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CNN Newsnight Aaron Brown
Tropical Storm Wilma Headed for Gulf of Mexico; Wife of TV Legal Analyst Found Slain; State of Emergency Declared in Taunton, Massachusetts
Aired October 17, 2005 - 23:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANNOUNCER: Live from the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is NEWSNIGHT with Aaron Brown and Anderson Cooper.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CO-ANCHOR: Good evening. Thanks for joining us in this hour of NEWSNIGHT. A lot to cover tonight. Let's check what's happening at this moment.
The bird flu virus is spreading. Today it was detected on a turkey in Greece. Officials are investigating whether it is the feared deadly strain. Bird flu has also been reported in Romania and in Turkey. To date, the virus has killed more than 60 people in Asia.
Fallout over false terror threats, CNN has learned that a Coast Guard employee admitted leaking information about a possible attack on the New York subway system. It turned out to be false. That Coast Guard employee has been reassigned and his security clearance revoked.
Renewing the push for Harriet Miers, the White House is trying to build support for the Supreme Court Justice nominee. Today, President Bush hailed her as a pioneer of law. He was backed up by six current and former Texas justices who also vouched for Miers. Many conservatives are not convinced she's the best choice for the job.
And nixing a deal. Representative Tom DeLay's lawyer says the indicted congressman turned down a plea agreement that would have let him keep his job as House majority leader. DeLay is charged with money laundering and criminal conspiracy. His lawyer says the Texas prosecutor offered him a deal to plead to guilty to a misdemeanor. The prosecution has not yet confirmed that.
AARON BROWN, CNN CO-ANCHOR: Sometimes it seems the time between congressional scandals can be measured roughly in nanoseconds. On the other hand, the last time we've seen so many named tropical storms in a single season -- 21, FDR was president. Just moments ago, the National Hurricane Center issued an update on the latest storm, Wilma. And actually there are some starting developments. Here, our meteorologist on watch, Jacqui Jeras, joins us from Atlanta. Good evening.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good evening, Aaron. Good evening, everyone. Getting stronger now, Wilma's now packing winds of 65 miles per hour, making it a strong tropical storm. And we think it will be a hurricane by tomorrow.
We've also seen a bit a shift in the forecast in the forecast track, which is bringing it a little bit farther to the right, keeping it closer towards Cuba, rather than into the Yucatan Peninsula. What this is going to do will likely bring it through the channel. If it stays over open water, that will allow it to be a stronger hurricane, as it doesn't interact with the land, to weakening the storm system. We are expecting it then to take a right-hand hook and possibly affect Florida late in the weekend or early next week. Now there's still a fair amount of uncertainty as to exactly where it's going to go. We could get lucky and see it move through the Florida straights and miss Florida all together. Or it could go a little bit farther on up to the north, depending on when that turn takes place. Either way, it looks like there's going to be a strong hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico by the end of the week -- Aaron.
BROWN: But just given how much has changed today, honestly, since we've been talking about this. We've got a long way to go before we can say with any certainty how this is going to play out.
JERAS: Absolutely. It's been a very slow-moving system. It was basically stalled out all day today. And just now in the past couple of hours, we've seen it start to drift off to the west. That's what we expected it to do. So we're getting higher confidence on this westerly than northerly turn that it's expected to take.
BROWN: Jacqui, thank you. Jacqui Jeras, in Atlanta tonight.
COOPER: I'm so sick of these storms. It's enough. Enough already. The next one after this, of course, would be Alpha, because they're going to go --
BROWN: Back to the beginning?
COOPER: Back the beginning, exactly. It all goes back to the beginning.
We're following a developing story out of northern California, also at this hour, involving the murder of a prominent defense attorney's wife. She was found beaten to death in their Sprawling home over the weekend. And there are a lot of questions tonight. There is one thing for sure -- the killer is still on the loose. CNN's Thelma Gutierrez has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 52-year old Pamela Vitale died a violent death.
JIMMY LEE, CONTRA COSTA SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: The cause of death is listed as blunt force trauma to the head. The manner of death is listed as homicide.
GUTIERREZ: It happened Saturday, in the remote hills east of Oakland, at the home of Attorney and Television Legal Analyst Daniel Horowitz.
LEE: As far as the investigation goes, no one is under arrest. We have nobody in custody right now. GUTIERREZ: Horowitz discovered his wife's body at the entrance of the mobile home where they lived temporarily. He immediately called 911.
MIKE FISHER, CHIEF, LAFAYETTE POLICE DEPARTMENT: It was a telephone call. Mr. Horowitz had actually called into the sheriff's department dispatch to report that there had been a murder.
GUTIERREZ: The couple had been married for 10 years, and friends say they were happy together. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They loved each other with all their hearts. Pamela was Daniel's wife, but more than that, she was obviously his best friend.
GUTIERREZ: Horowitz and his wife were living in this mobile home while their 7,000 square foot mansion was under construction, atop this mountain.
(on camera): Just four months ago, the couple filed this restraining order against one of their tenants, Joseph Lynch, alleging he was threatening and creating an atmosphere of violence and conflict on their four-acre parcel of land.
(voice-over): Police have not named any suspects in the murder, but they say they are talking to a wide variety of people, including Joseph Lynch.
LEE: We've also interviewed Mr. Joseph Lynch. He has been very cooperative.
GUTIERREZ: According to Horowitz, they did not pursue the temporary restraining order because they were worried that might make matters worse. Lynch told CNN any allegations that he might have been connected to the murder are, quote, "ridiculous." He says he and the victim were friends. So now the man who made a name for himself talking about murder cases is tragically the subject of a high profile murder, himself.
Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Martinez, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, as you just heard, Mr. Horowitz, is a legal analyst for several cable TV networks. He is also a frequent guest on Nancy Grace's show "Headline News." Nancy talked to him just yesterday, and she joined me earlier.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: How much of the conversation with David Polk can you tell us about?
NANCY GRACE, CNN HEADLINE PRIMES "NANCY GRACE": Daniel tells me, as do his friends and co-workers, that he was with them that afternoon working on the Susan Polk trial throughout Saturday and then came home to discover Pamela. His voice was somewhere between a whisper and a voice. Yesterday he was on his way back to the scene to go through the scene with the police.
And I want to point out right now, Anderson, there are a lot of fingers being pointed. And traditionally in the homicide of a woman, you look at the spouse, the boyfriend, the ex-spouse, the lover. And naturally, police will take a look at Daniel, but he has been totally cooperative with them and has been with them night and day. This is such a blow. And when I last spoke to him, Anderson, his last words were -- she is the love of my life.
COOPER: Did he talk at all about any threats that he or she had received? I mean obviously he works with criminal defendants. You know, it's a hazardous line of work. Could this possibly be work- related?
GRACE: That is an alternative that I think police are exploring. Right now, he's currently involved in a very high profile trial -- a mistrial just declared today. The Susan Polk murder case. When prosecutors and defense attorneys choose to enter criminal law, we unwittingly expose our families and our friends, our loved ones to an element we may not normally associate with -- dopers, rats, snitches, killers. You rub shoulders with them every day. They become part of the fabric of your life. And it is very hard to disassociate that from your home.
The reality is, I know that Daniel very often carried a weapon. I know that he had guns in the home. He had dogs there in the home. He also had about a six foot fence around his new property. I think that will be an alternative of investigation. I think that neighbors, such as they are in this circumstance, Anderson. This new home was situated up on a hill. It was very difficult to get to. Such as a neighbor would be, is someone they will look at. But I can tell you this, Anderson, due to the remote area of the home, I do not think this was a random killing. You had to know where the home was, know who Pamela was, to affect this crime. This is not a drive-by, steal the VCR and leave.
COOPER: You're in an odd position. I mean, you know the people involved in this. Does it change it reporting on it for you?
GRACE: Knowing them? I feel that it doesn't change the way I look at it. It gives me more knowledge. I can tell you this, Anderson, he is a tiger in the courtroom. Outside the courtroom, I've never met a more gentle person, ever. I don't see Daniel being any part of this whatsoever. If you could have heard his voice, Anderson, I think that said it all.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: The murder of Daniel Horowitz's wife comes as he was defending another wife in another very high profile murder case. Her name is Susan Polk. and before a mistrial was declared today, she stood trial for stabbing her millionaire husband to death. There was never any question that she did it. The only question is why.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) COOPER (voice-over): They met in 1972. Susan was just 15. She was cutting school and her parents were getting a divorce. Concerned, they sent her to a psychologist, 42-year old Felix Polk. Within a year, she says, the two were having sex. Felix eventually left his wife and two kids and in 1982 married Susan. She was 25 years old.
SUSAN POLK, ACCUSED OF STABBING HUSBAND: He was my psychotherapist at the time. What I really needed help with was like tutoring and, you know, getting prepared for school.
COOPER: That's Susan Polk now. She's 47, has three kids and is in jail, accused of killing her husband.
POLK: My recollection is that I stabbed him five or six times.
COOPER: As she got older, she says, she grew more ashamed of their relationship and felt guilty for breaking up Felix's first marriage. She filed for divorce.
POLK: He told me I could never leave him because of what I might say, that it would destroy his career.
COOPER: What happened next depends on whom you ask. Prosecutors allege Susan attacked her 70-year old husband, stabbing him 27 times. But Susan says she was acting in self-defense, that they were having a fight and he came after her with a knife.
POLK: I was lying there and for this instant, I thought of myself as that 15-year-old girl. And I thought, no, I'm not going to die here. I'm going to live. And I kicked him as hard as I could with the heel of my foot in his groin and at the very same time I reached up and his hand just loosened on the knife. And it was a very small knife and I just took it out of his hand and I said, stop, I have the knife. And he wouldn't stop.
COOPER: The prosecution relied on Susan's son, Gabriel, who found Felix Polk's body. He told the grand jury he heard his mother threaten to kill his father a week before the murder.
But Susan's son, Eli, tells a different story.
ELI POLK, SUSAN POLK'S SON: I know it was self-defense because I know my dad. I knew who he was. And I know my mom. And there's no way, there's just no way.
COOPER: The trial began last week with Renowned Attorney Daniel Horowitz, defending Susan Polk.
DANIEL HOROWITZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: You have a woman who was essentially raped at age 15, 16, 17, 18, by her own psychiatrist because he used his position of trust and power. Instead of helping her, he used it to form a relationship.
COOPER: Today, the judge declared a mistrial because in a bizarre twist that sounds like something out of a made-for-TV movie, Horowitz's wife, Pamela Vitale, was found dead Saturday. Herself, the victim of a homicide.
Back in court, Susan Polk cried today when the judge postponed her trial until December 2. It's a delay in what she has called the fight for her life.
POLK: My life is on the line, you know. And I guess at some point we have to decide in our lives whether we're going to have courage or not. You know, what are we made of? You know, am I going to just go down without a fight? No.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Ivan Golde serves as co-counsel on the Polk case. He's also a good friend of Daniel Horowitz. He joins me now from San Francisco. Thanks very much for being with us.
You said that Daniel was worried about his safety, that he was armed because of his clients. He defends killers and drug dealers, dangerous criminals. Do you think that any of his cases had something to do with this crime?
IVAN GOLDE, FRIEND OF DANIEL HOROWITZ: Let me just say this, that could be a possibility, but I want to say that I think it is inappropriate for me to specifically to comment on the investigation. The Contra Costa Sheriff's Department is doing an excellent job. They are putting forth all of their resources into this investigation. We are all grieving with Dan, Dan's family, Pamela's family. It would be inappropriate for me to speculate on the investigation.
COOPER: They have said he is being very cooperative.
GOLDE: Of course he is. Of course he is. He wants to solve this crime. We need to bring this person to justice. If anybody out there knows anything, please come forward to the Contra Costa Sheriff's Department. Please, we must solve this crime. Please.
COOPER: Pamela Vitale was found outside I guess a trailer on their property. They're renovating their house. What kind of a woman was she?
GOLDE: Pamela Vitale was a beautiful, wonderful, smart, selfless, generous woman. She was so kind. Her and Dan were so in love. Their worlds revolved around each other. I would be in the office on a daily basis and they would call back and forth every hour. They would constantly talk. No matter what was going on, Pamela would call Dan and Dan would call Pamela. They were perfect for each other. That's why this is so sad and so tragic. She was a wonderful woman and Dan is grieving very hard.
COOPER: And what does this mean for the Polk case? A mistrial was declared today. Will you and Daniel continue to represent Susan Polk?
GOLDE: I hope so. I hope so. As soon as this person is brought to justice, Dan Horowitz and myself will walk back into court and finish the job we started. We have spent endless hours with Susan Polk and working on this case to the exclusion of everything. We have dedicated our entire lives to this case and we want to finish the job we started. Susan Polk is innocent. And the two of us want to go back into court and prove her innocence. And we will do that. We will do that.
COOPER: Ivan, thanks for joining us tonight.
GOLDE: Thank you, very much.
COOPER: A lot coming up in this hour. A state of emergency in Taunton, Massachusetts. Hundreds of homes threatened by a possible dam collapse after days of heavy rains. That is the dam. We'll have a live report with the very latest.
Also later tonight, 130 million Americans commute to work every day by car, an extraordinary cost. Just how expensive is your commute, do you think? We're going to break it down for you mile by mile. Coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Minute by minute, that's how closely authorities have been watching a timber dam on the Mill River in Taunton, Massachusetts. That's about a half hour to the south of Boston. At this moment, some of the danger may be easing. But if the dam goes, so might another farther down stream. So no one is taking chances.
Tonight, we're joined from Taunton now by CNN's Adaora Udoji. Good evening to you.
ADAORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Aaron. You're right. Tonight you have 2,000 people here in Taunton who are very worried, not knowing whether or not tomorrow they're going to have a house to go home to or whether or not they're going to be -- their homes are going to be swallowed up by those flood waters. Because as you said, right now the Mill River is at very high levels. And it's being held back by the Wintonton (ph.) Pond Dam. It's a 200-year old dam and it's already buckled. The mayor has called for a state of emergency. He has also issued a voluntary evacuation order. Hundreds of businesses and homes were evacuated today, including some elderly housing developments. But late tonight, as you said, they are -- officials are optimistically, cautiously optimistic that the dam will hold and that is because the water levels have stabilized and they're saying that the dam is fine; however, they just don't know how much damage it has sustained. And that is why they are keeping that evacuation order until 8:00 a.m. in the morning. And some residents have really applauded the way the mayor has handled this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't blame him. I would too. I'd be erring out on the side of caution too.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think these dams should have been fixed a long time ago and I would have fixed it a long time ago and we wouldn't be in this situation. (END VIDEO CLIP)
UDOJI: Now the hope is that since the water has stabilized, that it will begin to recede and then in the morning in they can go take a look and assess the damage and make any repairs if it is necessary. But, Aaron, some really anxious times for the folks here in Taunton.
BROWN: Is it just made of wood? Is that what the dam's made of?
UDOJI: It's made of timber, asphalt and concrete. And again, it's almost 200 years old. Apparently they had a scare in 1968 -- another incident where the river had risen very high and they were concerned that it would break then. There were some changes that were made to the dam. There were some repairs that were made to it and then ensuing decades, they haven't had to come this close to any concerns about flooding from the dam.
BROWN: Adaora, thank you. Adaora Udoji in Massachusetts, tonight. Thank you.
COOPER: Heading to New Orleans tomorrow and we're going to look at the levees there because, you know, we all thought in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, they're going to rebuild the levees, you know, bigger and stronger and better. It turns out they're rebuilding them just exactly the same way.
BROWN: Well, eventually they'll build them bigger and stronger and better.
COOPER: Yes, eventually, when?
BROWN: Yes.
COOPER: That's the question. Anyway, we'll look at that tomorrow.
Time now to check on some of the other stories making headlines with Christi Paul in Atlanta. Hi Christi.
CHRISTI PAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi Anderson. We start off in Toledo, Ohio, where it's been a quiet day and night. Violence erupted over the weekend as members of a white supremacist group marched through a racially mixed neighborhood. Now marchers said they aimed to call attention to the issue of black crime. More than 100 people were arrested and 12 officers injured -- one seriously.
Near Eau Claire, Wisconsin, a community in mourning. Five people were killed and 30 injured when a charter bus carrying students returning from the state marching band competition crashed into an overturned semi truck. The high school's band director, his wife and his granddaughter were among those killed.
And rapes are up again. The FBI says the number of rapes has increased in three of the past four years. They went up .8 percent from 2003 to 2004. Now the good news is that the agency says murders and the number of overall violent crimes were down. And finally, how about some dolphin therapy when you're expecting? Scientists in Peru believe that dolphin calls may benefit prenatal children. They say the sounds can promote the development of baby senses by stimulating brain activity while the fetus is still developing. I'll keep that in mind.
Anderson, back to you.
COOPER: Christi, thanks very much. Aaron's saying that --
BROWN: No. That's -- no. No.
COOPER: Okay.
BROWN: No. I mean, it doesn't -- that's something that God works. No.
COOPER: You should --
BROWN: I know. Thank you. I appreciate that. You should believe this too, you should be careful about the e-mails you send. You never know who may end up reading them. Sometimes that's a bad thing, but when the e-mails are from government officials and it involves a hurricane named Katrina, you want to know what they've been saying. And in this case, they have been saying a lot.
Here's Homeland Security Correspondent Jeanne Meserve.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Feuding and fumbling over the response to Katrina, documented in many of the e-mails obtained by CNN. FEMA Head Mike Brown's deputy chief of staff casts scorn on the creation of an interagency crisis group by the White house.
"Let them play their little raindeer (sic) games as long as they are not turning around and tasking us with their stupid questions."
When Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff designates Brown principal federal officer, putting him in charge over the relief effort, Brown perceives it as step down.
Demote the undersecretary to principal federal officer? FEMA press secretary Sharon Worthy wrote Brown. "What about the precedent being set? What does this say about executive management and leadership in the agency?" Brown's one word response, "Exactly."
Brown's whereabouts are unknown at times. When FEMA's lead official in Mississippi is told that General Russel Onoray (ph), in charge of the military response to Katrina needs to speak with Brown very badly, he responds: Not here in Mississippi. Is in Louisiana, as far as I know.
FEMA's scramble for supplies and personnel is evident. "Food is also critical. Need MRE and/or heater meals if you have any," one FEMA official writes. "Know Florida is providing law enforcement. Need all you can send... Have used Dixie Co. body bags (250) got more?"
Several e-mails indicate the media was a factor in decision making. August 31, Brown writes about Base Aid Lewis (ph). "CNN asking where's FEMA. Would like to air drop or do something there." Another official responds, "I am afraid we have built expectations over the year that might not be achievable for this catastrophic event."
(on camera): The Department of Homeland Security says some of the e-mails are not consistent with the facts and that they give only a small glimpse of a much larger picture. Expect chapter and verse from Michael Chertoff when he is quizzed about the e-mails before a congressional committee on Wednesday.
Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: And we'll be watching that very closely on Wednesday.
Coming up, millions of Americans spend hundreds of hours a year stuck in traffic. You do too. We take a look at your commute and the toll it takes on your budget.
And later, a new forecast track for Wilma and it is not pretty for the people of Florida. We'll have details when NEWSNIGHT continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Well now, pay what you pay for an apartment in New York, or Washington or Seattle for that matter, and the idea of living in your car may sound like paradise -- or at least it did. The car may be roomier, but it's not cheaper anymore. Not really. Even the president is asking people to drive less if they can. So can they?
CNN's Tom Foreman -- he'll be trying all week long.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When Americans want to go anywhere, nine times out of 10, they hop into the car, flip on the radio and stop on the gas. The Census Bureau says 130 million Americans commute this way.
For me, on this, the first day of our commuting experiment, it's 10 miles from my house in the suburbs to our offices near the capitol and I am king of my domain.
(on camera): The advantage to driving a car is obvious. You have complete control. You can adjust the music, you can pick news if you want to. You can change the climate inside the car. and you can change directions with a moment's notice. (voice-over): The cost, however, is extraordinary. We spend about 47 hours a year just sitting in traffic. Sitting. Burning 9 billion gallons of fuel while we're at it. That's 800 times the amount spilled by the Exxon Valdez. Add up vehicle price, depreciation, fuel, repairs, insurance, and depending on the type of car you have, we're paying from 32 to 52 cents for every mile you drive.
AAA's Mantil Williams says you can make it cheaper.
MANTIL WILLIAMS, AAA: You can save really as much as $500 per year just by doing proper maintenance, but the most significant thing that you could do in terms of conserving fuel and saving money is change your vehicle. And most people aren't able to do that.
FOREMAN: And the options are quite limited. Hybrid cars, while increasingly popular, account for only a fraction of overall auto sales. Solar, electric and fuel cell autos have yet to become fully practical for obvious reasons.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's very enjoyable when you --
FOREMAN: So Phil Mitchell is delighted. He sells Vespas, those trendy little scooters. And September was spectacular.
(on camera): So how popular are these things right now?
PHIL WILLIAMS, VESPA WASHINGTON: When the gasoline got above $3 a gallon, people were calling from the gas stations and saying do you still have those Vespas? You can fill up a Vespa for $5 or $6 and you're going to get 100 plus miles out of that tank full. Plus you're having fun.
FOREMAN: When I bought my SUV seven years ago, with a wife and two kids, the whole family thought it was a lot of fun. Now, when this is empty, it can take around $60 to fill it up now.
(voice-over): But what else can you do?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Today the automobile is part of any American scene.
FOREMAN: Ever since Da Vinci wrote down his ideas for a motorized carriage and certainly since the first gas powered car started rolling, 120 years ago, the car has been burrowing into our culture. They build our societies, our jobs, our lives around it. This is how it was in 1952.
ANNOUNCER: Because there was a car or a truck for every three persons, almost 50 million motor vehicles.
FOREMAN: Today, America has more cars than drivers. What does that mean? It means my 10 mile commute takes about 45 minutes each way. You add everything up, the grand total cost is about $19 a day. Yes, I am the king of my driving domain, but I'm paying dearly. Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington. (END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Paying dearly, indeed.
Coming up, it is a hidden epidemic among baby boomers. Hard to believe, a special report on the high rate of baby boomers using and abusing drugs.
And later, the trial of the century for Iraq, and for the tens of thousands of Iraqis who perished under Saddam Hussein deadly regime. We are live in Baghdad, when NEWSNIGHT continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Just ahead tonight, what happens when the children of the '60s and '70s can't give up the drugs of the '60s, '70s and the '80s? First, though, a quick update on what's happening at this moment.
Choppers flying again in Pakistan. The heavy rain that blocked aide flights to the quake zone, also brought on landslides. That is hampering effort on the ground.
In Iraq coalition forces say they've killed dozens of insurgents near Ramadi. The ground and air strikes come not far from where a homemade bomb killed five U.S. troops over the weekend.
Investigators want charges of negligent homicide filed against the driver of a bus that caught fire in the Hurricane Rita evacuation. You recall this; 23 elderly Americans died. The driver currently in federal custody on immigration charges.
And the president's job approval rating is eroding more. The latest CNN/USA Today"/Gallup poll puts it at 39 percent, an all-time low for the president.
Heavy political weather is one thing, this however, is the real thing. Tropical Storm Wilma, that is tropical storm 21 of the season. And it now appears to have South Florida in sites, at least for now. Jacqui Jeras in Atlanta with the latest -- Jacqui.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, Aaron, it could hit South Florida. It is certainly a possibility, but we're still talking a good six plus days before landfall. A lot can happen between now and then.
The storm has essentially been stationary today, but it has been gaining strength. The winds are now up to 65 miles per hour, that is up from 50 miles per hour at the last advisory.
Starting to drift slightly off to the west and it is also starting to expand in size a little bit and even starting to brush western parts of Cuba already. We're expecting it to start to curve on up to the north, moving into some warmer waters. That should bring it up to hurricane strength we think for tomorrow.
And then up to major hurricane strength, that means a Category 3 as it heads through the Yucatan Channel on Thursday. Then it is going to be moving into the Gulf of Mexico. And we are anticipating that it will take a right hand hook. There is a storm system that is going to be heading down towards the Gulf of Mexico that is going to drive that storm system towards the eastern Gulf. And it could be hitting Florida.
But take a look at how huge that red area is. It basically encompasses all of Florida, and much of Cuba. So there is a very good margin of error still, five days out, Aaron.
BROWN: Jacqui, thank you.
A bit more weather to tell you about, this just in. The earth in Southern California giving ground, sliding down Sunset Canyon, near Burbank. My goodness. Damaging a number of cars, forcing the evacuation of about 250 homes, in about six months no one is going to be living in their own home.
COOPER: That is incredible.
BROWN: If the area sounds familiar, it is. It is the same part of Burbank that was burned by wildfires the other week, about 10 days ago. There are reports the mud has shut down portions of Interstate 5 in Southern California as well.
COOPER: That is just incredible. I've never seen images like that, that is just amazing.
All right, tonight we are taking a closer look at a troubling new trend, drugs overdose in baby boomers. According to a recent "LA Times" article, Californians, age 40 and older, are dying of drug overdoses at double the rate recorded in 1990. In fact, ODing among baby boomers is so troubling in California researchers say their numbers may surpass automobile accidents as the states leading cause of non-natural deaths. CNN's Rusty Dornin is looking into why it is happening.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Busted for possession of rock cocaine, 42-year-old Thomas Barnes told us he's been using drugs for 31 years, since he was 11.
THOMAS BARNES, DRUG USER: Somebody said, don't you want to live a normal life? What the hell is a normal life? This is a normal life.
DORNIN: Barnes considers himself a baby boomer. Growing up in the '60s and '70s when the themes for many were sex, drugs and rock-n- roll. But haven't most boomers given up their wild ways in middle age? Not necessarily says epidemiologist John Newmeyer (ph).
JOHN NEWMEYER (ph), HEIGHT-ASHBURY CLINIC: It's been studied, throughout the last 30 years. I've noticed an increase of -- in age of the users.
DORNIN: He knows, he's worked at the Haight-Ashbury free clinic for 34 years.
(On camera): Is it because they engage in high risk behaviors and drug abuse as kid and that just followed them through middle age?
NEWMEYER (ph): Yes, I think the baby boomer generation is much more open to risk, to a chaotic lifestyle.
DORNAN (voice over): You might expect things like that in San Francisco, but sociologist Michael Males of UC Santa Cruz says it is a trend that he's been documenting for years.
MICHAEL MALES, SOCIOLOGIST: The average middle-ager today is twice as likely to be arrested for a felony as the average middle-ager of 1975.
DORNIN: Males believes this is linked to drug abuse, a problem not just in California, but nationwide. He first saw it here in drug overdoses, high rates among middle aged white men, especially heroin.
MALES: This is really a hidden epidemic. We've seen massive increase of drug abuse among baby boomers, massive increase in arrests among baby boomers, increases in HIV infection. Largest of any age group.
DORNIN: The wild '60s and '70s were followed by the law and order decades of the '80s and '90s. California imprisoned record numbers of criminals. Researchers say the gradual release of the convicts may be contributing to the increase in middle age crime and drug abuse.
(On camera): There are also high drug abuse rates among Vietnam veterans. Males says he's baffled as to why more government agencies haven't picked up on the overall trend, no matter what the contributing factors.
MALES: I think there are a lot of reasons to be studying this. And it is almost like there is a psychological block to describing crime and drugs as a middle-age problem. They have to be teenage problems. They have to be young adults.
DORNIN: These guys see plenty of young people committing crimes and taking drugs. But in the first hour we spent on the streets of Modesto, California with undercover officers, four out of the five drug users they questioned were baby boomers.
Forty-two years old, this man is busted for possession of cocaine.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Meth amphetamine? How much of that do you use a day?
DORNIN: Forty-five years old, this woman tells detectives she's been a meth amphetamine user, but not tonight. Not tonight was also what this 60-year-old man said about his cocaine use.
SGT. ALAN TATE, STANISLAUS CO. SHERIFF'S DEPT.: Go ahead and continue looking.
DORNIN: Fifty-one year old Sergeant Alan Tate says when he began his career he was arresting mostly people his own age. Now, he still is.
TATE: I see people that age, people older than me. I'm 51. And they are still using and can't get off of it, or don't want to.
DORNIN: Recovery programs work for many, but Thomas Barnes has never been to a recovery program and doesn't intend to start now.
BARNES: To me, it's Peter Pan, just refuse to grow up.
DORNIN: A philosophy that has often complicated life for an entire generation. Rusty Dornin, CNN, San Francisco.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Doctor Peter Provert is the president of Odyssey House a New York City drug rehabilitation program and one of the few rehab centers in the country to focus on baby boomers who struggle with addiction. I spoke with him a short time ago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER (on camera): How many, what percentage of these baby boomers that you see are new to drugs?
DR. PETER PROVERT, PRESIDENT, ODYSSEY HOUSE: Not a large percentage, not new to severe abuse of drugs.
COOPER: So they experimented with pot or something, back in the day?
PROVERT: That percentage of these folks, 40, 45, 50 and older have experience with drugs that dates back to the '60s; have stopped and start throughout and to the people who get into serious drug trouble it has escalated significantly.
COOPER: And, I mean, for family members, obviously, some of them are used to it because they've seen their loved one for years abuse, but for the ones who have sort of come back to it, what should family members look out for?
PROVERT: The main thing we coach for families is to look at any significant changes in behavior. A lot of these people in their 40s and 50s are getting caught up, as well, in the criminal justice system, so it is quite obvious to family members that they have a serious problem.
Other folks, though, go in the opposite direction, if you will, and end up experiencing depression, social isolation. And that is something a family member should key in on.
COOPER: How much of this comes from the sort of generation of the '60s, the baby boomer generation, what they grew up seeing, what they grew up with?
PROVERT: I think a part of that. That set a course for many of the people we see today in their 40s and 50s who are serious drug addicts. It set a course. These folks, though, turn to drugs, as virtually all addicts, to self-medicate painful emotions, to medicate struggling family situations.
COOPER: So even if they've been gone for years, in their 30s say, suddenly in their 40s or 50s, something happens and they revert back?
PROVERT: In fact, we see a separate smaller subset of people who end up using drugs in their 40s and 50s for the first time, significantly, typically as the result of a trauma or an inter- personal loss. This is one of the most interesting groups of abusers that we see, that we still need to learn a lot more about.
COOPER: It is amazing to me that someone at the age of 50 would decide, you know what, I'm going to try heroin.
PROVERT: At Odyssey House we have a program for people 55 and older, actually, we call elder care.
COOPER: Elder care?
PROVERT: Elder care, our beds are filled. We have about 55 beds filled with people 55 years and older.
COOPER: Peter, thank you.
PROVERT: Pleasure.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: Still to come tonight, from dictator to defendant, Saddam Hussein on trial for his life. How his trial is being seen in a town devastated by the cruelty of the regime.
And later, another story entirely about people and pets and friendship that survived a hurricane. Around the country, and around the world, this is NEWSNIGHT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Nearly two years after American troops flushed him out of a hole in the ground, the trail of Saddam Hussein is about to begin. He, and seven top associates, will be tried in Baghdad. Might want to ask for a change in venue, though, given the history it would have to be on Mars. Or as Iraq's prime minister, whose brother was killed by previous regime, put it, if Iraq's palm trees could speak, they would have spoke of Saddam's crimes.
Reporting for us tonight, our Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INT'L. CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The Moussa family finally found what they were looking for, the fate of two young daughters, Korama (ph) and Helima (ph), and their 17-year-old son, Mohammad. This document stamped by Iraqi security headquarters said they, quote, "executed the three criminals". They accused them of belonging to an anti-Saddam Shiite party.
Nejla, their surviving sister says, "I was only five years old when they stormed our house and dragged my sister out by her clothes. We lived in fear all the time. I knew when they took anyone we would never see them again. For more than 20 years their father, Naama Yusef Moussa tried in vain to find out what had happened to his children.
"Every week I went to the security department," he says. "They humiliated and hit me and that's the only answer I got from them."
(On camera): There are tens of thousands of Iraqis just like the Moussas, who for decades have been victims of Saddam Hussein's petty political revenge. Although his trial will likely deal with the vast crimes against humanity and genocide committed during his rule, families like the Moussas say they, too, need justice.
More than 300 mass graves have been unearthed so far in Iraq and testify to the massive crimes and atrocities committed by Saddam's regime. But the banality of his daily evil is reflected by the Moussa family tragedy.
"I am a mother who has lost her children, and I need him to be punished," says Bahiya Moussa.
"If I had the chance I would hit that tyrant in the face," says her husband, Naama Moussa.
But Nejla, who saw her sister wrenched from the family says a careful trial is too good for Saddam Hussein.
"Everyone knows Saddam is a criminal," she says. "We don't need this long process. He should be executed immediately."
They all say that they are grateful that they have at least survived to see Saddam pay for his crimes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AMANPOUR: So when we asked this family, again, what they were feeling that this trial was impending, it is just a day away now. They said, if I had wings, I would fly away with happiness said the father. And he also said, that they were going to buy a new television, and just as a measure of the new Iraq, they were going to buy a new generator, too. Because there isn't any permanent electricity here, to make sure that they can actually stay glued to the proceedings -- Aaron.
BROWN: So all of this is going to be on television, the whole trial?
AMANPOUR: They think so, but who knows exactly what is going to happen the first day. You know, a lot of this is still being worked out. Some people think that it may even be suspended for a while after the first day, because he's going to ask, through his lawyers, for a continuance. But they do expect, at least the people expect, that they are going to be shown the proceedings.
BROWN: And who is the jury in this?
AMANPOUR: You know, you've got me there. That is an extremely good question and I don't believe there is a jury. I'm going to check for you. But I think it's a panel of judges, like in the Hague, the International War Crimes Tribunal, where it is a panel of judges and no jury.
BROWN: So it is a tribunal of some sort, of --
AMANPOUR: It is called the Special Tribunal.
BROWN: OK, thank you, Christiane, Christiane Amanpour.
I'm not trying to stump you here. I'm just trying to find out. Thank you.
COOPER: It will be interesting to see, too, if the original judge, from that hearing, will be involved in the case.
BROWN: He had some -- or the original prosecutor, some relationship to Chalabi?
COOPER: No, Chalabi's son was in charge of the original proceedings.
BROWN: Yes.
COOPER: But then he was removed from that. And I'm not sure if he's back in Iraq. I know, Chalabi is certainly in Iraq and is a power player again.
BROWN: Anyway, they're working this just thing at their own pace over there.
COOPER: Exactly, yes.
Coming up, we spent a lot of time covering the troubling stories of lost and suffering pets during the Hurricane Katrina and the aftermath. Tonight a heartwarming reunion gives hope to animal lovers everywhere. We be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Well, thankfully there have been a few happy stories to emerge from the ruins of Katrina. Some of them include man's best friend, the dogs and other animals who were rescued after being lost or abandoned in the storm. According to Petfinder.com there have been over 1,000 reunions of pets with their owners. That's not a lot when you consider an estimated 50,000 animals were left behind. This story is about a dog who beat the odds.
Precious, is the dog's name, a small but feisty four-year-old Chihuahua mix, who survived for a month all alone waiting for her owner to return. A dog, who once rescued, traveled a remarkable distance from New Orleans all the way to Buffalo, New York. And remarkably enough was reunited with her owner there, Nancy Hicks.
I spoke to Nancy last week, soon after she embraced Precious. And I learned that to Nancy, whose family lost just about everything in the hurricane, Precious, is appropriately named, a dog worth immeasurable amount, especially after such devastating loss.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
Come on, Precious. Good boy!
COOPER (on camera): How's Precious doing?
NANCY HICKS, FOUND DOG AFTER KATRINA: Oh, she's doing fine. She's a little tired right now.
COOPER: So you went up to Buffalo, the moment when you saw her, what was that like? She recognized you instantly, I'll bet?
HICKS: Yes, sir. She recognized me. She had trouble finding me. But she recognized me.
COOPER: And when you made eye-contact with her, when you saw her, when you kissed her for the first time, that must have been great.
HICKS: Yes, sir, it was.
COOPER: You lost two of your dogs. What were their names?
HICKS: Rico and Beefy.
COOPER: What kind of dogs were they?
HICKS: Both of them Chihuahuas.
COOPER: How did they pass away, do you know?
HICKS: We believe that Rico drowned in my daughter's house. Because her house had four plus feet of water in it. And whenever bad weather came or anything he would run and hide underneath the bed. So we presume he drowned in the house. And Beefy, we don't know how he drowned -- how he died, because he was with Precious in my house.
COOPER: One of your daughters returned home and saw on the door, one of the rescuers had written that one dog had been rescued.
HICKS: Yes, sir.
COOPER: And you went -- and someone went to Petfinder.com, was able to find precious for you. When you saw Precious again, when you knew Precious was alive and had been rescued what -- how did you feel?
HICKS: Oh, sir, I was so happy -- feelings -- words can't express how I was feeling I was so happy. My family wasn't complete until I found Precious.
COOPER: She is already used to being back in your arms, it looks like.
HICKS: Seems like she has never gotten unused to it.
COOPER: It's great to meet you and I'm glad your pet was returned. I'm glad Precious is back in your family.
HICKS: So am I. Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: Well, maybe that wasn't front page news, but it was a pretty cool story anyway. Here's a quick look at the morning papers across the country, around the world.
"The Washington Post" leads with Iraq, "Iraqis Say Air Strikes Kill Many Civilians; U.S. Military Gives Different Account". This is one of those things that we'll probably never have a settled answer for.
If you looking for something to be outraged about, "The Oregonean", out in Portland, Oregon, supplies it. "CEOs Benefit as Charities Boom". It turns out the people who run charities are making out like bandits. I'm not suggesting they're stealing, but they're doing very well. In Texas one of the biggest non-profits paid $4.6 million to a management firm founded by its CEO. By the way, many of the workers make less than the federal minimum wage at $5.15. Makes you feel good, doesn't it? When you are writing a check.
Makes this headline work great, doesn't it? "Record Bank Heist", that is the headline in the "Rocky Mountain News" out in Denver, Colorado, tonight.
The "Chattanooga Times Free Press", down in the corner here, if you don't mind, "Medicare Offers Web Tools For Choosing a Drug Plan". The drug plan goes into effect, it is actually -- I know this from my mother -- its very confusing figuring out which drug plan and how to do it. So anyway, they put it on the net, which is also very confusing for some people.
"Iraq Delays Results of Balloting on Charter: 99 Percent Approval Results in Some Areas Lead to Reexamination", that is the "International Herald Tribune".
The weather in Chicago tomorrow, according to the "Chicago Sun- Times", is "Soxie". If you follow baseball, you know exactly what that means. We'll continue in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Quick update before we go on Tropical Storm Wilma, troubling news for Floridians. The National Hurricane Center says the storm's current projected path has shifted some. It may turn sharply east toward the Florida coast late Saturday. What's more, storm gathering strength in the Caribbean. Could become a hurricane later tomorrow.
COOPER: All depends, I guess, on the western winds blowing it toward the -- toward Florida. But it could go -- frankly, the range is so big.
BROWN: Right.
COOPER: There is no way to know at this point.
BROWN: Anyway, it's not going to New Orleans, you are.
COOPER: That's true. I'm going to New Orleans and I'll see you from there tomorrow night. Do you want me to get you anything?
BROWN: No, just get back safely.
COOPER: All right. Thanks. Thanks for watching, see you tomorrow.
BROWN: Good night.
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