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CNN Newsnight Aaron Brown
Police Beating Caught on Tape; Pakistan Earthquake; New York City Terror Hoax; Martha Stewart's Life after Prison; Former Weatherman Believes Government Manipulates The Weather; Is America Ready For The Next Big Quake?
Aired October 11, 2005 - 23:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CO-ANCHOR: Also tonight, what Robert Davis had to say about the beating at the hands of the New Orleans Police Department. You may be surprised by some of it.
And later, what Martha Stewart has to say about getting out of jail, as opposed to getting into jail, I guess. Taking off the bracelet and making another fortune or two.
All of that ahead in this hour of NEWSNIGHT.
And at the top of the hour, here's what's happening at this moment. Local officials say that more than 41,000 people are dead in Pakistan. Just think about that for a moment -- 41,000 people. More than 1,200 are dead in India, three days after an earthquake devastated the region. The truth is the numbers are likely to grow. They don't know at this point. The quake left millions of people homeless.
Senior U.S. intelligence officials call a letter to Al Qaida's leader in Iraq from his number two man, chilling. The letter is dated two days after the London terror attacks on July 7. It makes no mention of those attacks, though. In the letter, Al Qaida's number two tells Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi that televised beheadings of hostages could lose what he calls a media battle for the hearts and minds of Muslims.
The recent terror plot against the New York City subway system was a hoax. Police beefed up their presence in the subways after an informant from Iraq said an attack was being planned. Now government sources tell CNN the informant was lying.
And Louisiana's Governor Kathleen Blanco is saying not so fast to a proposal that would increase the number of casinos in New Orleans as a way to improve the city's economy. Now the proposal came from New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin last Friday. Blanco says she doesn't believe gambling should be a base for the city's economy.
AARON BROWN, CNN CO-ANCHOR: And New Orleans is where we begin the hour. New Orleans, before Katrina, about 160,000 of the 500,000 or so residents have come back. They have come back to difficult situations and tougher questions: Can the city rebuild? Will authorities and agencies that failed during the storm ever be held accountable? There was already much to answer for, even before police were caught beating a man on tape over the weekend. We begin with CNN's John King.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRSPONDENT (voice-over): It is a scene once routine, yet now somewhat remarkable. A downtown New Orleans street. The only police cars in view actually belong here. Look around a bit. And there are still humvees carrying military police. And help form other state, local and federal agencies. But the number of outside reinforcements is steadily shrinking.
Just as a police beating captured on videotape raises new credibility questions about an already embattled New Orleans Police Department. The FBI, for example, has about 90 additional agents in New Orleans now, down from a post-Katrina peak of 300. The National Guard deployment in the city is now 2,400 troops, down from more than 6,000.
City Police Union President Lieutenant David Benelli says more crime is inevitable as more residents return to the city. But he insists the New Orleans force is up to the task.
DAVID BENELLI, LIEUTENANT, NEW ORLEANS POLICE UNION PRESIDENT: As you bring more people back, you have to admit now you're going to have more potential victims. As more people enter back into the city, a small portion of those people will be lawbreakers. So, I believe that as far as the men and women of New Orleans Police Department, you know, we're capable of handling the people as they come back.
KING: The videotaped beating occurred two weeks after the mayor forced the police chief to resign. And as the city investigates allegations, a few of its officers join the post-Hurricane looting. But Benelli and other New Orleans cops bristle at what they call exaggerated media talk of a department in chaos.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It just seems as at some times like a piling on. That they just concentrate on the negative story.
KING: Jim Arey is the New Orleans Police Department SWAT team's lead negotiator and the trained mental health counselor who says in his view there have been relatively few problems for a force under extraordinary stress.
JAMES AREY, NEW ORLEANS POLICE DEPARTMETN SPECIAL OPS NEGOTIATOR: You lost your money from overtime in details, your spouse is living in Chicago or San Antonio, your children are in a brand new school, and your house has been destroyed. That's difficult for anybody.
KING: If nothing else, questions about the police department could complicate the city's economic recovery.
TIM RYAN, CHANCELLOR, NEW ORLEANS UNIVERSITY: Clearly, there's going to be an image problem. I mean, clearly the city, the visitor convention and visitors bureau are going to have to spend a great deal of time and effort and money over the next six months to a year in reestablishing New Orleans' position as a major convention destination. KING: Yet, there is a flipside. Military patrols don't necessarily encourage convention business either. And the acting police chief says he will need 2,000 National Guard troops at least through March.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(on camera): Now we're live in the French Quarter now, just a few steps where that police beating took place three nights ago. The police are in heavy presence out on the streets tonight. I can tell you, Aaron, they are not happy that we and other news organizations are dedicating so much attention to this story. One result of that beating, they are now being much more aggressive in enforcing a curfew in place in the city at midnight, local curfew. Again, the police are not happy at all with the attention to continue. The three suspended New Orleans police officers involved in this beating, scheduled to tell their side of the story tomorrow -- Aaron.
BROWN: Well, we don't wish to make them any more unhappy, but of the totality of the New Orleans Police Department right now on the streets, does that include the 260 plus officers who deserted at the time of the hurricane?
KING: Well, they're still taking account and of course some of those numbers are still in dispute. Some of those officers deserted, in the words of some. Others left to be with their families during emergencies. Any discipline for that -- much of that is still all being worked out. The force is now at about 1,500 people, they say. It usually has about 1,600. They're on a much more normal schedule now and they're rotating. And as we noted in the piece, one of the most significant differences -- I was gone for a bit and now back -- is you don't see on the street anymore -- you used to see the visiting police from Minnesota, other locations, everyday, almost by the hour, they are leaving. In fact, I spoke to some FBI officials a while ago, saying they're packing up and heading home too. So, many controversies -- the desertion; one of them, you noted, still to be resolved by this department, but more and more it is having to take the lead. Of course, this is its city -- Aaron.
BROWN: John, thank you.
KING: Thank you.
BROWN: John King, in New Orleans, tonight. That scene behind John actually looked like the French Quarter.
COOPER: I was going to say --
BROWN: It looked a little normal, didn't it?
COOPER: I know. I was going to say it was jarring to see it. Big guys walking by with, you know, beads on and stuff. It was, I guess, nice in a way to see it, all in all.
The only voice that is clearly heard in that videotape of the beating are from police officers. But there are other people talking, people who were there that night in the French Quarter. What they saw, many of them are saying they'll never forget. Here's two of the eyewitnesses.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, EYEWITNESS: It was a brutal, brutal beating. We knew what was happening was not legal. He was on the ground at the first -- when we first saw him, he was moving. He had some sort of movement and it wasn't very -- it wasn't very long after that that he had no movement whatsoever. Police were beating him with their fists repeatedly. Many more than three officers were actually involved with this case. Video footage that we've seen so far doesn't actually even have any sort of a thing of actually what happened.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, POLICE BEATING VICTIM: I witnessed what happened and I want to tell somebody about it. And he said, you know, with vulgarities, it's none of your business. And as he picked me up, I grabbed his arms. We locked arms. At that point, he said, all right, and he threw me up against the car. Riot bands were put on me, as tight as they could get them. And I just remember a lot of pain. I remember just, as my head was shoved into the hood, I just, I closed my eyes and I just cringed because of what was happening, the way they were handling me and the process. My phone flew off. They broke my necklace off in two pieces. So they got the riot bands on me and then they just basically threw me on the ground.
I was just amazed. I was already in awe of what was happening. I never seen anybody beat that way, whether it was -- even in a movie. I've never seen it before. And so, I just wanted to tell somebody. And I really -- I see a federal agent and I'm, to my knowledge, it's the New Orleans police that's doing this. So I'm thinking that, you know, he's going to understand and maybe want to hear from what I have to say. But that wasn't the thing. So when I was thrown up, I was thinking, what in the world just happened? What did I do? And he told me that I was being arrested for impeding a federal investigation, assault on a police officer and resisting arrest.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, the beating itself lasts about 50 seconds. And when this is brought to trial, no doubt both sides are going to focus on that videotape. Just as occurred in the trial of police officers in the Rodney King beating trial.
We asked William Gaut to analyze the tape for us. He's a legal consultant, often called on as an expert witness. He's also a former police captain. He joined me a short time ago from Naples, Florida. And I started by asking him what surprised him most about the beating.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIAM GAUT, LEGAL CONSULTANT: It starts off seemingly innocently enough, and then it pretty rapidly progressed into something of excessive force, improper conduct.
COOPER: Let's walk through some of the key moments of the video. In the first shots you have Davis being basically pushed against the wall. Are police acting within the proper bounds there?
GAUT: Well, at first, when there's two officers there, they appear to have him facing against the wall. The escape routes are cut off. His hands are down. At least one arm looks like it's back behind him. For all practical purposes, it looks like he is being cooperative at that point and I don't really see any wrongdoing at that point.
COOPER: You then have the next shot where a police officer on horseback moves his horse, apparently to block the camera. How do you interpret that?
GAUT: Yes, that's the part that began to bother me. We constantly fight the stigma of the blue line, the blue wall of silence, where police officers supposedly act to cover each other's acts, misdeeds, that sort of thing. And at first it looks like the horse is just doing normal crowd control maneuvers. But then all of a sudden the horse starts walking backwards and I don't know a lot about horses, but I know they don't walk backwards very much.
COOPER: As the horse moves, then we then see a police officer punching Davis several times in the head or the back of the neck. What's your read on that?
GAUT: That's just really taboo. Once an officer -- well, when we go through training, officers are trained that any strikes or any blows above the neck are just out of bounds. It's taboo. It's just misconduct.
COOPER: Why?
GAUT: Well, there's too much risk of permanent injury or even death. Especially blows to the back of the head. That's the brain stem area. And that pretty quickly can cause systemic injury that can result in anything from permanent paralysis to pretty quick death.
COOPER: You know, we can't hear what is being said. Does it seem like this man is resisting arrest in any way to you when he's standing up against the wall?
GAUT: He doesn't appear to be resisting and at some point that non-resistance appears to be what we generally classically refer to as passive-resistance.
COOPER: So if this was in fact passive-resistance, what's the best way to deal with passive-resistance?
GAUT: Well the best way by far is verbalization.
COOPER: You mean just talking to the guy?
GAUT: Yes. That's what I used to teach at the academy at college level and officers under my command. It's a lot easier to talk someone into complying than it is to start throwing punches.
COOPER: He's wrestled to the ground. It seems like there are an awful lot of people on top of this guy. What's your read on that?
GAUT: Well, from a training standpoint, there's a really big problem there. Just looking at the video, you see four people there; two in uniform, two not in uniform. So I don't really know about the two people that are not in uniform as to whether they are just citizens who --
COOPER: Allegedly, one of them at least is an FBI agent.
GAUT: Okay. But, nobody seems to be working in conjunction or cooperation with each other. There doesn't seem to be anybody in command. You've got one person that's literally on top of him, holding him down to the pavement so that he can't move. And you've got a second guy there who appears to grab a leg and pretty obviously he's actively trying to force the subject to roll over, which of course, is physically impossible because you've got the second guy who's literally sitting on him or laying across him. Then you've got one guy that's got him in a choke hold from the rear, which also prevents him from rolling or turning over in any way. And it kind of appears like all four officers have their own agenda of what they're trying to accomplish and they're working against each other, rather than with each other.
COOPER: At the end of the video, Davis is lying in a pool of his own blood. An officer kicks him twice. Is that justified under any circumstances?
GAUT: No. For whatever reason the officer does not want him to roll over either on his side or on his back. And if that is the case, then the appropriate procedure there is for the officer literally to bend down, hold him in the position or at least verbally instruct him not to do something that he doesn't want him to do. But just to stand up there and arbitrarily give him a couple kicks in the back, no, that's not acceptable.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Former Police Captain Gaut.
BROWN: Well, that's sort of a witness for the prosecution, I suppose, isn't it?
COOPER: Yes.
BROWN: There's one other part of this that it just doesn't tell us anything about the beating. It just tells us something about the mindset of the moment and that's when the one police officer goes over to the AP producer and braces him against the car, screaming at him.
COOPER: Braces is a polite word, I got to tell you.
BROWN: I'm polite.
COOPER: Okay.
BROWN: And screaming at him. COOPER: Yes.
BROWN: As I said, I mean, it doesn't tell us anything about the legality. It tells us something about the moment. That they weren't very comfortable with the moment. They weren't very comfortable with people witnessing the moment. And that much is understandable.
COOPER: It also shows, I mean, Gaut, I was talking to him, we didn't play that part of the tape, but when you see this man, a rather large man, pushing this producer against a car, you know, gesticulating, yelling and shoving his finger in his face, as we're seeing it right now. What Gaut says, look, this is someone whose adrenaline is pumping. This is a person out of control. This is not a rational act. Under no circumstances is it wise to just do this to a member of the public, or you know, a member of the press, anyone. That's just not the best way to deal with things. And it's all on tape.
BROWN: It's all on tape. The strange irony here is that when this all goes to court and we assume it will. Ultimately all go to court. Robert Davis himself may not be the star witness. The tape may be a star witness. That said, he still gives powerful testimony and you'll hear from Mr. Davis in a moment.
Also coming up, scary? Yes. True? No. The facts behind the hoax that gave New Yorkers and the country a bit of a chill late last week and across the weekend.
We'll take a break, first. From New York and around the world, this is NEWSNIGHT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: As a lifelong New Yorker, I can tell you there's always a little anxiety riding the subway in New York. Frankly, it's what makes it fun, really. But the anxiety -- and it usually doesn't involve terror attacks from booby-trapped baby carriages. That's what we were told to watch out for last week. As it turns out, it appears the threat was made up. A hoax from a less than reliable informant.
CNN's Kelli Arena investigates.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDNENT (voice-over): New York's mayor says he had every reason to believe the threat against the city was real.
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, MAYOR: What I do know is that we can't wait until a threat materializes to act. We have to protect this city. And you can't just sit around with your fingers crossed. You have to make decisions and show leadership.
ARENA: Mayor Bloomberg says he still isn't sure that it was all a hoax. (on camera): But law enforcement officials in both New York and Washington tell CNN that through investigative means, they have determined it was.
(voice-over): From the very beginning, federal government officials had said they could not corroborate the information. The informant who approached U.S. officials in Iraq was described as inconsistent, someone who had provided both good and bad information in the past. According to government sources, he had failed some parts of his lie detector test, but passed when he was talking about the alleged plot against New York. And when the three people he fingered were captured in Iraq, Bloomberg says there was this chilling outburst.
BLOOMBERG: One of them screamed: You're too late to stop us. This was an attack or a planned attack that had a specific time and target and method.
ARENA: Intelligence is hard to screen in a war zone and the attack was allegedly supposed to take place on October 7, leaving investigators little time.
PAT D'AMURO, CNN SECURITY ANALYST, The problem you have with source information is that a lot of times the sources are of the same type of nature as the individuals you are investigating. Otherwise, how would they be able to tap into this type of information?
ARENA: What's more, past intelligence has indicated that Al Qaida and related groups have considered attacking New York's transit systems. Still, there is a danger.
D'AMURO: And you can only cry wolf so many times. To the point where there's the potential, but the public may not take the threat serious at a time where it needs to be taken serious.
ARENA: Especially when local and federal agencies don't seem to be on the same page. Kelli Arena, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: A quick check now with some of the other stories that made news today. Erica Hill in Atlanta -- Erica.
ERICA HILL, CNN CORRESONENT: Aaron, we start off with a warm correspondence raising some eyebrows. That correspondence between President George W. Bush and Supreme Court Nominee Harriet Miers. Now the correspondence is from the '90s. The 2,800 documents were released by Texas officials today. Some are described as polite and friendly. Others, downright giddy. And one that Miers told then Texas Governor George W. Bush, quote, "You were the best governor ever."
In other news, New York Times Reporter Judith Miller, heading back to court tomorrow. She is expected to testify before federal grand jury investigating the leaking of a CIA operative's name. Miller, as you may recall, spent 85 days in jail for trying to protect her source, Vice President Dick Cheney's Chief of Staff Lewis "Scooter" Libby.
In New Hampshire, trying to recover from severe weekend floods. Four people are still missing, three are reported dead, and Many homes are washed away and roads torn apart.
And finally, in Charleston, South Carolina, a completely different skyline now after more than a ton of explosives were used to bring down a section of the old paramon (ph) bridge. It's been there for nearly four decades and will be replaced a new eight-lane bridge that will cost more than $600 million.
And, Aaron, that's the latest from our end. We'll hand it back over to you.
BROWN: Thank you, very much. Coming up in the hour, you see the graphic video out of New Orleans again and again. The beating of Robert Davis by police. Tonight, more from Mr. Davis, himself.
And later, she's back. She seems to be everywhere. But how is Martha really doing? A look at the empire. How successful it is or is not. And those new TV shows too.
Break first. This is NEWSNIGHT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Like a lot of famous Americans how have fallen from grace, Martha Stewart is trying to make a comeback, as you have no doubt noticed. Having served five months in jail for lying about a stock sale and finished nearly six months in home confinement, Stewart now is talking about her time in jail. She spoke earlier tonight with CNN's Larry King.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARTHA STEWART: Actually, it wasn't as horrible as anticipated. You know, it is a total lack of freedom, a lack of being able to go where you want to go, do what you want to do. You are incarcerated. It is a very serious thing. I took it seriously. I served my time with dignity, I hope. I met many, many people there that I actually have great compassion for. And I don't regret my decision in any way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Martha Stewart, with Larry King, tonight.
Okay. There are comebacks and then there are comebacks. With the Red Sox last year, that was a comeback. The White Sox this year, perhaps Robert Blake next year. I can't imagine. The fact is everybody in this country gets a second chance and you don't have to ask Martha Stewart twice.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEWART: I think I've learned some things. LARRY KING, HOST, LARRY KING LIVE (voice-over): Just months after Martha Stewart was set free from prison, just weeks after the leg monitor came off, the domestic diva was making the rounds selling a book.
STEWART: It is really about the things I learned as I built this amazing company that I've built.
KING: And sharing kind words with Katie Couric about the women she met in the joint.
STEWART: I was so happy to be able to be of use and be helpful and give advice.
KATIE COURIC, HOST, THE TODAY SHOW: I think it's so great.
STEWART: Because their minds are working 24 hours a day, just like our minds are working.
KING: The book is called, "The Martha Rules. Ten Essentials for Achieving Success as you Start, Build or Manage a Business." Presumably, the don't include playing fast and loose with the facts about the sale of stock.
The book isn't the only thing she's been up to since the end of her time. No, Martha's been multitasking with varying degrees of success.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My sister's going to be so jealous that I get to do this with you.
KING: There's a new chat show where she cooks with the likes of Melanie Griffith and schmoozes with really big stars like Joan Rivers and sometimes, well sometimes Martha just gets silly. Hard to believe the ratings have been a bit challenged.
STEWART: For women in business, don't cry, my dear.
KING: Then there's The Apprentice, Martha's style. This is where Martha shows her sensitive side instead of dismissing rejected job seekers with a surly you're fired, Martha says:
STEWART: I wish you well, but I have to say good bye.
KING: Then sets about writing the sorry loser a letter.
STEWART: Dear Sean, Tonight, I know, was difficult for you.
KING: It's hard to say which is worse, the ratings for Martha's Apprentice -- not such a good thing. It ranks 67th in prime time households.
Martha may have been a model prisoner except for that little incident with the crabapple picking, but she's not your average ex- con, not by a billion dollars. She's got a ranch in upstate New York, a multimillion dollar company. She's selling her ponchos like the one she wore as she headed to her private plan when life behind bars was over. The profits go to charity. And she keeps up her website just in time for pumpkin-carving season. Yes, Martha put prison behind her and returned to reality. Or at least reality TV.
STEWART: In my business, there's just no faking it.
KING: You do have to admire the spirit.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: I forgot it's pumpkin-carving season. We'll also freely concede the point Martha Stewart is was and probably always will be a story. Christopher Byron has written many chapters of that story. He's the author of, "Martha, Inc.," the incredible story of Martha Stewart living on the media.
He joins us now. Good to see you, Christopher.
CHRISTOPHER BYRON, AUTHOR: Anderson, how are you?
COOPER: I want you to listen to some of what Martha told Larry King about how she sees herself, post-prison. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEWART: I don't think I'm changed. I did find out, or at least I realized a lot of things about myself while I was there that I am a strong woman, that I'm a very healthy woman -- thank heavens -- that I can put up with a lot, that I can be patient, that I can make friends in all places, that I can teach, that people still want to get information from me and inspiration, that I am able to survive very, very bad things and still come home, thrive and see a bright future.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Does this Martha Stewart sound like the Martha Stewart you wrote about in your book?
BYRON: Anderson, yes. She really does. I think that first sentence was the mark -- that was the money sentence in that comment of hers. I don't think I changed at all. I think that's right. I think that's a truthful statement. She's a woman solidly on the deep middle age, and she is who she is. She's an aggressive, creative person -- extraordinarily creative person. But she's not --
COOPER: Why do you think the comeback is not perhaps working as well as she had hoped? I mean the ratings of both of her television shows are not performing particularly well.
BYRON: Well, look, that evening show, the prime time broadcast television show is the one -- Network TV -- is the one that really matters for her. And it's not working because it's essentially selling a fraudulent fake image. It's selling an image of Martha Stewart that the world now knows is not the complete story. And she spent a great deal of her time in public life trying to package and present one version of herself. Reality -- only with Martha Stewart are we stuck with this idea of real reality and fake reality. But in real reality she's had to deal with the problems that that image has created for her.
She's -- she got caught lying to the cops and she went to prison. And now she's back offering a show that presents her as somebody who wouldn't do that. She's got a book out that says the 10 best ways to run your business. One of those 10 ways, as Aaron said in the set up for this, was not how to lie to the law.
COOPER: Has she ever publicly admitted that she did anything wrong?
BYRON: No.
COOPER: No, never apologized.
BYRON: That's the -- no. And I think that's the real problem. I think that we've got -- this is a really tolerant nation. We're very forgiving people. But to be forgiven for something you first have to admit you did it. And that's not happened here.
She gave an interview to "USA Today", yesterday, and just danced all around that entire question. Said, look, the people that have been writing about me don't understand this case. What's to understand?
She went to trial, a jury of her peers said she lied. She went to prison. She came out in home confinement and broke the terms of her home confinement. And home confinement was extended for her. She still has serious SEC charges hanging over her. And we could find the course of this winter she's back down in federal court all over again.
So, when she says, yeah, I'm still the same person, I take her at her word. I think she is.
COOPER: And the public certainly is fascinated whether or not they are watching her two very successful TV programs.
BYRON: Oh, sure.
COOPER: Christopher Byron, good to talk to you, thanks.
BYRON: Thank you.
COOPER: Always interesting.
BROWN: She's incredibly polarizing figure. People either like her a lot or don't like her a lot.
In an entirely different conversation when we come back, Robert Davis on the moment. Yeah, that moment, in the French Quarter over the weekend.
And later, where are you safe from an earthquake, and where not? It could be surprised to hear some of the answers. This is NEWSNIGHT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: About half past the hour, here is what is happening, right now, at this moment.
The search for survivors is being called off in Guatemala. A landslide caused by Hurricane Stan swallowed a town, burying as many as 1,000 people. At least 500 victims are confirmed dead and there is now the threat of even more mudslides.
President Bush has wrapped up his eighth visit to the Gulf Coast since Katrina hit. He visited a newly reopened school in Mississippi; he also went to New Orleans and rejected Democrats charges that his visit was just a photo op.
And a military unit designed for disaster. CNN has learned that the U.S. Northern Command is considering a rapid force of 4,000 troops to be deployed immediately in the event of hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, and epidemics.
BROWN: The videotaped beating in New Orleans over the weekend of 64-year-old retired teacher Robert Davis speaks for itself in some respects. What isn't clear, though, is what lead to the incident, both sides of the story from us. Maybe you can make your own determination. You need to look very closely. We spoke with a lawyer from the patrolman's union in New Orleans, he told us Davis was drunk or on drugs. Police officers on the scene had been trying to restrain him.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANK DESALVO, POLICE ASSN. OF NEW ORLEANS: Obviously, they were trying to arrest the man. He was up against the wall and he was resisting. And what happened before that was not on tape, and what happened there was he was so intoxicated -- says he doesn't drink, so he was probably drugs -- that he stumbled into a police horse. For his own safety, he had to be subdued.
None of your videos show him being struck in the face. All the blows were struck behind the neck and at the shoulder area, trying -- as taught in police procedure -- to bring a resisting person's arm back around to cuff him. That's police procedure.
Now, if you saw something different then you are either seeing what you wanted to see or you are seeing what you were told you should see. But that is if take that video and looked at it frame-by-frame, you can see what I saw.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: We did ask him if he knew for a fact that he was on drugs or on alcohol. No tests had been conducted. He said that he couldn't absolutely prove it now, but by the time court comes around he expects to be able to. There is of course a different story from Mr. Davis. And we spoke with him earlier tonight, as well.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BROWN: Mr. Davis, you said that you were out on the street the other night, you were concerned about curfew. You approached police officers. Is it possible that in the way you were walking or that in the way you were talking you might have appeared intoxicated?
ROBERT DAVIS, BEATING VICTIM: No. I don't drink. It's that simple. I have not had any alcohol, at all, period. And that question has been asked a multitude of times and the response is still the same. I do not drink, period.
BROWN: And I assume if I ask you if you had used drugs that night you are going to say no to that, too, right?
DAVIS: Also.
BROWN: Was there ever a time, after took you to the holding cell or took you to the hospital, when they gave you a breathalyzer test or took a blood test that would provide scientific evidence as to whether or not you were intoxicated?
DAVIS: No. In fact, during this whole -- I was never told that I was under arrest. I never knew the charges, which were against me. I never was read my rights as citizen of this United States. I don't -- I had a difficult time just trying to survive the blows that were coming from all directions.
BROWN: What would you say precipitated their action on you? Do you remember what you said? What they said, just before it got out of hand?
DAVIS: OK, I asked the officer on the horseback, who was black, what time the curfew was for. OK? I -- after that occurred, this other officer intervened. And I had told him that he was being rude, discourteous, and unprofessional.
BROWN: Uh-huh.
DAVIS: And I left the scene at that moment to go to the store, which was very nearby. And before I could get to the store I was attacked.
BROWN: Then all of a sudden they're on you, is that what happens?
DAVIS: I had walked across the street, I guess, six -- uh, I'd venture to say it is about 12, 14 between the curb and the other curb. And by the time I reached the other curb I was attacked.
BROWN: Have you seen the tape of that, by the way?
DAVIS: No I haven't. I have not seen the tape. I have no idea what's on the tape.
BROWN: Uh-huh?
DAVIS: I've been sheltered from seeing that tape by my daughter and her fiance. They don't wish for me to see. At a later time, I probably will see it.
BROWN: Well, it's going to be hard to avoid. Do you believe that in any sense you resisted arrest or resisted the police officers?
DAVIS: First, let me clear up something.
BROWN: Sure.
DAVIS: And this has been a misnomer for some time. At no time -- I was sucker punched and thrown against the wall. I did not even see the person, because my back was turned to him. See, I didn't have an opportunity to duck, or move out of the way, or anything, of that nature, at all.
BROWN: Where did they hit you?
DAVIS: Uh, a little bit of everywhere. Right now --
BROWN: Did they hit you in the face?
DAVIS: Yes.
BROWN: They punched you.
DAVIS: In the face --
BROWN: They punched you in the face?
DAVIS: Yes, I have the following injuries: I have a broken nose, a fractured cheek bone, a distorted looking eye, which may have to have surgery. I might have to have surgery. I have to go see the doctor later on this week. My daughter has that information. I don't have that information available at the moment.
BROWN: Yes.
DAVIS: But there maybe some reconstructive surgery required.
BROWN: Right. The reason I ask specifically about that is that the lawyer for the police officers there, the police union, or the police association, they certainly don't deny that they hit you, but they deny that they hit in the face. They said they hit you in the back and in the shoulders as is procedure. And that whatever injuries you suffered to your face was a result of a fall. Is that even remotely possible?
DAVIS: No, I'm laughing, because there is -- really, it's comical. I mean, if you could see my face. And I don't know Mr. Brown, if you can with this shot?
BROWN: Yes.
DAVIS: It's totally black. I mean it is not even remotely connected to my complexion. It is black. And there was no way I could have fell and got this. BROWN: I heard you say earlier today that you had no animosity towards anyone and, I'll confess, I was a little surprised to hear that. I assume you don't think the police officers who punched you are your best friends. You must have some animosity towards them?
DAVIS: No, not really. See, I don't time for being vindictive.
BROWN: Really?
DAVIS: You see, I've got other things -- Oh, yeah. Life goes on.
BROWN: Yes?
DAVIS: But I'm sure the Good Lord's gonna take care of everything.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Coming up tonight, the images are horrible, the questions unavoidable. Who else is at risk from a killer earthquake like the one in Pakistan? Could one strike here, a lot closer to home, where you live? We'll look at the possibilities. And later, in this age of science, why can't we manipulate the weather? Some actually think the government already does. We'll take a look how.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Welcome back to NEWSNIGHT.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is scheduled to fly to Pakistan tomorrow. She's vowing to mobilize long-term international support to help the country recover from its worst earthquake in a century. We're told she just arrived in Kabul, Afghanistan a few minutes ago.
Local officials say that more than 41,000 people are dead in Pakistan; more than 1,200 in India. Three days after the massive quake millions more are homeless. Rescuers are still pulling survivors from the wreckage, including children.
But rain is hampering the rescue efforts and prompting fears of mudslides. The United Nations has issued an emergency appeal for $272 million to respond to the crisis.
BROWN: It's natural to want to help the quake victims in Pakistan and in India, and it's human to wonder if the same thing could happen, not a world away, but right next door? The short answer is, it can. But where?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN (voice over): Where the next big American quake will be, of course, is a mystery. But if it is in the heavily populated sections of California -- LUCY JONES, U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY: There is going to be a different class of experience. And a different scope than anything we've seen in this century.
BROWN: The reasons are pretty obvious, huge population centers, far-flung transportation networks, not to mention the fragile St. Andreas Fault.
JONES: We know that everything that crosses the St. Andreas, such as water lines, pipe lines, freeways, railways, are going to be offset 20 feet, or more, during that event. And most of them will not be functional.
BROWN: This map by the U.S. Geological Survey shows San Francisco and Los Angeles as the most probable targets for destructive quakes. And if the next big one does strike there, expect the worst. Not so much in terms of casualties, but in terms of enormous damage to the infrastructure.
DAVID WALD, PH.D, U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY: Say a repeat of the earthquake that happened almost 100 years ago in San Francisco, the great San Francisco Earthquake. We'd expect to see $100, $200, perhaps $300 billion worth of losses.
BROWN: So being prepared becomes even more important.
ANTIONIO VILLARAIGOSA, MAYOR, LOS ANGELES: Every city around the nation should be looking at what happened with Hurricane Katrina and reassessing their own capabilities. I can tell you, though, that before we do we are about as prepared as any big city in the nation.
BROWN: Earthquakes can and have occurred in most parts of the country. In the Midwest, along the so-called New Madrid Fault Line, and even in the big cities of the East, where even relatively small tremors could cause huge damage.
WALD: Even a moderate size earthquake, say a magnitude 6 earthquake striking Boston or New York, for instance, could cause $100 billion worth of damage and a lot of lives lost. So the chances of an earthquake happening are lower in the East, but the consequences of a smaller earthquake are quite large because of the vulnerable structures and the large population.
BROWN: Something else for already overburdened state and local authorities to put into their computer models.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: And something else for us all to worry about. There is so much the government can and does control these days, so why not control or manipulate the weather? Do some good and maybe prevent another Katrina. Some would like to see that happen. Some believe it already is happening. CNN's Tom Foreman investigates.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Why can't a hurricane be stopped in its tracks. Why can't the U.S. military fly over the wicked eye drop a nuclear bomb right in the middle, blowing the storm to bits? The Pentagon has been asked that very question. And Air Force Colonel Harold Elkins, chief of weather plans, has an answer.
COL. HAROLD ELKINS, CHIEF, WEATHER PLANS, U.S. AIR FORCE: One hurricane is equal to like 10,000, one megaton hydrogen bombs. So dropping one bomb into the eye wall of a hurricane is about like dumping a glass of water into the ocean. It has very little effect.
FOREMAN: Manipulating tsunamis, tornadoes, hail storm, earthquakes, seems tantalizingly possible in this age of science. For half a century some farmers and scientists have sworn by cloud seeding, the practice of using silver iodide crystals to cool clouds and produce rain.
In 1996, Air Force researchers explored the idea of creating great storms over enemies, sunshine over allies, and concluded the technology is there. We can own the weather. And some believe, ever since, the military has been taking control of the clouds.
ELKINS: It is one of those things that sounds good. People have active imaginations, they want to believe things. But I'm in charge of long-range plans and we don't have anything that we're working on along those lines.
FOREMAN: Is he telling the truth?
ELKINS: Yes, I am.
FOREMAN: Ah, well, others are not so sure you can believe the government. A weatherman in Idaho even quite his TV job to investigate these ideas. He has video of unusual cloud formations. Pictures of airplane con trails, which he says are used to guide storm production and a theory that the Japanese mafia used Russian technology to create Hurricane Katrina.
SCOTT STEVENS, WEATHERWARS.INFO: That technology has been developed. The question we've all wondered was, was it deployed? And the Russians boasted that they had, in the past. And what got my attention was viewing satellite imagery, where the clouds and storm behavior was simply not natural.
FOREMAN (on camera): Right now, Congress is considering a weather modification act, which would encourage scientific advances to promote more rainfall. It might work.
(Voice over): In 1915 Charles Hatfield promised rain to the parched city of San Diego. He set up towers full of chemicals, a flood ensued and he was run out of town.
But don't count on the Air Force to help with any revival of weather warfare ideas. After all, one of their main bases for weather testing was wiped out when Katrina hit Biloxi. Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: In a moment, everyone knows war is hell. But killing Smurfs? Barney I could understand, but Smurfs? Yikes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: What do you think was the most popular story today on CNN.com? Was it government officials say last week's New York subway terror threat was a hoax? Or reality TV's falls season taking a nosedive in the ratings? Or the original members of the group, REM, reunited to play at a road crew members' wedding? The answer when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: So what was the most popular story on CNN.com today? Well, one lucky couple got a rockin' surprise wedding gift. At a bowling alley in Athens, Georgia, REM front man, Michael Stipe (ph), along with the three original members of the rock group, played a seven-song set for the newlyweds. This marks the second time the original members have reunited since they split in '97.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: That would be pretty cool to see.
We should warn you, what you are about to see, some beloved children's cartoon characters, notably the Smurfs, isn't really suitable for children, especially in this performance. In a new TV commercial, UNICEF in Belgium, has decided to annihilate the little blue creatures. That's right, UNICEF blows the cute little creatures to Smurfereens. Sure, it's for a good cause, the ad calls on viewers to donate money for the rehabilitation of former child soldiers in Burundi. Seems like a brutal message, though. We'll let you be the judge.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SMURFS SINGING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
(FEMALE VOICE OVER, BOMBS HIT, BABY SMURF CRYING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Yikes!
BROWN: Yikes, indeed!?
COOPER: What was that?
BROWN: You can't be killing off Smurfs.
COOPER: They say that they're only going to play it late at night. And so the kids won't be completely freaked out about it.
BROWN: No, it will be on the Internet, kids will be passing it around.
COOPER: Exactly.
BROWN: You want to see the Smurfs blown up?
COOPER: No sign on whether Papa Smurf actually survived the attack, but I'm sure he did.
BROWN: Oh, man.
COOPER: Yeah.
BROWN: All right. Time to check morning papers, there is actually sort of a sick shot in here, but we'll get to that in a minute.
From around the country and around the world, "The Washington Post" starts us off, "With Quake Aid Scarce, Survivors Left Out in The Cold". Kind of a cool picture up on the top of "The Post".
But this is the story that caught my eye. "Single Glass of Wine Immerses D.C. Driver in Legal Battle": D.C. Police say as little as 0.01 blood alcohol content can get you arrested." That is to say, if there is anything in your blood at all, they're going to take you in.
That seems -- I mean -- listen, I don't believe in drinking and driving, OK? But it's a little over the top, isn't it? I won't be driving in Washington any time soon.
"Star & Tribune", that's in Minneapolis-St. Paul, actually it is in Minneapolis. "A Haunting Question, Why?" It is an awful story of a young boy accused of killing his parents.
And over here, "Vikings Aboard Boat with Sex Party." At least 17 players were on Lake Minnetonka cruise Thursday night that is under investigation for lewd behavior. I think they're 1-4, too.
"Chattanooga Times-Free Press"; "More Frist Investments Get Scrutiny," more trouble for the Senate majority leader.
Thirty? Is that what you said, Charlie?
Brook County, that's Brook County, Nebraska, you knew that. "Plain Dealer", "Hurricane Evacuees Land Here". That's kind of a cool story, I thought.
"Chicago Sun-Times", we'll get to the weather in Chicago in a second. Give me a shot of this picture. It does appear to be a man kissing a chicken. I don't know, but guy believes that exchanging saliva with a chicken will domesticate it, or so he claims.
The weather in Chicago tomorrow, if you happen to be in the area, "Moody". We'll wrap it up in just a moment. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: All right, half a minute. Your think with Oprah is tomorrow afternoon.
COOPER: Tomorrow afternoon, yes.
BROWN: Do you ever find yourself in that moment, thinking, how weird is this? I'm sitting, doing Oprah?
COOPER: It was completely surreal. I couldn't -- and the studio audience and they're all screaming and yelling. And she was lovely. Yes, it was one of those things. I couldn't believe I was on Oprah.
BROWN: She's terrific. That's an interesting sort of life moment.
Good to have you with us. It was sort of an interesting life moment.
COOPER: It certainly was. It always is.
BROWN: "Larry King" is next.
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