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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Democrats Abandoning Transparency on Health Care Reform Bill?; Tiger Woods Announces Return to Golf
Aired March 16, 2010 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight, whatever you think of the health reform bill, are desperate Democrats abandoning transparency to pass it? Are they trying to avoid accountability? Republicans say yes. And to point -- and they point to a possible maneuver the Democrats may use. We are "Keeping Them Honest" tonight.
Also ahead, Tiger Woods coming back, and, in a word, it's major, one of the biggest tournaments for a man who has still got big, big problems. Tonight: You have heard a lot about sex addiction, but is it for real, and what does the treatment actually entail? We will talk with a man who has gone through inpatient treatment twice.
Plus, "Crime & Punishment": new details about bachelor number, the "Dating Game" killer, already on death row, a convicted serial killer. But police found about 100 photos he took over the years in a storage locker. They asked for your help in figuring out who the women were. And now four missing women may have been identified.
First up, though, "Keeping Them Honest" -- tonight, the Democrats, five more of them in the House today saying they plan to vote against the Senate health bill. Now, that means opponents are only 11 votes shy, just 11, from defeating in its entirety the defining item on the president's agenda.
For weeks now, President Obama has been saying, we need to know where congresspeople stand on health care, right? And he has been calling for a simple up-or-down vote. You either support it, or you don't.
But, today, we got word that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is considering a vote that is anything but simple. In fact, it's a way of voting for or against something without actually voting for or against it. So, why would they do this?
Well, Ed Henry tonight is "Keeping Them Honest."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Hello, Ohio!
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In his final push for health reform in state after state, the president has been hammering the same point over and over. There was Pennsylvania.
OBAMA: The United States Congress owes the American people a final up-or-down vote on health care.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: We need to see where people stand.
HENRY: Missouri.
OBAMA: Congress owes the American people a final up-or-down vote on health care reform.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: The time for talk is over. It's time to vote.
HENRY: And then Ohio.
OBAMA: So, look, Ohio, that -- that's the proposal. And I believe Congress owes the American people a final up-or-down vote.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
HENRY: Except now, with victory in doubt, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi may do the opposite. She's considering a plan to shield nervous Democrats from casting a direct vote on the president's plan.
Instead, she may use a maneuver known as "deeming," where the House passes a rule to approve fixes to the Senate health bill, and deems the underlying Senate bill has already become law, without House members actually having to vote on it. What Republicans call trickery caught fire today.
(on camera): Why are you not being clearer with the American people about what you want the House to do?
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Ed, we're being clear. We're being clear with the people -- with the people of the United States and with Congress that there's going to be a vote this week and you're going to know how people are -- where they stand on health care.
HENRY: But it may not be a vote on the actual legislation.
GIBBS: Again, this, I think, is a legislative process game that people play. Again...
HENRY (voice-over): White House spokesman Robert Gibbs suggested the procedural move will be an up-or-down vote. But, if that is true, Speaker Pelosi did not get the message. On Monday, she contradicted Gibbs.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: The vote is on the reconciliation bill. Upon its passage, the Senate bill is deemed passed. It's more insider and process-oriented than most people want to know. But -- but I like it because no -- we don't have to vote on the Senate bill.
SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R), TEXAS: And I guess what I would call it, is Nancy Pelosi is trying to come up with an immaculate conception.
HENRY: In fact, Republicans have previously used the maneuver to pass controversial legislation like immigration reform. But it could be more toxic this time, coming after the president's health care push has been dominated by allegations of shady deals.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: So, Ed, how much of what -- the Republicans' outrage is genuine outrage, and how much is just, you know, pure politics?
HENRY: Well, Anderson, in these kind of situations, I have found it's never quite black and white. I mean, we have to acknowledge that there are many Republicans who want to vote against this bill on principle. They believe there have been a lot of unsavory compromises, deal-making. You've heard about the Cornhusker kickback, Louisiana purchase.
Fairly or unfairly, that has stuck to this process and has really hurt Democrats. On the other hand, when you talk to Republicans privately, they acknowledge they are scoring political points here. They're piling on because of some of these unsavory deals.
And, in fact, a short time ago, I got off the phone with a top Democrat who advises this White House on health care who said he is nervous that this maneuver, if it does go forward, will just add to all of that. Nevertheless, this top Democrat insisted to me he thinks, this weekend, the president is going to get a deal, because, the way he put it, quite frankly, was, the alternative is disaster, that, basically, the Democrats, the president have invested so much in this, that they have got no other strategy but to get this done.
That's not exactly a positive way to pass a bill, but that might be all they have got, Anderson.
COOPER: All right, Ed, thanks for the "Keeping Them Honest" report.
Senior political analyst David Gergen weighed in about this on the A.C. 360 blog today, painting Democrats' move, if that's what they end up doing, as anything but a profile in courage. He joins us now.
David, why is this so bad?
DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, Anderson, to be fair, it's still an option that Nancy Pelosi is considering. And maybe it was a trial balloon. But I must say, I hope it's a trial balloon that -- that -- that collapses, because it would be -- it would be a very bad idea. It will taint the health care bill.
(CROSSTALK) COOPER: In their defense, Republicans -- Democrats will say, well, look, there are plenty -- Republicans have done this. I think they did this on immigration reform.
GERGEN: It has been done on the past. Reconciliation has been done in the past, but a couple of things, Anderson.
We are talking about the most important piece of social legislation in decades. And to resort to subterfuge on a piece of legislation this big, after all the backroom deals that went into getting the Senate bill done, and then going through the process of reconciliation, and now piling on top -- this on top of it, this -- this -- this form of, you know, dodging -- it's very dodgy, as "The Washington Post" editorialized today -- I think just weighs down the health care bill and gives it -- and will give it an air of illegitimacy in the eyes of millions of Americans who don't like it.
And it's going to be -- continue to be a subject of bitterness. You know, Democrats say process doesn't matter. Process does matter. It -- the deals that were cut in the back room during -- with the -- on the Senate mattered a lot in the election of Scott Brown. It's one of the things that really angered voters.
COOPER: So, when the White House says, well, look, there's going to be a vote on health care reform this week, whether it's done this way or that way, and the process doesn't really matter, you say, not true?
GERGEN: Well, the president has been arguing, as Ed Henry said, let's have an up-or-down vote. Everyone understood that to be a clean up-or-down vote, not as some sort of dirty up-or-down vote, where people actually are not voting.
And to go to Ed Henry's point again, what is not being voted on is the fundamental, basic, underlying legislation. They're just going to vote on the amendments. So, somebody could go home and say, I can't believe you allowed that to happen on abortion. You voted for Stupak and you allowed this in the Senate bill.
"Oh, I didn't vote for that. I just voted for the rule. I didn't vote for that. I'm not" -- that's the kind of lack of accountability.
COOPER: No fingerprints.
GERGEN: No fingerprints. That's a good way to put it.
And, clearly, they wouldn't be doing this if they had the votes. So, they have still got to scramble. But I think, when the president called for courage, what he meant was -- at least what I thought we all thought he meant yesterday was the courage to stand up for what you think is right. And people ought to vote for this, up or down, on -- based on what they think is right.
COOPER: Do you think they are -- bottom line, do you think they're going to have the votes to be able to pass this? GERGEN: It looked all week as if they would have. They have been talked -- they have had this momentum game they have been talking. And it looked like they had slight favorability to do that.
But I have to tell you now, given the last 24 hours, for the first time, I think it's in much more serious doubt.
COOPER: All right, David Gergen, appreciate it. David, thanks.
GERGEN: Thank you.
COOPER: Let us know what you think. Join the live chat right now at AC360.com.
Up next: why professional golf is celebrating. We will tell you when and where Tiger Woods is starting his comeback. But we're also going to talk about sexual addiction. We hear an awful lot about it. It's a term that is around a lot, but is it for real? And what is the treatment that people actually receive when they go to rehab? We will talk about that.
Later: some shocking photos from a "Dating Game" killer's picture book. They were discovered in a storage facility he had. These are some of them. The question is, do they point the way to more of his victims? New information that four missing women's families recognized their loved ones in some of these photos.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: "Up Close" tonight: Tiger Woods announcing he is coming back to golf in the first major tournament of the year, the Masters.
Now, it's where he won four times, as you probably know, and where he is least likely to be heckled or hassled or otherwise bothered by what happened last Thanksgiving, when he wrecked his truck, his marriage, and a big chunk of his promotional value.
We have all seen the cavalcade of porn starlets, reality show rejects, and cocktail waitresses who claim they had a relationship with Woods. he has been receiving counseling. And the question has been raised if he has some sort of sexual addiction. You hear a lot about that term, sex addiction, but what is it really? And what's the treatment?
We are going to talk with someone who has been through it.
But, first, Gary Tuchman on professional golf's Tiger addiction.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tiger Woods last month:
TIGER WOODS, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: I was wrong. I was foolish. I don't get to play by different rules. The same boundaries that apply to everyone apply to me. I brought this shame on myself. TUCHMAN: And then he added this:
WOODS: I do plan to return to golf day. I just don't know when that day will be.
TUCHMAN: And now we know when that day will be. It will be the day next month when golfers come to Georgia trying to win a Green Jacket, Tiger Woods saying: "The Masters is where I won my first major. And I view this tournament with great respect. After a long and necessary time away from the game, I feel like I'm ready to start my season at Augusta."
He is ready for golf, but is golf ready for him?
KURT BADENHAUSEN, SENIOR EDITOR, "FORBES": I think golf needs Tiger Woods a lot more than Tiger Woods needs golf.
TUCHMAN: Kurt Badenhausen, senior editor of "Forbes" magazine, has closely followed the Woods saga that began with the mysterious, bizarre car accident near his house, and culminated with Woods apologizing about a multitude of extramarital affairs.
BADENHAUSEN: I don't think Tiger needs to earn another penny for the rest of his life, but the PGA Tour desperately needs Tiger Woods back on the course. Television ratings can as much as double when Tiger Woods is playing. And, right now, the PGA Tour is hurting in terms of sponsorship deals.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, NIKE AD)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm Tiger Woods.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TUCHMAN: Some of Tiger Woods' sponsors have stuck with him, like Nike.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, AD)
WOODS: The only day that matters is today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TUCHMAN: Others have kept their distance, but maintained their contracts, like Gillette.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, AD)
NARRATOR: Be a Tiger.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TUCHMAN: And others said adios, like Accenture
So, what's his future with those companies and others? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If it's a family-oriented brand, a brand that is going after, you know, a certain type of family, good-guy image, you know, I would definitely stay away from Tiger Woods at this point. If it's a brand that might be looking to make a splash benefit from the P.R. associated with getting behind Woods, then I would definitely look at that brand and say, you know what, this is a good time to get behind Woods.
CROWD: Tiger! Tiger!
TUCHMAN: It was back in 1997 I met Woods for the first time. He had just won the Masters eight months after turning pro. A huge crowd turned on the Atlantic City boardwalk to see him participate in, what else, a sponsorship deal for a restaurant. I asked him about his future.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, 1997)
TUCHMAN: How can you top this?
WOODS: I can always play better. Golf is one of those sports where you can always get better.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TUCHMAN: His fans believed him, and he has lived up to his professional promise. Now he's making other promises.
"I have undergone almost two months of inpatient therapy, and I am continuing my treatment. Although I am returning to competition, I still have a lot of work to do in my personal life" -- a statement from a man whose personal life was certainly not par for the course.
Gary Tuchman, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, Tiger Woods never said he is a sex addict, but he did seek inpatient treatment, as he said. So, tonight, we want to look at sex addiction. We will talk about how it's different for stars and what they have in common with everyone who comes to deal with that addiction.
We will talk to one man who has been through sex addiction rehab.
Later, "Crime & Punishment" and the pope -- the sex abuse case that happened on his watch and the aftershocks rattling the pontiff today, people now casting serious doubt on a report that says the pope is not to blame.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Before the break, we told you about Tiger Woods' big announcement. He is returning to professional golf, and he is making his comeback at the game's most prestigious tournament, the Masters. His announcement comes less than a month after that very public apology and admission that he was seeking treatment. Woods is certainly not the first celebrity to check himself into sex rehab. David Duchovny entered a treatment center in Arizona in August of 2008, just before the new season of his TV series "Californication."
Russell Brand, the comedian, admits in his autobiography that, on April Fools' Day in 2005, he woke up in a sexual addiction treatment center in a suburb of Philadelphia. And, in 2005, Eric Benet told "People" magazine that he checked into a 35-day sex addict rehab program to save his marriage with Halle Berry.
But is sex addiction for real, and what does treatment actually entail?
Let's dig deeper now with Benoit Denizet-Lewis, author of "America Anonymous: Eight Addicts in Search of a Life," which follows eight different kinds of addicts and also chronicles his own sexual addiction.
Benoit, there are certainly a lot of folks who probably don't believe sex addiction is real. It's not in the "DSM-IV," which is like the bible for mental health professionals. But plenty of therapists do say it's for real. In your life, what made you feel, not only this was a huge problem, but this was an addiction for you?
BENOIT DENIZET-LEWIS, AUTHOR, "AMERICA ANONYMOUS: EIGHT ADDICTS IN SEARCH OF A LIFE": Yes, I mean, that's important to realize, that, you know, sex addiction is not about, oh, I think about sex a little too much, or I make silly decisions when it comes to sex.
I think most people can relate to doing that at some point in their life. Sex addiction, like drug addiction, like alcoholism, like gambling addiction, is when that behavior or substance takes over your life. Your life becomes really depressing. It starts to affect your job. It starts to affect your relationships. It starts to affect your friendships.
So, for me, I really got to the point when, you know, it was clear to me that I had lost the ability to make sound decisions sexually. I -- I didn't have that problem with alcohol. I didn't have it with drugs. I can have a glass of wine. I really -- I don't really understand alcoholics, why they can't have just one glass of wine.
So, for me, it was -- my life really became very small and very depressing. And this is something that, you know, people become suicidal over this. It's really easy to make fun of.
COOPER: And it destroys relationships.
DENIZET-LEWIS: It absolutely destroys relationships. It certainly destroys marriages.
Now, having an affair does not make one a sex addict. I mean, most people who have affairs are not sex addicts, OK? A sex addiction is really sort of taking it to the next level, when you are actually not able to control your sexual behavior anymore.
COOPER: And we don't know what Tiger Woods' deal is. He hasn't really talked about it publicly. And there are certainly a ton of people, women who have come forward, but how real any of them are, I have no -- no evidence way or the other.
In terms of the treatment for you and for other addicts, what -- I mean, how do you treat this? It doesn't seem like something that would be easily solved just by not drinking and having the willpower to not drink.
DENIZET-LEWIS: Yes, it's -- it's -- it's really a difficult one.
I mean, for those who can afford it, there's, you know, a handful of very respected inpatient treatments in this country, where you can go and sort of start doing the deep work. A lot of people can't afford that. There's a lot of 12-step meetings. There's therapy.
It's really like drugs and alcohol or gambling. The difference with sex addiction -- and this -- some people don't quite get this -- the goal is not lifelong abstinence. Without alcohol and drugs, you simply don't touch that substance again.
With sex addiction, you are really actually trying to relearn how to have sex in a way that is sort of sane for you and that is actually fun, because sex addiction, it ends up not being very fun. That's another misconception, this idea that you are out there having all this kinds of sex -- all this sex and it's really a lot of fun.
It's actually really isolating and really depressing for a lot of people.
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: Because it's never -- why? Because it's never enough?
DENIZET-LEWIS: It's never enough. And it's not really about the person.
The person is a drug. OK? And, so, that's actually not fun after a while. It's also not fun when you -- as a lot of sex addicts experience, you have to go to work at 8:00 a.m. in the morning. You say, I'm going to go -- go online, look at pornography for a half-an- hour. You are still doing it six hours later.
And you wonder, you know, I have all this willpower in other areas of my life. Why can't I -- why can't I stop this?
It's really a very confusing problem to have.
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: I think it's an important point that there's a difference between someone who just has extramarital affairs. And, again, we don't know which category Tiger Woods is in. Do you think some people, some celebrities or people who get caught having an affair use this as cover, I mean, who say, well, I'm going to go to rehab because this is an addiction?
(CROSSTALK)
DENIZET-LEWIS: I think what we have to understand is, you mentioned a few of the names in the opening about people who have sort of admitted to this.
Realize this. Very few people have admitted to this addiction. Most celebrities who go to treatment or who get caught in some scandal and who are -- you know, who go to rehab say they are going for drugs and alcohol, when, in fact, many of them are actually going for sex addiction.
So, this idea -- there is sort of idea that this is sort of the excuse, an easy excuse. Well, sex addiction is still incredibly stigmatized. I mean, we joke about it. We dismiss it. So, this is sort of not the first excuse that most people come up with.
It certainly wasn't for me. I mean, I made a lot of excuses in my life for why I was doing the things I did. Finally, for me, going to treatment and starting recovery was actually a way to take responsibility.
And I hope -- I don't know what it will be for Tiger. I hope it is for him as well.
COOPER: And you have been through inpatient treatment twice.
DENIZET-LEWIS: Unfortunately, yes.
COOPER: Do you feel like -- do you feel like you have a handle on the issue now, or is this a lifelong thing you deal with?
DENIZET-LEWIS: This is a lifelong thing, just like with drug addicts and alcoholics. There people who say, you know: I am recovered. I -- it's not a problem anymore.
Most people will continue to work on this, continue to go to meetings, because this is a really tricky addiction. And you mentioned this about the "DSM," you know, and it's not in the "DSM." They are proposing to call it hypersexuality, which is actually a step forward. And it's sort of a funny word, hypersexuality.
But it's a way to call it sex addiction without really calling it sex addiction.
COOPER: Mm-hmm.
DENIZET-LEWIS: And the problem is, is, we have started to look at the brains of sex addicts. We have made great progress with alcohol and drugs. We have actually made great progress with compulsive overeating and food addiction. We are just starting now to look at the brains of sex addicts. And what we're finding is fascinating. The same pleasure centers in the brain are being affected.
COOPER: Yes.
DENIZET-LEWIS: So, there's a lot more to learn, and this will eventually be in the "DSM."
COOPER: Benoit Denizet-Lewis, it's always good to have you on.
The book is "America Anonymous: Eight Addicts in Search of a Life." It's a really excellent read. If anyone out there has not read it yet, I recommend it.
Benoit, thanks so much. Appreciate it.
DENIZET-LEWIS: Thanks, Anderson.
COOPER: We're going to have more on Tiger...
DENIZET-LEWIS: Yes. I appreciate it. Thank you.
COOPER: We're going to have more on Tiger Woods and his problems and how he's dealing with them, including a look at his religion, Buddhism. If you're interested, you can go for that to AC360.com.
Still ahead, though, tonight in this hour: new developments in the case of the "Dating Game" killer. This guy is so creepy. He is the former game show contestant convicted of killing four women and a 12-year-old girl back in the 70s. The question is, is he responsible for more murders? Clues may be in more than 100 photos found in his storage facility. Police are looking at them. They want you to see the pictures. We will show them to you ahead.
And the pope under pressure -- what did he know about sex abuse that happened when he was an archbishop in Germany? When did he know it, and why isn't he talking? "Crime & Punishment" and the Catholic -- coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: A few weeks ago, we brought you a "Keeping Them Honest" report about a controversial combat zone military policy that forced our troops to release suspected insurgents after 96 hours if they didn't have a large amount of evidence. Critics say it puts U.S. lives at risk.
Our great investigative unit first brought up this story.
Special Investigations Unit -- excuse me -- Special Investigations Unit correspondent Abbie Boudreau joins us tonight with a "360 Follow."
This was known as the 96-hour rule, Abbie.
ABBIE BOUDREAU, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT: Right, Anderson.
The old 96-hour rule meant troops had four days to either turn suspects over to Afghan officials or to release them. But many soldiers and former commanders tell us the policy made no sense and that it wasn't working.
In fact, we were told it was putting soldiers' lives in danger, because, many times, 96 hours just wasn't enough time for them to do their job and to collect enough evidence to keep suspects locked up.
Even Senator Lindsey Graham, who was recently in Afghanistan, says he saw firsthand how the old rule was failing soldiers and how dangerous suspects were being released because of the 96-hour time constraint.
Today, on Capitol Hill, Senator Graham questioned General David Petraeus about the policy and whether it was going to be changed. General Petraeus then announced the new rule, which would give soldiers up to two weeks, or more in some cases, to detain suspects in Afghanistan.
We are told all U.S. troops will follow the new 14-day rule. Anderson, a Pentagon spokesman says he does not anticipate most suspects being held for the full 14 days. He says the new rule will also help secure information from high-value targets which are the biggest threat to U.S. troops -- Anderson.
COOPER: Abbie, thanks for the original reporting and the update. Thanks.
We're following several other big stories tonight. Candy Crowley has a "360 News and Business Bulletin" -- Candy.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN ANCHOR: Anderson, Attorney General Eric Holder says Osama bin Laden will never face trial in the United States. Holder made the comments during tense exchanges with Republican members of a House appropriations subcommittee during a hearing today. They are viewing it as too dangerous to put suspects on trial in civilian courts.
Holder rejected the argument. His reason? Bin Laden will not be captured alive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERIC HOLDER, ATTORNEY GENERAL: You're talking about a hypothetical that would never occur. The reality is that we will be reading Miranda rights to the corpse of Osama bin Laden. He will never appear in an American courtroom.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But it is...
HOLDER: That's the reality. That's the reality.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CROWLEY: The Federal Reserve is sticking with its pledge to hold rates at record lows for an extended period to foster the economic recovery. It left its key interest rate near 0 percent today.
And new proof that we are born to dance. Researchers at the University of York in England found that dancing comes naturally to infants, and babies find music more engaging than speech. That reminds us of our favorite dancing baby. New Zealand toddler Corey Elliott with "Single Ladies" became an Internet sensation when his parents posted it on YouTube.
COOPER: Aww. I love that dancing baby.
CROWLEY: Do we really need, like, a study to tell us that babies would rather listen to music than people talk?
COOPER: Sadly, I don't think I was born with that dancing gene. I think I'm the exception.
CROWLEY: I'll tell you what: at the end of the show, why don't you -- why don't you show us?
COOPER: Yes, that's going to happen. I think I should have my genome, you know, thing so that they can isolate the gene which I'm missing for -- the dancing gene.
Candy, thanks.
Coming up next, our "Beat 360" winners, our daily challenge to viewers, a chance to show up our staffers by coming up with a better caption for the photo that we put on the blog every day.
So tonight's photo is White House and budget director Peter Orszag and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner for the House Appropriations Committee hearing.
Our staff winner tonight is Gary. His caption: "The White House budget director prepares to open a cleverly-disguised copy of 'Playboy' magazine."
Does look like he's drooling a little bit.
Viewer winner is Mary from Farmington Hills, Michigan. Her caption: "Budget Director Orszag sits down, ready for the tongue lashing."
Mary, your "Beat 360" T-shirt is on the way. Congratulations.
Coming up, heart disease and men. This is a fascinating new study that flags early warning signs that some men are actually twice as likely to die of heart attacks or cardiovascular diseases as others. And we're going to -- we're going to tell you what the early warning sign is. It's going to shock you.
And the Vatican, sex abuse. What did the pope know and when did he know it? As cardinal, he was in charge of investigating abuse allegations, but now there are questions about whether he was really doing his job. We're "Keeping Them Honest."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Tonight, the deepening sexual abuse scandal that has shaken the Catholic Church continues to be met with silence from Pope Benedict XVI. There's mounting pressure on the pope to publicly comment on what is clearly becoming a crisis for the Vatican. But will he? Should he?
Dozens of people said they were molested by German priests at a time when the pope search served as archbishop. And at the center of the scandal is one priest convicted of sexual abuse, but only this week was he suspended from the church. Senior Vatican analyst, John Allen, said the pope's moral authority is being called into question. We'll talk with John Allen in a moment, but first Nic Robertson with tonight's "Crime & Punishment" report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The questions at the center of the crisis are what did Pope Benedict know and when did he know about it? And what did he do about it?
COLM O'GORMAN, VICTIMS RIGHTS ACTIVIST: So what we're seeing is a global phenomenon in a global church, a global system at work with the Vatican at the center.
ROBERTSON: They are questions that began two decades ago when the pope was known as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. For 23 years, he was the Vatican's chief investigator into allegations of abuse by a priest.
O'GORMAN: In 2001, he wrote to every bishop in the world, telling them in the letter that every case of a priest who abused a child was to be referred to his department at the Vatican.
ROBERTSON: Vatican officials are defending the pope, praising his investigative work after he took control of abuse cases.
(on camera) According to one of the Vatican's top prosecutor, who's also a priest, Cardinal Ratzinger showed great wisdom and firmness in dealing with these cases. And he said he showed great courage dealing with the most difficult and phoniest of them. And therefore, he said to accuse the pope of a cover up is false.
(voice-over) But the pressure just keeps mounting. Newly- released details of abuse in coffee are raising questions about the pontiff's judgment even before he came to Rome, overseeing cases of abuse.
(on camera) In 1980 when the pope was still a bishop in Germany, he oversaw the case of a priest involved in child abuse. The pope moved the priest from one diocese to another, his own, so that the priest could get therapy. Several years later, the priest was convicted of child abuse.
The pope's critics say he should pay more attention at the time and taken child abuse more seriously.
(voice-over) In Germany over the past few months, several hundred allegations of abuse have been made. New cases are surfacing in Holland, Spain, Switzerland and Brazil, but nowhere is the pressure on the pope and the church greater than in Ireland.
Pressure is growing on the leader of the Irish church, Cardinal Sean Brady, to step down following revelations he knew of abuse in the 1970s. He kept it from police and had the victims sign an oath of secrecy. The priest involved, Father Brendan Smith, the Irish church's most prolific pedophile, continued to abuse children for another two decades.
(on camera) Cardinal Brady says he'll only resign if the pope tells him. Officials here at the Vatican have responded, saying that, in the coming days, the pope will send a letter to the Irish people.
Nic Robertson, CNN, Vatican City.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Growing scandal and not a sound -- not a sound from the pope so far. What's going to happen next? We'll talk to John Alan, CNN senior Vatican analyst and Vatican correspondent for the "National Catholic Reporter." He's also the author of the books, "The Rise of Benedict VXI" and the upcoming, "The Future Church." John Allen joins us now.
John, how integral was this pope to hushing this up? This case in Germany.
JOHN ALLEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what church officials in Munich have said is that, while then-Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict, was aware that this guy, this priest, Father Hullermann, was sent into the archdiocese of Munich for therapy in 1980, he was not aware of a subsequent decision made by someone lower down the food chain to give him a parish in Munich where, as Nic's piece said, he apparently went on to abuse others and was criminally convicted for it in 1986.
So the argument is that, while it happened on the pope's watch, it happened without his direct personal knowledge.
COOPER: But how can, I mean, a guy, this Father Hullermann, who served -- you know, served a sentence and who molested kids, only have resigned three days ago? I mean, it's incredible this guy...
ALLEN: That is mind-boggling -- that is mind-boggling, Anderson. The fact that this guy was convicted of sexual abuse in 1986. He served the sentence of probation, paid a fine, and yet apparently, continued to work in a series of parishes in southern Germany for the next quarter century.
COOPER: And the church did...
ALLEN: He was only removed after this came to light in the press.
But I think the important thing to stress in terms of the pope's personal rule is that all happened after the pope had left Germany and come to Rome to work in the Vatican.
COOPER: But he was in charge of the body which oversaw all these -- these charges. And I mean, there is clearly a track record of the church hushing these things up and moving priests from parish to parish without informing the parish, "Oh, by the way, we're sending you a pedophile priest."
ALLEN: No question. There was that pattern. Now, it should be said in the defense of the church, as it does, that that was certainly no longer its practice today. That is today, if a Catholic priest abuses someone, that guy is going to be yanked out of ministry, probably kicked out of the priesthood and also turned over to the cops. But obviously, that was not the pattern in years past.
One small point about the pope's role in the Vatican. His office only got the responsibility for the sex abuse mess in 2001. So from 1982 to 2001 then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger really had no direct personal oversight with the sex abuse cases of any kind.
COOPER: It seems like what is happening in Europe right now, in Germany and Ireland and other places, is basically, they're kind of waking up to what the U.S. Catholic archdiocese woke up to years ago. I mean, there was a sense earlier on that all this stuff was just happening in the United States, and now it's clear this has been happening around the world.
ALLEN: No. It's obviously a global problem. You're right. At the beginning of the eruption in the states in 2002, there was a tendency in some places, including I have to say in the Vatican to sort of write it off as -- as those nutty Americans going off the deep end.
But I think it is abundantly clear now that this is truly a global thing. And if there is a corner of the Catholic world that has not yet experienced it, they need to be aware that their time has probably come.
COOPER: What's going to happen to this pope? I mean, is it possible he could step down on this? Is it possible -- I mean, is there that much pressure?
ALLEN: Well, Anderson, I think the prospect of the pope resigning is probably up there with the prospect of us colliding with another planet. I mean, I think it's radically unlikely.
But I think the deeper problem, really, is that this calls into question the pope's -- the pope's ability, in some ways, to lead the church out of this mess. Because what we need to understand is that the sex abuse crisis is really too interlocked with distinct problems. It's the problem of priests who abuse and the problem of bishops who fail to clean it up. And on that second problem, I think some people may ask, particularly if this doesn't turn out to be an isolated case, if there were other guys who were moved around on the pope's watch, then people may ask the question, can the pope credibly call bishops to task if he had exactly the same problem when he himself was a diocesan bishop?
COOPER: And -- and did not call the police, which again, is just a whole other layer that is stunning to this.
John Allen, appreciate you being with us. Thanks, John.
ALLEN: You bet, Anderson.
COOPER: Coming up next on 360, four missing women and a serial killer. He was a contestant on "The Dating Game." Now police think he may have murdered more women, women who posed for him in photographs. They found about 100 photographs. We're going to have the latest development ahead.
And later, watch your -- what your driving instructor shouldn't have to teach you. What was that guy thinking? We've got the story and the video, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: In "Crime & Punishment" tonight, new developments in a really disturbing story about a serial killer who's a winning bachelor on "The Dating Game," if you can believe it. The latest news concerns the pictures the serial killer kept. Stephanie Elam covered this story for us last week. Here's part of her report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They look like innocent snapshots, but they've become haunting, unnerving. We don't know what happened to these women and girls, even whether they are dead or alive. Authorities in California suspect they are photographs taken by Rodney Alcala...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please welcome Rodney Alcala.
ELAM: ... a serial killer who once appeared as a winning bachelor on "The Dating Game"...
RODNEY ALCALA, CONVICTED SERIAL KILLER: We're going to have a great time together, Cheryl.
ELAM: ... but who last month was convicted of murdering four women and a 12-year-old girl. A jury recommended the death sentence for his crimes.
The Orange County district attorney and the Huntington Beach Police Department released the pictures to the public this week. They were found in a storage locker used by Alcala.
In a statement, the prosecutor said, "We balanced the privacy concerns of those depicted in the decision to release these pictures. Although we hope that the people depicted are not victims, we believe the release may help solve some cold cases and bring closure to victims' families."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, the tips continue to stream in. Just today, authorities in California said that family and friends of four women in the photographs released last week have been missing for decades. The D.A. says the identities of the women are being not made public. And tonight a spokesperson for the D.A. told us that it is likely that Alcala killed more than five people and that some of his victims may have been in these photographs.
With me now is legal analyst Lisa Bloom.
Even if they continue to link women in the photos to missing women, I mean, there's no other step for them to really solve these cases, unless this guy talks. Right?
LISA BLOOM, That's probably right, Anderson. In a 30-year-old case, they're going to need some kind of forensic evidence, some hairs, fibers, DNA linking the victims to him. Even if their photos are found in his locker, it's not enough to convict. And I would say, even in he confesses to the killings of any of these young women, 30 years ago, it's just not going to be enough without some hard evidence.
COOPER: Would they make a deal with him that, you know, take him off Death Row if he admits to other crimes?
BLOOM: That's always the possibility, and he has just received the death penalty. The problem, though, Anderson, is that here in California, although we are a death penalty state, the death penalty is almost never applied. You know, there's over 600 people on Death Row. We execute less than one prisoner per year. You're more likely to die of natural causes, believe it or not, on Death Row here in California than of execution.
So it's not much of a bargaining chip to work with. If Alcala doesn't know that, his attorney certainly does know that.
COOPER: And the photographs weren't the only thing they found in his storage locker. They also found earrings which belonged to a 12- year-old girl who Alcala killed. I guess it's common for serial killers to keep some sort of trophies of their victims.
BLOOM: It is. They're called trophy killers, and sometimes they get sexually excited by taking out the photos, the trophies, the earrings, undergarments, something like that that they keep in a locker, as apparently this guy did for all of these years.
You know, he's been in custody since 1979. I'm not clear why the photos are just now being released.
But the police had a tough decision to make. Did they want to rattle, potentially, victims' family members who had had somebody missing for over 30 years, or do they want to try to solve a cold case? I think they made the right call, because victims suffered the worst tragedy when their family member went missing 30 years ago. I think it's going to be less traumatic now, even if they see a photo, as horrifying as it is, found in this man's locker.
At least they get closure. At least they get some connection. Perhaps law enforcement can prevail upon him to talk.
COOPER: Yes. It adds a whole other level of freakiness to "The Dating Game," which you know, has always been pretty freaky, but now you kind of look at it with whole different eyes, especially these videos that we're seeing right now.
It was unorthodox, though, for the Huntington Beach Police Department to release these photos.
BLOOM: It was. And I think they made the right call. Look, I mean, their priority has to be to solve unsolved crimes. And this man has already been convicted of killing five people, four women and one girl. It's not impossible to believe that he could have killed many others.
Where did these photographs come from? You know, they're so eerie to look at them. Some of them are magazine quality. They're beautiful photographs like the one we're looking at right now. I mean, did he just take them innocently of people that he connected with in some way that did no harm to, or is there something more sinister to these photos? That's what the police want to find out, and that's why we're showing these photos, in hopes that people will come forward and give us an explanation, give us more information.
COOPER: Yes, so sad. Lisa Bloom, appreciate it. Thanks, Lisa.
BLOOM: Thank you.
COOPER: Coming up next, we have some new research on men and heart health. A study out just today that says some men are twice as likely to die of cardiovascular disease or heart attacks as others. We're going to tell you what the biggest warning sign is.
And $75 million of prescription drugs stolen from a warehouse. The big sophisticated robbery as police baffled. We have details ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: All right. Let's get a look at some of the other stories we're following. Candy Crowley has again a "360 Bulletin" -- Candy.
CROWLEY: Anderson, local police and the feds are investigating a massive drug heist in Connecticut. It happened during that big East Coast rain storm early Sunday morning. Police say a band of thieves broke into Eli Lilly and Company's warehouse and made off with roughly $75 million of prescription drugs. A company spokesman speculated the suspect will probably try to sell the drugs on the black market.
A new study finds a connection between erectile dysfunction and heart disease. Researchers found men who suffer from impotence are twice as likely to succumb to cardiovascular disease or heart attacks as those who are not impotent. The study is in "The Journal of Circulation."
An eye-popping record deal. Dozens of Michael Jackson songs never heard by fans will be released in ten new albums over the next seven years. The deal could bring in $250 million to the late singer's estate.
And Anderson, we want to just take a look at this for a second.
COOPER: Yikes! Wow.
CROWLEY: Not -- not your typical crash. Local TV cameras were rolling when a Tennessee man drove right into a rock slide.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you all right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I did not even see it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: He didn't see it?
CROWLEY: He didn't see it.
COOPER: Wow.
CROWLEY: Yes, exactly. Exactly. So anyway, it was in Knoxville on Highway 129. So people might want to, like, avoid that particular place.
COOPER: Yes. Or that particular driver. Either of those two. Or that car would be fine.
So Candy, for tonight's "Shot," I also love that a spokesperson had to point out that whoever stole those $75 million worth of drugs...
CROWLEY: Right.
COOPER: ... was probably going to sell them. As opposed to, what, use them themselves?
CROWLEY: It's so funny how you want to stop in the middle of a newscast and go, "What else would they be doing with these?" But I didn't, you'll notice.
COOPER: Yes. You showed great restraint. All right. For tonight's "Shot," something that I don't know if, Candy, if you've seen your version. I have not seen mine, and I'm a little scared to. A trip back in time.
To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, a new exhibit on human origins is opening, featuring a facial morphing station to see what folks might have looked like millions of years ago. It was designed by the production firm Chedd-Angier-Lewis.
They gave us an idea of how I might have appeared as a Neanderthal. I've often been called a Neanderthal. Here I am. Watch the werewolf-like transformation. I like that I have the exact same hair.
CROWLEY: It's like "Planet of the Apes."
COOPER: I look like -- sort of like -- can I see myself again? I look like -- like, yes -- I look like a bearded ewok. Actually, it sort of resembles my high school year book picture, except -- you know.
CROWLEY: You had gray hair then, too.
COOPER: Yes, exactly. I look like I'm wearing a gray toupee. Apparently, I would have lived in a tree and, I don't know, been Neanderthal-like. There you go. That's a little Chewbacca, I think.
All right, Candy, I think we also have yours, with your permission, of course. Want to see?
CROWLEY: No. Uh-uh.
COOPER: OK. Well, nevertheless, we shall do it. Ooh, not nice.
CROWLEY: That's so nice. You're looks sort of normal and mine looks like that.
COOPER: Because I'm the anchor. So I think...
CROWLEY: Exactly. Yes, thanks a lot, Anderson. I'll be off tomorrow night.
COOPER: I'm sorry about that. Look, mine didn't look much better. I look like an ewok with a toupee. Candy, thanks for being a good sport.
Coming up at the top of the hour, the final push on health care and loud complaints about the way Democrat lawmakers are -- Democratic lawmakers are doing the pushing. Are they actually trying to hide accountability? Or are the Republicans protesting too much? We're "Keeping Them Honest."
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