pregnant woman, this time in Pennsylvania. Her neighbor now charged with attempted murder. The district attorney in the case says the suspect was trying to steal an unborn baby by cutting it right out of its mother's womb.

CNN's Randi Kaye has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Peggy Jo Conner and Valerie Oskin -- neighbors and friends, good friends. Both apparently pregnant, the women were enjoying a special bond until this week when investigators say Conner beat Oskin with a baseball bat, then tried to cut Oskin's baby out of the womb.

THOMAS WILKS, HUSBAND: We met right here. This is the first place I met her, right here.

KAYE: Thomas Wilkes is Conner's husband. He took us to the park outside Pittsburgh where the two first met a year and a half ago.

(on camera): So what's it like for you to come back here knowing that she's in jail and you're trying to figure out what life will bring next?

WILKS: It's hard. It's a horrible thing to think of.

KAYE (voice-over): For the last eight months, Wilkes says he watched his wife's belly grow. She took pregnancy vitamins and suffered through morning sickness. WILKS: I'd put my hands on her stomach and it would move, and then the baby would kick. I'd lay my head on her stomach and my head would move where the baby would kick.

KAYE: But investigators say medical tests show Conner is not pregnant now nor had she been. There is no evidence of a miscarriage.

Police say Conner knocked Oskin unconscious at home while Oskin's 7-year-old son was there, then dropped the boy off at a relative's and took Oskin to this remote, wooded area.

Here, they say, Conner sliced open Oskin's belly to steal her baby. A well thought-out crime, prosecutors say, until a teenager on an all-terrain vehicle spotted the women in the woods and called police.

Oskin was airlifted to a hospital where her baby boy was delivered by emergency C-section.

Both mom and son survived.

Still, parents like Rick Priester are outraged.

RICK PRIESTER, PARENT: It's disgusting. My wife has been pregnant a couple of summers here. It could have been my wife. It makes me sick.

KAYE: Conner grew up here and became a nurse.

WILKS: She wanted to -- loved to help people. She'd help anybody. It didn't matter who it was, she'd help them.

KAYE: Conner cared for the elderly here. She quit to become a stay-at-home mom after announcing her pregnancy.

Even with three kids from a previous marriage, Conner appeared to be anxiously awaiting her new baby.

(on camera): Do you think she did this?

WILKS: No.

KAYE: Knowing what you know, though? Not what's in your heart, but do you think that it's possible?

WILKS: No.

KAYE: You won't believe it?

WILKS: I won't believe it until she tells me she did it.

KAYE: Conner is being held here at the Armstrong County Jail. She is now charged with attempted homicide, aggravated assault and aggravated assault on an unborn child. She's expected to enter a plea on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the victim's condition is improving. Her baby boy is stable, and apparently, Oskin does remember some of the attack, so investigators will be looking to her for answers.

Randi Kaye, CNN, Kittanning, Pennsylvania.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Scott Andreassi, the district attorney on the case who we just heard from in Randi's report, is joining me now. I want to talk a little bit more about this.

Mr. Andreassi, thanks for being here.

I want to know, first of all, if you have been able to speak with Valerie and what she's been able to recall about what happened?

SCOTT ANDREASSI, ARMSTRONG COUNTY DISTRICT ATTY.: Yes.

We had a trooper who was able to speak with her late this morning after the breathing tube had been removed. She's doing what appears to be remarkably well.

And she was able to relate for us her recollection of at least some of the events beginning on early Wednesday morning and continuing throughout the day.

COLLINS: It seems like in all of this horrible story if there is a hero, it's this teenage boy.

Can you tell us a little bit more about how he came upon Valerie and exactly what he did?

ANDREASSI: Yes.

He truly is a hero. He had been out riding his quad, as he was known to do very often, when he literally came upon this scene quite by chance. Initially, he saw what appeared to be feet protruding near the vehicle and the attacker located near the car. He asked if they needed any help, they initially said no -- they being the attacker.

He then drove the quad down the remote dirt roadway, turned around and came back. At that point, he saw the victim laying there and it was clear that she had been attacked and had been bloodied.

Again, the attacker told him they didn't need any help. He immediately then went home, got his dad. They returned to the scene and that's when authorities were called.

COLLINS: But what do you really think happened here, though, in your heart of hearts after you've heard everything that you have about this story? I mean, do you think that Conner was really afraid to tell her husband that she wasn't pregnant after all?

ANDREASSI: That's difficult, if not impossible to say. What's clear is that she wanted this child and in her mind she was going to get this child. And she was making preparations to have a new baby in her home.

COLLINS: All right.

Mr. Andreassi, we certainly appreciate your time here tonight. Thanks so much.

ANDREASSI: You're welcome. Thank you.

COLLINS: Still to come on 360, why is the agency that serves as the country's first line of defense against hurricanes going around with its hat in its hand?

Developing news -- hours ago in Baghdad, insurgents blew the lights out on the eve of the most important referendum in that country's long history. We'll take you there live.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Within a short time, a very short time, women seemed to start having less clothes on and they're realize -- they run into them nude, they were changing clothes, they are getting into fairly skimpy outfits.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: And more on the Minnesota Vikings' sex cruise. Talk about going overboard.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Coming up, the upcoming vote in Iraq, but first I want to get to Christi Paul. She's joining with us some of the other stories we are following tonight. Hi, Christi.

CHRISTI PAUL: CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Heidi. In Pakistan today search and rescue efforts in the earthquake zone were officially called off. A United Nations spokesman says there's less than a one percent chance of survival by the seventh day. Now, with thunderstorms forecast for the region, authorities are racing to set up tent camps for an estimated two million homeless. The Pakistani death toll is estimated to be 35,000.

Now, there is a poll that asked how often Americans -- or what people think of Americans and whether they think they're rude. There is not a poll, however, that asked them how often they encounter people punching out windows in airplanes.

But apparently a 24-year-old Florida man certainly did just that on an American West flight. This happened on Tuesday night and he apparently awoke from a nap, raised his fist and broke the windows' inner plastic shield. So the good news is the cabin did not depressurize, but the man was arrested upon landing and faces federal charges. His attorney charges suggests it may have been a psychotic episode resulting from drug abuse. Just glad that nobody was certainly hurt. Heidi, back to you.

COLLINS: Yes and, Christi, I think you were talking about this poll we have here right before that, that talked about that 85 percent of people say that they encounter offensive cell phone behavior, at least sometimes. Only eight percent, though, admit to being the obnoxious caller.

PAUL: Yes, that's quite a discrepancy, isn't it? We see it 85 percent of the time, but we don't do it.

COLLINS: That's right. Nobody's guilty.

PAUL: Right.

COLLINS: Christi, thanks so much. We'll see you again in about 30 minutes.

PAUL: Sure.

COLLINS: History will be made in the next few dozen hours in Iraq where early voting, at least in hospitals and among others who need special dispensations, has already begun on the country's new and controversial constitution.

CNN's chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour is covering the story live in Baghdad which spent some of this day blacked out. For the world in 360, we turn now to Christiane -- Christiane.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, exactly. Despite a four-day security lockdown in this country with no traffic allowed on the roads and curfews, was there an attack, according to the electricity minister, on an electrical power plant which did leave about 70 percent of Baghdad blacked out and affected a couple of other cities. They are trying to restore power gradually. Some water was out, too because pumps wouldn't work. However they're saying that won't affect the voting.

This goes into effect in about five hours from now when the polls open. And the basic, crucial nature of this vote is that it could sow the seeds for a future Democratic Iraq or it could spin Iraq off from what people consider now its low-level civil war into a major fragmentation because many of the Sunnis who are in effect in the minority here believe that the constitution unfairly favors the majority of this country who which are Kurds and Shiites and they are afraid the Sunnis are being left out in the cold with none of the country's resource -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Christiane, we'll be watching it through the weekend, thank you.

Coming up tonight on 360, the uncut version of that New Orleans arrest tape. Does it make things better or worse for the cops involved?

Also tonight, could the situation in New Orleans have been made better by beefing up the budget of the nation's hurricane watchdog?

And a little later, the name's Craig, Daniel Craig. We'll explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: The federal grand jury investigating the leaking of a CIA agent's name will wrap up its work in two weeks. Today, the president's top adviser, Karl Rove, appeared before the grand jury again, his fourth visit since the investigation began two years ago. Here's CNN's Kelli Arena.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Karl Rove left the courthouse without comment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you think?

ARENA: He had spent more than four hours inside, making his fourth and apparently final appearance before the grand jury. In a statement, his lawyer, Robert Luskin, says Rove has not been advised he is the target of the investigation, and that special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald affirmed he has made no decision about bringing any charges.

Luskin would not discuss what Rove told the grand jury.

After the testimony, White House press secretary Scott McClellan was asked whether Rove still has the president's confidence. Here's his very careful answer.

SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Karl continues to do his duties as deputy chief of staff and senior adviser to the president.

ARENA: McClellan also dismissed worries the investigation is distracting the White House.

MCCLELLAN: There are other things going on. The White House doesn't have time to let those things distract from the important work at hand.

ARENA: Reporters say both Rove and Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the vice president's chief of staff, spoke to them about Valerie Plame, the CIA operative, in relation to her husband, Bush administration critic Joe Wilson. But both have said they never mentioned Plame's name. It's up to Fitzgerald to decide if they or anyone else broke a 1982 law designed to protect the identity of CIA employees.

Legal experts say Fitzgerald could also be looking into bringing other charges, such as making false statements, obstruction of justice, or the mishandling of classified information.

RANDALL ELIASON, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: From everything I know about Mr. Fitzgerald, he'll come away with criminal charges if charges are appropriate. He's not going to be pressured either way.

ARENA (on camera): Sources close to the investigation believe Fitzgerald is wrapping things up, but he's playing it very close to the vest, leaving all of Washington guessing and some squirming.

Kelli Arena, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: We want to get back to our check on the weather situation now in the northeast, where in case you haven't heard, it is wet. CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano is joining us now from Glenville, Connecticut. Hey, Rob.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Heidi. Yeah, wet's definitely an understatement here. It's been raining for eight days straight, and Byram River, which slices right through Glenville behind me, is just a raging torrent.

This dam built back, probably about 100 years ago when this thing was a felt mill, is just typically a trickle during any other day, but obviously with all the rainfall they've had, this has been running pretty rapid. Good news is is that the Civil Corps of Engineers have been out here. They actually did some work on it this past summer, and we are told there is no threat of this dam bursting.

But there are 4,000 other such dams across the state of Connecticut, so that certainly has been a concern. Luckily, none of them have burst.

It's been an unbelievable change of events here. Let's analyze the weather situation. You know, it was an incredibly dry couple of months, leading up to this event. A couple of areas of high pressure built into the northeast, which actually kept the northeast dry, but was sending a hurricane into the Gulf of Mexico. Then a pattern shift -- and we haven't seen hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico really for the past month -- but now tropical moisture is being fed into the northeast of all places, and that's why we've seen this record rainfall across the northeast. In Central Park alone, over a foot of rain for the month so far. Typically, we would see, you know, an inch and a half by now. So we have seen like almost 10 times that amount. This so far, so far, the fifth wettest month ever recorded, and we're only about halfway through.

Well, as we mentioned, even though we haven't gotten a direct hit from a hurricane or tropical storm, some of the moisture coming up here is tropical storm-related.

What an incredible hurricane season it has been. You would think, you know, with all the destruction, all the deaths we've had from this hurricane season -- NOAA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, would be completely funded and up and running. Well, unbelievably so, they're strapped for cash. John Zarrella is in Miami. He investigates.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): More than 3 million people fled Houston in the face of Hurricane Rita. Twenty- three of them died in a bus that became an inferno. But what if forecasters had advanced tools, tools that would have told them Rita was not going to hit Houston?

HUGH WILLOUGHBY, FORMER DIRECTOR, HURRICANE RESEARCH DIVISION, NOAA: Those poor people that burned out in the bus on the fire would still be doing fine.

ZARRELLA: Hugh Willoughby, former director of NOAA's hurricane research division, known as HRD, thinks that those tools, that level of precision forecasting might have been available to the hurricane center forecasters if his department had not been stymied by years of low funding.

WILLOUGHBY: The nice way to put it is there were other priorities.

ZARRELLA: Willoughby and other scientists who still work at HRD charge they've begged for more money from their parent agency, NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to no avail.

MIKE BLACK, HURRICANE RESEARCH SCIENTIST: We've lost over 11 scientists in the last few years, many of these world-renowned scientists, and we simply haven't replaced them.

ZARRELLA: Mike Black and his colleagues at HRD aren't giving up, still working to learn the hurricanes' secrets.

(on camera): Why they get stronger or weaker, why they go where they do. The answers would allow the National Hurricane Center across town to make an even better forecast than they do.

(voice-over): To do this work, the research division got $4.1 million this year out of a total NOAA budget of $3.9 billion. In fact, NOAA's budget to study salmon is more than $45 million.

NOAA would only allow us to speak with Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center. He would not discuss budget issues, but said forecasts are better than ever. Quote, "we have cut forecast errors in half over the last 15 years," end quote.

Black insists it could be so much better. He points to this instrument used to record ocean surface temperatures. Most of them are 20 years old, and he says he got them from the Navy.

BLACK: In fact, when we received them, we got them from the Philippines, and they had volcanic ash all over them from Mount Pinatubo.

ZARRELLA: More knowledge would mean better forecasts, and the hope of fewer lives lost when hurricanes do hit, and less money spent where they don't. It's not a lot of money, either. Researchers say even $10 million a year would mean a lot. To put this in perspective, that's the cost of evacuating just 10 miles of coastline. John Zarrella, CNN, Miami.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: More footage of a police beating caught on videotape. New pictures and new sounds, and what they may mean for the case against the cops now in trouble. Their lawyer speaks out.

A week of record-breaking deadly rain. Solid New England homes washed away. Hundreds of people forced to flee. High water getting higher. Walkers become waders.

Vikings in rough water. The cruise that allegedly turned into an orgy. The boat's owners tell their side of the story. 360 continues.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: There is still debate over what exactly happened that night on Bourbon Street. The night Robert Davis was subdued and arrested, as the police say, or wantonly beat, as Mr. Davis and his lawyers say, with the video camera recording it all.

Yesterday, for the first time the uncut version of that video was made available and was shown first, here on CNN. CNN's Dan Simon examines the evidence.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The entire videotape shot by the agency's photographer runs five minutes. The extended footage shows a little more of what happened at the beginning of the incident.

We see a woman try to communicate something to the officers before she is shooed away by the mountain policeman. This appears to be the woman Davis has publicly asked to come forward to corroborate his story.

After the officers strike Robert Davis, the new tape shows the two FBI agents watching the struggle for at least 15 seconds before they assist in the eventual takedown.

Moments later according to one law enforcement trainer who watched the tape at CNN's request, it appears the officers are working against one another. One holding Davis in what's called a leg lock, the other sitting on his back effectively pulling and pushing Davis in opposite directions.

And listen carefully, this could be significant in court. You can hear the 64-year-old yell, quote, if you'll allow me to turn over, I will.

ROBERT DAVIS, MAN ATTACKED IN NEW ORLEANS: If you allow me to turn over, I will.

SIMON: It also appears one of the officers delivers a kick to Davis. Bear in mind, he is already on the ground restrained. Later, a witness can be heard saying, quote, "Did you get that on film? He surrendered to them, they then hit him in the back of the head and that's when he started to fight."

As the drama continues to unfold it's clear at least two additional officers, state policemen from Louisiana and New York are also at the scene, it's not clear in what capacity. Then this chilling cry, apparently from Davis.

DAVIS: Oh God, almighty God!

SIMON: At the very end of the complete tape there are a few more seconds of the handcuffing of relief worker, Calvin Briles, who told CNN he wanted to report the alleged brutal treatment of Davis, but was told to mind his own business. Dan Simon, CNN, New Orleans.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: We are joined now live in New Orleans by the attorney for the officers charged in the incident we've been talking about. Mr. Frank DeSalvo. Mr. DeSalvo, thanks so much for being with us tonight. I want to ask you --

FRANK DESALVO, ATTY. POLICE ASSN. OF NEW ORLEANS: Thanks for having me.

COLLINS: You bet. I think we're sort of forgetting about how this whole thing started. Can you remind us how Mr. Davis got in trouble in the first place?

DESALVO: Well, Mr. Davis was stumbling drunk. He was stumbling down the street. He was so drunk he stumbled into a police horse. That's a dangerous situation for Mr. Davis.

The police officers went over to talk to him, to see if he had -- where he lived. If he had anybody who could come get him. Drunks don't bother police officers in New Orleans.

COLLINS: And, of course, Mr. DeSalvo, as you know, Mr. Davis has certainly denied being drunk.

DESALVO: Mr. Davis denied ever resisting arrest and we know now he lied about that, don't we? And I can prove that he was drunk.

COLLINS: How can you prove that, sir?

DESALVO: With evidence.

COLLINS: Was there a Breathalyzer taken?

DESALVO: No, no Breathalyzer there's no provision for that in Louisiana in this situation, but I can prove it with a lot of independent evidence and it's slam dunk for proving that. That's not a problem, but I'm going to do that in the courtroom.

COLLINS: What about resisting arrest? Do you know if Mr. Davis was ever actually told, you are under arrest, at any point?

DESALVO: Those words, I don't know, those words coming from Mr. Bruno, who said he learned that from the movies, that's not how a person gets under arrest. They say, put your hands behind your back, we're going to handcuff you, whether he says you are under arrest or not.

Mr. Davis knew what the score was. He knew he was being arrested, did not want to be arrested, did not want to be handcuffed. He had already told the police officers to go "f themselves" and tried to get away.

If they let him get away and he walks out in to the street and gets hit by a car then they would be responsible. It's a shame that it had to escalate, but it escalated because of what Mr. Davis did.

COLLINS: OK. We're just trying to understand a little bit more about police procedure and obviously, you as representing the Police Association of New Orleans can help us with that.

Is it necessary for a police officer at any point in a struggle like this, that we are seeing on the screen and have seen quite a bit of over the last few days -- is it necessary for an officer to use those words?

DESALVO: To use what words?

COLLINS: You are under arrest.

DESALVO: Oh, you are under arrest? No, no, absolutely not. Absolutely not.

COLLINS: Then how does a person resist arrest? Is that a fair question, do you think?

DESALVO: Arrest means when your freedom of movement is restricted when you are no longer free to leave. Mr. Davis knew he was no longer free to leave and that's when arrest takes place.

COLLINS: OK.

DESALVO: That's the term of art and that's the definition.

COLLINS: OK, understood. As we look that this video over and over again, we do see what we now know we're looking at, is two FBI agents that are standing by. I believe they stand there for about 15 seconds or so before they get involved.

Why did they get involved? Did the officers ask them for help?

DESALVO: No, these are two trained professionals who saw Mr. Davis resisting arrest and creating a ruckus. They did what they were trained to do. They brought him into compliance. Now, the fact that everybody didn't seem to work together, they worked against each other, they weren't all from the same department, they hadn't all worked together in the past, but they were all doing what they were trained to do and doing the best they could. And it would have been very simple for Mr. Davis to have taken his right hand, put it behind his back and be cuffed and it would be over.

You know, he's not surrendering by saying, let me turn over. Turning over is not how this takes place. He doesn't dictate how he gets arrested or how he comes into compliance, the police have to.

COLLINS: OK.

DESALVO: And that's a necessity.

COLLINS: Well, then let me ask you this final question. Was he still a danger after he was on the ground? We saw his cell phone drop out of his hand. I understand that the officers were trying to make sure that there were no weapons on him, but then they continue...

DESALVO: That's actually correct.

COLLINS: They continued to hit him after that and subdue him more, knowing he's no longer armed with again, a cell phone. So is he still a danger at that point on the ground?

DESALVO: Well, you don't know whether a person is a danger or not. You don't know whether he has a gun in his waist band. We know he had tried to reach in his waist band. You don't know if turns over with that arm free whether when he turns over he's going come up with a gun.

You don't know any of those things and law officers that don't take those precautions are the law officers that end up dead. Those are the law officers whose funerals we go to. These guys did what they were supposed to do. Mr. Davis did what he was not supposed to do and that's why this is where it is.

COLLINS: We appreciate your time here tonight, Frank DeSalvo, thanks so much. And this investigation, obviously, will go on...

DESALVO: Thank's for having me.

COLLINS: ...and we'll follow it, thank you, sir.

Still ahead tonight on 360, the disastrous effect on the economy has been disastrous. Katrina made the water rise and is doing the same thing to prices now.

Also tonight, the mess in the Northeast, the mud season has come awfully early this year. Too much rain in too many places.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were petrified. They were stunned. Remember, these folks have never seen anything like this in all their years, some of them worked there nine years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: And more on the Minnesota Vikings' alleged floating orgy. Are they trying to live up to their names?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Already this is the third wettest October on record in New York City, and we're just halfway through the month. That's one measure of how soaked the region is. And CNN's Rob Marciano is standing by in Greenwich, Connecticut now, with the very latest. Rob, obviously still raging waters there behind you.

MARCIANO: Yes, raging waters from all this rain we've had not only in New York, but New Jersey, over in Connecticut, up in Massachusetts. Remember, we began this story with fatalities from mudslides and flooding across New Hampshire. It's been an unbelievable week, eight days of rain and, you know, the rivers just can't handle it.

Just a raging torrent behind me -- this is the Byram River that slices right through the western part of Greenwich, through the communities of Glenville, Pemberwick, and then eventually through Byram and into Long Island Sound and believe me, it's never running this high or this rough.

They did some work on this dam over the summer and it's supposedly secure. There were some worries about a dam around the corner, but they said the to rest easy on that one, 4,000 of these kind of dams that were -- most of them were built, you know, a hundred years ago for saw mills, felt mills and that nature and now they're mostly for flooding control.

So big problems in spots in Connecticut, really bigger problems in New Jersey. Fairfield, New Jersey, specifically a state of emergency there. The Passaic and Pompton Rivers have been rising all day long. The rain is tapering off just a little bit today, but they got the heaviest amounts of rain over the last couple of days. Rivers there not expected to crest until early tomorrow morning, so a state of emergency's issued and some people have been flooded out of their homes.

Even as I say that, Heidi, drier weather is expected tomorrow, but it seems to continue to rain more heavily here in southwestern Connecticut. It's coming down even harder. So residents here and up ask down the Northeastern seaboard can't wait for it to stop, but it's going to be here for another 12 to 24 hours. Back to you.

COLLINS: All right. Rob Marciano, thanks for the update on that. And Christi Paul is joining us now from Headline News with some of the day's other top stories. Hi, Christi.

PAUL: Good news for Social Security recipients. An announcement today, the biggest hike in benefits 4.1 percent since 1991. The new larger checks, $39 larger on average, will begin going out in January. Now, on the other hand the increase is a result of a significant spike in the cost of living.

And the race is on for bankruptcy filers facing a weekend deadline. Thousands of people armed with bulging files lined up at courthouses around the country today to seek protection from creditors. A new law will make that protection much harder to get.

And Katrina may not be the only cause here, but it cannot have helped, certainly. U.S. prices jumped at their fastest rate in 14 years with annual inflation reaching a rate of 4.7 percent. Gas prices went up 17.9 percent last month.

Now, as for the markets, let's give you the numbers. The indexes were all up today, the Dow Jones by 70.75 to 10,287.34, the NASDAQ up 17.61 to 2,064 and the S&P 500 up 9.73 finishing at 1,186.57. Not bad in numbers to end the week with. Heidi, have a great weekend.

COLLINS: Boy, that's for sure. You, too, Christi. Thank you.

Still to come tonight on 360, the stunning story of a cold case, an old murder solved not by new-fangled science, but by old-fashioned leg work, years and years of it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: In the world of cops and robbers cold cases are hot. The science of DNA and other forensic investigation has allowed police to solve old crimes they never thought they could. And there are plenty of top TV shows all about it, but sometimes police solve cold cases the old-fashioned way. Here's CNN's Sean Callebs.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jim Dunlap can't walk past this spot at Michigan State University without thinking about a crime here 32 years ago, and a promise he made to the victim's family back then.

CHIEF JIM DUNLAP, MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY POLICE: He was certainly a random victim in the wrong place at the wrong time.

CALLEBS (on camera): So the blood started on ...

DUNLAP: The blood started almost in the center area here.

CALLEBS (voice-over): 20-year-old Marty Brown was repeatedly stabbed while walking to his dorm about 1:30 in the morning in March 1973. Authorities could find no motive for the crime. Still Dunlap, then a young campus police officer promised the family justice.

DUNLAP: In all honesty, I was afraid that it was one of those promises that you make what when you're young and you're never going be able to follow up on or to keep.

CALLEBS: But Dunlap was in the hospital with Brown shortly after the victim passed away, a young man about his same age. Dunlap couldn't forget him. Now, more than three decades later, two arrests and murder charges against 54-year-old Kumbi Salim who also goes by Stanley Price, and 51-year-old Gary Mason.

(on camera): Often, a significant break in a cold case comes from scientific advances, forensic information that wasn't available decades ago like DNA testing. But that isn't the case here. Authorities say they were able to bring charges against the two suspects by old fashioned police work, reinterviewing more than a dozen witnesses and pouring over the 1,000 page file.

(voice-over): Police said they can't yet tell us what new information they found.

STUART DUNNING III, INGHAM COUNTY PROSECUTOR: We used to convict people all the time before DNA, you know? So we still have the ability. We didn't forget it.

CALLEBS: Authorities say Mason had always been a suspect, but he was never charged. His attorney declined comment. Salim was initially charged with the murder 32 years ago. The case was dropped, his lawyer says because statements Salim made to police were ruled inadmissible. He says Salim is innocent.

ELBERT HATCHETT, SALIM'S ATTORNEY: I think that they have become romantic about this notion of cold case files.

CALLEBS: The two suspects have lived very different lives. When arrested, Mason was homeless in San Diego; Salim, a real estate appraiser and developer was at his affluent neighborhood in Henderson, Nevada.

LT. JEFF JOY, INGHAM COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: When he arrived at his gated community, we went to his car and placed him under arrest.

CALLEBS (on camera): That simple in the end.

JOY: Actually, it was that simple.

CALLEBS (voice-over): Salim wants to put the case behind him. Chief Dunlap also wants it to come to a conclusion, and to fulfill a promise he made a long time ago.

Sean Callebs, CNN, East Lansing, Michigan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Let's find out what's coming up at the top of the hour now on "PAULA ZAHN NOW." Hi, Paula.

PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Heidi, how are you doing tonight? We have got a busy top of the hour. We're going to continue our series called "My New Life." I've got to tell you, we're amazed at how this is going tonight. Three of our job seekers that we have profiled will be back to tell us what kind of offers they are considering. These people who were very, very desperate and haven't had much hope for the last seven weeks or so.

We're also going to meet two more hurricane victims who also need jobs, a retailer whose clothing store was flooded, and then, of course, the looters came along, and a teacher's assistance whose school doesn't seem likely to reopen any time soon.

We're going to see if someone out there in our audience can help them start a new life. So we will see you at the top of the hour at 8:00, Heidi, and we're amazed by the generosity of the folks in our audience, because they really are pitching in here.

COLLINS: Yeah, it's a great idea, too.

ZAHN: Thanks.

COLLINS: Can't wait to hear the end of those stories.

Thanks, Paula.

ZAHN: Have a good night.

COLLINS: OK, now for some really important news. What do certain men with the first names Sean, Pierce, Roger, Timothy, George and as of today, and this is the big news part, Daniel have in common? Do the numbers 007 mean anything to you? The name's Craig, Daniel Craig. He's the new Bond, James Bond. He's an actor, British actor. Hope you all are shaken, not stirred.

We're going to give you an update coming up in just a few minutes here on the Minnesota Vikings and a cruise of all cruises on Lake Minnetonka. We'll have that for you in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: The allegations are disturbing and have landed members of the Minnesota Vikings football team in rough water. They're accused of turning two cruise boats into a floating orgy space, intimidating crew members. All of this allegedly taking place on Lake Minnetonka last week. As investigations are under way, no charges have been filed so far.

Today, the owner of the Vikings apologized for the behavior of his team.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZYGI WILF, MINNESOTA VIKINGS' OWNER: I want to apologize to all of the people of Minnesota. The behavior exhibited lately by members of this organization does not reflect the values of this community. Minnesotans are fine individuals with a strong moral center and high standards for the people who will be role models for their families.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: He also said his team will cooperate fully with investigators. Earlier today, I spoke to Stephen Doyle. He's the attorney representing the owners of the cruise boats, where the alleged sex scandal took place.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Tell me, Mr. Doyle, what do you know about what did happen on that boat?

STEPHEN DOYLE, ATTORNEY: Well, I'll tell you what a summary is from most of the crew here. We're talking about a time span of about an hour and 20 minutes, by most people's recollections. Last Thursday night, the call comes that an 8:30 cruise for these two boats is going to be delayed because the Vikings and their guests are going to be about an hour late. They show up about 9:30. One of the boats gets under way probably about 10 to 10:00. The other one waits for some straggling passengers who never did show up for the boat. They get out about 15 minutes or so later.

Everything up to that point in time the crew describes as a typical cruise. Some of these people have done 1,000 cruises for Al and Alma's. They get out there. Within a short time, a very short time, women seemed to started having less clothes on, and then they realized -- they were running into them nude, they were changing clothes, they were getting into fairly skimpy outfits, if I can call it that. That leads to dancing, then it leads to a lot more nudity, followed by a variety of locations throughout the two boats, fairly blatant sexual acts.

COLLINS: This was the first organized Minnesota Vikings cruise, if you will, with this particular company.

DOYLE: You know, let's be really clear, Heidi. I want to be fair to the Vikings organization. This was not their cruise. It was not their organization. Our clients, Al and Alma's, were led to believe that it's a tradition, happens every year where rookies, or first year people, are required to fund a party and an evening for veterans. And when this was being set up over the two days prior to the cruise, including the day before, when folks were out there looking at the boats, picking menus, doing those kinds of things, they suggested that this was going to be Vikings, their wives and girlfriends and some friends, getting that annual tradition of a party paid by the first-year folks.

COLLINS: How do we know the crew members in this case are telling the truth?

DOYLE: Well, I think that's a good question. I think time will tell you with the thorough investigation that the police seem to be doing whether or not they're telling the truth. If you had sat in as I have in the last three days and listened to the hours and hours of testimony, these incredibly brave I think, and very thoughtful young folks, I think you wouldn't have any difficulty understanding their credibility. They've individually been interviewed, they're consistent on I think almost everything that's relevant of any kind. They really are delightful young folks, and I think time will show that they're telling the truth.

And I haven't done anything nor do I have anything under way nor have we talked about it nor do I have anything planned to do anything from a litigation standpoint. It's just way too premature. COLLINS: Stephen Doyle, attorney for Al and Alma's charter company. We appreciate your time.

DOYLE: You're welcome, Heidi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: We did talk to the Vikings, and they said they couldn't comment tonight. We also asked the head of the county sheriff's office to comment. They said they were unable to while the investigation is under way. And one last note, "The St. Paul Pioneer Press" is reporting investigators now believe the strippers involved in the incident apparently worked for an escort or call girl service that caters to professional athletes.

And on that note, I'm Heidi Collins. CNN's prime-time coverage continues now with Paula Zahn.

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