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CNN Newsnight Aaron Brown
Hurricane Wilma at Category 4; New Orleans Police Beating Victim is Outraged; A Woman's Desperate Search for Two Boys; Arrest Warrant for Congressman Tom DeLay; Saddam Hussein in Court; Daniel Horowitz Returns Home; Revisiting New Orleans Destruction; Evacuees' Pets Shot at Shelter
Aired October 19, 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: Welcome back to New Orleans, the second hour of NEWSNIGHT. We have a lot to cover here from New Orleans. All about the redevelopment and what has not changed in this city.
And also Hurricane Wilma, the latest advisory, in a moment.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wilma explodes into one of the most intense hurricanes on record. Winds over 155 miles an hour. Florida braces for the worst.
The Matter of the People of Iraq versus Saddam Hussein, accused of mass murder. The former dictator enters a not guilty plea. For Iraq, for the world, it's a trial of complex emotions. CNN's Christiane Amanpour was there.
The New Orleans police beating victim and his lawyer are outraged. Last night, here on NEWSNIGHT, the lawyer for the police said things they can't tolerate. So tonight, it's their turn.
This is NEWSNIGHT, live from the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, is Aaron Brown; and live from New Orleans, Anderson Cooper.
COOPER: Welcome to NEWSNIGHT. I'm in New Orleans again. In the lake view section, it was obliterated by Katrina. We have returned here to see how the recovery is going. We'll get to that later. First, let's check with Aaron in New York -- Aaron.
AARON BROWN, CNN CO-ANCHOR: Anderson, thank you. From the most destructive hurricane on record to the most powerful hurricane ever, we're now facing the threat of Wilma. The storm is changing and we'll have the latest update coming up in a moment.
From dictator to defendant, Saddam Hussein in a court in Baghdad today, pleading not guilty to killing more than 140 people. Mr. Hussein also snapped at the judge, scuffled with guards. His trial adjourned until the 28th of November.
And outside the Iraqi city of Bhalad. Three U.S. soldiers died when their patrol was struck by a roadside bomb; another American soldier wounded. The toll of fallen U.S. soldiers so far in Iraq, now approaching 2,000. A desperate plea to help Pakistan in the wake of the earthquake that killed as many as 79,000 people. U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan urged world leaders to send more relief, send it fast. Otherwise, he says, thousands will die from exposure
An arrest warrant has been issued for Congressman Tom DeLay, the former House majority leader, who was indicted in Texas on campaign finance charges, including money laundering. He's to appear at some point in a Texas jail for booking. The powerful Republican blasts the indictment as politically motivated -- Anderson.
COOPER: We'll be covering all that in the hour ahead. But we are following some breaking news right now and it involves Hurricane Wilma, a powerful storm that could slam into Florida by Saturday night. We are hearing now there has been a change in its status. CNN Severe Weather Expert Chad Myers is in Atlanta with the latest. Chad, what's the new information?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: A little change, Anderson. We're down to 155 -- now that officially takes it down to a Category 4, but 156 is the Category 5 threshold. So we're only one mile per hour lower than a Category 5.
And there has not been a hurricane hunter aircraft in this thing for about six hours. One is on the way. And if you live in Tampa right now and you hear this Air Force plane going over your house, that's it. It's actually flying from Georgia -- from Marietta, Georgia, all the way down across down through Florida, and then eventually it will make contact with the storm probably in about two and a half to three hours.
This storm did slow down a little bit. This is of a little bit of a concern here. The more this storm slows down or doesn't have a forward direction -- doesn't have really momentum, it could turn left or turn right even more than what it is now. Even more than what it is forecast. And some of the models, some of the simulations that we use -- in fact, take it into the Yucatan Peninsula, stop it, and then back it back up to the east. Here's the official numbers, though, if you're keeping score at home: 18.1, 84.3, winds are 155, now down to a Category 4 -- and forecast to remain four and then three and then back up to and down to I guess one by the time it actually makes landfall. But notice where landfall is now time wise. This is about 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, if it follows the line. It could be longer if it goes all the way to Tampa, shorter if it hits the Florida Keys, because it's just a little bit closer. But the more it slows down, Anderson, the more this thing could actually turn hard right and miss the U.S. altogether. Back to you.
COOPER: But when we talked earlier, you also had said that the slower it gets, the greater chance it can weaken --
MYERS: True.
COOPER: -- because it is pulling up cold water.
MYERS: Absolutely. When a storm sits in the same spot for a long time, you lose that top 100 feet of warm water. It starts to mix the deeper water -- that's obviously colder in the ocean -- and when you mix that up, then you don't have the high test fuel anymore. You start to kill it. It kills itself by sitting over the same place. And that's maybe some good news as well.
I also expect any interaction with the Yucatan to start to slow down wind speeds a little bit as well. This is still four and a half days away, basically, now that they've slowed it down.
COOPER: Wow. Well, Chad, we're going to check in with you later on this evening on NEWSNIGHT.
I want to talk a little more about events here in New Orleans in recent weeks. The city was not only destroyed by Katrina, it has been torn apart by an incident caught on videotape, the police beating of a 64-year old African American man. Here's what we know.
The police officers were videotaped punching Robert Davis in the French Quarter on the night of October 8. The lawyer for the officers said Davis was belligerent, ignoring their orders. The lawyer also says Davis struck his face on the sidewalk. Davis maintains he did nothing wrong and was complying with the officers. Davis was arrested and charged with battery. The cops have been charged with assault.
Earlier, I spoke to Robert Davis and his Attorney Joseph Bruno, to get their response to new charges being made by the police.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER (on camera): Joseph, you know a witness has come forward, a woman who worked at the Red Cross, she was a volunteer here. She has confirmed much of what you and Mr. Davis have been saying all along. I talked about her testimony to Mr. DeSalvo, the attorney for the police officers last night. I want to play you some of what he says and have you react to it. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRANK DESALVO, ATTORNEY FOR POLICE OFFICERS: I have prominent citizens from New Orleans who saw the whole thing. We have witnesses from earlier in the evening who will testify how intoxicated he was. I have witnesses who --
COOPER: When you say witnesses from earlier in the evening -- what, he said he had had a dinner. Are you saying he drank over the course of dinner?
DESALVO: No. I don't think he had that dinner. And I can -- I have witnesses who show how drunk he's been many times over the past few years.
COOPER: So you're going to attack this man's credibility?
DESLAVO: Well, he, he went on television -- national television -- and said he hadn't had a drink for 25 years. It's a lie.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: So he's basically saying you're a liar. He's called you a belligerent drunk. He said you didn't have the dinner you talked about and that he has witnesses to prove it.
ROBERT DAVIS, BEATING VICTIM: I'll make this statement. I haven't in years had a drink -- had anything to drink. I would like to, but I know better, for my own sake because of an incident that happened earlier in my life when I was a little younger. So I don't drink and I'm proud of it. And anybody -- you can ask any of my friends who are very close to me, will tell you I don't drink.
COOPER: Are you concerned about how they are going to go after Mr. Davis' credibility?
JOSEPH BRUNO, ATTORNEY FOR DAVIS: I've had that concern since the first day. But I have just one regret. My only regret is that it won't be me tearing up Frank DeSalvo in the courtroom the way these guys tore up my client in the streets. This has got to be one of the easiest cases I've ever had in my entire life. I've got videotape, I must have 50 witnesses.
COOPER: He says he has prominent citizens who were witnesses.
DESALVO: I happen to know that he has one witness. That's it. He's got nothing else.
COOPER: At this point, I mean, what their big point of contention is what happened before the tape started to roll. What they say happened is that you knocked into a police horse, that they tried to help you and that you were belligerent and for your own safety, they put you up against a wall and that's when the tape started to roll.
DAVIS: No. That's not what happened. As I was coming down the street, I was concerned about the curfew. I had asked the sheriff's department and I asked someone from the federal law enforcement and the last one I saw was a New Orleans police man so I knew he would give me accurate information. And I asked him what time the curfew was, and he told me 12:00 o'clock. That was a black officer who was on the horse.
Okay, this other officer came along and intervened. And I told him that he was rude, uncourteous and unprofessional.
COOPER: Now you're, when you told him he was being discourteous, is that the language you used or --
DAVIS: Oh, yes.
COOPER: Because they said you were being belligerent and you used an explicative to the officer.
DAVIS: No, I don't use expletives. I mean, I try not to use profanity.
COOPER: How much of the incident do you actually remember?
DAVIS: The incident -- I walked across the street and I got punched after I got across the street and thrown against and thrown against a wall. I don't recall much after that because I was incoherent. I have never seen the tape, so I don't know what hard transpired between the time I was thrown against the wall and choked. And I don't remember that. I do remember getting punched the first time when I was -- from behind.
COOPER: Because what Frank DeSalvo keeps saying is look, at any time you could have put your hands behind your back and they would have handcuffed you and this would have gone away.
BRUNO: Except that he has to know to put his hands behind his back. In other words, what Frank -- what's missing here is, if he hasn't been told you're under arrest, he hasn't been told place your hands behind your back, place them on the wall. He's got to be directed in that way.
COOPER: So, to your knowledge, to your memory, they did not say anything.
DAVIS: Oh, no, they never said anything. They never -- the person who had on the hat, he was the first person I encountered.
BRUNO: Officer Schilling (ph).
DAVIS: That's Officer Schilling, thank you very much. I don't know anything other than what he told me. He did tell me I'm gonna kick your ass and he proceed to do just that.
COOPER: He said that?
DAVIS: Oh yeah, he said that to me when he was choking me.
COOPER: Frank DeSalvo has been saying all along, until really the first, the viewing of this tape was released last week, that you basically hit your head or your face against the ground when you were brought down. Do you have any -- well actually, let's play what Mr. DeSalvo said last night about how you started to get bloody.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DESALVO: It may very well be that his nose hit the FBI agents arm or something or got twisted in that fall because if you look at that tape, at no time do you see blood on his face until he gets up from that fall. And you have very clear pictures of his face from the time that incident happened 'til the time he went down to the ground. And there was never any blood on his face.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: He says it's possible you hit your nose on the arm of the FBI agent as you fell. Do you have any knowledge of how you got so bloody? DAVIS: I got kicked. I don't remember who kicked me, but someone kicked me in my face. And besides, they also punched me at -- one person kicked me an another person hit me in the face. I don't know who it was. I mean --
BRUNO: What I can tell you is this. The tape clearly shows that he's being punched on this side of his face. The officer is just pounding him, pounding him right there. I think that's where the real bloody face comes from. Because he's hitting him right in the face and it just, it took a little time to start bleeding.
COOPER: You do not express in public or even in private -- we were talking before -- anger toward the New Orleans Police Department?
DAVIS: No. The New Orleans Police Department -- this is an individual. See, they have a lot of good policemen out here. In fact, I know a lot of the guys. In fact, at my hotel there's an ex- policeman and we talk every night. His name is Mr. Martin -- St. Martin. And, you know, everybody wants me to have animosity and anger and all of that. But my God, hey, he doesn't want that. Hey, just do follow what the rules are, do what I'm supposed to do, and carry on with my life.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: The trial of the police officers will take place in January. Mr. Davis is also still facing trial on what he has been charged with.
Still, in New Orleans, we move on to a very different story. Now last night we spoke with one woman whose story touched many of you. Elaine Malone -- she was desperately searching for two little boys. Her sister's two grandsons, missing since Katrina. We followed her today in her desperate search for answers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER (voice-over): We first met Elaine Malone Tuesday night on Bourbon Street, a heartbroken woman, desperately clutching a photograph of two missing children.
ELAINE MALONE: We have Brian, seven; and Brandon Jackson and the mother is Valerie Jackson.
COOPER: Estranged from the children's mother, she had only recently made contact with them, but lost it again in the days before Katrina.
MALONE: I haven't heard from them, their mom, nobody.
COOPER: We asked viewers if they had any information, to please call Elaine's cell phone. Today we found her in her hotel room trying to follow up on some of the calls she received.
MALONE: If there in a shelter, that would be our best bet to find them. COOPER: One caller had told her he might have seen the two children in a shelter in Oklahoma City, but he couldn't be sure.
MALONE: So, you know, that's the scary part. Everybody I ask, no one has heard from them and that's very scary.
COOPER: Elaine lives in Houston with her husband and doesn't know New Orleans. Everywhere she goes, she brings the photo with her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are we doing?
MALONE: Trying to find my sister's grandchildren.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, okay.
COOPER: Elaine and her family have called the Red Cross, they've called the police. Today, she's hoping to speak to the FBI.
MALONE: I'm trying to find my sister's grandkids. I have not seen them, heard from them. I've tried everywhere, the Red Cross, the internet, everything I can do to find them and I haven't seen them since like maybe a week before Katrina.
COOPER: It takes some time, but Elaine is finally able to speak to the FBI, but they can't help. It's not a criminal investigation. She leaves information and a plea for help with a U.S. marshal, who didn't want to appear on camera.
MALONE: That's my sister's grandkids.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, U.S. MARSHALL: Your sister's grandkids.
MALONE: When she died a few years ago, I promised her -- I need to find them.
COOPER: Back on the street, back at the beginning, she's not sure which way to turn. A relative is coming to help, but she's struggling to hold onto hope.
(on camera): What's it like being, you know, in the city where, you know, people walk around having drinks and yet you have this sorrow in your heart?
MALONE: I know. It's kind of -- it's pretty hard. But then you never know where your lead may come from. Wherever I have to go, I will.
COOPER (voice-over): The one call she hasn't made, the one place she hasn't gone, is New Orleans' morgue.
(on camera): Have you not been because it's just not something you want to entertain.
MALONE: No, I don't.
COOPER: You just don't want to think about that? MALONE: No. When my sister died about three years ago, I promised her in her casket I would look after her family.
COOPER: When you see the picture, what do you think?
MALONE: When I see the picture, oh my God, I know, no matter what, I will not give up -- I will never give up. I'll look for the rest of my life.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: If you have any information about Brian and Brandon Jackson, we're going to put out Elaine's phone number. Please do not call her just to express sympathy. Do not call her for any other reason than if you have perhaps seen or heard about what might have happened to these two boys. 713 -- is her number -- 515-0005, 713- 515-0005 -- Aaron.
BROWN: This just breaks your heart. Somewhere on my desk on my to do list, it says check back with the people at the clearing house on how many of these kids -- at some point there were what two thousand and some I think who were separated from families or missing. These are just two of them. There are probably others out there and we should follow that up too while we're on the subject of accountability, thank you.
COOPER: Yes. Thanks.
BROWN: Well, onto other matters, here briefly. We suspect that Tom DeLay's enemies -- and he has as many enemies as he friends -- long for the day when the former House majority leader and the current accused money launderer is marched in handcuffs, raincoat over his head, down the street and into a courthouse -- what we in our business call a perp walk. They aren't likely to get it. Mr. DeLay, being who he is, they may to settle for the next best thing -- fingerprints and a mug shot. Today, in a formality, a warrant was issued for Mr. DeLay's arrest.
Reporting for us tonight, CNN's Joe Johns.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You never want to see your name on a document like this. To any sheriff or peace officer in the State of Texas, greetings. You are hereby commanded to arrest Thomas Dale DeLay.
That's Congressman Tom DeLay, considered one of the most powerful politicians in the country. Facing an arrest warrant on charges of criminal conspiracy and illegally laundering campaign contributions. It's just a legal formality, but there's no getting around the impact of seeing an arrest warrant for one of the country's biggest power broker.
DeLay is expected to be booked at a jail near Houston soon and is scheduled to go before a judge in Austin on Friday. But he's not the only Republican with serious legal problems this week.
Deputy White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove, the president's right-hand man and the most effective political strategist in the Republican party, is facing a possible indictment and an investigation into the public disclosure of a CIA operative's name. Republicans are now facing the possible loss of two of the parties' most powerful figures. And they're scrambling to put the best face forward.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: If the Republican party is personality driven, we're in trouble right now. Because the personalities of the party are in trouble. I would argue that the Republican party is bigger than political personalities.
JOHNS: In the hallways of the U.S. Capitol, there's a sense of anxiety about what will happen if Rove and DeLay or others go down under a legal cloud.
Here's Senator John McCain, buried in a mob of reporters.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: If the election were this November, we obviously would have difficulty. Fortunately, we have about 14 months to do a better job.
JOHNS: DeLay has already had to give up his job as majority leader. If Rove is indicted also, many believe he would have to leave the White House. But some in the Senate are already questioning whether Rove is good for the parties.
SEN. TRENT LOTT, FORMER SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: Somebody else will pick up the flag and carry on. There are a lot of other talented people around here that can do what Karl Rove does.
JOHNS (on camera): So he's not the brain of the party.
LOTT: He has a brain, but there are plenty of other brains. And in my opinion, a lot of brains a lot bigger and better than his.
JOHNS (voice-over): Lott, by the way, got no help from the White House when he was ousted as majority leader.
LOTT: President will do fine and so will we; in fact, probably will do better.
JOHNS: Important to note, neither DeLay, nor Rove has been convicted of anything. And most Republicans believe Rove will not be indicted. But they also acknowledge a great deal of political damage has already been done.
(on camera): Does it hurt Republicans politically if he has to step off the stage, guilty or innocent?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, it isn't going to help.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JOHNS: Joe Johns, CNN, Washington. BROWN: Part of the Republicans' political problems center around Iraq. And three more American soldiers died in Iraq today; the total now approaching 2,000. The vast majority died since the capture of Saddam Hussein, whose trial in Baghdad is under adjournment now, but underway.
Our Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour is there for us. It's morning there. Saddam is somewhat shaken, it seemed to me, watching it today, but certainly defiant.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He was. He came into court escorted. I thought he walked a lot slower and a lot more weak looking and tired and really more defeated looking than he had at his last court appearance. But when he was questioned by the judge, he was asked to enter his name, his identification, his profession. He basically refused to answer. He kept saying I'm the president of Iraq. I don't recognize this court. Everything that's happened, he said, since the what he called illegal U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 -- is false and therefore everything that's built on it is false. That will be the central plank of his defense, according to defense attorneys. They're saying that not only is he innocent of all these charges that he's accused of, but that the whole process is illegal -- Aaron.
BROWN: And so, none of this will unfold until late November. And is it clear that it will even begin unfolding then?
AMANPOUR: Not entirely clear. The date has been put off. We understand from legal experts that of course the defense attorney asked for it to be postponed. He said because he needed more time, more training, more time to gather witnesses and some legal experience. A key international jurist who's familiar with this case says that one of the reasons the judge postponed it is because the key law that governs this tribunal and allows this trial has in fact not been signed yet by the current president. Therefore, it needs to be signed and the law needs to take effect. And all of that, we understand, takes about 45 days, which brings us to November 28. But they could ask for another postponement. We'll just have to wait and see.
BROWN: Christiane, thank you. Christiane Amanpour in Baghdad tonight.
Still to come on the program, investigators search for clues in the murder of the wife of prominent defense attorney Daniel Horowitz. The latest on that murder mystery when NEWSNIGHT continues.
And a horrible story out in New Orleans. Dozens of pets shot to death. Who would do such a thing and why? We'll have the details as we know them, as we continue from New York and New Orleans.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Its' been four days since Daniel Horowitz found his wife murdered in their home. Since then, the prominent California defense attorney has been preparing for her funeral. He's also given a few interviews, as well. Here's CNN's Ted Rowlands.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Daniel Horowitz was allowed to return to his 12-acre northern California estate this morning after investigators finished three days of processing the crime scene where his wife Pamela Vitale was found dead.
DANIEL HOROWITZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: All I can say is that even though it was horrible all the other times I was there, this time I just sort of felt like you could almost smell (inaudible), like you're really there with the person (inaudible). It made me feel good in a way.
ROWLANDS: In a television interview yesterday, Horowitz said he's cooperating fully with investigators. Sources close to the investigation tell CNN that detectives watched the Horowitz interview as part of the investigation.
Friend and fellow Defense Attorney Michael Cardoza says investigators may still be looking at Horowitz as a potential suspect.
MICHAEL CARDOZA, ATTORNEY: The police are still looking at Mr. Horowitz. They still are looking to him to see if he may be implicated in this. I personally don't think so, having known Dan for the last 15 years, that he's in any way involved in this.
ROWLANDS: A spokesman with the sheriff's office says an arrest in the case is not expected tonight. Investigators are still waiting for forensic test results from crime scene evidence.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
Ted Rowlands, CNN.
BROWN: So ahead, we'll check with our Severe Weather Expert Chad Myers for the latest on Hurricane Wilma, but first a check on some of the other news of the day from Christi Paul in Atlanta.
CHRISTI PAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good evening. An urgent call for help for the survivors of South Asia's devastating earthquake. Today, U.N. Secretary General Kopi Annan urged the world community to increase relief efforts to avoid a second massive wave of death from the Himalayan winter. The quake's already being called one of the deadliest of modern times, with death toll estimates ranging from 42,000 to more than 79,000.
A big sex sting in New York. Federal agents and New York City probation officers rounded up 49 convicted sex offenders today. Operation Predator targeted sexual predators from 18 different countries. Agents say they were living freely on the streets of New York. Now, they'll be deported.
Crews are rushing to drain excess water behind a weakened wooden dam in Massachusetts. Officials are calling it a minute by minute situation. Thousands of people living downstream in the city of Taunton have been evacuated. Officials fear the old wooden dam could break, sending a wall of water surging through Taunton six feet deep.
And the House passed a bill today to shield the food industry from obesity lawsuits. The Cheeseburger bill, as it's been dubbed, would block civil lawsuits by people who claim their health condition is caused by manufacturer's food. The bill's fate in the Senate is dicey, which never lasted on a previously passed House bill.
That's it from Atlanta. Back to you.
BROWN: Thank you.
Still ahead on the program, getting to the bottom of a troubling, to say the least, story out in New Orleans. What exactly happened to dozens of dogs and cats found shot to death in shelters and in a school. After the story, we'll take a look at that.
And later, who can forget this? The dramatic landing of a jet fueled plane in Los Angeles last month. Tonight, you'll hear the conversation between the pilot and the tower as the pilot struggled to land the air bus.
We'll take a break first. From New York and New Orleans, this is NEWSNIGHT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: And welcome back. We are in the Lakeview section of New Orleans. As you can see it is an area -- it is a ghost town. No people living here, no electricity. Just destruction, block after block.
We want to talk about what happened here several weeks ago and we want to warn you, if you are a dog lover and animal lover this next story is going to go down pretty hard. On the surface, at least, it is impossible to explain. And just as impossible to forgive. We bring it to you because maybe, just maybe the telling of this terrible tale will help bring those responsible to justice.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER (voice over): John Bowser (ph) came to heard at the city council meeting today, but he was out of luck. The questions John has are a bit different than everyone else. He lost his house and understands why. That was Mother Nature. What he can't understand is who shot and killed Angel Girl.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Barbaric, inhuman.
COOPER: His black Lab, Angel Girl, was one of 33 dogs and cats found a couple of weeks ago, massacred at three schools which are not crime scenes. The school were used as shelters during and after the storm. The pets were left behind, their owners names on the walls after people were evacuated by authorities. Many of the pictures are simply too graphic to show. Investigators went through the school recovering evidence. Some of the animals were shot multiple times by small and large caliber firearms, as well as by shotguns. Dog biscuits remain behind in one room, a shot gun shell in another. This is John's Angel.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was my heart, she was my soul. She was my shadow.
COOPER: If this story isn't unpleasant enough there are allegations that the perpetrators are none other than those whose job it is to serve and protect, St. Bernard Parish deputies who assisted in the evacuation of the pet owners.
A police spokesman wouldn't comment. He referred us to the state attorney general, who still in fact-finding mode.
They had three different locations, why it happened, who did it. And if we can find out who did, you know, we will charge them appropriately and bring them to court to answer for their crime.
COOPER: Two weeks ago, the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff spoke to CNN.
What I do know is that it is a despicable act. And someone who did this has some imperfection in their psyche. And if that someone is a law enforcement officer, then they can't be in this business. They're in the wrong business.
COOPER: But CNN has learned that at least one witness told investigators sheriff deputies were overheard laughing as residents were being evacuated. According to the witness one of the deputies said, quote, "Once everybody is gone we can have target practice."
One animal rights group has been handing out flyers in the area. They are offering a $25,000 reward. Pasado's (ph) Safe Haven, a non- profit group, has put up money for autopsies for the animals, as well as ballistic tests on the bullets.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This was plain and simple a game of target practice. It was guys having some good ol' fun killing animals at will, who had not chance to escape.
COOPER: A chilling thought for John Bowser, since it was Angel who woke him up when the flood waters came.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's just a big nightmare. A big nightmare that I'll never wake up from.
COOPER: Investigators are still waiting for autopsy and ballistic results. Waiting and hoping the killers of these pets will soon be caught.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Unbelievable. Coming up tonight. Plenty of communities are working to pick up the pieces after Katrina, but one spot, Plaquemines Parish, is devastated beyond recognition and some would say, beyond repair. And later, tired of the prices at the pump? Why not dust off that old bicycle? We take a look at the hundreds, even thousands, of dollars you could save in commuting costs, when NEWSNIGHT continues from New Orleans and New York, and around the world.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Lets we forget, the reality of New Orleans we bring you to the Lakeview section of New Orleans tonight. A neighborhood still waiting to rebuild, waiting to have some sense of normalcy ever again.
Coming up next, a check on Hurricane Wilma, but first a look at the news at this moment.
Saddam Hussein in an argumentative mood on the first day of a televised trial that was must-see TV across Iraq today. Saddam quarreled with the judge, scuffled with his body guards. He pleaded not guilty to crimes against humanity. Trial was adjourned until the end of November.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is defending his performance during and after Hurricane Katrina. He told the special House panel investigating the government response today that he relied on FEMA experts for how best to respond to the disaster.
Democrats are boycotting the hearing calling it an effort to whitewash the administration's response to Katrina.
Supreme Court Nominee Harriet Miers running into static on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Republican chairman and ranking Democrats today asked Miers to amplify answers to a committee questionnaire. Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy says some of Miers current answers range from, quote, "incomplete" to insulting.
CNN has learned the source of the Baltimore Tunnel threat is a prisoner in the Netherlands. Two federal officials tell CNN the prisoner took a lie detector test over the weekend and some of his answers were considered deceptive.
Maryland officials shut down one tunnel and limited traffic in another for two hours yesterday, as a precaution.
We continue to track Hurricane Wilma. It could hit Florida by this weekend. Tonight there is some breaking news on its status. CNN Severe Weather Expert Chad Myers joins us from Atlanta with the latest -- Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN SEVERE WEATHER EXPERT: Anderson, we think it is going through what we call an eye wall replacement cycle. Big name, but all it means is that if you think about a target. It has one circle, then another circle, and another, and they get bigger and bigger and bigger. Well, basically, so does a major hurricane. More than one eye wall, we call them concentric eye walls. They're not side by side, they're one outside of another, outside of another.
When the one that is outside decides that it wants to replace the one that is inside, it cuts off the moisture to the one that is on the inside. This is the one, the smallest one, always has the most momentum, has the most angular spin to it. The outer ones are a little bit slower.
So, we're losing some speed tonight, we're down to a Category 4. We could even get down to a Category 3 before it regains an inner eye wall tomorrow. And the forecast is to get back up to a 5. And then, down to a 4 and make landfall as a Category 3 somewhere along the Florida west coast.
Now look at the cone. Here is Cedar Key, all the way down to Havana. So this line is, yes, the center of the forecast, but it is not a drawn line. It is actually kind of a fuzzy line. Kind of a fuzzy map, if you will, because we really at that point, 180 miles out, we still don't know, especially 96 hours out; still it is going to turn left or it is going to turn right. Back to you guys.
BROWN: Chad, thank you very much. Keep and eye on it.
In almost perfect weather, as I recall, one of the coolest moments in a long time was watching that JetBlue Airbus touching down at LAX with a bent front landing gear. No one was hurt, nothing was broken beyond the nose gear itself. It sure looked like something, though. Also, tonight, we know how it sounded from the flight deck. Here's CNN's Kathleen Koch.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PILOT: JetBlue 292 has got a problem here.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Just minutes after taking off from Burbank, California, Pilot Scott Burke finds his plane's landing gear won't retract. He asks the control tower for help.
PILOT: We want to do a visual, low-altitude fly-by the tower, please.
TOWER: What is it you want the tower to look for?
PILOT: There is a possibility -- I repeat a possibility only -- that the nose gear may be cocked at 90 degrees off center.
KOCH: He doesn't have to wait long for the bad news.
PILOT: What did you see on the gear?
TOWER: From the tower perspective the gear was canted 90 degrees to the left instead of the tires being aligned down the runway.
PILOT: Thank you. That's all we needed to know. Thank you. We'll get back to you with a plan.
KOCH: Pilots of A320s have to have a plan. Most of them know this problem has happened to six A320s before this one. Still pilots who have flown with the Airbus and dealt with similar emergencies, say this is where all the practice and experience pays off.
We don't grab the yoke all of a sudden or grab the side (ph) stick controller in this case, and say oh, my gosh, we have a -- Houston, we have a problem. Not to be calm in the situation is to give yourself an impediment you don't need. A pilot is trained to set the tone.
KOCH: Captain Burke tries to reassure his passengers. It works until Sam Meza and others start to watch the drama on their onboard satellite TVs.
SAM MEZA, JETBLUE PASSENGER: The anxiety was growing and, you know, even though it was calm, still you saw people their anxiety in their eyes, the fear in their eyes.
KOCH: For three hours the plane flies on, burning fuel to empty its tanks.
PILOT: We do request emergency equipment to be standing by at this time. This is an inbound emergency aircraft.
KOCH: Mesa is stunned at the pilot's cool demeanor on the tapes.
MEZA: His calm, his ability to keep focused, you know. And to just really seize the moment there and do his job the right way.
TOWER: Runway 2-5 left, clear to land.
PILOT: Clear to land, 2-5 left. JetBlue 292.
KOCH: Finally the plane lands, dramatically but safely.
MEZA: I'm telling you, we didn't feel it. It was like angels dropped us right there. It was incredible.
KOCH: The government is considering requiring inspections of all A320s landing gear, though Airbus insists the gear is safe. The JetBlue pilot, Scott Burke, still has not told his story publicly, but Captain Beebe, who has been there, knows how he must have felt.
CAPT. CHRIS BEEBE, VP, AIRLINE PILOTS' ASSOC.: It's satisfying to feel that you've safely gotten your passengers on the ground. You hope the training that almost every issue in an airplane is surmountable.
KOCH: Kathleen Koch, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: I love that line: "Thank you, we'll get back to you when we got a plan."
CNN's Tom Foreman may never have landed a damaged airliner, but he gets on TV just the same, because for the intrepid Mr. Foreman, just like Captain Burke, a safe arrival is everything even if it is only at the office. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Day three of the quest for the holy trail, and I attack my 10-mile commute with a stead of steel.
(On camera): Pretty good bit of traffic out here.
(Voice over): And legs of rubber.
(On camera): Ugh, a little bit of hill climbing.
(Voice over): Bicycling, one of the oldest forms of alternative commuting, is getting new scrutiny against the modern reality of $3 gas.
Just ask Lynne Mavracic, she gave up her car in February and started using her bike to go to work. Eight months later, with no gas bills, parking fees, insurance, she says she has saved, no kidding, $6,000.
LYNNE MAVRACIC, CYCLIST: I won't lie, it was a serious adjustment at first. It was a real adjustment. I really -- because you get in the mindset hopping in your car, it only takes five minutes to go to the grocery store.
FOREMAN (on camera): Now you are going everywhere on your bike?
MAVROCIC: Yes, it is all, pretty much my bike.
MATTHEW COOK, BICYCLE PRO SHOP: All right. This is a bike that was originally --
FORMAN (voice over): No wonder bike sales are hotter now than they've been since the energy crisis of '70s. And bike makers are keeping commuters in mind.
COOK: Absolutely, yes. And the handle bars are more up right. You know, your front suspension, seat suspension, so it just smoothes things out a little bit. Because the roads here are pretty nasty.
FOREMAN (voice over): The shocking reality of downtown traffic in major cities has traditionally made bicycle commuting an option only for the athletic.
(On camera): It is very dicey down here, with cars stopping and doors opening.
(Voice over): But that is changing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, the transportation bill.
FOREMAN: Elizabeth Preston, with the League of American Bicyclists, explains. The latest federal transportation bill contains $5 billion tax dollars for making cities more friendly for bikers and walkers, more trails, more biking lanes, more education programs for riders and drivers.
ELIZABETH PRESTON, LEAGUE OF AMERICAN BICYCLISTS: So, now when you're mad and you don't want to pay the fuel prices, you can still go out and start bike commuting and you'll be amazed at the infrastructure that is there, waiting for you to use.
FOREMAN: That will not answer questions like, can you shower at work? What do you do when it rains? By the way, biking enthusiasts say start small, figure those things out as you go. But look at it this way, driving to work costs me $125 a week, the metro at least $35 a week. Biking is a bit slower, only a bit.
(On camera): Although, even when you consider the helmet and the gloves and the bags and the fancy bike and everything, it is still a lot cheaper.
(Voice over): If I commuted by bicycle everyday for just two months, I'd pocket $1,000. Not a bad pay off, just a little way down the trail. Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Man, I have to get my bike out of the closet. Coming up, Plaquemines Parish utterly flattened by Katrina, mile after mile, homes, businesses destroyed. I'm going to take you there, look at what was lost, and what residents hope to salvage.
And later, a closer look at the Lakeview section of New Orleans, right here where I am, waiting to rebuild. NEWSNIGHT will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: I know a lot of people have moved on from this story and that is understandable. Life, of course, goes on. But I'd like you to remember, for just a few moments, there are thousands of people still living in shelters, living in hotels across the country, people who will never be able to return, or will never find their homes as they once were.
South of New Orleans, the bottom of Louisiana, a squirt of land juts into the Gulf of Mexico. Locals know it as Plaquemines Parish. It may have been the first chunk of the U.S. mainland to be swamped by Katrina's storm surge. The fury brought more than the unthinkable, it forced Louisiana's soil to surrender sacred treasure. Here's CNN Gary Tuchman.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It's a painful part of Hurricane Katrina's aftermath.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is heartbreaking. I just can't believe.
TUCHMAN: In remote Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, caskets have separated from graves in above ground tombs. At this cemetery, in the town of Narin (ph), the caskets of families have disappeared. This woman is mourning the loss of her uncle's body.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The coffins are floated away, and Lord knows where.
TUCHMAN: When we first visited Plaquemines Parish, days after Katrina, most of it was underwater. Today, it is mostly dry but it has clearly revealed what's happened here.
BENNY ROUSSELLE, PRESIDENT, PLAQUEMINES PARISH: Annihilated, destroyed, whatever you want to characterize it as.
TUCHAMAN: Plaquemines Parish is 67 miles long and sits at the mouth of the Mississippi River. The southern-most half was hardest hit. Katrina's eye made it's initial landfall on the parish town of Burris (ph), which was devastated. Out of thousands of houses, it is estimated there are no more than 10 in the southern part of the parish that are even salvageable.
Byron Marinavich (ph) was born and raised here. He and his wife, Kelly, evacuated and came back when the flood waters were still six- feet deep.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I first got in the boat I cried. When I looked, and I seen -- I knew everybody I knew, all of my family, all my friends, all my neighbors, all of my neighbors, everybody lost everything. There is nothing left down here.
TUCHMAN: They hope to rebuild.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This was a house. This was a gun shop next door. Across the street we had the Black Velvet Lounge, the bar has been here since the '40s.
TUCHMAN (on camera): Plaquemines Parish is full of families who have lived here for generations. Undoubtedly, many of them will not be coming back. The damage is immense. But perhaps not as immense as the heartache.
(Voice over): Trying to ease heartache is the hope of a parish- wide effort to match up displaced caskets with their grave sites. The president of the parish says in one case --
ROUSSELLE: The casket was opened and the skeletal remains there, and the gentleman was buried in a nice suit. And he had a fishing rod in the casket with him. And so, when they were looking around the cemetery, to find out or try to place where the casket went, they noticed on the tomb it said, "Going fishing, one more time."
TUCHMAN (voice over): More than seven weeks after this disaster Plaquemines is not much closer to normalcy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TUCHMAN: If you've been to the New Orleans area you've probably noticed all the tombs. They are built because of the low elevation, because of the big flooding problems here. But the cemeteries of Plaquemines Parish were not match for Katrina.
COOPER: That is just incredible, unbelievable story, Gary. Thank you very much for that.
Coming up a closer look of Lakeview, lest you forget about the reality of New Orleans. We'll take you around here, this area destroyed by Katrina. Seven weeks after the storm not much has changed. We'll show you how, NEWSNIGHT will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Welcome back, we're in the Lakeview section of New Orleans. And for all the talk of rebuilding New Orleans and all the optimism and, of course, there is cause for that and there is hope of rebuilding. There are many communities which are simply just decimated. And that the people have not been able to return to and may never be able to return to.
Lakeview, we're just basically about 100 or so yards, from a canal, from the 17th Street Canal, it is behind this house here. The water, when the breach occurred just here, so water just rushed down here taking many houses with it, just destroying a lot of these homes.
And all over, you find automobiles that have just been turned over by the water, turned over, you know, you wonder what happened. This just completely broken here. This is just basically a giant SUV just rolled over several times on its side. Here's another automobile -- or what's left of an automobile -- it is all rusted now. It has been here. A lot of this has been pushed by bulldozers and just piled up. But these are people's possessions and they will never be able to salvage anything from these.
And, Aaron, a lot of the people who have come back, they think they are going to be able to salvage something from their homes and then they kind of throw up their hands. It is just -- it's a total waste.
BROWN: How much of the city is like that?
COOPER: You know, it's hard to get a sense of it. I mean, the Ninth Ward, the Lower Ninth Ward is completely like this. Lakeview is like this. It is really the French Quarter, which is all right. The Garden District, which is all right. And those are sort of the main areas that people know of and people hang out in, still to this day.
But I mean, Lakeview is particularly bad and the Lower Ninth Ward is an identical copy to it.
BROWN: Wow, two months out.
Quick check of the morning papers. We ate some time there in that is my fault and I take responsibility for it. Oh, we ate up a lot of time.
"The Washington Post", well, this is a good story, it should be on the front page, "Rove told jury" -- that would be grand jury -- "Libby" -- that is Lewis Libby "may have been his source in the leaked case." Does it sound like they're turning on each other?
No, he said it, the vice president's guy did it, I didn't do it.
"She knows he's guilty". Defiant Saddam shouts to judge, "I'm innocent", but she knows he's guilty. We all know he's guilty.
We should mention this, " 'Guardian' journalist abducted in Baghdad." Rory Carroll, 33-year-old reporter for the British paper, "The Guardian" was abducted today in Baghdad. That is a big business there.
Charlie, how we doing on time? Good.
The weather in Chicago tomorrow, if you happen to be there for the ballgame. It will be the White Sox and Houston, "change up" according to "The Sun-Times".
We'll wrap it up in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Good to have you with us tonight, "Larry King Live" coming up.
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