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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Duke Lacrosse Prosecutor Announces Resignation; Mideast Meltdown
Aired June 15, 2007 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: And good evening, everyone. I'm John King.
Anderson is coming up in the next hour with a 360 "Keeping Them Honest" special.
Also tonight, tears and regret from the prosecutor who botched the Duke lacrosse rape case. He says he's put the community through enough.
In the Mideast, first came the takeover. Now comes a challenge to the world from Hamas. Does its coup in Gaza mean a defeat in the war on terror? We will explore the tough options facing the United States.
And later, the most notorious book in decades, O.J. Simpson's so- called confession, Fred Goldman once called it obscene. Now he wants to publish it. What's up with that?
We begin, though, with a tearful and stunning admission from Mike Nifong. He's the North Carolina prosecutor accused of pushing a sex crime case against three Duke University lacrosse players that went far beyond what the facts would bear.
Today, facing a professional ethics panel, Nifong essentially gave in.
More now from CNN's Jason Carroll.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A teary Michael Nifong, a prosecutor now on the defense.
MICHAEL NIFONG, DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA, DISTRICT ATTORNEY: And I have always been willing to take responsibility for the things that I have done.
CARROLL: An emotional mea culpa during a North Carolina bar ethics hearing into allegations of misconduct by Nifong in the Duke lacrosse case.
Nifong said he no longer had credibility, and owed it to the community to step down.
NIFONG: So, it's my intention, whether or not, whatever the decision of this (INAUDIBLE) to resign as district attorney of Durham.
CARROLL: For several minutes, Nifong could barely keep his composure. Then he addressed the three players he had accused of rape, Collin Finnerty, Reade Seligmann, and Dave Evans.
NIFONG: My actions have caused pain to Finnertys and the Seligmanns and the Evans. I apologize.
CARROLL: Nifong admits he got carried away and made mistakes while prosecuting the Duke lacrosse players. He's accused of making inflammatory public statements about the case, and, more seriously, of concealing DNA evidence showing male DNA found on the accuser that did not match any of the 46 players. Nifong said he was sorry that had happened.
NIFONG: I want to make it clear right now that that certainly is something that the defense attorneys were entitled to have.
CARROLL: Collin Finnerty, Reade Seligmann, and their families attended the hearing. Seligmann talked about the pain of telling his mother he had been accused of raping a stripper hired to perform at the team's party.
Reade Seligmann, Exonerated Lacrosse Player: And I said, mom, are you -- are you, you know, alone right now?
She said, yes. What's going on?
And I said, she picked me.
And I could hear her on the other end of the phone. The life was sucked right out of her.
CARROLL: There were not just tears, but also frustration that Nifong continued to pursue sexual assault and kidnapping charges even after the rape charges were dropped.
SELIGMANN: It felt almost like a sick joke, like we were being toyed with, like he -- he was doing it, you know, maliciously, on purpose, to us.
CARROLL (on camera): Regardless of Nifong's decision to step down, it is very likely he will be punished anyway, possibly disbarred, which would prevent him from ever being able to practice law in the state of North Carolina.
Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: Some perspective now from Court TV's Lisa Bloom.
Were you surprised to hear what Mike Nifong said today, that he plans to step down, regardless of what this committee finds?
LISA BLOOM, COURT TV ANCHOR: I was surprised. Why today? Why now? Because he has to testify in an ethics hearing, and he's facing losing his law license?
Why not in April, when the state attorney general said, these boys are innocent. There never was any evidence against them.
Why not in January, when he himself concluded that there wasn't enough evidence in rape -- for a rape? How about last December, when it became clear that he was hiding DNA evidence? You know, he waited until now. I think that's suspicious.
KING: A cynical ploy to save his law license, that's what one of the -- the attorneys for the boys says.
BLOOM: And I don't know if that's going to work. I don't know if that's going to work, because the issue of him being DA isn't really in front of this panel. The issue is disbarment.
Now, they can do something short of that. They can suspend him. But the question is, can he practice law at all? For example, could he go work in the civil arena? Could he be a transactional lawyer? Could he be a public offender? Those would all still be available to him.
KING: What are the standards here? If the North Carolina bar said he withheld evidence, gave false information to the court, violated ethics rules, say, during media interviews, where is the line?
BLOOM: Well, the worst thing he's accused of is withholding DNA evidence, exculpatory evidence, that his expert, back in April of 2006, did the DNA test, and found that the DNA did not match these three defendants. Four other males' DNA did match. That was withheld. That's the most serious.
It's true that he made statements in the press that he shouldn't have. And he admitted that today, saying that there was a gang rape, fanning the racial flames, calling the boys hooligan. I don't think that would be enough for disbarment.
But, if the panel finds that he knowingly withheld exculpatory DNA evidence, he could be disbarred.
KING: And, from what you have seen and heard so far, do you think he's on the disbar side of the line?
BLOOM: I think he is, but we have to be careful. We haven't heard all of the defense case yet. The case is still going on. And the DNA expert said, Nifong did not tell him to intentionally withhold the DNA evidence, different than what that -- that expert said before. So, I think it's a close call. I would not be surprised, though, if he was disbarred, because this is serious stuff.
KING: And let's assume he is not for a second, and Mike Nifong keeps his law license...
BLOOM: Right.
KING: ... steps down as DA. Is there a law firm in North Carolina or anywhere else...
(LAUGHTER)
KING: ... that is going to hire him?
BLOOM: I think it's possible. He could hang out a shingle. He could be a solo practitioner.
What he's guilty of is being overzealous. Some clients like that. Some clients like an attorney who is very, very aggressive on their behalf. He could get assignments, as I said, as a public defender. He could be a law professor.
I think there are jobs out there for him, as surprising as that might sound.
(LAUGHTER)
KING: Even though he's nuclear, is there...
(LAUGHTER)
KING: I guess there -- you're saying there's a plus side to that in some cases?
BLOOM: I don't see him getting a job as a prosecutor.
But, you know, the criminal law is only one area of the law. There are a lot of jobs out there for lawyers. He could work in a corporate firm. He could work for a company as in-house counsel. He could do something entirely different and still practice law.
KING: We will keep watching.
(CROSSTALK)
KING: Court TV's Lisa Bloom, thank you very much.
BLOOM: Thank you.
KING: A bit more on how the proceedings against Mike Nifong are structured. They're much different than any criminal trial. Here's the "Raw Data."
The bar's disciplinary hearing commission sits as judge and jury in this case. It has 20 members, 12 lawyers appointed by the state bar, eight non-lawyers appointed North Carolina's governor and the General Assembly. If the commission decides to disbar Nifong, he much wait five years to ask for his license back. He can also appeal, though, to the North Carolina Court of Appeals.
Here's some other raw data. There are now, for all intents and purposes, two Palestinian entities for the world to deal with, and one of them is on the State Department's terror list. Hamas today sealed its takeover of Gaza. Pictures tell the story: Hamas fighters posing in President Mahmoud Abbas' office, one of them faking a call to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. In fact, across Gaza, offices once filled with members of the Abbas' Fatah party were being looted, while Abbas and Fatah try to regroup on the West Bank.
Meantime, Israel and the United States are refusing to deal at all with Hamas -- Secretary Rice pledging today to fully support Mahmoud Abbas.
The question now, in addition to what to do next, is what effect this coup will have on the wider war on terror.
Earlier tonight, I spoke with CNN's Peter Bergen and Steven Cook of the Council on Foreign Relations.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KING: Steven Cook, I want to start with the big picture, after what has been a disturbing week in the Middle East.
If the goal in the war on terror was to bring stability and reduce the spread of fanaticism in the Middle East, and you see what's happening in the Palestinian territories, the continuing difficulties in Iraq, some trouble still in Afghanistan, and more trouble in Lebanon, is it fair to say, simply, as we approach the six-year anniversary of 9/11, the United States is losing the war on terror?
STEVEN COOK, DOUGLAS DILLON FELLOW, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: Well, I don't know whether you can make the case that the United States is losing the war on terrorism.
But, certainly, six years on, one of the results of American policy in the Middle East is to empower extremist movements. We see that in the Gaza Strip. We see that in Lebanon, obviously, in Iraq. Now, there haven't been any attacks on the America homeland, but, with all of these fires burning throughout the region, it stands to reason that Americans are less safe than they were more -- six years ago or so.
KING: And, Peter Bergen, let's look at some of the subsets of this.
And you have been looking, A, into some developments of what you see happening in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. And, also, we have seen Hamas, of course, make its big power play now in the Palestinian territories.
What is the likelihood to see further spread of terrorism from those two sources?
PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Well, I think one of the interesting things about the Lebanon conflict was the -- the development of this Fatah al-Islam group, which is a sort of al Qaeda- like group. There weren't these groups in Lebanon two or three years ago. As yet, there don't appear to be these kinds of groups in Gaza or the West Bank. But I think the fact that they started appearing in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon recently means that these kinds of groups may well spring up, even more radical than Hamas, in both Gaza and the West Strip, John.
KING: This is obviously a huge concern, not only -- not only to the United States, but to Israel, which, of course, has to live in the neighborhood.
I want you to listen, Steven, to something Dan Gillerman, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, said. It sounds quite ominous. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAN GILLERMAN, ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: This is Iranian work. This happened in Lebanon. It is now happening in Hamastan, which was Gaza until yesterday.
And what people must understand, sadly and tragically, that this is just the preview, soon to be seen in a theater near you and in every Arab country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Alarmist, or perhaps prescient?
COOK: Well, I think you have to take a little bit of that with a grain of salt, but -- and I think that the Israeli representative is overstating the connection between Hamas and Iran.
Hamas is not a tool of the Iranians. It's not a creation of the Iranians. It certainly emerged from the Palestinian population. That being said, of course, Iran does provide support for Hamas. And it is a worrying sign that Hamas has taken over Gaza and that there's the possibility of a spread of violence to the West Bank, and the possibility that Hamas will militarily defeat Fatah on the West Bank as well.
KING: And, Peter Bergen, Israel pointing the finger at Iran, when it comes to the Palestinian territories -- the United States increasingly pointing the finger at Iran, not only for the instability in Iraq, but saying Iran is now supporting the Taliban in Afghanistan.
What can we make of that?
BERGEN: Well, you know, when I heard those reports initially, I was quite skeptical, because the Taliban and Iran nearly went to war in 1998. And, in fact, the Taliban killed some Iranian diplomats. And that provoked the Iranians to mass on the Afghan border. They didn't, in the end, invade. But this is not a group of people who like each other.
On the other hand, there seem to be so many of these reports recently that, you know, lots of different DOD officials making these assertions, they seem to be accurate. It's just rather surprising, given the long history of antipathy between Iran and the Taliban.
KING: And, Peter, one person we haven't talked about here is the president of Pakistan, another state that plays hugely in the war on terrorism -- a lot of pressure on President Musharraf, who has to hold elections by November. Where do you see Pakistan heading in this difficult climate?
BERGEN: Well, I think the best thing that could happen to Pakistan is a return to real civilian rule. Unfortunately, Pakistan has too often reverted to military dictatorships. Musharraf seems to want to continue this tradition of sort of light military dictatorship.
He is closing down media stations. He's making it difficult for people to assemble on the street to protest his policies. And I think his time is, unfortunately -- or fortunately -- running out, I think. A lot of Pakistanis are quite ready to see him go. They feel that he's behaving like the late and unlamented General Zia, the Pakistani dictator who preceded Musharraf.
And, so, one can only hope that there is a real return to civilian rule.
KING: Quite a sober assessment on all fronts.
Peter Bergen, Steven Cook, thank you very much.
COOK: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: Now the battle on the border and in Washington -- some time next week, the Senate will take up the immigration reform plan key lawmakers and the president revived just yesterday -- one of the factors bringing it back to life, the president's support for immediately pumping about four billion more dollars into border security.
But, in South Texas, not everyone likes the horse trading or this deal.
CNN's Ed Lavandera now with the horse sense.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Joseph Hein likes to say he breeds horses South Texas style, in shorts and a tropical shirt. His sprawling 600-acre ranch runs right up to the Rio Grande and the Mexican border.
JOSEPH HEIN, HORSE RANCHER: We fish out here.
LAVANDERA: But don't let the laid-back appearance fool you, especially when you talk about building a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border. He packs an intense frustration with Washington's idea of immigration reform. HEIN: It's not cost-effective. They're throwing their money away.
LAVANDERA: He worries that, in the name of national security, the federal government will build a fence right through his land. That's a popular plan in Washington, but people on the border mostly hate the idea. Hein says it will cut off water access for his horses and do nothing to make the country safer.
HEIN: We want to do it in a way that it's actually going to ensure our safety, and it's not going to do something that, cosmetically, it looks really good, but it's really not effective, because, then, why do it?
LAVANDERA: In this kind of terrain, Hein says a fence would not last long. Floodwaters would wash it away or illegal immigrants would knock it down, costing millions more to fix, which brings us to the prevailing feeling toward Washington here.
RICHARD GEISSLER, LAREDO, TEXAS, COMMUNITY ACTIVIST: It's anger because people up north are telling us what's happening here. People that are even north of Dallas are telling us what's happening here. And -- and we get no input.
LAVANDERA: Community activist Richard Geissler says politicians should listen to border towns. And he thinks Friday's headline in the Laredo newspaper says it all: "Feds Ignore Border Again."
(on camera): For the families that live along the Rio Grande, this river isn't just a border that separates them from a foreign country. More often than not, the very people that live along the other side of the river are family and friends, which makes the issue of immigration reform that much more of a sensitive topic.
(voice-over): So, the talk of getting tough on illegal immigrants who come over here for work doesn't go over well.
Hector Farias makes his living getting goods back and forth from Mexico. And he says, protecting the border doesn't mean migrant workers should be deported.
HECTOR FARIAS, CUSTOMS BROKER: It just confirms the -- the level of ignorance that we have in Washington, D.C. It's a confirmation of the idiots that we have up there.
LAVANDERA (on camera): Do you hear talk like that around here a lot?
FARIAS: A lot.
(LAUGHTER)
LAVANDERA (voice-over): So, these voices from the border say, they will keep speaking up, in hopes those far from this river will listen.
Ed Lavandera, CNN, Laredo, Texas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: Coming up: He's been called the Republichameleon. He was for abortion rights before he was against them. Candidate Mitt Romney tells why he changed his position and when. That's in "Raw Politics" tonight.
Also tonight, these stories:
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KING (voice-over): One of America's leading killers hiding in plain sight.
GERALD MCCLINTON, SON OF MARY MCCLINTON: I grabbed my mom's hand. A minute or so later, my mom took her last breath.
KING: She died of a deadly mistake in a life-saving place. And she wasn't alone -- hospital mishaps by the tens of thousands. Are your loved ones at risk?
Also, thought O.J. Simpson's so-called book of confession would never see the light of day? It could. And you will never guess who wants to publish it -- the surprising twist ahead on 360.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
911 DISPATCHER: Why aren't they helping her?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're watching her. They're watching her there, and they're not just doing anything, OK. They're just watching her.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
KING: You will recognize that 911 call from a shocking story we have been following: a futile plea for help for a woman who lay dying at L.A.'s King Harbor Hospital, the staff ignoring her cries of pain. Then came public cries of outrage, leading to an ultimatum to correct long-running problems or shut the place down.
Just how it happened remains a mystery. But the hospital staff says they're working on a report that's expected to focus on the facility's many deficiencies.
Now, if you think this is a single, isolated medical mistake at a troubled inner-city hospital, our Randi Kaye has news for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mary McClinton checked into Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle to have a brain aneurysm corrected. What followed were 19 days of terror.
GERALD MCCLINTON, SON OF MARY MCCLINTON: One simple procedure of marking what you're about to inject into a person would have prevented this whole thing, 30 seconds or less to write down what's toxic, what is not.
KAYE: A technician was supposed to inject a harmless marker dye for X-rays into Mary's leg. But, instead of injecting dye, the technician inadvertently injected antiseptic skin cleanser, chlorhexidine, toxic when injected into the body.
(on camera): Did you speak to her after the surgery?
WILLIAM MCCLINTON, SON OF MARY MCCLINTON: I mean, I heard a lot of screaming, to the point where she actually dropped the phone.
KAYE: How could something so tragic happen? Hospital officials said the antiseptic was in a cup identical to the one holding the marker dye. That cup was unlabeled, an error that led the technician to grab the wrong solution and inject it into Mary McClinton's bloodstream.
W. MCCLINTON: The leg that was injected actually had swollen to probably double its size. So -- and as far as hands and feet, it was -- they were just so swollen that, like, the fingers ran together, almost like it was just a mitt.
KAYE (voice-over): Days later, the hospital admitted the error in this staff memo: "These are the consequences of an avoidable mistake that caused massive chemical injuries."
The hospital took responsibility, and says it has made improvements to processes to make sure it doesn't happen again. But it says the labeling process used at the time was the industry standard.
G. MCCLINTON: The doctor told me, "If we don't amputate her leg, she will die."
KAYE: Doctors removed Mary McClinton's left leg below the knee. This nurse's note obtained by CNN showed said she asked the nurse that day to, "Let me die."
By day 13, the McClintons they were told, another amputation was necessary, but that their mom would likely not survive the surgery.
(on camera): So, you were faced with the decision of really which way you wanted your mother to die, not any longer if she would?
G. MCCLINTON: Yes. That was basically it, yes. She was going to die.
KAYE (voice-over): The McClintons said no to more surgery.
G. MCCLINTON: I grabbed my mom's hand, and I told her that her boys are going to be OK. She had fought hard enough and she had suffered enough pain. "We're going to be OK. Just go ahead and go."
And, a minute or so later, my mom took her last breath.
KAYE: Mary McClinton had hung on for 19 days.
An Institute of Medicine study estimates, the number of hospital deaths caused by mistakes could as high as 98,000 a year.
DR. DONALD BERWICK, PRESIDENT AND CEO, INSTITUTE FOR HEALTHCARE IMPROVEMENT: That would be the fourth most common cause of death in all of America.
KAYE: In addition to the human cost, the Institute of Medicine reports, every year, hospitals spend more than $3.5 billion treating medicine mistakes that happen on their watch.
It's been two-and-a-half years since the McClintons lost their mom. The family sued the hospital and settled out of court for an undisclosed amount. And, as painful as their experience has been, they hope others can learn from it.
G. MCCLINTON: Patients need to know what their rights are. Families need to know these things.
KAYE: Randi Kaye, CNN, Seattle.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: Now here's John Roberts with what's coming up Monday on "AMERICAN MORNING."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN ROBERTS, CO-HOST, "AMERICAN MORNING": John, we're spending the weekend on the campaign trail in Iowa with Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney. We will ask him what he thinks about John McCain's sharp attacks on him.
And, as we have been doing for other candidates, we're asking Mitt Romney what he thinks is his defining moment, as a person or as a candidate.
One on one with Mitt Romney, Monday on "AMERICAN MORNING," beginning at 6:00 a.m. Eastern -- John.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Up next here in "Raw Politics": a look inside the Clinton's wallet. And it's even fatter than we thought.
Also ahead: a possible new life for O.J. Simpson's tell-all book. But the real story is who may publish it -- the details ahead on 360.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: Republicans are going to the mat over hot-button social issues. That tops tonight's "Raw Politics."
Here's Candy Crowley.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: John, in "Raw Politics": abortion politics.
Mitt Romney, once pro-abortion-rights, now anti-abortion, spoke to a Kansas city meeting at the National Right to Life Committee. Talk about great spin.
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm evidence that your work, that your relentless campaign to promote the sanctity of human life, bears fruit.
CROWLEY (voice-over): Romney has taken serious heat lately from fellow Republican presidential candidates John McCain and Sam Brownback, who basically suggest Romney's conversion is more politics than principle.
Required by presidential election law to open up her blind trust, Hillary Clinton and husband Bill took a peek at what they got and cashed out. It seems they owned investments in oil and drug companies, military contractors, and Wal-Mart, all of which could be either politically embarrassing or a conflict of interests with her Senate work.
Hmm. What are we to make of Michael Bloomberg's weekend plans to visit New Hampshire? Not much, according to the New York major, whose name is sometimes mentioned as an '08 possible. Bloomberg says he's going to his girlfriend's college reunion. Besides, he doesn't sound like a guy printing out bumper stickers.
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG (R), MAYOR OF NEW YORK: I don't think the country is quite ready for me.
(LAUGHTER)
CROWLEY: Later this month, Bloomberg is visiting California and the Google folks, another stop-off in the pilgrimage to the presidency. But Bloomberg says it's just a coincidence.
One of Iowa's most frequent visitors, John Edwards, says, you can't just go into the state once or twice a month and speak to big crowds, not that he mentioned any names. Edwards, who is leading in most Iowa polls and who is staking his presidential fortunes on Iowa, says, basically, the nomination race will come down to -- you have got it -- doing well in Iowa.
Silence is rarely golden in politics, but, hey, it's got us talking about the little-talked-about Democratic presidential candidate Mike Gravel and the YouTube ad put together by two film school professors. Gravel stares into the camera for more than a minute.
(on camera): A staffer explains, this is a personal, spiritual, artistic message. The senator, he adds, is a great lover of the arts.
And that's "Raw Politics."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: Interesting. Love of the arts.
Candy, thank you.
(LAUGHTER)
KING: Next month, presidential candidates will have to answer your questions at the CNN-YouTube debates. You can learn more about the debates and how to submit your questions at CNN.com/YouTubeDebates.
Coming up: Anderson -- tough duty -- sits down with Angelina Jolie; plus, the most notorious book we never got to read, and how that might change.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KING (voice-over): Thought O.J. Simpson's so-called book of confession would never see the light of day? It could. And you will never guess who wants to publish it -- the surprising twist ahead on 360.
Plus, he touched millions by writing about dying and how he's living with it.
MILES LEVIN, BLOGGER: I can't quite believe I'm standing here.
KING: Blogger Miles Levin on graduation, the prom, and what it's like to touch millions of lives with his words -- tonight on 360.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: Coming up on 360, from a bridge to nowhere with your tax dollars to Katrina bodies still not identified. Plus the pet recall.
Here's what Joe Johns found out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): March, a number of dogs and cats die across the U.S. The likely cause, pet food tainted with melamine, a compound found in plastics. The source -- wheat gluten from China. Melamine was likely slipped in to boost protein levels, making it more valuable. The big question, what other foreign chemicals are finding their way into American food? And what do consumers think about it?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think most Americans would be shocked to know how much of their food supply is coming from other countries. (END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Some answers ahead in a 360 special, keeping them honest. We made a promise to you to hold people accountable and we are. Don't miss these reports in the next hour of AC 360.
First a new twist tonight in the battle over O.J. Simpson's unpublished but already infamous hypothetical account, "If I Did It."
You'll recall that in the book Simpson describes the way which he might have murdered his ex-wife Nicole and her friend Ron Goldman. Today a federal judge cleared the way for Ron's father Fred Goldman to pursue a claim to the book rights.
Joining us to talk about the decision once again, Court TV anchor Lisa Bloom.
After all of this outrage, Fred Goldman, who I think once called this book idea sick, now has the right to publish it perhaps. Smart idea?
LISA BLOOM, COURT TV: Yeah. It's extraordinary. Was it that the content of the book was repugnant because he describes how he killed two people or was it that O.J. would be profiting from the book? O.J.'s not going to get any money from the book now. That's going to go to the Goldmans. But still, the content of the book is the same. A vivid description of how he took two lives, hypothetically according to O.J.
KING: Hypothetically according to O.J. Mr. Goldman says if he does publish it, he is gong to change the title. It won't be "If I Did It", it will be "Confessions of a Double Murderer."
BLOOM: And how extraordinary is that? Think about it, the idea of buying a non-fiction, sort of a non-fiction book and then changing the content of it once you buy the right. It's like colorizing old movies. I have not heard of this done in the publishing realm. We said before would O.J.'s book go in the fiction or non-fiction section? It was unclear.
Now I guess it would go in the non-fiction section because Ron Goldman has bought the book and he is really changing it to a confessional book.
KING: We'll see what happens in the book stores. The book is technically owned right now, the rights by a company that is controlled by O.J. Simpson's daughter. That is the way it's set up legally. Have not said whether or not they would appeal. Based on what you've seen in this case, are there grounds?
BLOOM: No. I don't think so. I said in the beginning this is a sham corporation. Obviously set up to get around the judgment that the Goldmans hold. But they'll never be able to execute on against O.J., that $33 million judgment. They've only gotten a couple thousand dollars in the last 10 years. And obviously this was set up to try to get around so O.J. could get money and the judge saw through it, saw that this was a sham corporation.
KING: And the testimony in the case indicates O.J. got I think $900,000 as an advance for the book. Do those, including the Goldmans, who have settlements against him, have a right to that money?
BLOOM: Absolutely they do. They have a right to any money that O.J. earns except for his pension and his house. Those are protected under Florida law. That's why he moved to Florida. Any other money he makes, from movie royalties, from any kind of income, selling things, the Goldmans are entitled to that.
KING: They might not want to be mentioned at all but remember, the original publishers were going to put this book out and then in the big dust up about it, it fell through the floor. Do they have any standing here? Any rights at all?
BLOOM: They have said -- News Corporation and Regan Books have said we don't want any part of this. They said that back in November when all of this hoopla arose. We don't want any part of it. So all the rights were reverted back to that sham corporation and then to O.J. Simpson, so they won't be making any money out of it.
KING: What about O.J. Simpson, if they put out a book about "Confessions of a Double Murderer," I don't think he'd get much public sympathy but is there he can do to say this is slander?
BLOOM: He can speak out publicly and say, yeah, this is not what I said, this is not my book. The problem with the slander case is truth is going to be a defense. So we can have a whole new trial now. O.J. Simpson against the Goldmans as to whether or not he killed those two people. I doubt that O.J. wants that.
KING: And back to the basic question of taste, it's beyond the law, I guess, but the Goldmans putting this book out, I assume it would sell.
BLOOM: I think it would. Excerpts of it have already been printed in "Newsweek," the most salacious part where he describes hypothetically how he did it, that the dog was wagging its tail, that's why he knew that Nicole know Ron Goldman. All of that has already been out. It may be that the Goldmans said, look, it's going to come out any way, it's going to be on the Internet, it's going to be published, we might as well take control of these things and get the profits.
KING: We'll see how this happens. I think I'll keep my money.
BLOOM: Yeah, I think so.
KING: Court TV's Lisa Bloom.
Up next on 360, Anderson's revealing interview with Angelina Jolie about an issue very dear to her heart.
Plus, a major milestone for a teenager who is sharing his battle with cancer with the world. Hear from the young man who has inspired all of us, next.
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KING: We want to tell you about a special edition of 360 coming up next week on Wednesday. World Refugee Day. Once again, just like she did last year, actress Angelina Jolie joins Anderson to talk about the real life role that changed her life profoundly. Being a good will ambassador for the United Nations refugee agency. Here is a preview.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: When was it that you knew this is it, this is going to be a primary focus for me?
ANGELINA JOLIE, ACTRESS: The first time I went to a refugee camp?
COOPER: Which camp was that?
JOLIE: My first trip I went to Sierra Leone and then I went to Tanzania, so it was two different -- it was all in one very long extended few weeks. And kind of came back with the realization of having met these different groups of people and ...
COOPER: Was there a moment in that camp in Sierra Leone where you said this is it, this is for me?
JOLIE: In Sierra Leone it was a realization that there were real horrors in the world and real -- and a kind of cruelty and violence that I really did not know existed. And I did not people could suffer like that. In Sierra Leone so many people had systematically had their arms and legs cut off and three-year-old kids with no arms or legs because they were hatched off or friends that had to cut off other friends' hands and legs and they were traumatized and it was - really, to this day, it was the most brutal situation I've ever seen.
So it wasn't so much a thought to work with refugees, it was just I felt s so -- I felt so unaware and I felt so naive to the real atrocities happening across the globe. And that I knew I needed to, as a woman, as a human being, just I had a responsibility to educate myself with these things and not let them go by unnoticed personally. I knew I needed that.
And to never again be confronted with a situation like that and think my God, how did I not know this was happening? And then just the more I've gotten to know the refugees and refugee families and those people who had lost their limbs, they had a strength and a spirit that I have never seen anywhere else then when I meet a refugee. They have something extraordinary.
COOPER: They've been victimized but they're not necessarily victims.
JOLIE: They're not victims at all. They don't live as victims. They certainly know that there has been an injustice and they are very smart people. And I think that is something people often don't connect with the refugees. They think of them as a desperate group. But they are in fact, my son was a refugee, they are in fact some of the smartest, I'm sure the most resilient people in the world.
And also many of them before they became refugees, most all of them lived lives like ours.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: But for tens of millions of people, having an ordinary life is something of the past. From Iraq, to Darfur to Sudan, why isn't more being done to help the world's refugees. Next Wednesday, a special edition of 360 with Angelina Jolie.
We've been following the story of Miles Levin, a remarkable young man whose blog about his battle with cancer has thousands of devoted readers, many of who say he has changed their lives.
This spring was tough for miles. His doctors weren't sure he would live long enough to graduate from his Michigan high school or attend his senior prom. But Miles rallied and marked both of those milestones. We reported that part of his story earlier this week. Tonight, there is more. Miles was in New York this week to attend a second graduation ceremony. This one, as you see there, for teenage patients at Memorial Sloan Kettering, a hospital where miles has spent so much time. Here's what he wrote in his blog.
"This ceremony will be special in a different way, as everyone there is aware, they could very well be dead by now. But they're still alive to experience this milestone. Healthy kids take that part for granted."
After the ceremonies, Miles did us the pleasure and honor of stopping by 360 and we talked about all that he's accomplished this month.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KING: Miles, in your blog you had written you were worried you wouldn't make it to your graduation, but you did make it. Tell us some of the highlights.
MILES LEVIN, CANCER PATIENT: I had this miraculous turn around. It couldn't walk. It really looked like I wasn't going to be able to be at my prom or my graduation. I made it to prom, I was able to dance. Graduation night, lucky enough, I was honored to be the student speaker alongside Bob Woodruff, who was a keynote. And that was a really meaningful experience to me, because the awareness that I might not be there, that I so easily might not have been there is so strong.
KING: And boil down for our viewers what you think is most important message you delivered to your classmates in that speech?
LEVIN: I wanted them to consider what responsibility comes with being a privileged person. If you're given the long end of the stick, as I referred to it, what duty you have to those less fortunate. And I didn't tell them you have to do anything, but it's something that I wanted them to consider.
KING: It's clearly that you view these things as gifts, being able to make your graduation, speak at your graduation. You just mentioned dancing at the prom. Was it everything you hoped it would be?
LEVIN: It really was, and it was so much sweeter for all the chemotherapy I had to go through a week before to be feeling well enough for it.
KING: I want you to talk about how you think blogging has helped you cope with cancer. And as you do so I want to read a line that struck me in reviewing some of the things you put in your blog.
"Dying is not what scares me, it's dying and having had no impact. I know a lot of eyes are watching me suffer and win or lose, this is my time for impact."
Why is that so important to you?
LEVIN: Why is it so important to me? It's my legacy. I'm probably not going to have a profession or a family or anything else so people will remember me by this is probably it right here. And I wanted to make my time count for something. The care pages helped me in a lot of ways. One, simply writing about what I'm going through and letting that out and also from what I'm told, helping other people is really a source of strength for me and a motivator to keep going. When otherwise I might not feel like keeping on.
KING: What does that mean to you when people tell you you've been a great inspiration to them?
LEVIN: It's a validation of everything I've tried to do in my life.
KING: And you've overcome, Miles, so many obstacles. You're receiving chemotherapy treatment. Tell us about the prognosis and what it is the doctors tell you right now?
LEVIN: The prognosis isn't too good. When people relapse with my cancer in my stage, up until this point, there's been no hope. There are a whole new generation of cancer treatment therapies that are about to come out. So really I'm just trying to hang on for enough time to be able to receive those treatments. But really it's a grim situation.
KING: Well, Miles, we appreciate your time today. You're certainly an inspiration and we hope that there is better days, some miracle for you lying ahead. And thanks so much for joining us and sharing your inspirational thoughts today.
LEVIN: Thank you so much.
KING: Thank you. (END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: A remarkable young man and a treat to meet him.
Up next, what it will take to fix a computer crash with the potential to bring down the International Space Station. And the latest on the Hamas takeover and what it means for all of us.
Palestinian meltdown. Now what? Terrorists take over in the heart of the Middle East and say, OK, what are you going to do about it? Good question and does it mean we're losing the war on terror?
Plus, it's your money. Billions of tax dollars and they're wasting it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is an omnibus appropriations bill.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Secret spending, FEMA waste, broker borders, your representatives promised to do better.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, they lied to the American public. It was a game.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: But it's no game to us. We're keeping them honest. A special hour dedicated to asking the tough questions and getting your money's worth, coming up on 360.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: The shot of the day coming up. The big attraction at one zoo. We'll bet you'll be saying - let's see if I can pull this off - awww.
First, though, Erica Hill from Headline News joins us with a 360 bulletin starting with news from the war.
ERICA HILL, CNN HEADLINE NEWS ANCHOR: John, a U.S. Air Force F- 16 has crashed in Iraq near Baghdad. The pilot was killed. He was the only person aboard that jet. The U.S. military says the accident is under investigation.
Aboard the International Space Station, a repair job. Four out of six Russian computers are running again four days after they crashed. Those computers control orientation, lighting and oxygen levels. The solution, bypass a solar power supply with a jumper cable. Meantime, in a space walk outside the station, a NASA astronaut repaired a peeled back portion of the thermal blanket on the Space Shuttle Atlantis. It had come undone during liftoff a week ago. Back here on earth, on Wall Street, stocks rallying, the Dow gaining 85 points to close at 13,639. The NASDAQ added 27 to end with a new six-year high of 2,626. The S&P up nine.
And in L.A. David Hasselhoff says he has gained full custody of his two teenage daughters. The actress has been in a long running custody battle with his wife. Back in May, you might remember this video from "Extra" of Hasselhoff drunk. When that surfaced, a judge cut off his visitation rights. They were later restored. Hasselhoff says he was humbled by the support he received after that video was released, John.
KING: And following that one as much as Paris Hilton.
HILL: Almost.
KING: Almost. Now, Erica, stay there. Before you start your weekend, our shot of the day caught on video in a chilly environment but guarantied to warm your heart. There is a Boston accent for you. Look at this. It comes to us from the Tokyo Aquarium. Look at that, isn't that beautiful?
HILL: Oh, I didn't realize there was a little baby there.
KING: That is a mother Russian sea otter out for a swim with her two-week-old pup. Obviously just along for the ride. Wednesday was the pup's public debut, a thrill for otter spotters at the aquarium. The staff there is talking about possible names. A suggestion, Erica?
HILL: I don't know, what do you mean an otter? Otty?
KING: Tough, because its sex has not been confirmed yet. So it's tough to come up with a name. While that is being sorted out mom will be giving Junior, safe name for now ...
HILL: There you go.
KING: Lessons in hunting, diving and the all important activity of otter grooming.
HILL: And looking super cute. Though I guess you don't have to try too hard at that when you're an otter.
KING: At that age you can get away with just about anything. Erica, you take care.
HILL: Have a good weekend.
KING: And a reminder, we want you to send us your shot ideas. If you see some amazing video, tell us about it at cnn.com/360 and we'll put some of your best clips on the air.
If you want another look at the shot or the day's headlines, check out the 360 daily podcast. You can watch it at cnn.com/ac360podcast. Or you can get it for free right at the iTunes store. Millions of kids in this country are considered at risk, at risk of being abused or for drug and alcohol addiction. Or run-ins with the law. One Hollywood screenwriter is fighting to change lives one word at a time. Randi Kaye tells us how this woman is giving 360.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Y'all ready to have fun?
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They are ready all right. Fun is in short supply here. Here is a rehab facility for troubled tines. The rap concert, one of the arts programs offered by Create Now.
JILL GURR, FOUNDER, CREATE NOW: I always felt compelled to give back.
KAYE: Jill Gurr founded Create Now 11 years ago. Her day job as a Hollywood script supervisor and screenwriter. But after the L.A. riots in 1992, she wanted to reach out to children in trouble by teaching screen writing at juvenile hall.
GURR: At the end of it, I had these kids that learned how to read and write. I had other youth that wanted to go back to school or go to college.
KAYE: Since then, Gurr has found mentors to teach art, music around writing. One of her success stories, Michael Monroe (ph), a child of former crack addicts.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can I get an amen.
KAYE: If this rapper sometimes sounds like a preacher, that's because he says Gurr was the answer to his prayers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would probably be in jail if it wasn't for Create Now.
KAYE: Now Monroe, too, is a mentor to kids. He shares his expertise at a mini recording studio courtesy of Create Now.
GURR: Create now doesn't get the kids off of drugs or get them out of trouble, necessarily. What we do is we plant seeds to help them to sprout into productive citizens in their community.
KAYE: In other words, Gurr and Create Now give kids hope, hope and help and sometimes a little harmony.
(MUSIC)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: For more information on Jill Gurr's organization, visit www.createnow.org. Up next on 360, meltdown in the Middle East. Terrorists take over in Gaza. Will U.S. troops go in to keep the peace? Also ahead, a 360 special, keeping them honest. We'll give you the truth about how your tax dollars are being spent. That's up next.
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KING: You're watching the only live newscast on cable right now. In just a few moments, Anderson's got a 360 "Keeping Them Honest" special report. He'll be looking at your money,
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