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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Pre-9/11 Osama bin Laden Tape Released; Partial Control of Military Handed Over to Iraqi Government; Phoenix Police Make Arrest in Baseline Killer Case
Aired September 07, 2006 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And good evening to you.
A dark anniversary around the corner, al Qaeda celebrates with a new video -- tonight, a disturbing look at what happened before 9/11.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: Al Qaeda's meeting of death -- newly released video showing terrorists, hijackers, and bin Laden himself plotting the 9/11 attacks -- tonight, what this video shows us that we haven't seen before.
The Taliban's top man, Mullah Omar, wanted dead or alive -- the U.S. government is on the hunt, but is it working with the wrong picture? We're "Keeping Them Honest."
And much more on the sudden attack caught on tape.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're not talking about someone going a few rounds. We're talking about someone ripping, gouging, scratching, and biting.
ANNOUNCER: And that's not all -- tonight, the full story behind this act of rage.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: Across the country and around the world, this is ANDERSON COOPER 360.
Sitting in tonight for Anderson, and reporting from the CNN studios in New York, here's John Roberts.
ROBERTS: And hi, everyone. And thanks for joining us.
Five years ago tonight, many Americans were out and about, filling up bars and restaurants, celebrating the end of another typical work week. We had no idea what was about to happen just four days later, what kind of evil al Qaeda was planning for us.
Tonight, we can see firsthand those plans in the making through a videotape released today on the Arabic-language network Al-Jazeera. We're covering all the angles, beginning with the tape itself.
Shot before 9/11, all the now familiar faces are there, including Osama bin Laden. We will tell you how this tape is different from anything that we have seen before.
Then, there is the timing. Why would al Qaeda send out such old footage near the five-year anniversary of 9/11? What kind of message is it trying to send?
And a 306 exclusive: never-before-seen pictures of the man Osama bin Laden adored, the man he looked up to, a man who had many ties to the United States, bin Laden's own father.
First, the terror tape, and CNN's Nic Robertson in Islamabad, Pakistan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Osama bin Laden five years ago, in a meeting planning the September 11 attacks, according to Al-Jazeera, once again al Qaeda's network of choice for what appears to be an anniversary video release.
For the first time, we see bin Laden with 9/11 organizer and would-be 20th hijacker Ramzi Binalshibh. Mohamed Atta, bin Laden's military chief, is also present for the meeting in what looks like eastern Afghanistan.
Bin Laden asks for prayers for the men who will carry out the attack.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OSAMA BIN LADEN, AL QAEDA LEADER (through translator): And I strongly advise you to increase your prayers for them and beseech Allah, the exalted, in your prayer to grant them success, make firm their foothold, and strengthen their hearts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: Also, messages record by two 9/11 hijackers.
Wail al-Shehri, who helped crash American Airlines Flight 11 into the north tower of the World Trade Center, calls on Muslims to join al Qaeda's fight. Hamza al-Ghamdi, one the hijackers aboard United Airlines 175 that hit the south tower of the World Trade Center, also appears.
Al Qaeda has already released two such messages from other 9/11 hijackers. They are believed to have even more hidden somewhere. And it's their library of training material they seem to have plundered for the bulk of the rest of the release, most of it new to air, but, again, the content old. Al Qaeda doing this type of training has been seen before.
The video also reveals the partial decimation of bin Laden's inner circle over the past five years. Of the handful of recognizable leaders, Ramzi Binalshibh was arrested in Karachi, Pakistan, a year after 9/11. Indeed, President Bush announced only Wednesday, Binalshibh, along with 13 top al Qaeda members, is to be transferred from secret CIA detention to U.S. military custody in Guantanamo Bay.
Mohammed Atef, al Qaeda military chief, was killed in U.S. bombing in Afghanistan following the 9/11 attacks -- the hijackers, also, obviously, dead. Putting out old material, it seems, has its disadvantages, providing a yardstick of losses.
(on camera): The latest release suggests bin Laden wants to remind the world of his message and his danger. But it also raises serious questions about bin Laden. He hasn't been seen on camera in almost two years. His last video message was released in 2004 October, just before the U.S. presidential elections.
Since then, it has been audio releases only. If this anniversary is so important to him, why hasn't he appeared on camera?
Nic Robertson, CNN, Islamabad, Pakistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: CNN's terrorism analyst, Peter Bergen, has met Osama bin Laden face to face and has extensively covered -- covered the workings of al Qaeda. You can be sure that he's watching this new videotape very closely.
Peter Bergen joins me now from Kabul in Afghanistan.
And -- and, Peter, what do -- what do you make of this new tape? What's the message that al Qaeda is sending here?
PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Well, I don't think, John, anybody was surprised by the fact that al Qaeda was going to release a tape around the fifth anniversary of 9/11. They definitely wanted to mark this event.
They have released similar kinds of tapes around other anniversaries of 9/11. But, as Nic raises in his piece, you know, why haven't we had -- got a videotape or an audiotape contemporaneously from bin Laden?
Now, it's my anticipation we might get next -- might get one in the next two or three days, because I do think they will want to get something out contemporaneous from bin Laden.
But the fact that we have got this historical footage, I think, raises a -- a lot of questions. Now, there may be one in the pipeline that is going out through Al-Jazeera or will be put on jihadist Web sites. We have had five audiotapes from bin Laden this year, 12 videotapes from his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri.
So, I would anticipate that either one or both of them will release something that is more current in the coming few days. And, if they don't, that raises some serious questions about that status, their ability to communicate, or perhaps even their health. ROBERTS: Right. Right.
This -- this tape is more than five years old, if we're to believe when it was shot. What does it tell us today? Anything?
BERGEN: You know, I think it's of historical value really, only.
You know, I think it's interesting that we have Ramzi Binalshibh, the operational commander, one of two, of 9/11, on tape meeting bin Laden. This kind of corroborates other information that we have had, that they have -- that they -- that they met, that Ramzi Binalshibh wanted to clue bin Laden in about the impending attacks.
But I think that's really -- really it. It doesn't have really anything really current to say to us at all, I don't think -- John.
ROBERTS: Does -- does it give credence to the idea, Peter, that Ramzi Binalshibh was in fact intended to be the 20th hijacker?
BERGEN: Well, we -- we -- we base that on his application for a visa. He was turned down for a U.S. visa, because he's from Yemen.
ROBERTS: Mmm-hmm.
BERGEN: Yemen has a very high turn-down rate for visas. It actually gives credit to the idea that he was number two in the operation, along with Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the operational commander, that he was kind of shaping it.
Ramzi Binalshibh, living in Germany most of the time, journeying to Afghanistan, I think, in this case, to clue bin Laden about what was actually going on with the 9/11 plot.
ROBERTS: Do -- do you think it was a bit of miscalculation for al Qaeda to release this tape at this time? It just happened to coincide with yesterday's announcement by President Bush that he has moved 14 of the worst al Qaeda criminals to Guantanamo Bay, among them, Ramzi Binalshibh.
And, then, a day later comes this videotape that in fact shows Ramzi Binalshibh right there with Osama bin Laden, shaking hands with him, in his embrace. Did -- did al Qaeda miscalculate with this release?
BERGEN: Well, you know, they don't have total control over when it will get to Al-Jazeera, how long it takes to get from where they are, in the tribal areas in Pakistan.
You know, they have a -- a video production arm called Al-Sahab, "The Clouds" in Arabic. It produces a lot of tapes, but these tapes can take anything from a week to two or three weeks to get from Pakistan to either Al-Jazeera or jihadist Web sites. So, for them, this is an unfortunate coincidence.
ROBERTS: It just -- it just really seems -- it -- it really just seems to help make President Bush's case. BERGEN: Well, no doubt. No doubt.
ROBERTS: We have got more with Peter coming up.
Osama bin Laden's hatred for America, by the way, was not something that he inherited. In fact, his father had many close ties to the United States. He even built some friendships here, friendships clearly visible in photographs never before seen -- never before, that is, until right now.
Here is our exclusive report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS (voice-over): The face of terror.
Five years after 9/11, Osama bin Laden, still alive, still elusive, continues to haunt Americans and continues to inspire many others to hate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What you have witnessed now is only the beginning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now is the time to decide where you want to spend eternity, in gardens of paradise or in the pits of hell.
ROBERTS: But bin Laden wasn't born a fanatic, and he didn't always hate the West. In fact, We as the adoring son of this man, Mohammed bin Laden, a multimillionaire with surprising ties to the United States.
Mohammed bin Laden rose from a menial laborer to head one of the largest and most successful construction companies in the Middle East. Those who know Osama say his father was his hero and model.
JAMAL KHALIFA, BROTHER-IN-LAW OF OSAMA BIN LADEN: Osama always talk about his father all the time. Osama really loves his father a lot. And, always, he's trying to imitate him in his business and in his work.
ROBERTS: The bin Laden name is everywhere in Saudi Arabia, thanks, in no small part, to Mohammed bin Laden's close connection to the Saudi royal family.
But Osama's father also had close and lucrative ties to America and the West.
BRIAN FYFIELD-SHAYLER, FORMER ENGLISH TEACHER OF OSAMA BIN LADEN: Mohammed bin Laden, of course, worked very closely with a number of Western contractors. He had Western staff, American pilots.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My father loved flying. Flying was his life.
ROBERTS: Terri (ph) -- she asked us not to reveal her last name -- spent part of her childhood in Saudi Arabia. In the mid-1960s, her father, Tom Heacock (ph), was the personal pilot of Mohammed bin Laden, an unusual assignment in an exotic location, so, her dad took along a camera.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have had these slides at least 40 years. They have been in a closet. I just never really thought about it, until I came across the special on CNN that said "The Footsteps of bin Laden." And I just went, hey, I -- I might have some pictures.
ROBERTS: Pictures, seen here on television for the first time, of Osama bin Laden's father, Mohammed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sheik Mohammed bin Laden was very gracious, very nice to us. My father really enjoyed working for Mohammed bin Laden.
ROBERTS: Osama bin Laden may be America's deadliest enemy, but, years ago, his father showered Terri (ph) and her parents with affection and gifts.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He gave us a marble table with brass legs that had the insignia of Saudi Arabia, and a chess set. He gave me some gold bracelets.
ROBERTS: Terri's (ph) father took this picture inside a tent set up at one of Mohammed bin Laden's construction sites. Decades later, fond memories of the bin Laden name are poisoned by the events of 9/11.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was shock, surprise, all these years, and people have known, family, friends, that my father was his father's private pilot. And it's like, who would have ever thought? You know, who would have ever known?
ROBERTS: As she sifts through the photos, Terri's (ph) thoughts turn back to her childhood in Saudi Arabia, to an extraordinary time, viewed through her father's lens.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lot of the pictures with him and Sheik Mohammed bin Laden are interesting. They were interesting 40 years ago, and they still are. It's a little piece of history, I believe. Sheik Mohammed bin Laden trusted my father very much. He respected him, and vice versa with my father. It was a very good, trusting relationship.
ROBERTS: A trusting relationship between an American and a bin Laden, who would die when Osama was only 10 years old, and who never see his son become America's public enemy number one.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: A successful family with a very dark twist.
Peter Bergen is back with us from Kabul, Afghanistan.
And -- and, Peter, Osama bin Laden grew up in a better-than- normal lifestyle. There didn't -- didn't seem to be anything unusual. His father was a very successful man. He -- he looked up to him. Didn't seem to be any roots there that would cause radicalism. Where did bin Laden go off the rails?
BERGEN: Well, you know, you're right. I mean, Bin Laden has 53 siblings, none of whom have turned to terrorism. He grew up in this prosperous family.
He -- I mean, he ran off the rails basically when he went and fought those Soviets in Afghanistan in the 1980s. But the period of these photographs, Mohammed bin Laden, his father, being alive, bin Laden was a very -- a young boy. In fact, Mohammed bin Laden died in a plane crash when Osama bin Laden was only 10, in 1967.
And that, you know -- that may have had some psychological impact on him. Who knows. But, with so many other siblings, in fact, you know, with 53 other siblings, bin Laden's own relationship with his father was probably pretty distant. In fact, when the -- when the kids would get together with their dad, it was more like a state visit.
He had so many kids, so many wives, up to 20 wives, including bin Laden's mother, of course, who only had one son. Bin Laden was the only son of the union between his father and his mother.
ROBERTS: We have heard stories, Peter, of how the bin Laden family was spirited out of the United States almost immediately after the 9/11 attacks. Do we know if the family still does business with the U.S.?
BERGEN: Well, you know, the 9/11 Commission looked at the question of, did they get any special treatment? And the answer was no, in terms of getting spirited out of the United States.
But what -- what that story does tell is the strong links -- links this -- this family has to the United States. Salem bin Laden, Osama bin Laden's brother, before he died in another plane crash, had a house in Orlando, very -- a very kind of pro-American guy.
ROBERTS: Mmm-hmm.
BERGEN: This is a family that speaks English, many of them educated in the United States, and -- and a lot of business dealings with Americans, not least Mohammed bin Laden's father's pilot, as we saw in the piece we have just seen.
ROBERTS: Right. Right. But do you know if they are still doing business in America?
BERGEN: Well, I -- I think it's -- it's -- it's more limited.
The Carlyle Group, which was a -- a big investment company, had a bin Laden component for a while. I don't think it does now, but they certainly have real estate holdings in the United States. They funded a chair of Islamic studies at Harvard. And, of course, they have long links to Houston, which is the center of the oil business...
ROBERTS: Right.
BERGEN: ... in the United States, because, of course, this is a Saudi family.
ROBERTS: And was it his....
(CROSSTALK)
BERGEN: A -- a very rich one.
ROBERTS: Right, obviously.
Was it Osama bin Laden's inheritance that gave him seed money to get al Qaeda going, or did he get the money elsewhere?
BERGEN: I think it did give him seed money to get al Qaeda going.
It didn't necessarily -- you know, the family cut him off in 1994. His -- the Saudis -- government revoked his passport. And that was the end of the family money for bin Laden. But, certainly, at the beginning, you know, somebody whose -- who had $1 million a year in a country like Pakistan, during the Afghan jihad, that was a lot of money. And bin Laden was, by all accounts, rather generous with it. And I think it was critical to the founding of al Qaeda in its early years -- John.
ROBERTS: Peter, thanks for that. And we want to come back to you next hour and talk a lot, too, about the resurgence of the Taliban there in Afghanistan.
Peter Bergen, from Kabul, thanks.
The video, by the way, the new video from -- the new old video from al Qaeda was taken been September 11. And, ever since that day, Osama bin Laden has continued to taunt the world. Here's the "Raw Data" on that.
In the last five years, 14 taped statements have been attributed to bin Laden. Sixteen -- I'm sorry -- taped statements have been attributed to bin Laden. The last six have all been audio recordings.
And, as CNN's Nic Robertson mentioned moments ago, bin Laden's most recent videotaped message aired almost two years ago, on October the 29th, 2004.
That video was broadcast one year and seven months into the Iraq war, a war that is still being fought -- coming up, Iraq today and the ceremony that was supposed to mark a milestone. Michael Holmes joins us live from Baghdad on a very bloody day.
Also ahead: an arrest in Arizona. But is the serial killer connected to 23 crimes? Can Phoenix put its fears behind it?
Plus, this:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He literally just came flying straight at me, and just, boom, I mean, didn't even stop, didn't even slow down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: He's talking about the man who jumped him and beat him to a pulp. What exactly did this investigative reporter uncover that set his attacker off?
When 360 continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: That chilling video showing Osama bin Laden meeting with the 9/11 terrorists wasn't the only communication from al Qaeda today.
Al-Jazeera also aired an audio recording attributed to al Qaeda's new leader in Iraq. In it, he urges al Qaeda followers to kill at least one American in the next two weeks. He also condemns Sunnis for participating in Iraq's new government -- this as insurgent attacks across Baghdad killed at least 20 people today. And two dozen bodies were found in various locations in the capital, the apparent victims of sectarian violence -- all of this coming on what was billed as an important day for Iraq.
In a ceremony in Baghdad, some control of the Iraqi military was formally handed to the Iraqi government, a symbolic step, to be sure, but clearly tempered by everything else that is going on.
CNN's Michael Holmes joins me now from Baghdad.
And -- and, Michael, this transfer of command of the Iraqi army from the coalition forces to the Iraqi government, what does it really mean?
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, John.
Yes. Well, major General William Caldwell called it gigantic. And I guess, on paper, it is indeed significant. What we saw was the handing over of the command structure for Iraq's armed forces to the Iraqis.
But let's put it in context. How many Iraqis forces are ready to come under that command structure? Well, as it turns out, not all that many. The navy and the air force, well, that sounds good, but, really, less than 1,500 men involved there. And just one army division, that's all that is ready for full Iraqi control at the moment.
Let's remember, the country has 10 divisions. So, in reality, 90 percent of the military is not yet ready to come under Iraqi control. Major General Caldwell said those divisions may be handed over to the Iraqis at the rate of one or two a month in the months ahead, but that's, by no means, certain. But what we did see, I suppose, is at least the start, on paper, of a process -- John.
ROBERTS: As if to reinforce the challenge today ahead, as well, Michael, more violence in Iraq today?
HOLMES: It seems like, every day, you and I talk about this. Yes, the death toll continues -- 10 people killed, for example, 17 wounded, many of those police.
Police were the focus of attacks today. That was caused by a suicide car bomb here in Baghdad -- also, in the capital, three killed, more than a dozen wounded by a car bomb near a police patrol. That was in the same area as one yesterday.
And the list goes on. There was another car bomb in a building outside a fueling station, two police killed in a drive-by shooting, a roadside bomb. Mortars landed -- and, as you pointed out, John, 24 more bodies found bound, shot in the head, showing signs of torture. That's well over 100 this week found -- and -- and, also, a -- a kidnapping, and -- and a curious one, too, this one, the nephew of the parliamentary speaker, Mahmoud Mashhadani.
And you will remember, John, it was only just a day or so ago that he spoke to parliament, and warned that reconciliation needs to happen now. He said we have three to four months. If the country does not survive, the boat will sink -- John.
ROBERTS: As you know, Michael, President Bush has been out there, giving all of these speeches, just ahead of the 9/11 fifth anniversary, talking a lot about Iraq and how it's the central front in the war on terror. How are those speeches going over among Iraqis?
HOLMES: Well, funnily enough, I spent today with several Iraqis, just ordinary Iraqis, an academic, a journalist, and others, preparing for another story.
Those speeches, it has to be said, among those I have spoken with, do not go down very well at all. When -- when you say, and they hear, the president say that Iraq is central to the war on terror, well, they say, well, it wasn't until you invaded us.
When they say that -- the president says that this is now a haven for terrorists, they again say, well, it wasn't until you invaded us.
And -- and those I spoke with today also expressed real dismay that -- that CNN poll showed that 43 percent of Americans still believe that -- that Saddam Hussein caused 9/11. And -- and they are stunned at that level of -- of ignorance. So, yes, they are not real impressed -- John.
ROBERTS: All right, Michael Holmes for us, live from Baghdad -- Michael, thanks. Appreciate it.
The man believed to be protecting Osama bin Laden is wanted by U.S. authorities. But Mullah Omar shies away from cameras. So, does the United States government even know what he looks like? And has it posted the wrong photos of him on a Web site? We're "Keeping Them Honest."
And police in Phoenix think that they may have found the man who has been eluding them for more than a year, an alleged sexual predator and murderer who preys upon women and girls after dark.
That's coming up on 360.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: We have all seen what Osama bin Laden looks like, but do U.S. authorities have the wrong picture of his ally Mullah Mohammed Omar?
We're "Keeping Them Honest" -- 360 next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Ever since Afghanistan's Taliban government fell nearly five years ago, following the U.S. invasion, the Taliban's reclusive leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, has been in hiding. He is wanted by U.S. authorities, who believe he's harboring Osama bin Laden.
And while it's clear who bin Laden is, there are questions about who Mullah Omar is and exactly what he looks like.
So, does the U.S. government have the wrong photo of him?
CNN's Tom Foreman "Keeping Them Honest" tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These are the pictures of Mullah Omar on the State Department's Web site, offering what it calls Rewards for Justice.
But Ed Grazda, a photojournalist who has worked extensively in Afghanistan, says his contacts insist there is a problem: This is not Mullah Omar.
ED GRAZDA, PHOTOJOURNALIST: It's a picture of Mullah Malang (ph), who was a -- a mujahedeen commander who had been fighting against the Taliban for years. And, somehow, his picture has been posted for a number of years as Mullah Omar.
And the other picture is another person from Afghanistan who I don't know, but I -- a number of sources have told us that that picture is also incorrect.
FOREMAN: The Taliban, as part of its ultra-orthodox interpretation of the Koran, outlawed photographs and other images of people. Mullah Omar has rarely, if ever, been caught on camera.
Out of these seven photos, all purported to be Omar by various sources, Grazda believes only this one is the man. And a former U.S. intelligence official tells CNN, there is only a 50/50 chance that any of them is Omar.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai said this three years ago about the secretive man who ran Afghanistan before him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, 2003)
HAMID KARZAI, AFGHAN PRESIDENT: If I come across him tomorrow in the streets of Kabul, or Kandahar, or Herat, or Mazar in Afghanistan, I would not recognize him. How would you arrest someone that you don't know how he looks?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOREMAN (on camera): State Department officials say they have considered Grazda's arguments that their pictures are not of Omar, but they are not changing their Web site.
(voice-over) A statement sent to CNN says, "Rewards for Justice continues to use pictures believed to be of Mullah Omar. However, if a better one is available and vetted, the program will certainly adjust the image."
Intelligence analysts argued years ago that when Taliban leaders banned photos, one goal was to protect themselves, just in case the world ever wanted to track them down for what they did in the name of faith.
Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: A serial killer and rapist who has been on the loose in Phoenix for the past year may have finally been caught. He's known as the Baseline Killer, but authorities are not 100 percent sure that they've got the right man. We'll tell you why.
And a very different kind of crime. You may have heard about the television reporter in San Diego who was violently attacked on camera. His name is John Mattes, and we'll hear his harrowing tale firsthand when 360 continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: For more than a year now, women and girls who live in Phoenix, Arizona, have been terrorized by a sexual predator who is believed to wear disguises and attack after dark. He's known as the Baseline Killer, because his crimes began along Baseline Road in Phoenix.
Investigators say in many cases, the Baseline Killer chatted with his victims before he attacked them, often at gunpoint. Now investigators say they may have their man. Or do they?
CNN's Dan Simon reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Phoenix police couldn't say whether they'd actually caught the man known as the Baseline Killer but seemed to do little to dampen speculation that they had, even going as far to say he looked like this sketch of the suspect plastered all over the community.
KIM HUMPHREY, PHOENIX POLICE DEPARTMENT: I've looked at it. I think it definitely resembles the individual. There are some things, and you'll have to make that judgment on your own later on.
SIMON: What got everyone excited was investigators say they've been able to link 42-year-old Mark Goudeau to one of the 23 crimes tied to the serial rapist and murderer going back it last year. That crime involved two sisters in their 20s, sexually assaulted last September.
The police report says the armed suspect took the sisters to a park, pointing the weapon at both of them throughout the course of their contact. A report says one of them was six months pregnant. They say the evidence tying him to the sexual assaults is solid.
HUMPHREY: It's forensic evidence, and we're trying to preserve some aspects of the evidence that we obtained because, obviously, we've got a case that involves potentially many other crimes and possibly numerous homicides.
SIMON: That forensic evidence, however is separate from what detectives obtained from the other crime scenes where forensic evidence was found. Still, investigators say there's additional lab work to be done.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's not guilty.
SIMON: People who know Goudeau were quick to defend him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're way off base. Way off. I've known this guy since he came home, and that's been about a year and a half. You could practically track him.
SIMON: Police arrested Goudeau yesterday evening during a traffic stop near his home. It happened to be his birthday.
CNN obtained these court records showing that Goudeau served 13 years in jail for armed robbery and kidnapping. At this point, though, it's too early to say whether Phoenix police got the man who has terrorized this community.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Dan Simon joins us now live from Phoenix in Arizona. Dan, has there been any response from the suspect's family or his attorney?
SIMON: Well, he does have a lawyer who told the Associated Press, John, that his client will plead not guilty in court. His wife also telling the A.P. that this is a travesty of justice, that her husband is an innocent man. In any case, John, still a lot of questions in terms of whether or not police got the guy. At this point, they can only tie him to those two sexual assaults.
ROBERTS: Dan Simon live for us tonight. Dan, thanks.
The Baseline Killer left behind a long and grisly trail of gruesome crimes. Here's CNN's David Mattingly with that part of the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The composite sketch Phoenix police released last fall gave the public its first look at a black male in dreadlocks, wearing what looked lake a fishing hat. Investigators believe the suspect's first crimes began in August, near the city's Baseline Road, a series of sexual assaults and armed robberies.
But in September, a 19-year-old woman was murdered, shot in the head at a parking lot, and the Baseline rapist became the Baseline Killer.
And as time went on, his crimes became more bold. On one night in November, police said he robbed a store, then abducted a woman 10 minutes later before sexual assaulting her.
In December, the Baseline Killer murdered a mother of two behind a convenience store. She was also shot in the head.
SGT. ANDY HILL, PHOENIX POLICE DEPARTMENT: This is a caution for everybody, especially if you're a woman, however. Obviously, the majority of the victims are women, and they are suffering the severe violence. So you do need to be cautious out there.
MATTINGLY: But caution was not enough. In March, there were three more murders: two restaurant workers, a man a woman; then in a separate killing, another woman, all shot in the head. In May, police believe the man in the composite sketch was already responsible for 18 violent crimes.
CHIEF JACK HARRIS, PHOENIX POLICE DEPARTMENT: Suspicious activity, anything they see that involves anyone that matches this description, they need to get a hold of the police right away.
MATTINGLY: A $100,000 reward was offered for information leading to his capture. Posters around Phoenix asked the public for help, and a task force of more than 100 officers was assembled.
But in June, the Baseline Killer's last victim was abducted from a car wash, a 37-year-old mother of two, was shot in the head, her body found in her car behind a nearby store.
JAMES GARNER, STORE OWNER: You see they have just a short conversation and a scuffle and throws her in the car, and they take off. MATTINGLY: The hunt for the Baseline Killer became entwined with another serial killer case going on at the same time, creating a widespread climate of fear.
Police arrested two men in August in the so-called serial shooter case. That involved 47 random shootings and seven deaths. The men pleaded not guilty.
By September, the Baseline Killer was believed to be connected to 23 crimes, 11 cases of sexual assault and 8 murders.
David Mattingly, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: A much different investigation in California. A local television reporter is brutally attacked on camera.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN MATTES, REPORTER ASSAULTED: We're not talking about someone going a few rounds. We're talking about someone ripping, gouging, scratching, biting me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: He ended up with broken ribs and bloodied face. What triggered this violent confrontation? We'll talk to the reporter live.
Plus, a new name added to the FBI's Most Wanted fugitive list. His rap sheet when 360 continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: A reporter's job, of course, is to cover stories, but this week one California journalist named John Mattes became the story. He also ended up in the emergency room. We're going to talk to him in just a moment, but first a look at his reality TV.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stop.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Call the police.
ROBERTS (voice-over): This ugly, brutal and bloody attack, caught on tape, is only part of the picture and the history between the investigative TV reporter left with cracked ribs and bite marks...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Officer -- back up!
ROBERTS: ... and the businessman he repeatedly confronted as part of a news story.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Turn around! Turn around! Get on the ground! Get on the ground! Get on the ground!
ROBERTS: In the end, one man was led to jail. The other, taken to the hospital. They're not strangers to each other.
John Mattes of XETV-San Diego has been pursuing Assad "Sam" Suleiman for months following accusations by people Mattes interviewed that Suleiman was stealing identities to buy real estate. No criminal charges have ever been filed.
Their exchanges were often nasty and usually known shown on the daily newscasts.
MATTES: How many people have you threatened? How many people have you threatened in the last month?
ASSAD "SAM" SULEIMAN, ACCUSED OF IDENTITY THEFT: What these reports say -- if anybody...
MATTES: OK. OK. So they're they liars?
SULEIMAN: Absolutely they are liars.
ROBERTS: The conversations also included voice messages believed to have been left by the reporter's target. In one recording the message says he's sorry for his behavior.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I did use the word (expletive deleted) off. For that I apologize. I do have a bit of anger management -- anger problem. And I signed up for class this week, so I am learning to control it.
ROBERTS: But he was far from apologetic in another voice mail.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I haven't forgotten about you. I think about you every (expletive deleted) day. I'm going to wash your career up when I done with, you parasite pest. Skinny little (expletive deleted).
ROBERTS: This week, while Mattes was interviewing an alleged victim of Suleiman, Suleiman's wife suddenly shows up.
ROSA AMELIA BARRAZA, WIFE OF SAM SULEIMAN: You don't have enough with what you aired? Stop that (expletive deleted) camera right (expletive deleted) now. Oh, yes I will.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't batter him.
BARRAZA: Why are you doing this? You didn't have enough with what you aired?
ROBERTS: The situation quickly escalates.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have a nice day.
BARRAZA: (expletive deleted) you. Have a nice day my (expletive deleted). ROBERTS: And that's when Suleiman appears.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Call the police.
ROBERTS: Suleiman and his wife were arrested. He was charged with felony assault. Both were released on bail. Repeated efforts by CNN to reach Suleiman or his attorney have been unsuccessful.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Not your average day on the job. The attacker isn't talking, but the reporter is. John Mattes joins us live. We'll ask him about the confrontation and whether he now fears for his life. Next on 360.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Call the police.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Just before the break you saw how a television reporter was violently attacked on camera by a man he was investigating in an alleged real estate scam. Looks like it hurts. The reporter's name is John Mattes, and he joins us now from San Diego.
John, does it hurt?
MATTES: It hurts a lot. I've been pretty beaten up.
ROBERTS: I mean, how badly were you injured? What kind of injuries did you sustain?
MATTES: A lot of gouges, a lot of slashes into my face. Cracked ribs. And then bites, human bites that, of course, have to be treated with tetanus shots and a lot of antibiotics.
ROBERTS: Give us the quick synopsis here. How did this whole thing unfold?
MATTES: Well, that day I had done a series of investigative stories on this gentleman and his wife, but that day I wasn't looking to interview him, to see him at all. I was interviewing victims who claimed that he had been terrorizing them, verbally, assaulting them.
And I was standing in the yard of some private property owners who actually owned property next to his commercial real estate. One of them had told me that he had just bitten a chunk of flesh out of the man's chest.
ROBERTS: Right.
MATTES: So I'm hearing that. We're putting the microphones on the two people they interview, and then out of the blue his wife comes running up.
ROBERTS: He just shows up?
MATTES: Shows up. And we've been ambushed. And then she confronts us, and I'm thinking, "Well, OK, she's a little hot." She's throwing water on us. Next thing I know, I'm slapped.
Then she takes the violence -- smacks him.
ROBERTS: And then the husband comes along.
MATTES: And then the husband comes running up without any -- no indication at all. Bam, knocks me down.
ROBERTS: Did you expect that he was going to hit you?
MATTES: I had no clue. I had no perception or any premonition that that would happen.
And then we're on the ground, knowing that he had done this to other people. He's ripping my face, gouging my eyes, biting. And all I can think of, is I've got to get his hands off me as he's kicking me with his feet. And...
ROBERTS: He looked like a pretty strong fellow, because he had not only you trying to get him off of you but also the fellow that you were interviewing.
MATTES: The fellow that we were interviewing, a victim of his who had had a restraining order against him, wonderfully, jumped into the fray to help subdue him, because otherwise I wouldn't be alive, because his wife ran off to get the gun.
ROBERTS: Right.
MATTES: They clearly had come to ambush us and shoot us.
ROBERTS: She went to get a gun but obviously didn't find one.
MATTES: Couldn't find the gun so came back with a huge paperweight to smash my skull, and that's when people restrained her and pulled her aside and pulled the -- pulled the weapon out of her hand.
ROBERTS: How do you know she was going to get a gun? Did she articulate that?
MATTES: She screamed, "Honey, I'm going to get the gun." And went to the truck.
ROBERTS: That would give you an indication.
Listen, John, there's a little piece of the videotape I want to play here and then ask you a question about it. Let's take a quick look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARRAZA: Stop this. Stop this right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have a nice day.
BARRAZA: (expletive deleted) you. Have a nice day my (expletive deleted).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, bye-bye.
BARRAZA: Son of a (expletive deleted).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: OK. So the wife says repeatedly, stop this. Turn off the camera. Do you think if you had stopped taping, the altercation could have been prevented? Did you push her too far?
MATTES: We would have been dead. They came -- she came with a gun. They came to bushwhack us. We didn't intend to see them. We were on private property of other people who had been harassed by them, had restraining orders against them.
She trespassed on private property to claim that we were interfering with her life. She invaded our personal space and then threatened us and then battered me bloody.
ROBERTS: So you figure if you didn't have the camera rolling that anything that transpired after that...
MATTES: It would have been...
ROBERTS: Yes.
MATTES: No one would be able to document what I've been attempting to document.
ROBERTS: Right.
MATTES: Which is how this man has treated the citizens of San Diego.
ROBERTS: Real quick, John, you going to push this all of the way in court?
MATTES: I'm going to continue with this story. I'm not going to let up.
ROBERTS: No, I don't mean the story. I mean in court. Are you going to press charges and take this to the mat?
MATTES: Of course I am. To let this man go, I couldn't -- I couldn't do that.
ROBERTS: All right. John Mattes, thanks very much. Hope you feel better. MATTES: Thank you.
ROBERTS: All right. Bye.
In a moment, the Shot of the Day", but first Erica Hill from Headline News joins us with a 360 bulletin.
Hi, Erica.
ERICA HILL, HEADLINE NEWS ANCHOR: Hi, John.
The FBI has added a new name to its list of its 10 Most Wanted fugitives, Ralph "Buck" Phillips. He's wanted for the shooting of a state trooper in upstate New York. Investigators also want to question him about last week's shooting of two other New York state troopers, one of whom was killed. The other was wounded.
Phillips escaped from a New York state prison back in April. He replaces polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs, who was arrested last week near Las Vegas, replaces Jeffs on that list.
In London, Prime Minister Tony Blair making it official, announcing today he will step down within a year. But he didn't set a specific date for leaving office. The political crisis comes after eight junior members of Blair's Labor Party resigned. Blair's popularity has taken a beating over many issues, including his support for the war in Iraq.
Payback time for James Frey and the publisher of his book, "A Million Little Pieces". A source tells Reuters Frey and Random House have agreed to settle lawsuits filed by readers who claimed fraud. The source said the payout would be no more than $2.35 million. Frey admits part of his best-selling drug and alcohol memoir were made up.
And life, it turns out, not always so simple for Paris Hilton. The LAPD says the star was arrested on suspicion of DUI after driving erratically and failing a field sobriety test. The video you're seeing was shot by TMZ.com after Hilton's arrest.
She's scheduled to appear in court later this month, and that is when we'll find out if she'll be charged. I'm sure you just can't wait for that answer.
ROBERTS: Life as a celebutante.
HILL: Not easy.
ROBERTS: Erica, time for our "Shot of the Day". This one's going to tug at your heart.
An 8-year-old cancer patient in San Francisco got a nice surprise today. He was reunited with his dog after it was dog-napped from the hospital parking garage this past weekend.
The boy's brother had brought the dog, affectionately called Chemo, to the hospital to cheer him up. HILL: What a sweet little face.
ROBERTS: Yes, he is. But the family says some kids broke into the car and stole him. After a plea from the family, the police got a phone call and Chemo is now back where he belongs.
HILL: Now those are the kind of stories that it's always nice to bring people. Huh, John?
ROBERTS: Absolutely. Erica, we'll see you next hour. Thanks.
HILL: See you in a bit.
ROBERTS: We will take a happy ending like that any day.
Today, however, we also got a chilling glimpse of evil. A new video showing Osama bin Laden meeting with the 9/11 terrorists, planning the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people five years ago. Coming up, are there new clues that are hidden inside that tape?
Plus a convict who seemed to be turning his life around. Now he's a fugitive on the FBI's most wanted list. What pushed him over the edge? When 360 cons.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Planning 9/11, a never before seen video of Osama bin Laden meeting with the 9/11 terrorists, next on 360.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Good evening again. Five years after 9/11, a newly released video shows the evil plot being hatched. An eerie glimpse into the past, when there was still time to stop al Qaeda.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: Terror tape. New and chilling pictures of the 9/11 terrorists and Osama bin Laden planning their attack. What the video shows us that we've never seen before.
The battle that won't go away.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This here is national security.
ANNOUNCER: Immigration reform, eclipsed by terror talk. But still drawing crowds. How the November elections could reshape the debate.
And an arrest in Arizona. The suspect charged with two rapes tied to a serial killer. So why won't the police say they've caught the killer?
Across the country and around the world, this is ANDERSON COOPER 360. Sitting in tonight for Anderson, reporting from the CNN studios in New York, is John Roberts. (END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: And thanks for joining us.
Al Qaeda released another video today, and this one offers a chilling view of evil in action. Al Jazeera says it shows Osama bin Laden and other al Qaeda terrorists planning the 9/11 terror attacks.
With the fifth anniversary of 9/11 four days way now, it's safe to say the timing is not a coincidence.
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