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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Massachusetts Murder Mystery; Clashes Over Cartoons; California Firefighters Battle Wildfires
Aired February 07, 2006 - 22:00 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.
We begin, as I said, with breaking news out of New Mexico tonight.
After two days of deliberations, a jury has convicted 16-year-old Cody Posey of murder. The trial drew attention in part because the killings took place on the ranch of ABC newsman Sam Donaldson. The verdict turned on a fundamental question, not whether the young defendant killed his family two years ago. That fact wasn't in dispute. What the jury had to decide was why he killed them.
Here's CNN's Gary Tuchman.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Many outsiders thought they lived an idyllic life, a husband and wife, her 13-year-old daughter, his 14-year-old son, all living on a ranch in New Mexico.
But, then, on a summer day in 2004, husband, wife and daughter were found shot to death and buried in a manure pile. The gunman was the son, Cody Posey, who confessed on a police tape.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where was she when you shot her? (INAUDIBLE)
CODY POSEY, DEFENDANT: On the couch.
TUCHMAN: But has now told a jury he snapped after years of physical, mental and sexual abuse.
POSEY: I have been hit with various things, closed fists, open hands, backhands, flyswatters, rods off of -- of shades. I have been hit with boards, ropes. I have been hit with various things in the face.
TUCHMAN: Posey's defense attorney says he was constantly in fear for his life. Prosecutors disagree.
SANDRA GRISHAM, PROSECUTOR: Cody Posey wants to sell you on an idea that if, he was hit, you must acquit. That is not the law.
TUCHMAN: Cody's father, Paul, was the manager of the ranch...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Would you state your name, please, sir. SAM DONALDSON, ABC NEWS: My name is Sam Donaldson.
TUCHMAN: ... that is owned by TV newsman Sam Donaldson, who testified about the horrible discovery when arriving at his ranch.
DONALDSON: I saw a large reddish, dried swathe, which I identified clearly as blood. I had seen -- covered the war in Vietnam. I saw a lot of it there.
TUCHMAN: While prosecutors contend the now 16-year-old Posey is just a selfish murderer...
GRISHAM: Cody Posey acted as judge, jury and executioner.
TUCHMAN: ... Posey says he was brutalized by his father, Paul, and his stepmother, Tryone.
POSEY: Tryone pulled down the covers, and she was laying there completely naked. My dad striked up the torch and told me that I was going to have sex with Tryone. I -- I refused to do it, told him I wasn't going to do it. And as -- as I was telling him I wasn't going to do it, he was heating up this rod. It doesn't take that long to get it pretty hot. He walked up to me and burned me.
TUCHMAN: The sordid nature of the allegations are painful to Tryone's mother and father.
PAT BASHAM, FATHER OF TRYONE POSEY: It sounds like that something that a 14-year-old would imagine that a sexual encounter would be. That had nothing to do with the character of -- of my daughter and son-in-law.
TUCHMAN: But Cody's aunt on the other side of the family supports her nephew...
CORLISS CLEESE, AUNT OF CODY POSEY: My heart's broke.
TUCHMAN: ... saying the killings were in self-defense.
CLEESE: I have seen him with rope burns on his neck. I have seen him with bruises and marks all over him.
TUCHMAN: Verlin Posey is the brother of the dead father.
(on camera): How much do you miss him?
VERLIN POSEY, BROTHER OF PAUL POSEY: A lot. A lot.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): So, how tough of a disciplinarian was his brother?
POSEY: Well, there's no doubt in my mind he didn't spank get a spanking with a belt. And there's not a doubt in my mind that, if Cody turned around and swung on my brother, that he got swung on back.
TUCHMAN: It is now very apparent, life was not idyllic in the Posey household.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TUCHMAN: This was an utter and bitter defeat for Cody Posey and his attorney.
At the very most, they would hope, on the three counts of murder, they would get manslaughter convictions, which would be two years in a juvenile facility. Manslaughter was the verdict with regards to the death of the father. But with regards to the step -- to the stepmother, second-degree murder, which is knew the great risk of death, without sufficient provocation, with the death of his sister, first-degree murder, deliberate intent to murder.
With all three of those counts, there's the possibility that 16- year-old Cody Posey, who committed this crime when he was 14 years old, could be in jail for at least 47 years.
This court behind me is a children's court. Nevertheless, he was tried as an adult. But because it's a children's court, the judge, when he does the sentencing -- and that sentencing won't happen for at least a month -- has the leeway to shorten the sentence -- Anderson, back to you.
COOPER: I mean, it -- it's just a -- a horrible, horrible crime.
A couple things about it -- you know, as you said, he was 14 years old when this happened. But I think what a lot of the jurors had a hard time getting around is the fact that he -- he killed his sister, who apparently did not cause any of the abuse that was -- that was alleged, correct?
TUCHMAN: And that was an important point, Anderson, because we talked to the alternate jurors, who were excused before the deliberations began.
And they told -- one of them told us they would find him not guilty on all three counts. The other juror, though, said maybe not guilty with regards to the -- to the father and stepmother, but, with the sister, I don't know.
And that was the issue. What Posey's attorney said was, yes, the sister did not participate in any of this brutality. But she told on him. She was a tattletale, and, therefore, he just lost control and included her in the five gunshots that he fired at the three of them.
So, apparently, the jurors did not buy that.
COOPER: Also, a lot of the allegations of abuse, I mean, it -- it wasn't just a question of, like, getting spanked, as the -- the -- the victim's brother said. I mean, some of these allegations were extreme.
And a large number of people were testifying that, yes, they, in fact, happened. TUCHMAN: I think one of the reasons, Anderson, that the jury may not have come back with three second-degree murders -- or three first- degree murders, for that matter, is, the prosecutors did not -- were not sympathetic at all to this young man.
They basically said, we don't know if abuse happened. So, don't even believe that aspect of it. He barely had any bruises that we ever saw. There were a lot of courthouse observers that said, if the prosecutors perhaps were a little more sympathetic, it would have helped their case.
But, either way, when it comes right down to it, this kid has been found guilty of at least one count of first-degree murder. And that's what the prosecutors wanted to see happen.
COOPER: Gary Tuchman, thank you.
From a crime that has been solved to one that has not, and the Web site that will break your heart -- it's been down for days, but, today, it surfaced again on the Internet. We don't know why. It was created by Rachel and Neil Entwistle. On the main page, a photo, that photo, of Rachel holding her baby girl, Lillian, on the day of her baptism.
There is also a greeting from the Entwistles, saying -- quote -- "We love hearing from you. Love, the happy family."
Tonight, the family no longer exists. Last month, Rachel and 9- month-old Lillian were shot to death inside their Massachusetts home, executed in cold blood. Shortly before the bodies were discovered, Neil Entwistle flew to England. He won't answer questions. He remains in seclusion, a person of interest.
Entwistle's not talking, but there are people who are, including one of Rachel's closest friends. Tonight, she's finally speaking out, not about the investigation or the speculation, but about a friend she misses so very much.
CNN's Jason Carroll has the exclusive interview.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She still cannot get that night out of her mind. Two weeks ago, Laura Jehle's mother called to tell her that her close friend, Rachel Entwistle, and Rachel's baby daughter, Lillian, had been murdered.
LARA JEHLE, FRIEND OF RACHEL ENTWISTLE: It's hard, you know, because you never think it is going to happen to someone that you know. And you can only fathom what her family must be going through.
CARROLL: Lara had known Rachel Entwistle for nearly a decade. They met when Lara was just 10 years old. Her father had hired Rachel, then a 17-year-old high school student, to work part-time at a special-events company. JEHLE: I kind of always viewed her as an older sister, just because she always -- was older than me, and I looked up to her in so many ways.
Rachel was one of those people that she kept her friends as close as her family. And she made you feel like one of her family.
CARROLL: When Rachel moved away to England to study, she stayed in touch with Lara. While overseas, she met a British student, Neil Entwistle, the young man who would become her husband.
JEHLE: She was just very happy to have -- to have met Neil and to have met someone that, you know, she connected with.
CARROLL: Soon after marriage, the couple had a baby girl, Lillian, and moved back to Massachusetts. Lara was excited to have her friend home again. She said both Rachel and Neil doted on baby Lilly.
JEHLE: She was, you know, the light of their life. So, I think that's kind of how I viewed him, was too just, you know, that loving -- that loving father that was very excited, you know, to have -- have -- have a little girl.
She was very happy. And I think that was Rachel's -- that was her element. That was who she wanted to be. She was a great stay-at- home mom. She loved what she did, in taking care of her family. And I think that was where Rachel shined the most.
CARROLL: On January 22, police found the bodies of Rachel and Lillian in the master bedroom of the family's suburban Boston home.
Both had been shot. Investigators say it's believed Neil Entwistle left the country the day before the bodies of his wife and daughter were found. He's staying with his parents in England. Investigators call him a person of interest, not a suspect.
Entwistle did not return home to attend the funerals of his wife and baby daughter last Wednesday.
CARROLL (on camera): Were you disappointed that Neil didn't come to the funeral?
JEHLE: I guess -- I -- I don't know. I guess it was his decision -- you know, whatever his decisions were, were his decisions. You know, and I know that he made them for what -- for, you know, the reasons that he had.
CARROLL (voice-over): Lara Jehle was there to pay her respects and to say goodbye.
JEHLE: It's very hard to say goodbye and to let go. And, you know, you never let go of who they were and of the memories that you shared. It brings some closure, you know, but, at the same time, you will never have complete closure, I don't think.
CARROLL: Lara won't speculate who committed the murders or why.
JEHLE: Of course, you know, you always have those questions as to why things happen. You will drive yourself insane, trying to put all the pieces together and figure out why.
CARROLL: Lara Jehle says, she may never understand how what seemed like a perfect marriage could end so tragically.
Jason Carroll, CNN, Plymouth, Massachusetts.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Except for a few days in the English countryside, Neil Entwistle has remained inside his parents' home. He's free to go. Instead, he chooses to stay in the shadows, behind the blinds, out of sight. He didn't answer police investigators' questions about the crime.
And he is certainly not talking with reporters, as CNN's Paula Newton found out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The sun is rising at the Entwistle home in Worksop, 150 miles north of London. Neil Entwistle remains secluded inside, avoiding the reporters on his doorstep and our questions about who killed his wife and baby daughter and why he flew here to England alone.
Entwistle has been silent for more than two weeks now, but his mother, Yvonne, goes on with her routine, washing windows, sorting through the garage.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mrs. Entwistle, would you say a few words?
NEWTON: Through it all, she says nothing. But, as she stares through her window, her pained expression might be a clue to what this family is going through.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just popping in to have a chat with them.
NEWTON: Local police here check on the Entwistles every few days. But they remind us, they're not investigating the murders And Entwistle would be free to come and go, if he chose to.
Meantime, in downtown Worksop, people gather for lunch. Entwistle has put this place on the map. Once a mining town, it calls itself the birthplace of America. More than two centuries ago, town elders sailed on the Mayflower, but, today, the talk is about the man who came back from America and what he is doing here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You would stay there, wouldn't you? You wouldn't sort of do a runner. That -- it's -- it's a funny one, rather.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I -- I thought it was strange that he wasn't at the funeral. I couldn't understand that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Obviously, he's frightened to go back to America, isn't he, for some reason. I think that's -- that's why.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's something behind everything that's going on. But they're not disclosing it.
NEWTON: Nightfall back at the Entwistle home. The days end as they begin, a family behind closed doors, waiting for investigators an ocean away to decide what happens next. They say Neil Entwistle is one of their persons of interest. But no one has been charged with the murders.
(on camera): Until there's a break in this case, the waiting game continues, as does all the speculation about what Neil Entwistle is doing here.
Paula Newton, CNN, Worksop, England.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Can you imagine what is going on the inside that house, what it must be like, day after day, in that small house, with all those reporters sitting outside?
It's important to point out that Neil Entwistle is not a suspect, has not been charged in any connection with the murders of his wife and baby.
Joining us from Miami is defense attorney Jayne Weintraub and, from Boston, former Massachusetts prosecutor Wendy Murphy.
Good to see you two.
Jayne, Neil Entwistle's car was found at the airport. It turns out that's -- that is the only car that family had. So, he basically left his wife and baby without a car at the home. What does that tell you?
JAYNE WEINTRAUB, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, it's not a good fact for a defense attorney, but we just don't know enough of the evidence here.
I mean, it's kind of like leaving your picture there, to leave a car there. It's inconsistent with purchasing a one-way ticket and not planning to come back. On the other hand, maybe he wasn't thinking straight at all.
COOPER: Wendy, what do you make of it?
WENDY MURPHY, FORMER PROSECUTOR: You know, I don't care too much about this, because some people can only afford one car. I mean, it was a BMW, so maybe they could have bought two cheaper cars. But I -- I know too many...
COOPER: But if you're -- if you're flying overseas, would you leave your wife and -- and child without a car?
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: I mean, that -- that just struck me as kind of odd.
MURPHY: I understand that. But maybe she likes to take buses or has friends or takes taxis.
This doesn't worry me, nearly as much as it does Jayne, which is very strange for Jayne and I. But I -- but I -- it -- the one-way ticket, of course, is the more curious fact. I mean, he knew he wasn't coming back. And I don't care as much about the fact that he left her without a car. She's a grown woman. I'm sure she can figure out how to get around. But, my goodness, he was clearly not planning to return.
COOPER: What about the guns? I mean, no guns missing, apparently, from Rachel's stepfather's gun collection.
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: And they haven't been able to find this -- this small handgun.
MURPHY: Yes.
This, I think, is one of the most important, most interesting and as yet unclear facts that's now developing. I mean, we know that the guns were seized from Rachel's stepfather's home, but none were missing. So, the speculation is that they found a match there, in terms of the size of the weapon likely used.
But here's another interesting tidbit that's coming out of this whole gun thing, because, to me -- and I'm sure Jayne would agree with this -- it's kind of crazy to imagine that he would taken the gun out of collection, go to Hopkinton, shoot and kill his wife and baby, then return...
WEINTRAUB: It was a .22.
MURPHY: ... then return the gun to the stepfather's house. It sounds so crazy and risky. But there's a lot of buzz around here about a recently-released Woody Allen movie called "Match Point." It only came out at the end of December.
The questions are being raised, did they in fact go the movie, because gets what the guy does in that movie? He kills his pregnant...
WEINTRAUB: With a shotgun, not a .22, Saturday Night Special.
(CROSSTALK)
MURPHY: It doesn't matter.
But the point is, he kills his pregnant wife by taking the gun out of her father's collection and then returning it after the crime. And it becomes the reason the crime is unsolvable. And guess what? It's a British film. I mean, everybody is wondering whether there is where the guy got such a silly idea from.
COOPER: Well...
WEINTRAUB: Anderson, it's a .22. It' a small-caliber weapon. It's not your gun of choice for a murder. Your gun of choice for murder is going to be a .38. It's not part of a collection. It's -- it's a dime-a-dozen weapon.
COOPER: Jayne, the -- the Entwistles, I mean, they have been accused of not delivering the software they were selling on eBay. I mean, how...
WEINTRAUB: She in particular.
COOPER: Why? What do you make of that? What, do you think that's important somehow?
WEINTRAUB: I think that is important.
I think, in your package, as a matter of fact, Anderson, you have -- you have shown where it says, Rachel Entwistle is a liar. And you have shown that a couple of times. And I started thinking, you know, it doesn't say, the Entwistles. It doesn't say anything about Neil. It says that she is a liar and she's a thieving liar.
You know, they're dealing in Internet porn. They're renting a half-a-million-dollar house. They're driving a BMW SUV. You know, maybe lots of people had access to this house that had just recently been rented. And maybe she got the wrong person angry.
COOPER: Jayne, it must be fun being a defense attorney, coming up with these things, isn't it?
(LAUGHTER)
WEINTRAUB: Actually, Anderson, I don't invent them.
MURPHY: She's creative, isn't she?
WEINTRAUB: I just -- I just communicate them.
(LAUGHTER)
COOPER: OK.
Wendy, just a final thought.
MURPHY: You know, I think we have to pay attention to the fact that there's a whole lot of nothing going on right now, which I suspect is the calm before the storm.
I mean, there's a reason DAs drop little nuggets of information out, when they have a tough case and they're looking to develop more evidence. And I think it's a pretty telling point that we're not hearing anything from them. They want to create the absolute clearest picture that they're being fair, because I have no doubt extradition proceedings are probably well under way. And when they get over there, they don't want anybody saying, you can't take our guy back to your country because you haven't been fair to him.
We have been very fair to him. And it's going to smooth the extradition process.
(CROSSTALK)
WEINTRAUB: There was a lynch mob waiting for Scott Peterson when he got back to town.
COOPER: All right.
(CROSSTALK)
WEINTRAUB: Please.
COOPER: Jayne Weintraub, thanks very much.
Wendy Murphy, good to have you on. Thank you.
MURPHY: Good night, Anderson.
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: Coming up, fighting fire from above. Tonight, we take you live inside a helicopter for a bird's-eye view of California wildfire. The flames are out of control. We will get an update on the battle.
Also, violent and deadly, the growing protests over cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed. Today, a mob attacked NATO troops. We will have the latest.
And living in darkness -- imagine if you could never be in the sun, not even one minute. Tonight, we take you behind the medical mystery and show you what life is like for one child living without sunlight.
You're watching 360.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Well, tonight, the night sky over parts of Southern California is ablaze in red. A wildfire just south of Los Angeles is showing no signs of slowing down. Those are some of the images we have been seeing today. Fed by the Santa Ana winds, the fire has already devoured more than 6,500 acres in Orange County.
Nearly 1,000 firefighters are desperately right now fighting to try to contain it.
The battle to fight the flames is coming from both land and air. Air tankers are being used or helicopters.
CNN's Rob Marciano is aboard one right now, covering the story. He joins us now -- Robida.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You're looking at live pictures right now of the flames in the Anaheim Hills of Orange County, California, as you mentioned, about 35 miles to the southeast of Los Angeles.
The flames tonight continue to reach for the sky. You can see the charred areas in the upper part of your screen, and the areas that are not charred to the south -- or to the north -- or the southern part of your -- southern half of your screen. That is where homes are. That is what the concern is. The winds did die down just a little bit today. But they're expected to kick up again tomorrow.
Just recently, we were allowed to fly down below 7,000 feet. There were flight restrictions below that level today, because they had flight tankers and helicopters, obviously, dumping lots of water on those fires.
Here's a look at what firefighters had to deal with earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO (voice-over): Fighting fire with fire.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What we are doing is, we are trying to burn it into the other fuel, so that we can take away what fuel is left to burn.
MARCIANO: Facing high winds and hot, dry conditions, some 900 firefighters are trying to tame a wildfire that has already burned 3,500 acres. The so-called Sierra fire broke out early Monday morning in a remote area in the Cleveland National Forest, about 40 miles southeast of Los Angeles.
By afternoon, the skyline was shrouded in smoke, the humidity had dropped and the winds had picked up, all cause for concern, not only for the firefighters, but for the nearby residents.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are you doing, ma'am? Police department. We're starting mandatory evacuations for the neighborhood.
MARCIANO: In an area of million-dollar homes, 2,000 were evacuated. The families found safety in nearby shelters with friends or local hotels offering discounts. Residents were anxious.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm scared. I'm scared of losing our home, everything that we have.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dogs, kids, wife behind me, clothes, and we're getting kicked out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's no flames. You really can't see flames, but they said it's mandatory.
MARCIANO: The affected area is mostly rough terrain, best reachable by air, with planes and helicopters being used to make water drops. So, far, no homes have been damaged, no one injured.
CAPTAIN STEPHEN MILLER, ORANGE COUNTY FIRE AUTHORITY: If the winds start kicking up again, and we haven't secured that area sufficiently, then we could -- you know, the fire could get out of control again.
MARCIANO: The strategy firefighters are using at the moment seems to be working. The fire was moving back up the mountain and away from the homes.
KELLY GOUETTE, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY AND FIRE PREVENTION: So, our job today will be to patrol that line that was fired out last night, mop up any hot spots, and then watch for any spots, fires and -- and winds and embers, and that sort of thing, that's going to push stuff across the fire line.
MARCIANO: The unseasonably hot weather, as well as the coming of La Nina, which increases fire danger, has everybody on guard.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO: This area familiar with El Nino. That's -- typically brings a lot of rain and storminess to the California area.
Well, La Nina does a whole 'nother deal. We are going to talk about that more in about an hour. But the long and short of it is, it has been hot and dry. And those Santa Ana winds have been blowing very hard -- today, laid down just a little bit. There were able to get a little bit more of a handle on it, 10 percent contained.
But, still, 6,500 acres have been burned. The 2,000 homes that were evacuated, they were allow to go back to their homes today. They have the fire blowing uphill, away from the homes, at least at the moment. But, tomorrow, winds are expected to strengthen. A little area of low pressure climbing in here, and high pressure building off the -- that mountains, that will increase the Santa Anas.
Red-flag warning -- flag warnings remain up through tomorrow afternoon, with winds possibly gusting through the canyons and over the peaks of 50 miles an hour.
Anderson, not -- not many folks (INAUDIBLE) we will talk a little bit more about it and what it means for California. It does not mean rain. That's what they need. And they're not going to get it for quite some time -- back to you.
COOPER: Just unbelievable pictures.
Rob Marciano, in a helicopter, we will check in with you, again, throughout these next hour -- this next hour-and-a-half.
Erica Hill from Headline News joins us right now with some of the other stories we are following -- Erica.
ERICA HILL, HEADLINE NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Anderson.
We start off with some new details on the Massachusetts teen who is accused of going on a killing rampage. A Massachusetts district attorney says 18-year-old Jacob Robida, who was wanted in a attack at a gay bar that left three people injured, actually shot and killed himself in the gunfight with Arkansas police on Saturday.
Authorities originally said they shot Robida after a high-speed chase, which ended after he killed a police officer and a female companion.
In West Virginia, the wife of the lone survivor of the Sago Mine tragedy is suing "The National Enquirer" and her brother-in-law for a hospital photo he took that ended up in the tabloid. The suit claims Randy McCloy's privacy was invaded because of a photo of him on life support, and charges, "The National Enquirer" is liable for punitive damages.
In a written statement, the tabloid said no one intended to do anything to harm McCloy. Randy's brother reportedly was paid $800 for that photo.
Also, in West Virginia, Doug Conaway, director of the state's Office of Miners Health, Safety and Training, stepping down. Governor Joe Manchin says Conaway actually talked to him about leaving back in December. A transition plan was going to be developed in January. That was, though, put on hold after the Sago Mine tragedy -- Anderson.
COOPER: Erica, thanks.
Angry protests over a few cartoons, and it seems to be getting worse every day. Could terrorists be fueling the flames? So many questions, as the divide grows between these angry Islamists and the Western world? We will go inside the conflict, get some answers, ahead.
Plus, a little girl not afraid of the dark, but afraid of the light -- how just a bit of a sun could hurt her so much. We explore another medical mystery tonight -- when 360 continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Well, it is a question many of us are having a hard time answering: How could several cartoons cause so much violence, even death?
The drawings of the Prophet Mohammed, first published in a Danish newspaper, drew even more protests today in Iran and Pakistan and Afghanistan, where clashes have killed at least seven people over the past two days. A mob attacked a NATO base. The violence has highlighted the true rift between the Western and Muslim worlds, a rift terrorists may be taking advantage of.
To better understand what is really happening here, we turn now to CNN's Tom Foreman, who is in Washington -- Tom.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, when you look at these protests all over that side of the world, you see what could be called the closest thing we have had yet to a battle plan for Osama bin Laden.
Look at this, from Africa, through the Middle East, past India, on into Indonesia. Osama bin Laden has said that he wants a clash of civilizations between the Muslim worlds and everyone else. And look at this. These are the great Muslim nations of the world. And all of these protests are occurring in those nations. Just as importantly, they are occurring in very poor places.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN (voice over): Even in a region that produces much of the world's oil, millions of Muslims are barely connected to the global economy. They live on little money with few political rights. And that, analysts say, fuels their reaction to insults from the outside.
IMAM AJMAL MASROOR, ISLAMIC SOCIETY OF Britain: They are now allowed to freely express their views. And any opportunity they get they jump on the bandwagon. So it's a whole mishmash of various political as well as social issues that's all come to a head with this cartoon saga.
FOREMAN: Certainly al Qaeda has pushed hard for such a clash of civilizations, fanning resentment among poor Muslims into religious, cultural and militant zeal. Although Osama bin Laden and many of his lieutenants came from wealthy families, they have recruited among the poor and encouraged religious schools in poor areas to teach an intolerant brand of Islam.
That worries moderate Muslim who are offended by the cartoons but who also condemn the violence that has followed.
AHMED YOUNIS, MUSLIM PUBLIC AFFAIRS COUNCIL: The people that we see on TV are less than one percent of the Muslim masses.
FOREMAN: Still, that percentage, however small, is making a big noise now, just as Osama bin Laden has openly hoped it would.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN: Now, some people say that poverty is simply a seabed in which a lot of bad things can happen. And the poverty itself is not directly to blame. But no matter how you slice this, this is about a lot more than cartoons.
It is about a lot of disaffected people, a lot of angry people who clearly are focusing around this issue and trying to make some things change -- Anderson.
COOPER: Tom, thanks very much.
Joining me now to discuss the meltdown from Washington, blogger and writer Andrew Sullivan. He's written about it in a "TIME" magazine column titled "Your Taboo, Not Mine." His Web site is also andrewsullivan.com.
And Nihad Awad, executive director of the Center on American- Islamic relations.
Thanks very much for being with us, both of you.
Nihad, let me start off with you. Why shouldn't a paper be able to publish these cartoons?
NIHAD AWAD, COUNCIL ON AMERICAN-ISLAMIC RELATIONS: I think if you research the issue, you will find out that this newspaper commissioned about 12 cartoonists or close to that number to challenge the Muslim world, to challenge the Muslim feelings. So they were not just...
COOPER: Well, wait. I'm sorry. Let me just jump in just for accuracy's sake.
That's actually not true. This was actually -- this paper felt that there was self censorship on Islamic issues and they consciously did these cartoons on that subject, correct?
AWAD: What I understood from what I read is the fact that they wanted to challenge the -- what some people call the Muslim taboo. So it was not just a casual political cartoon. It was meant to divide, to incite, to provoke, and insult just the -- not only a few Muslims but the entire Muslim population around the world.
COOPER: Wait. Wait. You really believe this Danish paper was trying to incite and criticize the entire Muslim population around the world?
AWAD: Yes. If I can explain I will tell you why.
If they have -- if they had depicted any regular Muslim because of his behavior or her behavior, we've seen it in so many times, in so many magazines and newspapers. That does not anger us. But this newspaper depicted Prophet Mohammed, the one who preached peace and mercy.
So they could not overcome their hatred and ignorance of our Prophet Mohammed for 1,400 years. So what are they gaining out of this? What is the object of it?
COOPER: OK.
AWAD: What does it -- what does it have to do with current issues? Of terrorism, security, and stability?
COOPER: OK. Let me bring in -- Andrew, besides the loss of human life, why does this battle over these cartoons matter? And if you want to respond to what Nihad said, too?
ANDREW SULLIVAN, BLOGGER: Well, I think it matters because what's at stake here is simply the freedom of expression of anybody in the West to express themselves without fear of being intimidated or attacked, or violence. And what was happening in Denmark and what is happening across Europe is that many artists and writers feel that they cannot talk or write or draw, in this case, images about Islam without being attacked physically.
And this cartoon came out of the fact that someone was trying to commission a children's book to illustrate for children the story of Islam. And they tried to get an illustrator to draw a picture of Mohammed and none of them would because they were terrified they would be murdered or killed if they did so.
And this paper then said, well, look, we obviously have an issue here of intimidation. So let's out this and let's put this on the paper and let's encourage people to be able to draw without fear of violence. And that is what this is about, bullying and intimidation and violence, which we have to stand up against.
COOPER: Nihad, what about that?
AWAD: I think now we're playing the game of mixing issues together.
Number one, you are teaching children about Prophet Mohammed, then teach them the history, teach them the facts. What does he have to do...
SULLIVAN: Aren't we allowed to draw him?
AWAD: ... with violence and terrorism?
SULLIVAN: Can you draw him?
AWAD: Why don't you talk about the issues? For example...
COOPER: Well, Nihad, just for those who don't understand, why aren't you allowed to draw a picture of Mohammed?
AWAD: In Islam -- of course, you know, people have the right to do whatever they want. But in Islam there is no depiction of any human being, religious figure, or god, for that matter. But this depiction, what angers people is the fact that they are equating the religions of Islam and Prophet Mohammed with terrorism, which is unfair, inaccurate and poor taste.
SULLIVAN: No, the people who equate the Prophet Mohammed with terrorism are Osama bin Laden and those Islamic terrorists who are murdering and who murder people in the name of your god. And they're the people that have to answer for this. Not cartoonists.
AWAD: By the way, this is stereotyping, my god and your god. Muslims worship the creator of the universe. They don't worship a Muslim god or an Arab god.
Second, I agree with you. Those who claim to act in the name of Islam should be condemned, and we have condemned them and have condemned this violence.
SULLIVAN: Where were the riots protesting the blasphemy of 9/11?
AWAD: We have protested that. And we have...
SULLIVAN: Nothing like this.
AWAD: Excuse me. If you will research, you will see that the majority of Muslims around the world condemned 9/11. And there's nothing in Islam, if I may suggest...
SULLIVAN: You were talking about protesting blasphemy.
AWAD: If you allow me -- if you allow me just to speak -- you had your time. Let me have my time.
COOPER: Go ahead, Nihad.
AWAD: If you would research the facts, you would see that the majority of Muslims, especially American Muslims, have condemned 9/11 and every violence that came before it and after it.
COOPER: But Nihad -- but Nihad, there are -- there have been -- I mean, there are demonstrations now, a number of people have been killed. We don't see any of these demonstrations when a mosque is attacked in Iraq, when, you know, IEDs explode killing not just American soldiers, but Iraqi women and children.
Where are the demonstration about that?
AWAD: With all due respect, Anderson, there are many demonstrations in Iraq when religious places are attacked. Maybe -- I hope that your network and others will show this, but...
COOPER: Well, we do show it. But I was looking at your Web site, and every action alert that you have as an organization calling people into action, none of them are about that. They are all about the Patriot Act and things here in the United States.
AWAD: Which is -- we are an American-Muslim civil rights organization. We're the leading civil rights organization. But also, we're leading our community in fighting intolerance and condemning terrorism no matter who the victims are.
COOPER: OK. I want to give Andrew a shot here. OK -- Andrew.
SULLIVAN: I just want to say that when you said earlier Mr. Awad that people have a right to say anything, they're not in Europe. Theo van Gogh produced a documentary and was murdered on the street with a knife because he dared to challenge what you think is blasphemy.
Now, you have every right, absolutely every right to protest and argue whatever you believe. But you do not have the right to threaten people with violence for expressing their views. And that's what's at stake here. And the violence has been unleashed across the Muslim world. The ransacking of embassies because of the freedom of speech is absolutely intolerable. And the west, I think, should not apologize and should not back down from this.
AWAD: If I may say, this is not an issue of the West versus the Muslim world. It's not a clash of values. It's not a clash of civilizations.
This is a clash of two extremists, someone that wanted to insult and does not want to be responsible, and versus other people in the Muslim world who unfortunately take violent acts, which we condemn as Muslims.
COOPER: Let me just briefly ask you, Nihad, I mean, is -- should a free society, though, have to follow -- I mean, obey whatever is taboo from any religion? I mean, Andrew pointed -- he was on this program last night. He pointed out that on the cover of "Rolling Stone" Kanye West now is dressed as Jesus Christ. That's probably offensive to a lot of people, but there aren't -- you know, people are not getting killed over it.
AWAD: And that is why we condemn any violence that's taking place. But also...
COOPER: But why are these -- why are people getting killed over these cartoons?
AWAD: These are irrational people. I condemn them as Muslims. And as Ahmed, my friend who was...
SULLIVAN: Do you condemn the Iranian government who said there could not be an overreaction to this?
AWAD: I condemn every behavior of any Muslim, whether government or individual, who violates the spirit of Islam by acting and behaving irrationally. But at the same time, I have to say that some people are trying to build this as a clash of civilizations.
I think with freedom of expression comes responsibility and respect. You and other networks will not show naked people on networks and indecent language. This is an unwritten law that we abide with.
Why don't we lend the same respect to other people? We live in a global society as a big family. We have to have respect for one another.
COOPER: OK. Let me get -- just final thought, Andrew?
SULLIVAN: These cartoons were very respectful. If you would actually allow people to see them, you would see that the vast majority of them were extremely tame and mild and were originally commissioned, as I pointed out, to depict Muslims and Islam in a favorable light. But we can't win in the West, unfortunately, when we do so positively... AWAD: Unfortunately...
(CROSSTALK)
AWAD: ... this is a racist approach to a very important and sensitive issue. This is not a clash between -- I am a Western Muslim, and I take offense when you try to Westernize even your fellow American-Muslims because there's an issue of disagreement.
COOPER: We're going to have to leave it there.
Nihad Awad, I appreciate you joining us very much.
AWAD: Thanks.
COOPER: And Andrew Sullivan as well.
Thank you.
Coming up a little bit later on, we have a lot more ahead. I wrote a little bit about the conflict today on the 360 blog. We had a number of responses. If you're interested you should go check it out.
Also, Andrew Sullivan on his blog has been writing a lot about this.
The 360 blog can be found at our Web site, CNN.com/360. Send us your thoughts on the conversation you just heard. We'll take a look at some of your responses later tonight.
So, coming up, coping with a medical mystery. The human body hideously reacting to light, of all things. A little girl who suffers from the condition. As a result, she must lead an incredibly sheltered life and endure painful after-effects of early exposure.
Also ahead, you'll want to see this. For Coretta Scott King, one of the most dynamic funerals in memory. A lovely event from poetry to politics, from damnation to salvation. A celebration of a remarkable life.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Well, all this week we're taking a close look at some medical mysteries, disorders and oddities that can stump doctors and researchers alike.
For instance, most of us probably consider sunlight to be an exhilarating, life-giving -- dangerous or fatal only if overdone. Well, you're about to meet a little girl for whom seeing the light of day can cause unthinkable misery.
360 M. D. Sanjay Gupta unravels her medical mystery.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Kasey Knauff spends her days inside looking out. It's only at night, once the sun goes down, that she can venture out beyond her living room window and do what other four-and-a-half-year-olds might normally do during the day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you like to run?
GUPTA: Like take a walk. Even on cold nights the family makes the most of it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whoa! Come on. You got it. There you go.
GUPTA: Mainly, they're just happy that she's there at all.
When Kasey was born, she appeared fine, but her heart rate was up and other complications developed. Doctors couldn't figure it out.
They put her under lights to keep her warm. But things got worse. Less than 12 hours old, worried doctors sent Kasey to a trauma center where they put her under a stronger lamp, the blue light commonly used for jaundice.
KURT KNAUFF, KASEY'S FATHER: She swelled like three times her size. She turned like red and then blue, and she was like black and blue from head to toe. And nobody knew what was going on. It took about two and a half weeks and they came up with a diagnosis.
GUPTA: By that time, she had been burned all over her body. It turns out her skin is ultrasensitive to light.
Kasey suffers from CEP, one of the rarest forms of a rare genetic disorder called Porphyria. It has many manifestations, and reddish- purple urine, purple teeth and abdominal pain are all telltale signs.
Kasey is one of less than 100 people in the United States with this particular kind of Porphyria. Her demon is light. Sunlight, fluorescent light, halogen light, exposure to any ultraviolet light can burn her skin, creating blisters, scarring, infections and a myriad of other painful complications.
KNAUFF: It's made out of an ultraviolet protection material.
GUPTA: Her parents take every precaution to keep her safe. There are special UV filters on all of the windows in her house. They use incandescent light bulbs of no more than 50 watts. And the full- time nurse to help Kasey with her regimen.
Because her scars don't grow with her body, she's had numerous plastic surgeries. Broken bones, deformities, stomach problems, all part of the territory. And lots and lots of doctors.
KNAUFF: Hematologist, dermatology, plastic surgery.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Geneticist.
KNAUFF: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bone specialist.
KNAUFF: Nobody's really a specialist in CEP, so to speak, but we'll take any -- any advice from any of them, of course.
GUPTA: And the effervescent Kasey takes it all in stride. Her 14-year-old sister Kylie, who does not have CEP, has made her own adjustments.
KYLIE KNAUFF, KASEY'S SISTER: I do a lot of stuff inside now. But whenever I was younger, I was always outside and doing stuff outside, on the swing set and playing with my friends outside. Like, I could imagine than Kasey gets bored inside, but we found a lot of things to keep us busy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know it's backwards.
GUPTA: But there are days when Kasey has to go out, like her monthly trip to the pediatrician, which requires serious preparation.
K. KNAUFF: .05, so that's a good day, a real good day for Kasey.
GUPTA: Outside, her dad checks the UV index chart. Inside, the nurse helps Kasey put on her special protective suit. And then the rush to the van.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right. Now, let daddy come and pick you up.
K. KNAUFF: Can you stay covered for a second?
GUPTA: Once inside, she's protected by UV filters and the blackout curtain.
Not your typical trip to the doctor. Even here, the lights are adjusted as Kasey gets her hemoglobin checked, along with her general health, because besides coordinating with specialists, that's about all her pediatricians can do.
K. KNAUFF: You need everybody to hold your hand? My goodness.
DR. DAVID COGGINS, KASEY'S PEDIATRICIAN: Her parents have been really very instrumental in helping me learn about it because they've done a lot of research and have been to a lot of different specialists.
GUPTA: The only known cure for CEP is a bone marrow or stem cell transplant, which is very risky. And they haven't yet found a match for Kasey.
In the meantime, they're hoping slow exposure to more light and possibly blood transfusions might help.
BRENDA KNAUFF, KASEY'S MOTHER: If she does blood transfusions she could relatively live a normal life. She would just have to every couple of weeks go to the doctors or a hospital, have the blood work done, then she would have a blood transfusion, and then she would be able to go outside, lead a normal life, and we would just have to monitor her hemoglobin level to make sure it's in a safe range.
GUPTA: But they say this year's been good. They went to the movies. Kasey went swimming, bowling and to the library for the first time. All with the aid of people who helped with her very special needs.
Her parents say Kasey doesn't feel like she's missing out, yet.
B. KNAUFF: Who knows. Maybe in the future. Enzyme research is really big right now, so by the time she grows up, she might actually have a cure. They can just inject the enzyme that she's lacking and she would be able to lead a normal life and...
K. KNAUFF: Yes, we've always been optimistic that, you know, things are going be all right, everything, just take it day by day.
B. KNAUFF (SINGING): Next time won't you sing with me. Yeah.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Can you imagine what life is like for that poor little girl?
Fascinating. Dr. Sanjay Gupta reporting.
Today in Georgia, at the funeral of Coretta Scott King, there were many raised voices, some raised in eloquent speech and some raised in memorable song. We'll take a look when 360 continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Coretta Scott King, a woman to remember, remembered most eloquently today.
But first, Erica Hill from Headline News joins us on the business stories we're following -- Erica.
HILL: Hey, Anderson.
Some tension today in Houston at the Enron trial as the bankrupt giant's former investor relations chief was challenged about his testimony. The CEO, Jeffrey Skilling, participated in schemes to hike earnings estimates.
It was the fourth day on the stand for Mark Koenig (ph). He reiterated his belief that top execs bent on meeting or beating Wall Street expectations made or knew of overnight changes to estimates that he considered suspect.
What the film industry definitely doesn't want is a flashback to the midyear slump of 2005. And so far, so good.
Analysts say a strong holiday quarter profit at the number one U.S. theater chain, along with box office gains early in 2006, could signal a healthy year. Theater chain Regal Entertainment Group posted a 43 percent increase in profit for the holiday fourth quarter, and what the CEO says was the stronger consumer interest in better films.
Home sales, however, headed south. That's the word from the National Association of Realtors. The group's chief economist says sales of existing homes are going to drop about 4.7 percent this year. New home sales are expected to drop 8.5 percent.
Maybe it's finally calling off.
COOPER: Maybe, Erica. Thanks.
Raised voices today in Atlanta. The funeral of Coretta Scott King raised in eloquent speech and raised in very beautiful song.
We'll take you there next on 360.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: There was sadness today, of course, the funeral of Coretta Scott King in Atlanta. But there were other feelings as well, powerful feelings sure to be longer lasting than sadness. And all of them engendered by the grace and steadfastness and serenity of Mrs. King herself, who did more than just leave a mark on her time, she helped to shape it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER (voice over): She was called the matriarch of the movement. And today in a church in suburban Atlanta, it was clear why.
BISHOP EDDIE L. LONG, NEW BIRTH MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH: And we are better because she was here. Somebody needs to celebrate that moment. Somebody needs to bless god for that.
COOPER: And they did celebrate. Ten thousand people packed the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church to say good-bye to Coretta Scott King. Among them, a poet, preachers, and four president who sang her praises and remembered her legacy.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In decades of prominence, her dignity drew others to the unfinished work of justice. In all her years, Coretta Scott King showed that a person of conviction and strength could also be a beautiful soul.
JAMES CARTER, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Coretta and Martin and their family have been able to climb the highest mountain and to realize the essence of theology and political science and philosophy. They overcame one of the greatest challenges of life, which is to be able to wage a fierce struggle for freedom and justice and to do it peacefully.
WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is a woman, as well as a symbol, as well as the embodiment of her husband's legacy and the developer of her own.
GEORGE HERBERT WALKER BUSH, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And there was always a dignity, a wonderful grace about Coretta, the way she carried herself. And for this she is mourned and eternally respected by millions.
MAYA ANGELOU, POET, ACTIVIST: I mean to say I want to see a better world. I mean to say I want to see some peace somewhere.
(APPLAUSE)
ANGELOU: I mean to say I want to see some honesty, some fair play. I want to see kindness and justice. This is what I want to see, and I want to see it through my eyes and through your eyes, Coretta Scott King.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Kindness and justice. Coretta Scott King.
We want to thank our international viewers for watching.
Coming up next on 360, a desert ranch owned by ABC newsman Sam Donaldson and the three grisly killings carried out there. More on the story behind the murder verdict that was just handed down.
And the price of a good night's sleep? More than $2 billion for prescription pills like these. That's what Americans are spending. So what's the harm? Find out ahead coming up on 360.
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