Return to Transcripts main page
Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Adopted and Rejected; Supreme Court Vacancy; Path to the Presidency; Phoebe Prince: Bullied to Death?; Back to School in Port- au-Prince
Aired April 09, 2010 - 23:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight, "Keeping Them Honest": an American family returns their 7-year-old adopted Russian son sending him alone on a plane back to Moscow with a note saying "We don't want him anymore". It's created a major international incident with possible repercussions for all adoptions to America out of Russia.
Also, tonight, Sarah Palin stirring up her base saying, what's wrong with being the party of no? Taking shots at President Obama and Newt Gingrich and to some -- sounding an awful lot like a presidential candidate.
Plus "Crime and Punishment" new details about the alleged abuse Phoebe Prince suffered at the hands of school bullies before she hanged herself. New documents also suggest that school officials may have known more about the bullying than we have heard. We'll talk to Dr. Phil on that.
First up, "Keeping Them Honest": a Tennessee grandmother who decided to send her newly adopted Russian grandson back. But rather than returning him like a broken toy in person, she just put him on a plane alone and didn't even tell the Russians he was coming.
Take a look at the photograph. It was taken in Moscow. This is the little boy you see being rushed into a van. He's 7 years old. His name is Justin Hanson. He was adopted by a Tennessee family only about six months ago. But yesterday Justin showed up unannounced in Russia at Russia's Child Protection Ministry with a note from his adopted mom.
This has created an international incident as I said. Russia is now threatening to stop all international adoptions by Americans. And the mom today was questioned by police.
Here's Randi Kaye.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Seven year old Justin Hanson's grandmother says he was excited about his trip back to Moscow. The adopted Russian orphan apparently had no idea he was being returned forever, no longer wanted by his new family. Justin's grandmother Nancy Hanson told CNN she put him on a flight to Moscow this week to save her family. She claimed the boy was violent and psychotic and had a hit list of people he wanted to hurt.
His adoptive mother was number one on the list, she said. He wanted to, quote, "kill her for the house". But instead of calling the adoption agency, which arranged to bring the boy to the U.S., he was packed up and shipped off, returned like an unwanted purchase with no word to authorities in the U.S. or Russia.
SHERIFF RANDALL BOYCE, BEDFORD COUNTY, TENNESSEE: I can't imagine why she wouldn't send back to Washington -- to that adoption agency.
KAYE: Nancy's daughter Tory Hanson adopted Justin last September, but she signed over her parental rights to Nancy, she says, because of the 7-year-old's violent tendencies. But at their home on Monday, April 5th, the boy's grandmother said she found him in his room trying to start papers on fire. She told us she was afraid he was going to burn the house down and kill everyone in it. Two days later, she packed his bags.
(on camera): "Keeping Them Honest", we wondered how someone could just discard a child they'd adopted. Nancy insists she didn't abandon the child. She says she found a lawyer online who advised her Justin was a Russian citizen and the adoption could be reversed, so she says she followed his instructions for how to return the child.
(voice-over): She booked a flight, she says from Washington, D.C. to Moscow and put him on the plane alone.
(on camera): When he arrived at Moscow's airport, Justin was met by a driver Nancy had also found online. Nancy said the driver, who she called Arthur had quote, "safe references". At Nancy's request the driver took Justin to Russia's Child Protection Ministry and that set off an international investigation.
(voice-over): Justin had with him a letter Nancy said she prepared for Russian officials explaining they wanted the adoption rights removed since she said an orphanage doctor told them he's healthy.
PAVEL ASTAKHOV, RUSSIAN OMBUDSMAN (through translator): All the examinations show the boy to be completely healthy, physically and mentally so nobody withheld anything from her. It's a lie. But when I asked how the mother treated him, he burst into tears and said she used to pull his hair.
KAYE: The Russian Ministry is now threatening to cut off all U.S.-Russian adoptions and the State Department is trying to figure out how the child managed to be sent to Russia.
P.J. CROWLEY, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: They are U.S. citizens. They are Russian citizens. We share responsibility to ensure their welfare.
KAYE: Justin turns eight next week, another birthday in an orphanage.
Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: The whole thing is kind of incredible. The U.S. Ambassador to Russia said officials are investigating the circumstances of the boy's return to see if any crimes were committed like child abandonment. He also said he's in close contact with the Russian government that says Justin is being well cared for.
Now, earlier I talked about the case with talk show host and life strategist Dr. Phil McGraw.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Let's start by talking about the way this child was returned to Russia. I mean, it's bizarre to say the least. It doesn't seem like -- I mean I can understand perhaps the desire to return a child who you feel, you know, is dangerous to you or to your family members.
But she basically -- the grandmother basically put this child on an airplane unaccompanied, paid some guy she found off the Internet to drive him to a building in Moscow. Once he got there with a note saying "I'm giving you back."
DR. PHIL MCGRAW, TALK SHOW HOST: To me, listen, you call it what you want, that's just abandonment in my opinion. If you adopt a child, that's your child. That's your responsibility.
And I think as fiduciaries, as parents, we're fiduciaries, we have to put the child's interests above our own. And I'm not saying that there are not children that are adopted that have problems with attachment, that you don't get some children that are subject to mental illness, whether it's an anti-social personality, which we often call sociopath or psychopathic. That is a problem.
But, you know, you don't -- you don't adopt children on a trial basis, and if things aren't going right, you get help. You use the resources. You go to professional psychologists, psychiatrists, counselors. You don't put him on an airplane and send him halfway around the world when they're minors like that. To me that is just blatant abandonment of a child.
COOPER: The grandmother and the mother did not even call Russian authorities to say, "Oh, yes, this child is coming." I mean, literally, this child -- was dropped off at, you know, the Department of Ministry of Education and Child Protective Services, I believe in Moscow, with a note and they had no idea he was on his way.
MCGRAW: Well, you know, there are times that we have to take children out of the home and put them in an institutional setting to protect them from themselves or to protect others from them. But there is a process for that. There is a procedure for that and putting someone on an airplane and sending them halfway around the world with a note pinned to them is not acceptable. And I think that someone is going to have to deal with the fact that this person has abandoned this child. I mean, who knows what can happen to a child that young traveling halfway around the world. Who do you know who you're turning them over to? Somebody you find on the Internet? I think it is outrageous.
COOPER: This boy was apparently raised by his natural mother in Russia until he was five years old. She apparently is an alcoholic, was put into an orphanage. Now, Tory Hanson, the adoptive mom who ultimately gave up the child first to her grandmother, but Tory Hanson apparently says that she asked the Russian orphanage explicitly if the boy had any mental problems and they told her that he's healthy.
Even if she thought she was getting a healthy boy, that still doesn't warrant just giving a child back, not even -- I mean first just giving him up to the grandmother and then the grandmother basically gave him up after she says finding him -- building a fire or about to build a fire in his room.
MCGRAW: Well, you're quite right. You're identifying two levels of problems here, Anderson. One is the way they did it, just to take this child and put him on an airplane and ship him off. That's outrageously negligent in my opinion.
The other issue you're raising is whether or not you have the right as a parent to turn a child over, to return a child if they seem to have mental or emotional disorders. I don't know what kind of screening the -- the orphanage did, and at a very young age, it's sometimes difficult to have a reliable diagnosis about what's going on with a child.
If we know that the mother was alcoholic, then that may certainly indicate that she didn't give the best supervision, maybe, maybe not. What was the child exposed to? What experiences did they have? All of those things you take that on when you adopt that child. You don't just let --
COOPER: So you're saying even if the child did have --
MCGRAW: -- it didn't go well.
COOPER: You're saying even if the child did have some sort of mental disorder, which, by the way, the Russians say he absolutely did not. That he's stubborn and he's flat-footed but that's the only disability, he's flat-footed. You're saying even if he was mentally disabled in some way, that's something that she took on whether she knew it or not and needs to see it through.
MCGRAW: You need to see it through. You've adopted this child. That is your responsibility whatever happens, and you have to be held accountable for what you do with that child.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: It's an incredible story. Dr. Phil is going to be back later to talk about those new details in the bullying of 15-year-old Phoebe Prince. Allegedly she endured the bullying at a Massachusetts High School before she killed herself, hung herself.
You can join the live chat and let us know what you think about these stories at AC360.com.
Still ahead, right up next: Sarah Palin, drawing big crowds at the Southern Republican Conference today taking shots at President Obama, also, at some prominent Republicans. But it sounds like a campaign speech. Could it be one? Well, "Raw Politics" on that ahead.
Plus, Justice John Paul Stevens, leaving the Supreme Court giving President Obama a second appointment to make. Jeffrey Toobin joins us to take a look at who is on the short list.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Tonight in "Raw Politics" the end of era and the possible rise of the Palin era.
Justice John Paul Stevens announced he's going to retire at the end of his term. He served nearly 35 years. He turns 90 this month. This means, of course that President Obama has a major decision to make. The question is who is going to fill Stevens' seat?
Jeffrey Toobin has some ideas on that in a moment.
Also in New Orleans, Sarah Palin gave a speech packed with smiles and sarcasm at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference drawing a standing ovation at one point. She also took another shot at President Obama whom she blasted earlier this week for rewriting the U.S. Nuclear Defense Policy, something Ronald Reagan had talked about long ago.
Mr. Obama then responded on "Good Morning America" to a question about Palin from George Stephanopoulos saying, "The last time he checked she was no expert on nuclear policy". Today Palin responded. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I really have no response to that. The last I checked Sarah Palin is not much of an expert on nuclear issues. If the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff are comfortable with it, I'm probably going to take my advice from them and not from Sarah Palin.
SARAH PALIN (R), FORMER ALASKA GOVERNOR: Now, the president with all the vast nuclear experience that he acquired as a community organizer and as a part-time senator and as a full-time candidate, all that experience, still no accomplishment to date with North Korea and Iran.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Candy Crowley is in New Orleans, she was there for the speech; also with us senior legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, he's also author of "The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court" which is a great book. Also Reihan Salam, a contributor of "The Daily Beast" and co-author of "Grand New Party".
Candy, let's start with you. Did Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty skip this event because they knew there was no way to compete with Sarah Palin there?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: They would give you other reasons. Romney is on a book tour, Pawlenty had some troops coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan.
But listen, there is no doubt that she really does absorb much of the sun and you saw that here today with the reception she got. There were others, Newt Gingrich, he is -- gave a speech that was very warmly received, but it's not that same temperature that she can bring a room to.
She is just lightning when she comes in here, and she sparks a lot of enthusiasm and they rush the stage to get her autograph. She came in and then they open the doors, everybody kind of hurried in to get a good seat.
So there's just no one like Palin to kind of move a crowd and of course, they're having a straw vote tomorrow here. And while it won't matter probably a week from now, much less two years from now, it still gives another headline to someone. So if you're also running for president, maybe you don't want to be compared giving a speech from the same podium.
COOPER: Reihan, it was interesting. I mean, last night Newt Gingrich said the Republicans have to be the party of yes. And was saying you know wherever you go, whoever you talk to says it's the party of yes. Today Sarah Palin said its fine with her. They're not only the party of no but the party of hell no.
REIHAN SALAM, CONTRIBUTOR, THE DAILY BEAST: I think that it's basically a matter of drawing a sharp contrast, it's basically a matter of really trying to connect with the conservative grass roots and I think it's very shrewd. A lot of folks are talking about this as her debut coming out demonstrating that she really is going to be a presidential candidate.
The thing is that it makes sense for her to make us all think that she's going to be a presidential candidate. And you can imagine her being someone who really fires up the base without actually pulling the trigger so I think we still don't know what exactly her intentions are for 2012.
COOPER: Jeff, let's talk about Justice Stevens. I want to play something that President Obama said today in the announcement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: While we cannot replace Justice Stevens' experience or wisdom, I will seek someone in the coming weeks with similar -- similar qualities. It will also be someone who, like Justice Stevens knows that in a democracy powerful interests must not be allowed to drown out the voices of ordinary citizen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: So who do you see as the big replacements? I mean who are the main contenders?
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: I think presidents -- and this is true of Democrats and Republicans alike -- they rarely reinvent the wheel. Once they get a short list for a first nominee, it tends to continue into the second nominee.
The three finalists who didn't get the job last time were Elena Kagan, the Solicitor General of the United States; Diane Wood, who is a Federal Appeals Court Judge in Chicago in the middle; and Merrick Garland who has been a judge for quite some time on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.
All Democrats, all varying degrees of liberals. Probably Garland is the most conservative, Diane Wood is the most liberal and Kagan in the middle. But you know those distinctions are very hard to draw when they haven't really been a part of partisan politics all that much.
COOPER: You could also already hear today the whole gearing up of -- of sort of this -- this sort of shadow group which exists in Washington which seems to come to the fore every time this justice story raises its head. I mean, there's a whole industry of folks who are for them or against them and weigh in --
TOOBIN: Ever since 1987 and Robert Bork (ph), this has been the way politicians express their views about social issues, about abortion, about affirmative action, it's through the vehicle of Supreme Court confirmation hearings.
And, you know, by and large, the president gets his way. When the president's party controls the senate, as it does now by a wide margin, 59-41, no -- no nominee has lost since the 1960s. So I think it's unlikely that any Obama nominee would lose.
COOPER: But some nominees I mean haven't even made it to the actual nominating process. I mean --
TOOBIN: Harriet Miers didn't make it that far.
COOPER: Miers --
TOOBIN: But not because of opposition from Democrats, because of opposition from her own party.
COOPER: But, Reihan, we're already hearing today rumblings from some Republicans about the possibility of -- even though there's no -- you know there is not -- not somebody who has been suggested as the nominee, but rumblings of the possibility of a filibuster.
SALAM: You see a ratchet effect basically. I mean, you know, from 2000 to now, you see more and more votes of the opposition party going against a nominee. You saw it with you know, Roberts versus Alito and I think that that ratchet just keeps continuing. I think that Garland, a lot of liberals thought that he would be the person to go in there if you had a conservative justice retire then you have him go in. But now it seems the politics have gotten so difficult the he becomes more plausible now.
I think the real thing about Stevens is that he was a guy who was able to bring Kennedy on board. He was the absolutely crucial liberal because he was the guy who could build coalitions. And I think that if Obama is going to be strategic about this and I think that, that's his intention and I think that he's given a lot of thought to this, he's going to want to find someone who can do that.
And I think that Republicans understand that they basically have to put up a fight whoever it is, even if it's somebody who is more congenial to them like Garland or like Kagan.
TOOBIN: But look at where Candy is. That's today's Republican Party. We talk about the base of the party. That's all there is, the base of a party. There are no more moderate Republicans, and that is a Republican Party that is going to oppose regardless of which nominee it is.
COOPER: So, Candy, for all the talk of being the party of yes to Newt Gingrich's hopes on this, they may be again the party of no?
CROWLEY: Well, listen, I mean just let me give you some numbers here; I think ones that we all know. It's going to take 60 votes to get this nominee through the senate. Right now Democrats have 59 votes including two independents. There are Republicans up on Capitol Hill who believe that barring some horrible thing -- barring, you know, a resume that shows that a person is not qualified to sit on the Supreme Court, that a president ought to have the nominee he wants, even if it's a president from the other party.
They just fundamentally believe in the principle that they're not going to argue with the judicial views of a candidate. They want to know if this person is qualified and if so after talking about the views, they'll go ahead and vote for them. You just need one to do that.
So do I think that there will be a lot of noise? I do. Why? It's an election year and no place is the idea of the power to put someone on the Supreme Court as effective a campaigning tool as in the Republican Party. This is very near to their hearts because of the social issues that Jeffrey just talked about. So, yes, I think it will be part of the political mix, but I think if you look at the sheer numbers of it, that certainly the president is likely to get his nominee.
TOOBIN: You know, John Paul Stevens was confirmed in 1975 98 to nothing. We will never ever see a 98 to nothing confirmation in our lifetime again.
COOPER: It is really the end of an era though, with him leaving. I mean, he's obviously the oldest, fought in World War II.
TOOBIN: He had a great opinion recently where he said, "You know our marijuana laws remind me of prohibition when I was a student." I mean, imagine someone who remembers prohibitions.
COOPER: Yes.
TOOBIN: But he did. I mean, this is a guy who just comes from another world.
COOPER: Yes.
SALAM: He was the key liberal justice. He was absolutely essential and the loss of him even if you replace him with someone a lot younger is a huge blow.
COOPER: Reihan Salam it's good to have you on, Jeff Toobin as well and Candy Crowley. Candy has it more on "STATE OF THE UNION" Sunday 9:00 a.m. I hope you watch it.
Still ahead, a new biography digs deep into the President Obama's past, written by David Remnick, editor of "The New Yorker". We'll talk to him in just a moment.
Plus, disturbing new details about the alleged bullying and death of a 15-year-old girl named Phoebe Prince. That's her. Endured -- well, what she told a friend -- we'll tell you what she told a friend the day before she killed herself.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Well, race, politics, ambition, the three factors played pivotal roles in shaping Barack Obama's life; from the struggles that challenged him to the moments that defined him. His story, his relentless drive to succeed, are now spelled out in startling new details in "The Bridge: The Life and Rise of Barack Obama" the new book by author and "New Yorker" editor David Remnick.
Let's "Dig Deeper" David Remnick joins us now. Thanks for being with us.
DAVID REMNICK, AUTHOR, "THE BRIDGE": Thanks for having me.
COOPER: I'm really enjoying the book.
REMNICK: Great.
COOPER: I'm about halfway through. There's a quote, which is -- what the title of the book is based on, and it comes from John Lewis, who told you the day before Obama's inauguration, he said, "Barack Obama is what comes at the end of that bridge in Selma."
And it's interesting because I mean the president has tried very hard not to define himself --
REMNICK: That's right.
COOPER: -- in terms of race.
REMNICK: Yes, and he's very well aware as anybody would be, that he doesn't need to emphasize race because when he comes before a camera, he's an African-American and this has a powerful influence.
And I think, you know, I discovered from interviewing him at the Oval Office that he really will talk about race when he's in control of it, when he can give a big speech, when he can be in control of every nuance like he did in Philadelphia --
COOPER: Right.
REMNICK: -- in the midst of the Jeremiah Wright affair.
But when he improvises -- when he gives a press conference answer to something about Henry Louis Gates or something, it's nothing but trouble --
COOPER: Right.
REMNICK: -- it ends up throwing him off his agenda for a couple of weeks as it did during the health care debate and it is a pain -- politically it's a pain. So he avoids that as much as he can.
And he's now starting to get criticism to his left and in the Congressional Black Caucus that he's not paying enough attention to what used to be called Black agenda.
COOPER: You said you interviewed him in the Oval Office. I have, as well. Did you ever figure out why the Oval Office is so hot? You know, he keeps it incredibly hot. I don't know --
REMNICK: The opposite of the Letterman studio.
COOPER: Yes, exactly.
REMNICK: What's really weird is how unbelievably quiet it is in there --
COOPER: Right, yes.
REMNICK: -- and Obama's interviewing style, especially for print, is so slowed down --
COOPER: Yes.
REMNICK: -- it's like 30 heartbeats a minute.
COOPER: Yes.
REMNICK: And you hear this grandfather clock tolling like an Edgar Allan Poe story.
COOPER: And it's interesting because so many people who meet him who like him as opposed to people who meet him who don't like him will say he just seems like such a regular guy. He seems so personable. But I mean, nobody becomes President of the United States --
REMNICK: By being a regular guy.
COOPER: -- by being a regular guy. There are no regular guys who are Presidents of the United States.
REMNICK: No, Obama is a super ambitious --
COOPER: And a politician, it's important --
REMNICK: Absolutely --
COOPER: Yes.
REMNICK: -- from the beginning. You know, he is swathed in the kind of mists of the historical dimensions of his election, and that's logical, stands to reason. But this is a guy who started out as a pretty hard-nosed politician on the south side of Chicago. He bumped his opponent off the ballot in a petition race.
COOPER: Yes.
REMNICK: And he got his back side kicked in a Congressional race in 2000 and really lost badly to Bobby Rush. And in 2004, he got to the Senate thanks to two sex scandals, I mean two divorce -- files open.
COOPER: With those other people --
REMNICK: -- and they -- exactly. Two divorce files open from his -- his opponents and they fell by the wayside and he ended up running against a very easy candidate, Alan Keyes.
COOPER: But it was interesting. I mean, there are those who have accused him of pandering and Bobby Rush in the book -- I can't remember if he said that you or if he said it to Rahm Emanuel, basically made fun of Obama for his walk.
REMNICK: Yes, I was in Bobby Rush's office. And Bobby Rush got up out of his chair, he's a guy of a certain age now. He was a former Black Panther leader --
COOPER: Right.
REMNICK: -- who is now a Congressman. And he started imitating Obama's very sinuous walk and did this across the office floor and he said, "You know when I ran against Obama he didn't walk like that."
So he was making fun of him. And he was taking digs at his racial authenticity which is --
COOPER: Right.
REMNICK: -- you know, nasty stuff.
COOPER: Yes. I want to play you something that Newt Gingrich said just yesterday about President Obama.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NEWT GINGRICH (R), FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER: The President of the United States, the most radical president in American history, has now thrown down the gauntlet to the American people. He has said, "I run a machine, I own Washington, and there's nothing you can do about it."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: I mean to say that he's the most radical president of the United States.
REMNICK: Incredible. It's really incredible, and Henry Louis Gates is quoted in the book as saying the following "The most radical thing about Barack Obama is the fact that he's African-American."
COOPER: Right.
REMNICK: "And President of the United States". He is a center left president and a lot of his policies are straight in the tradition of the center left Democrat.
Look at health care itself. Look at his judicial appointees, Sonya Sotomayor is hardly a radical. We're looking at somebody like Elena Kagan, this is not somebody on the left wing of the Democratic Party. And his foreign policy choices are hardly far left either.
I mean, this comes out of the propaganda campaign that was leveled against him having to do with Bill Ayers and Jeremiah Wright.
COOPER: Right.
REMNICK: And all that stuff and it's attached and it's become part of the TEA Party rhetoric.
COOPER: Why has his style of speaking changed so much? I mean during the campaign, you know, there were those who supported him and felt he had this, you know, he talked about the fierce urgency of now.
REMNICK: Right.
COOPER: And he was such a great speechmaker. Even those who didn't like him thought he was a great communicator.
His speeches in office have been -- I mean, he reads from a teleprompter. There is a -- there is a dryness to it.
REMNICK: There's a formality to it that wasn't there.
COOPER: Yes. Is that -- do you have a sense of why that is?
REMNICK: Well, I think it stands to reason -- it stands to reason. Remember, when he's campaigning across the country, he's in different venues at different times.
COOPER: Right.
REMNICK: Sometimes, he's in a black church -- church on the South Side and the cadences and associations and --
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: He adapts to --
(CROSSTALK)
REMNICK: Sure, like any -- like any good orator does. Or if he's in a VFW in the Southern part of Illinois, it's a different kind of cadence.
Now, when you're behind the resolute desk and giving an address to the nation, it's something more formal. That stands to reason. I don't see anything phony about that at all.
COOPER: It's a fascinating book.
Dave Remnick, appreciate you being with us. Thanks very much.
REMNICK: Thanks.
COOPER: "The Bridge".
Coming up next, new details about the bullying of 15-year-old Phoebe Prince, taunting the prosecutors say turned to torture, basically, for her. Dr. Phil joins us for that on the case.
Also, some good news tonight from Haiti to tell you about.
And also, this guy, the man who joked about lighting a shoe on fire on the plane, will soon be taking another trip. We'll tell you where he is now headed.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Coming up, new details on the taunting and harassment that prosecutors say led to a teen girl's suicide. We'll talk to Dr. Phil about that in a moment.
But first, Lisa Bloom has a "360 Bulletin" -- Lisa.
LISA BLOOM, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Thanks Anderson, rescuers in West Virginia are back underground tonight in a last-ditch effort to find four miners missing since Monday's explosion. Teams are heading toward the chamber where the workers may have taken shelter.
Funerals for the 25 miners killed in the explosion began today.
The Qatari diplomat who caused an airline security scare with a long bathroom visit and an unfortunate comment about his shoes, is going home. The U.S. State Department has been assured that Mohammed al- Modadi is leaving the country. As he has diplomatic immunity, he's not going to be charged.
And 1.5 million people have already reserved their chance to see the Shroud of Turin. It goes on display for six weeks starting tomorrow at a church in Turin, Italy. Some believe Jesus was buried in the centuries-old linen cloth -- Anderson.
COOPER: All right. Lisa will have another update in a moment. First, the final hours of a young girl's life; prosecutors say she was bullied to death, said the bullying went on for months. We'll tell you new details what Phoebe Prince endured the day she took her own life and the name she was called, to the final text messages she sent. Dr. Phil joins us for that.
Also tonight, hope for their future turning tents into classrooms. Kids in Haiti, some of them going back to school; we're going along with them. Our report from Haiti is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Tonight we have new details of the final hours of Phoebe Prince, and they are wrenching.
Phoebe was a 15-year-old high school freshman who authorities said was bullied to death. Six classmates are now accused of driving her to suicide. And according to court records made public today for the first time, several of them, several of these kids never let up the abuse, allegedly, not even on the last day of Phoebe's life.
In the court documents, we learned that three 16-year-old girls of South Hadley High School in Massachusetts berated and teased her this past January 14, the day she killed herself.
I want to show you some of the disturbing details over here on the magic wall. The harassment had been allegedly going on for months. And on January 13, the records say Phoebe told a friend, quote, "School has been close to intolerable lately."
This is Phoebe, 15 years old. She came from Ireland. She was new to this country and new to the school in Massachusetts.
Here's how Phoebe's last day unfolded in school on that day. Now, the document says the accused students called her an "Irish whore" and other slurs while she tried to study in the library. She apparently began crying on the way home from school -- on the walk home that afternoon -- after one of them threw an energy drink called a Monster drink that was inside the vehicle, threw it at her as she was walking home crying.
Also that same afternoon, the report said Phoebe exchanged several text messages with a friend. Phoebe told the friend she was upset about the taunts, her despair at the ongoing taunting to which she was subjected.
Now, Phoebe sent her last text at 2:48 p.m. Two hours later her body was found hanging in a rear stairwell at her home. Just two hours before she died. There were no further outgoing texts right there.
What is so sad about this, of course, and one of the reasons we keep following this story, is that this was not an isolated incident.
Take a look. These are just some of the faces of kids who have killed themselves this past year. Authorities say these six kids were all bullied. They had all committed suicide. Eleven-year-old Carl Walker-Hoover; we told his story on this program. Jaheem Herrera; his as well. Both of them 11 years old.
Alexis Pilkington was 17 years. Hope Woodsell (ph), 13 years old. Hunter Leland (ph) over here, 15. John Carmichael, just 13; we had his parents on just last week.
Every single day it's believed 160,000 kids do not go to school because they're afraid they're going to be harassed or they're going to be picked on; every single day, 160,000 kids. We don't take this issue seriously enough.
Joining me again right now is Dr. Phil McGraw.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: So Dr. Phil, in the documents released today it says, and I'm quoting, "This witness also stated on one occasion Miss Prince went to school administrators because she was scared and wanted to go home. The witness reported Miss Prince returned to class and told her that no action was going to be taken. Nothing happened and that she was still going to get beat up."
I mean, if the school knew about specific incidents of bullying or threats, which from this document it certainly sounds like they did, you know, you've got to ask why wouldn't this school do more to stop this behavior?
MCGRAW: Well, Anderson, it's hard to wrap your mind around this kind of thing happening, so you don't -- if anybody thought this was even a potentiality, I'm sure they would have responded.
But that's what people need to understand. This stuff gets ugly. And even in cases where students, young people don't wind up killing themselves, they can be really scarred for the rest of their life.
Now, here's the thing. This was not an isolated incident where somebody just kind of rolled up on this young woman and started harassing her for a few days. Everything we can learn about this, this went on for months, three months. Now think about that. That's 12 weeks. That's an entire fall, for example.
Now, if that's going on, you can't tell me that somebody either didn't know or, if they didn't know, they should have known. So your question becomes are they just simply not telling the truth about what they knew? Or were they so incompetent as to not pay attention to what was going on with their students?
COOPER: Yes, because it wasn't just one or two people, according to the district attorney. There were really two groups of kids who were basically linked up with two different young men who Phoebe had had a relationship with. And I mean, so you have two groups. Obviously, it grows exponentially, the number of people who would have known about this.
On the day she died, there was intense verbal bullying we now know took place in the school auditorium, some of the defendants calling her a slut, a whore, saying, "Why don't you just open your legs?"
Not long after that, Phoebe was walking home, apparently crying, according to the document, and then a vehicle in which one of these women, young girls was passing by threw an empty energy drink can at her that I guess was inside the vehicle, threw it at Miss Prince while laughing, said something again degrading to her.
You know, it's only words and, in this case, physical -- physical action. But words -- I mean, for a teenage girl, it can be incredibly brutal.
MCGRAW: It can be incredibly brutal.
Here's the thing. You talk about physical injury, but what we know psychologically is that psychological injuries, verbal abuse, mental/emotional abuse, can have a much more devastating effect on someone than physical abuse.
I mean, you can get hit; you get a fat lip. That's not ok to put your hands on somebody else in anger. But that heals, and you get over it.
I had Barbara Coloroso on, who was a bullying expert that actually went to the school before this happened and again after it happened and then the family spokesperson for Phoebe's family. And both of them reported to me that there was post-death conduct that went on, that there were children at a dance two days after the death or three days after the death -- first off, why are you having a celebratory dance two or three days after one of your students has taken their own life? Particularly when it involved --
COOPER: That's incredible. I didn't even know that.
MCGRAW: They had a dance, a cotillion dance two or three days later.
Barbara Coloroso, who I think is extremely credible to me, says that she had reports from students that there were kids mimicking hanging themselves at the dance, making fun of this. That there were sites up on the Web site after this happened that were continuing to bully this child in her absence.
I mean, come on. What is going on with a system that says this is ok?
COOPER: Yes, the governor of Massachusetts, Deval Patrick, today said that it was incredibly upsetting, and he said, and I quote, "that the adults did not seem to have acted like adults".
I mean, in addition to the responsibility of the school, again, we've got to come back to the responsibility of the parents of these kids accused of bullying, and it's allegations at this point made by the district attorney.
But I mean, we're talking about multiple kids, and it doesn't seem like we ever heard anything from their parents. In fact, the one parent who has made a public statement basically said, look, her daughter didn't really do anything too bad. It wasn't -- it wasn't physical violence. MCGRAW: There are warning signs for parents to know, if your child is being a bully. And what needs to happen is these parents need -- and right now I think the school and parents alike are being advised by lawyers, and they're saying, "We didn't know. If we had known, we would have acted." But I think the evidence is going to suggest that that wasn't the case.
COOPER: It also seems like a lot of this was from other girls in the school who had been involved with the two boys that Phoebe was allegedly involved with at one point, and their friends. I mean, it often seems like girls to girls can be just as vicious -- I mean, we often think of harassment as being between, you know, boys and girls. It seems in this case there was an awful lot of harassment between the girls.
MCGRAW: And it is astounding to me how vicious and brutal these young girls can be to one another. Sometimes it is physical, just like it is with the boys, but it is always -- if there is harassment, there is name-calling. There is exclusion. There is isolation. There's intimidation.
And, listen, they don't do these things in front of teachers. And the vast majority of teachers throughout the education system in America are loving, caring, devoted people, and this happens outside their awareness.
But we have to put in curriculums. We have to put in a way where this does get put into the spotlight so it can get stopped. This didn't have to happen.
COOPER: No doubt about it. Dr. Phil thanks.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: You can join the live chat right now at AC360.com. Let us know what you think about this; a lot of folks talking about it online right now.
Coming up next, some good news from Haiti: some of Haiti's kids going back to school for the first time. We'll show you what a classroom looks like in the ravaged city of Port-au-Prince.
Also tonight, somebody call the ski patrol, because this guy is in trouble. Wait till you see what happens next. It's our "Shot of the Day".
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Saving Haiti: 87 percent of schools in Port-au-Prince were damaged or destroyed by January's earthquake. Imagine that: 87 percent of the schools. And this week they started to re-open some of them, but for a lot of kids back to school means class in a tent.
Gary Tuchman tonight has an up-close look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At this heavily- damaged school in Port-au-Prince, a blackboard frozen in time; a chemistry lesson from January 12, the day of the earthquake. The school has been closed ever since, and so, too, have almost all the schools here, until now.
This week most schools reopened, with many classes in tents. At this girls' school, they're learning about manners in English class.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Excuse me. Repeat that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Excuse me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Excuse me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Excuse me.
TUCHMAN: They're getting some counseling about the tragedy at this boys' school.
This teacher is saying, "We'll learn from the earthquake and will take precautions if it happens again."
For many schools not yet opened because of heavy damage, new structures are hastily being built. But in most other schools, this is a great week. Formal education for the children has resumed.
CLERMONT FREDERICK, 19-YEAR-OLD PUBLIC SCHOOL PUPIL: It's a good day for me to see my friends, to greet them. So -- because for me I think that education is the best.
TUCHMAN (on camera): What do you want to do when you grow up?
LAETITA LARCO, 12-YEAR-OLD CATHOLIC SCHOOL PUPIL: When I grow up, I want to be a doctor.
TUCHMAN: Really?
LARCO: Yes.
TUCHMAN: Do you know what kind of doctor?
LARCO: I want to be a surgeon.
TUCHMAN: Wow. I think that coming back to school is an important thing for that. Right? You're happy to be here?
LARCO: Yes.
TUCHMAN: It's a great relief, isn't it?
LARCO: Yes.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): Eleven of the children at this girls' school were killed in the quake. More than 400 others have not returned, but about half the students are back. Sister Anne Marie is the principal and says they're taking it slowly.
SISTER ANNE MARIE, PRINCIPAL, SAINT ROSE OF LIMA SCHOOL (through translator): We're not going to get into very serious subject matters straightaway. We're waiting for the government to give us a new curriculum, but we haven't received it yet.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look, (INAUDIBLE). Which one do you like better? I like the woman better.
TUCHMAN: Most teachers have not been paid since the quake. At this school, teachers have been told they will get back pay. In the meantime, they are trying to be gentle with their students.
MARIE CLAUDE LEGRAND, TEACHER: They're supposed to have less -- less homework to do, but I plan that they have much fun -- more fun than before.
TUCHMAN (on camera): Nearly three months after the earthquake vivid reminders of death are almost everywhere you look, but nothing symbolizes the recovery in the future more than seeing children learning, singing, smiling.
The effort to rebuild this nation will take many years. The children we talked with in school today will be the leaders of that effort tomorrow.
(voice-over): These girls are singing, "Tomorrow will be the glory of Haiti. We will always walk forward." And that is precisely the attitude that is needed in Haiti at this time of such need.
Gary Tuchman, CNN, Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: It's nice to see kids back in school; a good news story from Haiti for a change.
Up next, a nine-term Democratic congressman calling it quits and some people say it's because of the Tea Party movement.
And back playing golf a after the sex scandal. See how Tiger Woods did on day two of the Masters.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Let's get a quick check of some other stories. Lisa Bloom has again the "360 Bulletin" -- Lisa.
BLOOM: All right. Thanks, Anderson.
Congressman Bart Stupak of Michigan announced today that he won't seek re-election. The anti-abortion Democrat has been the target of Tea Party activists for playing a key role in getting health care reform passed. The Associated Press is reporting that a letter from 1985 shows that before becoming pope, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger resisted pleas to defrock a California priest who molested children. But a Vatican lawyer says Ratzinger told a California bishop to make sure the priest in question didn't abuse children while they worked to defrock him, and the lawyer said there were no known cases of abuse before he was removed.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average pierced the 11,000 mark briefly today for the first time in 18 months, though the blue chips finished the day at 10,997.
And day two at the Masters: Tiger Woods is just two strokes behind the leaders after shooting a 2 under 70 today, proving his layoff due to his sex scandal doesn't seem to be hurting his game any. Tiger's return has boosted ratings for the tournament there of 50 percent from last year, according to Nielsen.
And now, Anderson, I've achieved my dream of being a sports reporter.
COOPER: You did very well.
And now Lisa, I know you're an avid skier. So I don't know. Maybe you'll get a kick out of our "Shot".
We got it from the folks at Break.com. It takes place on the slopes and it's, well, it's pretty self-explanatory. Let's take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(PERSON ON SKIS)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Hey, lady. Ouch.
BLOOM: Oh, no.
COOPER: That cannot be good. Yes.
Ouch.
BLOOM: I hope he's ok.
COOPER: Yes. Ever seen anything like that on the slopes, Lisa?
BLOOM: You know, you don't see those kind of lifts very much anymore. They're kind of dicey, though.
COOPER: Yes, I guess that's why we don't see them.
BLOOM: Now it's mostly gondolas and chairlifts.
COOPER: Lisa thanks very much. Yes.
BLOOM: Thanks Anderson. COOPER: Have a great weekend, Lisa.
Hey, that's it for 360. Thanks for watching.
"LARRY KING" starts now.
Have a great weekend. I'll see you Monday.
