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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo Exploded, Crashed Today in California's Mojave Desert; Nurse Kaci Hickox Is Free to Go Wherever She Wants; Man Suspected of Killing a State Trooper Arrested by U.S. Marshals;

Aired October 31, 2014 - 20:00   ET

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

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening. Thanks for joining us.

You cannot get any closer to a story than this. Tonight, the man who captured fugitive Eric Frein.

We begin with breaking news, our first look at the last moments of a spaceship designed to be so safe that one day it would carry paying customers out of this world. Billionaire Richard Branson dreamed it up, building a brand, Virgin Galactic, around it. Even commissioned a space for forth it (ph). Today, however, during a test flight over the Mojave Desert, something went terribly, terribly wrong. A test pilot has died, another was hurt.

And just moments ago, we got a look at what the images of what it looked like from the ground. I don't want to show them to you. They come from an eyewitness, Kenneth Brown. That's Virgin Galactic's spaceship two seconds after separating from the plane they carried it up to launch altitude just as the rocket motor ignites.

Now, on the next image you can see it racing ahead of the mother ship which later returned to the field safely. Then in the next two frames the incident itself. Something terrible happens, we don't yet know what exactly. And SpaceShipTwo breaks apart. All of this unfolded at about 45,000 feet. It only took seconds. A go-team of federal investigators is on scene tonight.

CNN's Paul Vercammen is there for us right now.

What is the latest on ground, Paul?

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, no doubt one area focus is going to be the fuel mixture. Officials revealing to us today it was the first time that they tested what they call a new fuel formulation in the air. They had previously tested that formula on the ground.

Also tonight, we have a vast debris field. More than three miles long at some point, they're going to focus on that. We know that one pilot survived and was able to deploy his parachute. The other was taken to a nearby hospital with moderate to major injuries. So there is a lot of work at hand here. You were talking about those pictures. What we understand that officials described, at one point the spaceship separates from the rocket and effectively becomes a glider. Another witness telling us that her husband noticed that there was some spinning going on that was completely unusual from earlier flights they have come out and witnesses, Anderson.

COOPER: And you were able to drive to one of the debris fields?

VERCAMMEN: I was. And I talked to some of the officers on scene. And at that debris field, one of five separate fields you could tell they were trying to clear some railroad tracks. And in the first area, they say that is where the pilot who died was very close to the debris and possibly could have still been in his seat. But then down the way, that pilot who was able to deploy his parachute.

Some tough moments here, Anderson. Usually, they were so jovial when you come out here, Richard Branson, often holding court and bragging about his company. But today, they swallowed hard. Here is what one member of his intergalactic team had had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE WHITESIDES, CEO, VIRGINIA GALACTIC: Space is hard, and today was a tough day. Future rest in many ways on hard, hard days like this. But we believe we owe it to the folks who were flying these vehicles, as well as the folks who have been working so hard on them to understand this and to move forward which is what we'll do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERCAMMEN: And off camera, I also talked with the CEO of the Air And Space Port here in Mojave. And he said these men were heroes to him and he swallowed very hard. And he also said, you know, all of us would march up to and through the mouth of hell with each other. It would be happy, Anderson.

COOPER: Paul Vercammen, a tough day. Thanks very much.

It bears repeating what the CEO of Virgin Galactic said, you just heard it, space is hard, he said. The company's mission, though, is to turn that and virtually every other piece of conventional wisdom about trace travel upside down, watch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): This is what the last successful flight of Virgin Galactic's space plane looked back in January. Sir Richard Branson's company produced this sleek video complete with scaring music that showed pilots inspecting the plane in the pre-dawn California darkness.

And importantly this is what this unusual space craft or model 339 SpaceShipTwo scales deposit (ph) did on that day. Dropped down from its mother ship and took off across the skies. For Branson, it was a chance to disprove what many had said. The design was too risky to take civilian passengers into space.

SIR RICHARD BRANSON, FOUNDER, VIRGIN GALACTIC: Now, there are always skeptics out there. And there are always people who, you know, you read -- occasionally you read articles and it just gets you pissed off. But 99.99 percent of people want to see Virgin Galactic succeed.

COOPER: Richard Branson has repeatedly said that NASA was not the answer, that it was flying into space with designs decades old. His company would do it much better, he said.

BRANSON: What we have is a spaceship which is completely experimental, quite old technology. So, you know, many, many times safer than what NASA were able to offer.

COOPER: The idea behind the space plan, of course, is to take civilians up into space, not to the moon, but into space for a sub- orbital flight. Initial price for a round trip ticket, $200,000, later raise to $250,000. Not for the faint of heart or for those who can't afford it. The company says more than 700 seats have already been sold.

BRANSON: You get memories to last a lifetime, you know, a trip which is absolutely about sensory overload, every part of this journey is going to be a little bigger than anything else you have ever experienced.

COOPER: Richard Branson is flying to California to see first-hand what happened. But he had already made it crystal clear that Virgin Galactic has a bright, certain future.

BRANSON: Of all the things that Virgin has done, Virgin Galactic will be, you know, will be the pinnacle as expect. Virgin Galactic will be able one day, I think, to transport people from a to b in the world point to point at incredible speed.

COOPER: And today, company executives say they will persevere.

WITT: My message to them is stay the course. This business is worthy business, this is not easy. If it were easy it wouldn't be interesting to me or any of my colleagues standing with us.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: And as my next three guests know quite well, neither space flight nor flight testing has ever been easy or risk-free. Edwards air force base just down the road from Mojave as much as shrine to fall and test pilots, is it is the birth place of space travel. It is named after Air force captain Glenn Edwards, a test pilot killed in a crash to the base.

Joining us tonight CNN aviation correspondent Richard Quest, space shuttle and international space station veteran Ken Bowersox, And CNN aviation analyst Miles O'Brien.

Ken, you know, so much that the purpose of this is at this point just take people up into space and give them that experience at a very high cost. Long-term, though, Richard Branson talked about shortening the time for global travel. Is that really what the end result of this might be? KEN BOWERSOX, FLEW FIVE SPACE SHUTTLE MISSIONS: Well, when you think

of space, space is kind of a co continuum. You got the very lower end where you just leave the earth atmosphere. It didn't go a little bit father. And then you can make it all the way into orbit. If you go between orbit and the edge of the atmosphere, you can make some very long trips. You can go half way around the world or in 45 minutes or in an hour, and that is what Mr. Branson is talking about a thing.

COOPER: So that's the potential -- I mean, really, half way around the world in 45 minutes?

BOWERSOX: That is right. You know, with the space shuttle we used to practice the board landings where we might land in Africa 30 minutes after takeoff.

COOPER: That is incredible.

Richard, what do you make of what happened today? I mean, the fact there were multiple debris fields spread over wide area obviously is broke up, at very high altitude. At this point we just don't know exactly what went wrong.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: No, we don't. And of course, everybody is focusing on the different fuel formula which they announced had been used today. But what role that played is simply unknown.

Indeed, what role the engine played or whether it was a structural failure, what we can say looking at those pictures, and what you can say looking at the debris field is that after the separation was this catastrophic incident. But you would expect to see a large plume, you would expect to see a flame, because obviously the engine was going to be ignited. And then the space craft breaks up.

Now, that may be stating the blinding obvious. But you really at this point, Anderson, cannot go one stage further. Because the reasons for that break-up, and that we do clearly there was a break-up because of the debris field being so wide, we can't go further than that which may not be very helpful and maybe unsatisfying for some, but that is the safest course tonight.

COOPER: Yes, I would rather do that than go down the road of speculation. There is no point on that at this point.

But Miles, the new fuel mixture which Richard mentions, and again, we don't know if it was involved in this crash. But why at this stage of the development of this spaceship would they be trying the new fuel mixture? Do we know?

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: The old fuel mixture was not doing the job, Anderson. They have been working on it literally for ten years since the (INAUDIBLE), the predecessor aircraft. It was kind of rubbery mix with nitroxocide and there were problems with oscillation. It was a very rough ride and it was not delivering enough of the specific impulse that they call it or the power in essence. I think there are some clues in those photos, if we can go through

them really quickly, if we have time. I think we can make a cursory -- at least get a cursory idea of what happened. As you look at the first shot you see they just separated. The two craft are separated. You see the plume looks very bright and distinct. And then as we go to the second shot you notice the plume is not as distinct and bright as it was before.

COOPER: Now, the spacecraft on the right, that is the galactic spacecraft.

O'BRIEN: Exactly. I'm sorry. Glad you clarified that. To the left is the mother ship, WhiteKnight, II, to the right is the spacecraft. And you noticed how much painter the rocket plume is there. It also looks like a string of pearls as if it is sputtering. That's a very important clue.

Now, look at the next shot. And you can see that is not really necessarily an explosion as it is an in-flight break-up. You look at all those pieces and the trail there. One of the things they might want to be looking at here is was there some sort of rupture in the fuel tank. Now, what it would do is it would cause, obviously, pieces to fall off. It would cause that sputtering effect. And could also cause some sort of asymmetrical thrust which would cause further break ups. So, that's in the realm of possibility. When people say this vehicle exploded, I don't see any evidence so far that that is the case.

COOPER: Ken, I mean, looking at these images, though, it is remarkable to think that a pilot was able to parachute out.

O'BRIEN: Yes. And they don't have ejection seats --

COOPER: Yes. Sorry, Go ahead Ken.

BOWERSOX: I was just going to say it is amazing what people can survive through. If you look through history in some of the crashed where pilots have made it. It is one of the reasons we think it is a good idea to give people on board a spacecraft some way to get out, some sort of an escape system because even in the worst cases it is possibly for people to actually actuate an escape system and get away from a failing vehicle.

COOPER: And do we know, Miles, do we know -- I mean, is there an ejection seat, or is it you open up the hatch? I mean, how does -- how do you get out, you know?

O'BRIEN: Here is how they do it. First of all, they're not wearing full pressure suits which is the way the shuttle astronauts used to fly before challenger, the challenger accident. So they're just wearing kind of a flight suit, helmet and some oxygen. They have -- believe it or not, they have broke netting that allows them to pull themselves to the door if they need to bail out. Obviously, they have a parachute. But there is no ejection seats on board this craft.

COOPER: And Richard, as we said, Richard is flying to the Mojave Desert now. You have interviewed him a number of times. I have talked to him as well. You have no doubt this is going to stop him from space exploration.

QUEST: I can't see that it is going to, unless it has such a fundamental effect upon him on the organization. But listening to what the CEO was saying a moment ago. People don't go into this industry. They don't go down this route if they're going to be put off by setbacks, tragic ones, though they are.

And remember, Richard Branson has ditched on two around the world balloon attempts. He has been across the ocean in a speed boat and won the blue ribbon. This is a man who is not faint-hearted when it comes to risks.

Now, is he going to obviously pause for thought? Absolutely. Will this delay the final result of Virgin Galactic without doubt? But I would be able be very -- I cannot see him tonight turning the lights off.

COOPER: Richard Quest, Miles O'Brien and Ken Bowersox, thanks so much for being with us.

Quick reminder tonight before we move on. Make sure you set your DVR. You can watch "AC360" whenever you want.

There is a lot more tonight going on, including the governor of Maine, who didn't want her within three feet to anyone even though Kaci Hickox is neither sick with the Ebola and no shows any signs of having the virus.

Coming up next, what a judge has now decided and most importantly what his decision said about her battle in winning the war on a deadly disease.

And later, Eric Frein, who spent nearly seven weeks on the on the FBI's most wanted list, he was captured last night. Tonight, he is in custody, the U.S. marshal who actually caught him and led the team that caught him tells us how it all went down.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Welcome back.

Tonight, the nurse who took on the governor of New Jersey and won has done the same with the governor of Maine. More importantly, says supporters, Kaci Hickox has also scored a victory over the unreasonable fear of catching Ebola.

Today, a judge in Maine ruled in her favor, saying that local health officials failed to make a case that Ms. Kaci Hickox who has twice tested negative for Ebola since returning from West Africa presents a threat to the public that calls for her being quarantined. That's where the politicians have said.

His ruling requires her to submit to direct monitoring, to coordinate travel plans with public health officials and notify authorities should any symptoms appear. Tonight, Ms. Hickox called it a good compromise. She thanked her legal team and gave a special shout out to all the people she worked with in West Africa.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KACI HICKOX, NURSE IN QUARANTINE FIGHT: They are why I'm here. I hope that one day if I can meet some of them at the airport I can give them a big hug and let them know that we were in this together. And hopefully we've come out of this battle. And learned something new about what it means to treat people with compassion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Joining us now is one of Kaci Hickox's attorneys, Steven Hyman.

Really, congratulations for you. Did you expect the judge to rule this way?

STEVEN HYMAN, KACI HICKOX'S ATTORNEY: We expected the judge to rule this way. I mean, this decision is really a landmark decision. Did I expect it? No. Would I have hoped for it? Yes. Did he understand the law and the fact and the application? Yes. It is an excellent decision.

COOPER: And it is -- I mean, when you think about this, this is a woman who doesn't have access to power, doesn't have ton of money, but she took on the governor of New Jersey and won and she took on the governor of Maine and won. And what does that say about standing up for civil rights?

HYMAN: It shows that it can be done. I mean, she -- being in that isolation, what I call that isolation cell that Governor Christie put her in, she fought back. And she was able -- she is so articulate and able to give voice to what was happening to her, that she was able to overcome it and make a statement for all health care workers.

COOPER: Does it surprise you that so many people have pointed fingers at her and said look, she should stay at home. She should be quarantined. She should think about everybody else?

HYMAN: She is the one -- people say that so easily, of course, with no thought of what happens to the individual they're going to quarantine. She is the one who is giving voice to the other side saying no, that is not the way it is supposed to be. It is supposed to be how medicine and science tells us this disease is transmitted. And there is no reason for such quarantine.

COOPER: Is this judge's ruling, I mean, it's a state ruling. Is it going to have an impact do you think elsewhere?

HYMAN: I can't imagine why it won't. It is so well thought out, reasoned. And it is of course based upon Maine law as compared to more general federal law and constitutional law. But I think it is a perfect template for other states.

COOPER: It is a temporary court order, do you know when there will be another hearing?

HYMAN: Yes. The case was sat down initially for a hearing on next Tuesday which is pursuant to the main statute. What happened was the state asked for temporary order of requiring Kaci Hickox to essentially not be quarantined but to stay out of public places and essentially stay home. And they asked the judge for a temporary order. And he initially gave a temporary order overnight. He called it a temporary/temporary order.

COOPER: And then he was like let me give you a day and let me look at the stuff. And when he actually looked at all the evidence and looked at all the medical history --

HYMAN: Right, he looked at the papers submitted and looked at what was there.

COOPER: Steven Hyman, appreciate you being on again. Thank you so much.

HYMAN: A pleasure.

COOPER: Big day for her. And our legal and medical panels, senior legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin and Arthur Caplan, director of division of medical ethics at New York University's Langone medical center. We spoke a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: So Jeff, the fact the court rejected this quarantine one day after instituted, what does it tell you?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, it tells you that the judge really read the papers in front of him. It is really it is a remarkably eloquent opinion considering how little time he had to produce it. Where he said simply, we have to make judgments about the facts and the law not based on fear. And given the facts on how Ebola is transmitted and how it is not transmitted he said there is no reason to quarantine Kaci Hickox and said you can't do it.

COOPER: And I mean, this doesn't surprise you or me, I mean, we were all saying although people are fearful. And it is understandable people are fearful, people have civil rights. A politician can't just point and say you may one day get sick and therefore locked in your house.

TOOBIN: Well, maybe I'm too cynical. But I guess I was a little surprised that the judge didn't take the word of the Maine department of -- the government of Maine because they usually -- judges defer to the government on these sorts of questions. But the judge frankly, I think, had the courage and the intelligence to say no, I'm going to look at the facts. And the facts are that this woman is not a threat to anyone right now.

ARTHUR CAPLAN, DIRECTOR OF DIVISION OF MEDICAL ETHICS, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY'S LANGONE MEDICAL CENTER: You know, I wasn't so surprised, only because -- COOPER: You wrote a piece in "Time" magazine.

CAPLAN: Yes. You're supposed to go to the least intrusive option. The least intrusive option which is monitoring yourself, and kind of self-assessment. Make sure if you're showing symptoms. There is no way a quarantine can pass that standard. And I know people are saying well, you know, can you be sure? Can you be sure? The facts are as Jeff said, you know, you can't get it by casual contact. And then you can control her infecting another by saying you watch yourself.

COOPER: I was just amazed because I mean, I was tweeting about this and people on twitter were saying, you don't get it. You know, a lot of people are fearful out of an abundance of caution she should just quarantine herself. The idea that people are so quick to give up other people's civil rights just because some are afraid, it would surprise me.

TOOBIN: You're getting it on twitter. Imagine what she has been getting on facebook and elsewhere. I mean, this has taken a lot of courage on her part. And think about this, this is a woman totally obscure, not famous, no money, who has forced not one but two governors to back down in the course of the past couple of weeks. Chris Christie in New Jersey, and now LaPage in Maine. I mean, it is pretty amazing story.

CAPLAN: He said if you remember, Christie, I get sued all the time, but you what, I said get in line because you are going to lose.

COOPER: What (INAUDIBLE) to me that, you know, politicians always say, I don't look at polls, I don't, you know, I don't go by the polls. We've heard politician after politician defending the quarantine pointing to polls saying people are afraid out this.

CAPLAN: This is poll-driven.

COOPER: We looked back in 1985. "The L.A. Times" conducted a poll founded 51 percent of Americans favored quarantining people who had AIDS, which, I mean, now you look --

CAPLAN: If you think about 20 percent favored tattooing them, of I remember. They wanted them to be marked so you would know who they were. So, you can't make public health policy by popular opinion. You have to sort of guide your civil liberties protected by science, by medicine. This woman is not a threat to anybody.

COOPER: Art Caplan, great to have you on. Jeff Toobin as well. Thanks.

As always you can find out more, a lot more on this story and other related stories of CNN.com.

Coming up next, he allegedly killed a state trooper. He was ready to kill more, and was hiding out armed and dangerous. So how did U.S. marshals catch Eric Frein without anyone firing a shot. You are going to hear from the man in charge about the team that got him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Well, crime and punishment tonight, after a manhunt that last nearly several tense week, things are getting back to normal in the Pocono Mountains area in Pennsylvania. Tonight, suspect state trooper killer, Eric Frein is in custody. Details about the operations that lead to his capture, they are starting to come to light. This arrest has restore some sense in normalcy and barrack township with kids were allowed to go trick -or-treating tonight instead of the initial plane to have the kids give candy in a parking lot under police supervision when Frein was on the loose.

Miguel Marquez has more on the manhunt and its capture which finally happened last night.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Coward!

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: An extraordinary display of murder suspect Eric Matthew Frein, officials here clearly eager to show the world the alleged killer is now fully in their control.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wouldn't make it in military.

MARQUEZ: Catching him, no easy task. For 48 days, Frein hid in the thick eastern Pennsylvania woods as law enforcement spent day and night searching on foot and by air.

LT. COL. GEORGE BIVENS, PENNSYLVANIA STATE POLICE: He was able to get into cabins. Into other unoccupied structures, find food, in other cases he had things hidden but he was able to get shelter and get in and out of the weather much as we had suspected was occurring.

MARQUEZ: A skilled sharpshooter and self-professed survivalist, authorities say Frein prepared for years to kill and then stay on the run.

FRANK NOONAN, PENNSYLVANIA STATE POLICE COMMISSIONERS: We would find like small campfires. Now, there is no way to identify who is doing that, but we would think that who else is in the woods at this time and during this manhunt trying to light very small camp fires.

MARQUEZ: For the search, no let-up. The entire massive force area was divided into grids, searched and searched again, law enforcement always a step or two behind Frein until they caught a break.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You make your own luck. It is basically just keep - keep pushing him. And then the reason it was so important, from his statements and what we believe, Eric Frein was going to kill again.

MARQUEZ: But a highly trained and equipped team of U.S. marshals discovered Frein. He was in the open, no weapons on him, unaware he was being watched.

(on camera): How much time are we talking, from the time that they identified him until the time that arrest was made? MARTIN PANE, U.S. MARSHAL: It's a short period of time. I don't have

the exact amount of time.

MARQUEZ: But quick?

PANE: It was quick.

MARQUEZ (voice over): The abandoned airport where Eric Frein was finally found is buried deep in the woods behind me. Police still going through it trying to gather every scrap of evidence they can to build their case against him, but you can see by how thick these woods are, how Eric Frein was able to await capture for weeks.

Searchers also concern about booby traps. Possible pipe bombs, set to explode when a wire was tripped. Officials discovered just such a device at a Frein hideout.

SAM RABADI, SPECIAL AGENT, ATF: Having a guy out there, an alleged cop killer with the rifle scope, booby trapped explosives. It's very difficult to just run in there after somebody.

MARQUEZ: When arrested, Frein was put in the handcuffs of Corporal Brian Dixson, the state trooper he killed. Frein was even transported in the trooper's vehicle.

(on camera): Why was it so important to cuff him with Corporal Dixon's handcuffs and put him in Corporal Dixon's squad car?

RABADI: It was not important, except to us, we just thought it was fitting. All of us just thought that if we had that opportunity that would be a very fitting tribute to Corporal Dixon and a message to all law enforcement, but especially the Pennsylvania state police that we're a brotherhood and that we would never rest until this fugitive was apprehended.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: And Miguel Marquez joins us now from Milford, Pennsylvania. So the injuries to Frein's face. We saw some on his nose in some of these photos. Are authorities saying how he got that?

MARQUEZ: They're saying that he admitted that it was in the woods that he got that. It was along his forehead, his cheek and his nose. He looked pretty banged up in court today. Pretty skinny and pale, as well. But they said that - he said that it was in the woods. They said they didn't come from them. Anderson.

COOPER: Miguel Marquez, I appreciate it. Thanks very much. Scott Malkowski led the 13 men team, that captured Frein. He had a big job and big title to go along with it. The U.S. Marshal Service Special Operations Group Taskforce commander. I spoke with him by phone a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: So, deputy explain to me why you are searching this particular area, this airfield? Was there something that - that made you think he might be there?

SCOTT MALKOWSKI, U.S. MARSHAL SERVICE SPECIAL OPERATIONS: Yes, my team and I, when we - we are insulant to one of our points, video passed area, and, you know, we just thought that the way U.S. Marshals do, arresting bad guys, thinking - and where would I hide out? And it looked like a great place, there was numerous abandoned buildings, there's an old resort. So we did our - better pushes, and had the patrol put us in the area. And I broke my teams down and we covered sectors and cleared the entire objective. It was about two hours, all of buildings. And the last one was the hangar, outside the hangar where we got in the field.

COOPER: And I understand you saw some movement in the field. What happened then?

MALKOWSKI: We were walking towards the hangar, and there is an abandoned airfield, and it was very high grass and shrubbery, and some movement caught my eye, behind - behind the tall grass. Top of the hat (ph). And I was walking, so once I saw the move in the hat I told my guys, the suspect, quietly. And they immediately fanned out in deflecting positions.

COOPER: Had he seen you at this point?

MALKOWSKI: No, no, sir. He had not seen me. He had not seen any of us. We were in our full kit, in our camouflage uniforms. And once he closed distance, we got about 25 meters away from him he cleared the tall grass so I could see him and his hands, so that he had no weapon. At closing distance, he eventually saw me, he turned towards me. I identified myself as U.S. Marshals. And I told him immediately get on the ground. He fell down, put his hands up and was thrown - flat on the ground. Once that happened, it was safe for us to move in closely. I got about five feet away from - what is your name, who are you? And he said Eric Frein, then my team immediately took him into cut beat (ph) flat style and took him in the custody.

COOPER: How did he appear to you? I mean, did it look like a guy who had been out in the wilderness for the last, you know, several weeks?

MALKOWSKI: No, actually, the captain of the Special Operations unit there, he said that, you look - what we know, we looked worse than he did. To me he looked pretty clean shaven, like he was - didn't spend his entire time in the woods.

COOPER: What was the feeling when you finally - when you had him, I mean, after all the searching, after knowing what he is accused of doing. What does it feel like?

MALKOWSKI: Well, I mean, it was a relief to get in the enclosure. You know, for the troopers who lost one of their own, and the other officer who is injured.

COOPER: Well, Deputy Malkowski, it's just incredible, and I appreciate all that you've done. Thank you for talking to us.

MALKOWSKI: Thank you sir. Thanks for having us on. COOPER: A lot of hard work today.

Coming up, a man who was in prison in North Korea, for leaving a Bible behind, reveals how he was treated while he was detained for nearly six months. Jeffrey Fowle speaks with our Randi Kaye next.

Although, a man with an ax went after police officer in Washington D.C. just a week after the same thing happened in New York. The latest on that attack, ahead

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Welcome back, in his first public remarks today, Jeffrey Fowle dropped a bombshell, admitting that he did exactly what North Korea accused him of doing, he left the bible in the North Korean night club not by accident, but on purpose. The 56-year old American was detained for five months, charged with proselytizing, a crime in North Korea. And last week, he was released. He is now back home with his family. He sat down with Randi Kaye today and described what those five months were like.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFFREY FOWLE: Those nerve rack, you can be sure.

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For the first time, Jeffrey Fowle is talking about his nearly six-month detainment in North Korea. After touring the country he was suddenly arrested May 7th at the airport while trying to return home to Ohio.

FOWLE: And we go in the back room, they showed me the Bible and said is this your bible? And I said yes.

KAYE: Fowle admits he left his bible at a North Korean night club days earlier.

(on camera): Why did you leave it behind?

FOWLE: I had read about the persecution of the Christians in the country. I felt compelled to help them in some way.

KAYE: Did you know that Christian proselytizing was a crime in North Korea?

FOWLE: Well, I knew it was definitely - it was not welcomed. And the people were caught - especially the locals, would be severe persecution.

KAYE: Fowle took that risk with a wife and three young children at home. Most of the time, he was held inside a hotel hospitality suite near Pyongyang allowed outside for just 30 minutes a day. Tour guides acted as security. He met once with the Swedish ambassador working on behalf of the U.S. He never saw the other two Americans being held in North Korea, Kenneth Bae and Matthew Miller, but prayed for them every day. He hoped they were being cared for and fed as well as he was. FOWLE: They were worried about me losing weight. I was given the

same food that the rest of the staff was given, so I was given normal Korean food. Sometimes it was just too (INAUDIBLE) spicy. They toned it down a little bit for me when I complained about the spiciness of it.

KAYE: He wondered for months if he would be released. Then October 21, out of nowhere, he was told.

FOWLE: The Supreme Leader and the first secretary of the Worker's Party of Korea has recommended that you be released. And that blindsided me. Wow, this is - I was expecting to be going off in the handcuffs or something after this. And then the two Americans came up right away and said, DOD, you are taken to airport. We are going now. I did a bow and made a statement of deep appreciation to leader Kim Jong-un for his decision on allowing me to leave the country. And at that point, one of the other guy turned around and said, watch what you say before you get to the airport.

KAYE: Why do you think you were released and the others were not?

FOWLE: I don't know, I have asked that question every day since I have been released. And it was - my wife is from Russia, there is a Russian connection to it. She wrote a letter to Vladimir Putin asking for help. And he - he's had - I guess Sergey Lavrov's office answer back, saying there was not anything they could do. But there's - DPRK and Russia had pretty good relations. I asked one of those two Americans that I - escorted me to the airport, I asked what precipitated this sudden change of events, and I said was it from our side. And he said no, it's from the DPRK side. So I give credit to the supreme leader for initiating this turn of events, I'm deeply appreciative of that. We have to be sensitive how we talk about the DPRK and any kind of - any communication can be misconstrued and make it worse for the Americans. So, we have got to tread carefully there.

KAYE: We've seen the video of you arriving home at the airport. Tell me about that moment.

FOWLE: I said I miss you kids so much. I love you kids very much.

KAYE (voice over): Once home he learned letters he had written to his family had actually reached them. This one was for his daughter.

FOWLE: To my precious darling Heo (ph). I love you and miss you very, very much. I know you're already a big help to mommy so keep up the good work while I'm gone.

KAYE (on camera): Were those hard letters to write?

FOWLE: They were very hard. At that time, there was nothing but black question marks going across my mind. And I didn't know if I would be able to see them again. They could have - I was still hoping it could be a couple of weeks, but it also could be a couple of decades, you never know.

(END VIDEOTAPE) COOPER: Well, Randi, if spicy food was the worst thing that happened to that guy he was very, very lucky indeed. It seems to me that his letters got through home. Did he get mail from them while being in North Korea?

KAYE: He did actually, Anderson, he got letters from family including some letters from his sister-in-law, and he told me today that she sent him cross word puzzles and Sudoku puzzles. And he told me that the guards got so paranoid about these puzzles they thought they had secret messages in them, and they thought there were secret codes. So, they actually went to the state and said don't let any more of these puzzles come into the country.

COOPER: That is interesting, how is he adjusting to being back?

KAYE: He is actually adjusting pretty well, he's been free now ten days. He is sleeping well. He doesn't have any nightmares. He said his big German shepherd didn't recognize him, but now he's invited him back into the pack, as he says.

He is driving his kids to school. He's doing household chores and he returns to his old job on Monday.

COOPER: All right. Randi, thanks very much.

Another axe attack on a police officer, this time in Washington, D.C. We'll have the latest on that and what police departments in New York and Washington are trying to do about it.

Also, the man charged in the abduction of UVA student Hannah Graham in court today. We'll tell you what judge says the Matthew's attorney wants from the judge. Coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: There are new protocols for police in New York and Washington, D.C., after the second axe attack on officers in two weeks. Now, earlier this morning in Washington, a man wielding an axe attacked an officer in the marked squad car. Just last week, obviously, a man with a hatchet attacked four New York City police officers. Rene Marsh joins us now live from Washington with the latest. So, what do we know about the details of this Washington attack?

RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, we know that it happened around 3:00 this morning, in a residential D.C. neighborhood. So, this officer was seated on the driver's side of his squad car when apparently this man armed with an axe came out of nowhere and attacked him. You could see from the video there where that axe entered the window. It was really only inches away from that officer's head. Luckily the axe missed the officer's, but he did dislocate his shoulder because he wrestled with the suspect. The attacker did get away. So, as I speak to you, the suspect remains on the run tonight. Police don't have a motive at this point and they don't honestly have a very detailed description of what this man looks like. They know he was about six feet tall, he was stocky build. But as we know that does not really narrow things down at all at this point.

And of course, this comes at a time where there have been other attacks on uniformed officers in recent weeks. And we know that radical jihadists have threatened attacks on uniformed officers in the West, Anderson.

COOPER: I mean the obvious question is do police think there is any - you know, is it just a coincidence, or do they think there is any connection to the attack in New York?

MARSH: Right. So just last week in New York City we had a man wielding a hatchet in that case. It was caught on camera. I know we had video of that. He was charging towards cops with that hatchet. He struck one cop in the arm, the other in the head. NYPD is calling it terrorism. But right now there is no indication that the incident in D.C. is connected to the one that happened in New York just last week. But, because there is this striking similarity, D.C.'s police chief did tell me today that she has been in touch with Police Commissioner of New York City, Bill Bratton, to find out if there is any information he gleaned from his investigation so far that may suggest a link. But this could also just be a copycat incident.

COOPER: Right.

MARSH: Anderson.

COOPER: All right, Rene Marsh, thanks very much. There's a lot more happening. Susan Hendricks is here. The "360" news and business following. Susan.

SUSAN HENDRICKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, we start with this a "360" follow. CNN affiliate CSN-13 (ph) is reporting that a jury has convicted a former Florida A&M band member of manslaughter and felony hazing in the death of Robert Champion. Prosecutors say the drum major was brutally beaten on the bus. Dante Martin, who prosecutors say was the ring leader of all this in the hazing (ph), now faces up to 15 years in prison.

Justin Matthew is the man charged with abducting. UVA student Hannah Graham was arraigned today by video in a separate sexual assault case. He entered no plea. After hearing Matthew's attorney in the grand case requested a sanity evaluation for his client, the judge deferred that motion.

And a big rebound to close up in month of Wall Street. The Dow and the S&P both closing at record highs, the Dow was up 195 points, ending in 17,390.

And check this out. A Halloween to remember for lots of many Spiderman and little elves trick-or-treating at the White House, the president and first lady handed out candy to children from military families and local schools. And the decorations there at the White House, pretty impressive, as well. Anderson.

COOPER: All right, Susan, thanks very much. Just ahead, what surprised Anthony Bourdain most about his trip to Iran? He and I talked about his new episode of "Parts Unknown." Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: This weekend, on "Parts Unknown," Anthony Bourdain explores Iran, a country that he's wanted to visit for a long time. It took years for him to get clearance to do so. It is a really fascinating look at the food, the people, the culture behind the politics of the Islamic republic. And I talked to him recently what the trip was like.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: You always wanted to go to Iran.

ANTHONY BOURDAIN, CNN HOST, PARTS UNKNOWN: Finally got to go and saw a country that is very different from what we perceive, what we see of it from outside. You know, we see its foreign policy. We see its military, the way it projects its military and its security services. And we see who they fund. And you know, what they have done. But from the inside it is a very young country. We hung out with a bunch of young people who collect basically an informal car club of collectors of American muscle cars. It feels very much like southern California or Barcelona in Tehran at times. And a very hopeful place filled with yearning, where people every day, particularly women, I think, are in very small ways testing the limits of what is permissible. Trying to define in fits and starts, who they want to be as a country. What is appropriate? What is OK today that may not be OK tomorrow? It is a very interesting thing to see.

COOPER: Did you feel resentment toward you as American?

BOURDAIN: Zero.

COOPER: Zero?

BOURDAINE: Zero, I mean, clerics, everywhere we walked people would say where are you from? America, oh, great, you like our country, thank you for coming to Tehran, you must come to my house. Have you tried dizi (ph) or our chelo kabab, it is very good. People are very -- however they feel, they are proud of their country and surprisingly shockingly outgoing and friendly and generous.

COOPER: Were you staying at the hotel that has the -- like down with USA? There used to be ...

BOURDAIN: Yeah, yeah, you know, we stayed right under the "Death to America mural. And we had one meal at a restaurant where they put little flags on the tables of French or Italian visitors and the owner came over saying, I'm so sorry, we don't have American flags. I mean I think the underlying -- we - you know, we burned them, we had to burn them last week. But what if they were - they were unfailingly lovely to us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: The all-new episode, Anthony Bourdain, "Parts Unknown." Sunday, 9:00 p.m. Eastern here on CNN and quickly before we go, just got word that a court in Mexico has ordered the immediate release of Andrew Paul Tahmooressi, U.S. Marine, who was - arrest, that's according to a statement from the Mexican federal government. He's been held since March 31 on weapons charges. He claims he crossed into Mexico with weapons by mistake.

That does it for us. This is Life, with Lisa Ling, starts now.