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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

Marijuana's Medical Value?; Search for Missing Children

Aired August 08, 2013 - 22:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight, breaking news in the search for an alleged killer and the young woman he's believed to be holding.

Also tonight, Dr. Sanjay Gupta's bold claim that we have been systematically misled for 70 years about the medical value of marijuana, why he abandoned everything he thought he knew about it.

Later, Anderson hears one man's account of capture and captivity in one of the deadliest war zones on Earth, held in Syria for 81 days.

But we begin tonight with breaking news in the search for James DiMaggio and the stakes that just keep rising. Not only is he suspected of kidnapping 16-year-old Hannah Anderson and possibly her 8-year-old brother Ethan. Not only is he wanted for the murder of their mother. Not only do authorities suspect he's hiding out in some of the most remote parts of the West and Northwest, but they're now preceding on the very real possibility, they say, he might be armed with explosives.

This is a fast-moving story. Paul Vercammen has been on top of it from the very beginning. He's joining us now with the latest.

What is the latest, Paul?

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, authorities telling me, Wolf, just a short time ago that they have strong reason to believe that DiMaggio may be armed with homemade bombs.

And along those lines, they are cautioning both citizens and law enforcement officers to make sure they stay away from the suspect's vehicle. They say it's a very real possibility that he has now booby- trapped that vehicle with some sort of improvised explosive devices. So that's the latest on that front, Wolf.

BLITZER: I know officials are saying the suspect could be hunkered down in a really rural area somewhere. What makes them believe that?

VERCAMMEN: Well, strong fear here that he does have camping skills, if you will, that he is an outdoorsman. There were those two sightings yesterday, allegedly in a part of California that's an extreme northeast part of the state in Alturas and then across the border in Oregon.

The sheriff in that county telling me today that it was an 18- year-old maid who spotted what she believes was the suspect's vehicle, and he was saying one difficult thing about his county, there's been no sign of that vehicle since. There are many, many, many rural roads which he could hide.

And, also, Wolf, I just need to add it was a short time ago that we under the federales in Mexico also complying, going to issue that Amber Alert for all bordering Mexican states and to interior states. That would Sinaloa and Baja Sur, Wolf.

BLITZER: I understand he also has had another run-in, previous run-ins with the law. What can you tell us about that?

VERCAMMEN: We started digging and we found that in Montgomery County, Texas, that's near Houston, this was 18 years ago, we have a booking photo of him when he was just 22 years old. He was basically charged with, and then convicted of fleeing from a police officer.

What's interesting about this is in that police report at one point they said he was going down a rural or dirt road somewhere around 60 or 70 miles per hour. This sort of seems to lend credence to the fear that perhaps he's using rural roads to get himself in and around Northern California, Oregon, Nevada, or Washington. There's an Amber Alert issued for all three -- four now of those states.

BLITZER: Paul Vercammen, we will stay in close touch. Thank you.

Of all the things that makes this story so troubling is the notion that the fugitive was once a friend and that someone so close, someone so trusted could become the kind of monster that James DiMaggio allegedly has become.

Brett Anderson spoke about it earlier today with "NEW DAY"'s Chris Cuomo.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": Explain the relationship between your family, your kids, their mother, and Mr. DiMaggio.

BRETT ANDERSON, FATHER OF MISSING CHILDREN: Mr. DiMaggio came into our lives about six months before Hannah was born. He and I had a very close relationship over the years. And we've done many, many things throughout the years together. And he is basically became like part of our family. He was always around and we always did stuff together as a family. Sometimes he took the kids camping. But we were just very good friends.

CUOMO: This is your buddy. You know him. Was there ever anything about him that found suspicious? I know the easy answer is no because you wouldn't have had him around the family. But search your history now, was anything there?

ANDERSON: I have come up blank. I have been through every scenario in my brain. There was nothing ever to show any indication of this. Everybody you could even talk to loved him. He would give you the shirt off his back, and he was there to help at any time you called. And nothing ever like this indicated anything.

CUOMO: We have heard these rumors, as have you, that your 16- year-old daughter Hannah had become uncomfortable around him. He'd expressed that he had a crush. We don't know the context. We don't know what really happened. But had you heard anything about that until now?

ANDERSON: I had not heard anything about that. If I had heard something about that, or my wife had heard something about that, it would have been cut off.

CUOMO: Please, if you can, tell us what made these kids so special to you.

ANDERSON: Ethan wore his heart on his sleeve. He would give -- do anything for anybody, loved everybody. He was just my buddy. Hannah was just a beautiful, beautiful girl, very good student, hundreds and hundreds of friends, and there was nothing bad to say about my kids.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: If anyone knows what Brett Anderson is going through, it is John Walsh. On July 27, 1981, his only child, Adam, was abducted. Two weeks later, his body was found. He's been fighting on behalf of children like Adam and parents like himself ever since. And John is joining us now.

John, thanks very much for coming in, as you always do for us.

This father, we just heard him. He's obviously trying to get the word out, at times speaking directly to the suspect, other times to his daughter. Is that exactly what he should be doing at this point?

JOHN WALSH, FORMER HOST, "AMERICA'S MOST WANTED": Exactly, Wolf.

I have tried to reach out to Brett today, left my unlisted number with his advisers. And if he would call me, I would welcome talking to him. He's doing exactly the right thing. Pretty soon, if his daughter is not found alive, and we're all praying that this creep will let her go, she will just become another poster of a missing child when she drops off the news cycle.

He's got to get up. He's got to stay up. He's got to do every media interview he can. Hopefully somebody will see that car or that girl. We have gotten back lots of missing children because the public can make such a difference.

BLITZER: Clearly the suspect, John, this man DiMaggio is very close to the family. The kids actually called him uncle. Should it be a surprise that someone so close to this family could possibly have done these things?

WALSH: I don't think anybody should be surprised. And it's another horrible lesson.

Look at Ariel Castro. His daughter's best friend was Gina DeJesus, who he kidnapped at 14 years old. This is a guy that knew his 14-year-old victim and his daughter was her best friend. Just -- I have done hundreds of cases of live-in boyfriends, step-daddies, you name it, that have pretended they were friends of the family, pretended they were interested in the mother and hurt the children or took the children. So I don't think people should be surprised.

I think people should realize that if this guy could kill an 8- year-old boy and kill an unarmed woman that he was friends with for 10-plus years, he's dangerous and that he has to be caught before he hurts Hannah.

BLITZER: If DiMaggio, this guy, had developed an actual crush on this 16-year-old girl, Hannah, as a friend says he did, what does that tell you, if anything, about her chances for survival?

WALSH: Well, that's hopeful.

If he's obsessed, if he's so obsessed that he kills an 8-year-old boy and, as I mentioned, Hannah's mother to get at her, I hope he's still got her, I hope he's still obsessed with her, I hope he's treating her right and he doesn't decide like so many nutcases, I will kill her, I will kill myself, we will be in paradise together, or I will kill her and leave her in the woods somewhere and they will never catch me. I'm better off alone.

I hope none of those things are going through his mind. I hope he realizes he should do the right thing. Give this girl -- if he loves her, and is so obsessed with her, give her back. Bring her back. Turn yourself in. I think it's very hopeful that he was obsessed with -- that he is obsessed with this girl.

BLITZER: Is there a window of time, and you know this subject very, very well, John, when the chances are better that a child who has been abducted might be found?

WALSH: Oh, absolutely, Wolf. The first four hours are crucial. That's why the Amber Alerts are so great.

It took six years to get the emergency broadcasting system and Congress to vote the Amber Alerts as a nationwide program. In those years, 550 kids-plus have been found within the first six or seven hours. Four hours are crucial.

So that window is getting smaller, but now that they have issued an Amber Alert in Mexico, I have caught over the last 25 years about 50 guys in Mexico who have easily crossed that border. You only got to drive into Mexico. He may have tried to make everybody think he's in that desert in the northeast because he's a survivalist, but he may have gone south thinking that no one is looking for him. But thank God the federales are issuing that Amber Alert, because we have caught guys in Mexico that were spotted by tourists. That's a good thing.

BLITZER: Excellent advice from John Walsh, as usual. John, thanks very much for joining us.

WALSH: Thank you for having me.

BLITZER: And just ahead, Dr. Sanjay Gupta's stunning conclusion after nearly a year of reporting. He now says Americans have been misled for decades about medical marijuana. Sanjay will join us to talk about his provocative new documentary entitled "Weed."

Also, a photojournalist's nightmare in Syria. He was abducted in April, held by rebels for 81 days. Anderson spoke with him about what he endured and how he escaped.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: A CNN documentary airing this weekend may make you rethink what you thought you knew about pot.

Our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, spent nearly a year investigating the impact of marijuana on the body. He lays it out in his findings in his documentary entitled "Weed."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): People are lighting up all over the country. They call it the green rush. Marijuana has moved out of the back alleys and into the open.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Happy Cannabis Cup, you all.

GUPTA: In some states, it's legal to grow, to sell, to smoke, and marijuana could be legalized in a city near you, so easy to get and many think so harmless, but when the smoke clears, is marijuana bad for you or could pot actually be good for you?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: The answer to that question wasn't at all what Sanjay expected. In fact, he says he was not only stunned by what he discovered. He now admits he was flat-out wrong about weed in the past.

For nearly 45 years, marijuana has been classified as a schedule one substance. In a CNN.com article, though, today, Sanjay wrote this: "We have been terribly and systematically misled for nearly 70 years in the United States, and I apologize for my own role in that."

Dr. Gupta is joining us right now.

Sanjay, you were very critical of medical marijuana for a long time. You have changed your mind. Tell us why.

GUPTA: Well, there is a few different reasons, but I will just preface by saying, look, I didn't dig deep enough. I didn't look far enough. I didn't look in other countries, at smaller labs. I didn't listen to the chorus of patients, legitimate patients who were getting relief from this, from marijuana when nothing else worked for them.

But let me say, Wolf, if you were to look through the medical journals right now about articles regarding medical marijuana, you would find lots of them, up to 20,000 articles. The vast majority, more than 90 percent are designed to look at the harm, the problems with marijuana, medicinal marijuana, and less than 10 percent, around 6 percent actually to look at the benefits.

And I think it paints a very distorted picture. It's part of the systematic misleading. When you look at the schedule one classification of marijuana, if that's all you know, what you hear is that it's one of the most dangerous substances out there, it's a drug of high abuse and it's a drug that has no medical applications.

What I learned after you did -- after you do some of this digging is that none of that is true. It is not a -- it is not a higher drug of abuse as compared to drugs that are scheduled lower. It does have medical applications and I think that that was part of what made me turn around.

But a lot of this was about the patients, again, who were using this as a legitimate medicine, legitimate patients and getting really, really objective relief.

BLITZER: You say, Sanjay, there is a lot of hypocrisy out there when it comes to marijuana. What do you mean by that?

GUPTA: Well, part of it is that, look, we say that this has no medical applications whatsoever and yet there are lots of studies out there that are now showing the medical benefit even if some of those studies are done outside this country.

We classify it as a schedule one substance. To give you some context, Wolf, cocaine is classified as a schedule two substance. Let me tell you something else I find very interesting. We haven't talked about this much but the United States through its own Department of Health and Human Services actually has a patent on marijuana as an antioxidant and neuroprotectant in the brain.

So on one hand they say it has no medical application. On the other hand, they say we have a patent on it as a medical application. Look, I think journalists are trained to hate hypocrisy, Wolf, no matter what side you're on or what you're thinking about. This is hypocrisy.

BLITZER: That's a good point. I know you did a lot of research for this documentary that will air this weekend.

Is there concrete evidence, though, concrete scientific evidence that medical marijuana works better at treating certain medical conditions than pharmaceutical drugs?

GUPTA: I believe there is.

And I have seen examples of it. First of all, I have seen the studies, so this isn't just anecdotal information, anecdotal knowledge anymore. There are studies to back this up. But I think I will give you a couple of quick examples. With regard to something known neuropathic pain, neuropathy, that can be that sort of pins and needles sort of feeling, burning, lancinating, as my patients have described it, feeling in your limbs. It can be very hard to treat.

The way that we often treat it now in this country is to use medications like narcotics, poppy derivatives such as morphine, Dilaudid, OxyContin.

We know that marijuana can actually have a significant benefit towards treating this sort of pain. Sometimes, it can work, not only work, but it can work when those other medications didn't work. And there is something else that I think makes this very, very relevant, Wolf.

And that is, when you talk about these narcotic pills, someone dies of an accidental overdose in this country every 19 minutes from taking these prescription-type pills. When we did our research, we could not find any evidence of a death from marijuana overdose. You have a drug that works and you have a drug that may work better than what else is out there and you have a drug that from a critical safety profile appears to be safer.

BLITZER: It's amazing information.

Sanjay, a lot of the documentary that will air this weekend focused in on medical marijuana to be sure. But what about when it comes to recreational use of marijuana, just for the fun of it or the pleasure of it? What did you find out about that?

GUPTA: Well, look, I think for my purposes and for this documentary, we draw a distinction between the two.

We're looking at medicinal marijuana. Recreational marijuana is I think in a different bucket. But let me say a couple things, since you raised the question. First of all, in no way do I think that recreational use for kids or for adolescents or even for people whose brain is still developing, probably up to age about 25, it could be more detrimental in those people.

I have kids. I think about this. I know they're going to watch this years from now. So I think that's very important to state. But if you're going to ask about the moral equivalency, marijuana vs. alcohol, which always comes up, marijuana is less addictive, about 9 percent or so addiction. That is an agreed-upon number. Alcohol probably closer to 15 percent.

But the withdrawal from marijuana, insomnia, sometimes nausea, with alcohol, the withdrawal can be life-threatening. I have seen this again as physician. It can be terrible. And again I don't know of any documented case of someone dying from an overdose on marijuana, yet it does happen with alcohol. So I hate to draw the moral equivalence, because I think it's not that relevant, the argument.

The argument about medicinal marijuana should stand on its own. But this always comes up, and that's what I would say about it. BLITZER: Powerful information from Dr. Sanjay Gupta, as usual. Sanjay, you have done a great job. Thanks very much for joining us.

"Weed" is a fascinating documentary. It airs on CNN Sunday 8:00 and 11:00 p.m. Eastern.

Up next tonight, Anderson talks to a man who knows what it's like to face danger in war zones, but never faced anything like this before.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JONATHAN ALPEYRIE, PHOTOGRAPHER: It was a checkpoint. They were all wearing ski masks, machine guns. They stop the car. They dragged me out, put me on my knees, handcuffed me, and then blindfolded me and pretended to execute me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ISHA SESAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Isha Sesay with breaking news. A new terror threat tonight prompting a fresh travel warning from the State Department.

CNN's Elise Labott has been working her sources and joins us now.

Elise, What's the latest and crucially, where is this happening?

ELISE LABOTT, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Isha, the State Department has evacuated most of its diplomats from Lahore, Pakistan. U.S. officials tell us this is in direct response to a terrorist threat against the U.S. Consulate there. Only a few critical personnel remain. The rest travel this evening to Islamabad.

SESAY: Let's be very specific Here. Do we know whether U.S. authorities are responding to a specific targeted threat?

LABOTT: Isha, it's unclear whether the latest threat to the consulate was related to this current threat stream against U.S. facilities and personnel across the Middle East. No posts in Pakistan were part of those closings of about 19 embassies and consulates.

Officials tell us they're trying to trace whether it's related. They can't say a linkage, but they can't rule it out, but there was a specific threat to the U.S. Consulate. Now, most of al Qaeda's core leadership is believed to reside in Pakistan, city of Lahore home to other extremists sympathetic to the group, but it's also a well-known base for Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is a considered a terrorist threat by the -- terrorist organization by the United States and has had many threats in the past.

SESAY: Let me ask you this, do we know how the U.S. came by this information regarding the consulate there in Lahore?

LABOTT: We don't know specifically how that information came about. There has been a lot of talk about how the U.S. has been upping its intelligence collection and we heard about those intercepts of al Qaeda leaders related to that general threat stream.

We don't know whether that's the case right now. But certainly the U.S. has been kind of really looking very closely at intelligence in recent weeks and months because of this recent threat.

SESAY: All right, with this as the backdrop, is the State Department giving any guidance with regards to U.S. citizens who may be considering travel to Pakistan right now?

LABOTT: Well, Isha, the travel warning from the State Department is about to be issued, warning U.S. citizens against travel to Pakistan because of all the activity against these groups saying that there are threats against American and U.S. interests and facilities in the region.

SESAY: All right, and a timeline, do we have one for how long the consulate in Lahore will effectively remain shuttered?

LABOTT: Well, there are a couple of personnel that remain in case they need to do anything, obviously, especially working with the local authorities in Lahore to make sure that facility is protected.

It's a very unusual step to order the departure of diplomats out of a specific post. It doesn't look like they will be back any time soon. But the fact that they moved them to the capital, Islamabad, just shows they want to keep them in the region if they need to send them back. The U.S. says, State Department says that they prefer to keep posts open. They want to continue to do the business of the American people.

So they're just a couple of hours away in Islamabad, but definitely not going back any time soon.

SESAY: All right, one last question before I let you go, Elise. Do we know how many people we're talking about in terms of this evacuation? Do we have a rough estimate?

LABOTT: We don't have a rough estimate and the U.S. doesn't like to give those numbers because of security reasons.

But Lahore is a pretty decent-sized consulate in the area, so it's not just a handful of people that we're talking about. They took out a great deal of people out of the consulate and basically there are no services being provided.

SESAY: All right, our Elise Labott there joining us.

Thank you so much for the update.

Now more 360, the latest on Syria. Here's Wolf.

BLITZER: Claims today from a pair of Syrian rebel groups. They say they attacked dictator Bashar al-Assad's motorcade as he headed for morning prayers celebrating the end of Ramadan. The government denies it, but if the claims are true, it would be a rare close call for Assad who made an appearance at a Damascus mosque this morning. His forces, meantime, reportedly killed 62 rebel fighters yesterday. In fact, no end to the killing, which according to the U.N. the and the Red Cross, has now taken more than 100,000 lives.

The regime has done most of the large-scale killing. However, Syria is now full of shadowy, violent insurgent groups. Some of them are hostile to more than just the regime.

According to the group Reporters Without Borders, at least 15 journalists have disappeared in Syria.

For 81 days, one of those was a photographer Jonathan Alpeyrie. He was freed just two weeks ago. This week, he talked to Anderson Cooper about his ordeal and his narrow escape from death.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: How did this ordeal begin? When did you first realize, OK, I'm in trouble here?

ALPEYRIE: Well, I mean, very quickly, as soon as the trap was set up. So they set up a checkpoint. And I was in the car with two of my fixers and two rebel soldiers who were in on it as well.

COOPER: A fixer is somebody you hire locally to help you translate, to help you get around?

ALPEYRIE: Yes, he does everything. He gets me around. He translates and supposed to have very good contacts as well to get you through places and get the pictures you need.

COOPER: So there was a roadblock. What happened?

ALPEYRIE: Yes, basically, so we were driving with these other guys in the car and pickup truck and there was a check point. They were all wearing ski masks, machine guns. They stopped the car, dragged me out, put me on my knees, handcuffed me and then blind folded me and pretended to execute me. So they put me on my knees like this and shoot their guns.

COOPER: What's going through your mind then?

ALPEYRIE: It's almost unreal. You don't think it's happening to you. But, it's very quick. And when they try to execute you, it's to break your will to maybe fight back or run, something like that. So, you don't believe that's happening to you.

COOPER: Was this a setup? I mean, do you think you were set up to be apprehended?

ALPEYRIE: Yes. A lot of my sources and, you know, some of the secret service, American and French, have led to this conclusion that I was set up by one of my two fixers. They knew I was coming to the southern part of the front line. So, they set it up and they captured me. And everybody else that was with me was released very quickly afterwards. So, it was just me at the end held captive, not anybody else.

COOPER: So they pretended to execute you. Then what happened?

ALPEYRIE: Then they grabbed me, put me in the car and they had their machine guns to the back of my neck and I was, you know, held down like this and we drove for a couple of minutes to a house. They dragged me out and they basically emptied my pockets. They took everything I had, put me back in the car, and drove to another location. Took about five, 10 minutes. And then I was in the house and they put me in a small room. I was on my belly with the handcuffed in the back, blind folded. And that's how my first three weeks of captivity started in this house.

COOPER: Always in that room?

ALPEYRIE: Yes, always in that room except when I need to go to the bathroom, which was once a day. And the rest of the time, I was blind folded attached to a bed under heavy shelling at some point, the government is very nearby and shelling us with helicopters or artillery fighter rackets, stuff like that. And after these three weeks I was moved to another location, about 500 yards away, another house and I had more freedom in there.

COOPER: Were they friendly to you?

ALPEYRIE: The first couple of weeks, no. They like, sometimes, they walk by and kick me, or just laugh and make fun of me, stuff like that. Once I was interrogated by a couple of people. They came with knives, put a heel on my throat telling me I was part of the CIA or FBI, and I think that was meant to break me mentally and admit to it, but I never did. I said no, I'm a journalist. You can easily find that out. (INAUDIBLE).

COOPER: So they didn't know who you were in advance?

ALPEYRIE: No, I don't think it really mattered. All they knew is I was a western journalist and it was a good opportunity for them for financial returns.

COOPER: And that's what this was about, money?

ALPEYRIE: Yes, it is about money.

COOPER: You were moved to a second house as you said and you had a little bit more freedom there?

ALPEYRIE: Yes. The first week I was chained to a window and after a week, for some reason that completely disappeared and I was allowed to go outside the house and there are some sort of backyard, surrounded by walls and I could walk around like this.

COOPER: This went on for 81 days?

ALPEYRIE: Yes.

COOPER: How do you get through that? What do you, mentally, how do you do it?

ALPEYRIE: One of the ways that I made things better for myself is to forget everything from back home, like my family, my friends, my life. That was very difficult. I was usually not successful at it, but just tried to. I told myself, my life before is over, this is my life now and I have to deal with it.

COOPER: I know you can't say much about how you were freed, but what can you say?

ALPEYRIE: I was freed partially by somebody close to the regime, by Assad's regime, who had an interest to find me. Because originally he was looking for other journalists who had been missing in the area and out of pure luck he found me, and he got in touch with some of the people holding me and they said, well, we don't have these two journalists but we have another journalist, a French one. Are you interested, do you want him? And they started negotiating money. I think they wanted $700,000 originally and I think it was brought down to $450,000.

COOPER: You got out just two weeks ago?

ALPEYRIE: Yes, about two weeks ago.

COOPER: Would you go back?

ALPEYRIE: No, I mean, no, I would not go back. Would I cover another war? I would like to. Because that's in me. But Syria, I got very lucky -- I'm very lucky to believe alive. And I will not try my luck again and go back inside. And I think if I did, people would know and capture me again.

COOPER: I'm so glad you're out. Thank you for talking to me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Coming up, a controversial shooting by police, all caught on camera. So, why did police in Miami Beach fire more than 100 shots at a reckless driver after he stopped his car, killing the driver and injuring four bystanders? The case has been under investigation for two years. The family is still waiting for answers. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: The latest on deadly and strange flash flooding. We are going to show you where the water is rising when "360" continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: There are big questions about police in Miami Beach tonight after two separate cases that left people dead. Just two days ago a teenager died in police custody after he was tasered by officers. The police version is that 18-year-old Israel Hernandez ran from officers after he was caught spray painting graffiti and they tasered him after he ignored their command to stop. Hernandez's friends say after officers tasered him, they laughed and high-fived each other as Hernandez laid motionless on the ground. That death is now under investigation.

Another shooting getting a close look right now, the death of a reckless driver who police fired more than 100 shots at after he stopped his car. That investigation has been going on for two years. The question is, what's taking so long to determine if police did use excessive force?

Jason Carroll reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The controversial shooting captured on cell phone video shows the last moments of Raymond Herisse's life on May 30th, 2011.

Several shots are heard as Hialeah, Florida police officers try to stop his reckless driving.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Silver Hyundai almost ran over a Hialeah cop.

CARROLL: The video shows him heading down Collins Avenue and South Beach, Miami, comes to a stop. He is then surrounded by several Miami Beach police officers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God. They are going to kill this man.

CARROLL: The street is crowded with onlookers, enjoying urban beach week, an annual hip-hop event. A second bystander's cell phone captures what happens next. Police start shooting, firing more than 100 bullets.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God. He got to be dead now.

CARROLL: Scattered traffic picks up the chaos.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where is the subject? Where is the subject?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the vehicle.

CARROLL: Four bystanders are hurt. (INAUDIBLE) is killed, hit 16 times by police gunfire.

CHARLINE HERISSE, SISTER: We think about it all the time. Just relive and rethink about how my brother left us is very painful and in order for us to move on just a little, just to go on, we need some kind of closure.

CARROLL: The Herisse family is still waiting for closure, questioning why two years later the investigation is still not complete. And what triggered the police to shoot when the video shows he had stopped his car?

Alex Bello, president of the Miami Beach fraternal order of police, points out an autopsy reveals that Herisse was driving drunk and he says a gun was later found in the car. Bello adds, whether he put his hand underneath his seat to grab the gun, something happened that caused them all to react at the same time. The family attorney is not buying it.

MARWAN PORTER, HERISSE FAMILY ATTORNEY: There was a gun residue test that was performed on the weapon. That gun has not been shot, period. So, any suggestion that he was shooting a gun has gone out the window.

CARROLL: What do you think is happening here?

ROGENY HERISSE, SISTER: They're trying to make it seem like it was an accident or it was his fault, but it was them who did all this, and they're trying to hide it.

CHARLINE HERISSE: They definitely used excessive force, definitely.

CARROLL: Scanner traffic shows police immediately tried to get a handle on how many bystanders were shot.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have a man down.

CARROLL: That man was Cedric Perkins.

CEDRIC PERKINS, BYSTANDER HIT BY POLICE GUNFIRE: I seen the blood and realized I was a shot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Another one hit in the hip.

CARROLL: And that was Carlton St. Louis. Where were you standing, right over here?

CARLSON ST. LOUIS, BYSTANDER IT BY POLICE GUNFIRE: Yes. I was walking over here and I knew something was wrong when I fell. I looked and I seen a bullet wound here and blood gushing out of my head.

CARROLL: Both Carlson and Perkins say police were careless while they face amounting medical bill. Carlson has a metal rod and screws holding his hip together. Perkins still has a bullet lodged in his chest.

PERKINS: It feels like an ongoing cramp in my chest all day long.

JASMINE RAND, PERKINS' ATTORNEY: We're really looking to the police for clarity. We want a full investigation and charges brought against the police officers.

CARROLL: Neither the Miami beach police or the Hialeah police would comment on camera, citing the ongoing investigation, which has been turned over to the Miami-Dade state attorney's office.

A spokesman there would only give a statement saying their job is to determine is there or is there not a crime? He went on to say the lengthy investigation is due to processing so much evidence collected over a wide area, saying the crime scene was blocks and blocks long.

In the meantime, the bystanders caught up in the shooting still wait for financial help from their injuries, and the Herisse family still waits for answers.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm cry any time. I never finish cry. I'm sleep, I wake up cry.

CHARLINE HERISSE: We need some kind of answers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And Jason Carroll is joining us now.

Jason, what do we know about possible lawsuits by the family or by any of those innocent bystanders?

CARROLL: Well, I can tell you, you know, the Herisse family is still very upset over what happened. You heard from the sister and mother there, as well. They have filed a civil suit against the Miami Beach police department. And we also know that at least two of the four bystanders that were caught up in that shooting, they are planning to file civil suits, as well.

And also tonight, Wolf, I should tell you that the mayor of the city of Miami Beach released a statement to CNN saying in part the city has been diligently working on enhancing policies and procedures throughout the organization to try to restore the public trust --Wolf?

BLITZER: All right, Jason, thanks very much. Jason Carroll, that was excellent reporting.

Just ahead, flash flooding across the nation's midsection. Dozens of people had to be rescued from their homes. Why the dangers isn't over yet.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: New indictments against two friends of the Boston bombing suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. The charges they face and the prison time if convicted. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ISHA SESAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi. I'm Isha Sesay. Back again with a "360" bulletin.

Flooding in the Midwest, a Missouri woman was killed while driving across a bridge. Dozens of people across the region has to be rescued from their homes from the refuge on their roofs. Meantime, powerful wildfires are forcing evacuations in the west. The silver fire in Southern California has burned at least 11,000 acres and forced more than 1,000 evacuations.

Two friends of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev have been indicted on obstruction of justice charges. The friends are both 19-years-old and are accused of helping Tsarnaev by taking things out of his dorm room after the bombing.

And this year's presidential Medal of Freedom recipients include former president Bill Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, Gloria Steinem and the Loretta Lynn. The White House announced a list of 16 honorees today -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Isha, thanks.

Form president George W. Bush is back at home after a health scare this week. As you probably heard, he had a stint placed in an artery to clear a blockage in his heart. The news came as a quite a shock to many who regard President Bush as a model of physical fitness. But some health officials are pointing out there may be some good in the discovery and not just for Mr. Bush.

Tom Foreman has this week's "American Journey."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In office and out, George W. Bush has been regarded by many as the most fit president ever. Mountain biking, running, swimming, golfing, weightlifting and laboring on his ranch. His annual physicals while in office found him in excellent health with no history of hypertension or diabetes and low to very low coronary artery disease. So when physicians found a heart blockage and inserted a stint to reopen an artery, some people may have been stunned, but not Dr. Barron Lerner.

DOCTOR BARRON LERNER, AUTHOR, WHEN ILLNESS GOES PUBLIC: I think it is an instructive case that people should go to their doctors and not assume, for example, that just because they exercise a lot they don't necessarily have a heart problem.

FOREMAN: Lerner wrote a book on the impact of celebrity health issues called "when illness goes public" and he says when famous people face illness, this is the good that almost always follows, public awareness and action rise sharply.

When former first lady Betty Ford, for example, disclosed she had breast cancer, the number of women seeking screenings rose. When Katie Couric's husband died of colon cancer, screenings for that disease increased, too.

LERNER: I think the best thing that comes out of this is that somebody reads about this and then they pursue it more.

FOREMAN: Over the past half century or so, each president has maintained some sort of physical fitness during and after his term. Nixon bowled. Ford golfed. Carter jogged. Reagan rode horses. Clinton ran, too. Obama plays basketball. And the first President Bush even jumped out of an airplane. Each one a living reminder of how much watching your health matters, whether you're famous or not.

Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Coming up, a tiny down re-elects a tinier mayor. The "ridicu-list" is next.

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BLITZER: It's "ridicu-list" time. Tonight, we have a story of a small-town politics and a pint-sized mayor. Here's Anderson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Time now for the "ridicu-list."

Right now, when you hear the word mayor, scandal may be the first thing that comes to mind. There's strong accusations against the mayor of San Diego, of course, and New York mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner has had some, well, issues as you know. That's why now, more than ever, I'm pleased to report at least one town in this country has it figured out when it comes to choosing a mayor. That's town Dorsett, Minnesota, population 22 -- 28 when the minister and his family are in town. Dorsett just had its mayoral election and the people in town were pretty excited ant it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I like the incumbent mayor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He stance on ice cream and things like that are hard to beat.

COOPER: You heard right, the incumbent mayor has a stance on ice cream because he's 4-years-old. The town citizens due cast ballots, but after that it is pretty much left up to chance.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The mayor of Dorsett is pulled out of the hat. We're rooting for you, Robert.

Robert Tuffs.

COOPER: That's right, 4-year-old Bobby Tuffs has been elected to a second term as mayor. He was three when he became mayor last year. He turns five in October and he is already a pro speaking with the local media.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Can you give a big WCCL welcome and hello to mayor Bobby Tuffs.

(APPLAUSE)

ROBERT TUFFS, 4-YEARS-OLD: I only got one bath.

COOPER: In fact, Mayor Tuffs is a fishing aficionado as we learned when he was interviewed during his first term.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: What's your favorite kind of bait? What do the fish bite on out here?

TUFFS: Leeches, worms.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: What is your favorite to catch?

TUFFS: (INAUDIBLE) Northerns, Muskies.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: I saw you eating that bubble quite a bit. Can you describe what that bopper tastes like?

TUFFS: It takes like fish poop.

(LAUGHTER)

COOPER: Fish poop. Now, at the tender age of four, mayor Tuffs has already developed quite a knack for dealing with other power players, television executives for instance.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: You're the mayor of Dorsett. This is a mayor of a TV station.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good to see you.

TUFFS: Up high. To the other side. Down low. Too slow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's good.

COOPER: And probably most importantly, there is no chance that mayor Tuffs will be caught in any kind of, shall we say, impersonal impropriety.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Exactly, how many girlfriends do you have?

TUFFS: Like one.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: And what is her name?

TUFFS: Sophia.

COOPER: Now, if you are going to pick a name out of a hat to choose your mayor, you could do a lot worse than a 4-year-old fisherman with a preschool sweetheart. He'll always have the official endorsement of the "ridicu-list."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: That does it for this edition of "360." Thanks for watching.

Erin Burnett "OUTFRONT" starts right now.