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CNN Connie Chung Tonight

Sniper on the Loose: False Witness Revealed; Family of Mad Cow Victim Speaks Out

Aired October 17, 2002 - 20:00   ET

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

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


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CONNIE CHUNG, HOST: Good evening. I'm Connie Chung.

Tonight: the hunt for the sniper, a surprising setback: false information from a bogus witness.

ANNOUNCER: "Sniper on the Loose."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I saw her on the floor laying there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We saw them go after a guy in a van that was parked out across the street.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: What did the witnesses see? What does it take to create a profile sketch of the killer? And why surveillance cameras now may play the key role. Plus: a terrorist connection? Investigators question al Qaeda detainees in Cuba.

The heart-wrenching story of the first known victim of the human form of mad cow disease in the U.S. Tonight, her family says the British government is to blame.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHARON, AUNT OF MAD COW DISEASE VICTIM: Whose fault is it? That's what I want to know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: A panicked call.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

911 OPERATOR: OK, Ginny, can you turn your engine off?

VIRGINIA ISFAHANI, SURVIVED RUNAWAY VEHICLE: No, it won't move.

911 OPERATOR: Your engine won't -- your key won't turn off?

V. ISFAHANI: No, it won't move. (END AUDIO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: A runaway car and the wild ride through two states to save the driver.

This is CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT. Live from the CNN Broadcast Center in New York: Connie Chung.

CHUNG: Good evening.

Tonight, we've got the latest developments on every angle of the hunt for the Washington area sniper, as well as a new chilling warning from the CIA director about the chances of another terrorist attack in the U.S. We'll have more on that a little later.

But first: a shocking setback in the sniper hunt. Remember all that great information and detail that emerged about the Washington area sniper over the last two days? Wrong. The man who gave all those details to police actually didn't see a thing. Why would someone do something so hurtful to the investigation?

CNN's Jeanne Meserve is manning the evidence desk in Washington tonight with the latest on this incredible twist -- good evening, Jeanne.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Connie.

The man has a criminal record and his nickname is "Slim," according to law enforcement sources. He gave investigators the most specific information to date about the shooter and his weapon. But now it turns out the witness was not a witness at all. He saw nothing. And his phony information has wasted investigators' time and perhaps allowed the sniper to slip away.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): The man was very specific with police about the sniper's weapon, an AK-74, he said, that the shooter had put to his shoulder and fired. But investigators grew suspicious when his recollections of the sniper's vehicle were relatively vague and fuzzy and when he could not clarify other actions of the shooter. He was pressed by investigators and Wednesday night confessed he was inside the Home Depot at the time of the shooting and had not seen a thing.

TOM MANGER, FAIRFAX COUNTY POLICE CHIEF: It's been determined through further investigation that the information provided by one of the witnesses at the scene of the shooting in the Home Depot describing a cream-colored van with a malfunctioning taillight is not credible. In addition, there have been several media reports related to the description of a specific weapon and the suspect. That information as well is not reliable.

MESERVE: Based on the man's bogus information, a lookout went out for a cream-colored van soon after Monday's shooting. Did the hunt for that fictional van divert the police from finding the sniper's real vehicle? Police claim it did not. LIEUTENANT AMY LUBAS, FAIRFAX COUNTY POLICE: It's one of these situations where it would have been better if it didn't happen. But did it cripple the investigation? No. Officers were still looking for vehicles that may have been suspicious and people that may have been suspicious and things like that.

MESERVE: Police must now discard several pieces of information they thought were the most promising yet, including a description of the shooter, his movements and his distance from the victim, 30 yards away, a description of his weapon, a description of his vehicle, a partial license plate tag.

PATRICK BROSNAN, FORMER NYPD DETECTIVE: It led investigators down avenues that they may not have went down otherwise. And that's a waste of time. It's a waste of money. It's a waste of energy. And, more importantly, the clock is ticking.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MESERVE: Investigators do have other witnesses from near the Falls Church shooting. And they are not discounting their testimony about vehicles and the people inside. They also have the composite of the white box truck and of white vans with ladder racks, those composites gleaned from the testimony of witnesses at other shooting sites.

However, detectives close to this investigation say the bottom line is, they are back where they were before the Falls Church shooting -- Connie.

CHUNG: Jeanne, why would this person do such a thing?

MESERVE: Well, if people know why he did it, they aren't saying. I can tell you that people close to the investigation are doing some speculation. One theory is that he wanted the fame and the attention. The other is that he wanted money. There is a half-million dollar reward in this case.

CHUNG: Oh, sure, absolutely.

Will he be prosecuted?

MESERVE: That's unclear at this point. I can tell you that there are some people close to this investigation that badly want to see him prosecuted. Other people are saying that authorities are going to go slow for a while and let him stew.

The bottom line is that the man who will make the decision, the Fairfax County Commonwealth's attorney, Robert Horan, has been in incommunicado all day. We haven't been able to talk to him -- Connie.

CHUNG: All right, Jeanne Meserve, in Washington tonight at the evidence desk, thank you.

Tonight, the search for the sniper is entering its third week. And it's been about 71 hours since he last struck. Police in Montgomery County held a briefing today.

And CNN's Kathleen Koch joins us from Rockville, Maryland, with the latest details.

Kathleen, from your vantage point, are investigators considering this a serious setback?

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Connie, clearly, this is not the type of revelation that any investigation, especially one of this magnitude, wants to make, and especially at a time that there was a real sense of momentum building.

But police Chief Charles Moose today tried to put the best face possible on a very bad situation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLES MOOSE, MONTGOMERY COUNTY POLICE CHIEF: It has not set back the investigation. We have very good investigators, and I think what you have in the report from Chief Manger is that investigators have done their job.

And in the interim, all of the other investigators have continued to open up, turn over, and follow up on leads. We are making progress. We remain very optimistic. But certainly, we felt that this piece received so much attention that it was important that Chief Manger himself tell you the status of that situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOCH: Obviously, law enforcement here is very aware, though, that the killer or killers may be watching. So they did not want to show any signs of weakness or any frustration, but there is plenty of that frustration behind the scenes -- Connie.

CHUNG: Jeanne Meserve had mentioned the other witnesses in Falls Church. They are not discounting what they have to say, are they?

KOCH: They absolutely are not, Connie. They say they have no reason to believe that the information that those witnesses gave them is not good, is not credible. But they are going to be very reluctant in the future with those witnesses and if there are any future shootings to share with the media and with the public what witnesses have revealed, because they do not want to have egg on their face twice.

CHUNG: So what's next, Kathleen, from your vantage point?

KOCH: From here, really, at least when it comes to the Falls Church investigation, you're back to square one.

Police went back to the scene today, going over the area in sort of a grid search, trying to find what they might have missed. Right now, they've returned to Route 50, an area across from the shopping mall, searching the Route 50 area and the median strip. It is quite a distance from the area inside the parking lot, the covered parking garage area, where they were initially searching.

There were more than 60 police cadets who did this grid search on their hands and knees, combing the area. Also, detectives tried to determine the trajectory, the approximate angle from which the shot may have been fired. But this crime occurred on Monday night. And we're talking about coming back to the scene on Thursday, a time when countless numbers of people have walked through there, cars driven through there, and when we've already had our first nor'easter that's blown through this region, dumping plenty of rain on the area, something that clearly could have compromised any bits of evidence that were on the scene, trace gunpowder.

Connie, so it's very damaging to the investigation.

CHUNG: Kathleen, the investigators have to be encouraged somewhat, because several days have past since an attack.

KOCH: I think it's hard to say they are encouraged. I think everyone here is somewhat relieved. But at the same time, I think, on the part of investigators, on the part of the public at large, there is a real sense of unease, because you want to hope that the killer or killers has stopped, has given up, won't kill again. But it's like you're waiting for the other shoe to drop and you just don't know when and where it's going to come.

CHUNG: All right, Kathleen Koch in Rockville, Maryland, thank you.

Although human witnesses can be unreliable or even dishonest, as we've learned, police are also turning to automated witnesses. By some estimates, the average law-abiding American is caught on surveillance video as often as eight to 10 times a day -- eight to 10 times every day.

And, recently, the surveillance camera has played a big role in stories ranging from the beating in Inglewood, California, to Madelyne Toogood hitting her child in a parking lot. In the case of the sniper, investigators are poring over videos from the shooting locations in hopes that they will prove to be more reliable witnesses.

CNN's Art Harris on this story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ART HARRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Look around the next time you walk into a store and, chances are, the hidden eye is looking back at you.

DAVID YANG, CONTINENTAL SECURITY SYSTEMS: Throughout the day, we can probably go through the whole day being captured on camera without noticing, without knowing.

HARRIS: Today, security cameras seem to be everywhere. So why haven't they caught the sniper still on the loose? One reason: Most stores put their cameras inside to catch a thief, a robber, a shoplifter. The sniper has lurked outside, out of view. YANG: The theft inside is more of a priority than what occurs outside.

HARRIS (on camera): So, once you are outside, you're on your own?

YANG: Pretty much. Once you've walked out of the building, pretty much you are no longer being monitored. You are no longer being recorded.

HARRIS (voice-over): The latest victim was shot down in a Home Depot parking garage. The store had cameras inside, not outside. Many stores put the first camera right above the cash register.

(on camera): How many cameras do you have?

TRACY BELAEUER, OWNER, SUPER PETZ: We have 18 cameras right now.

HARRIS (voice-over): Only after this bird named Bubba was stolen from his cage did this pet store put cameras up and down the aisles. This is one of the few places we found with cameras installed on the outside.

BELAEUER: We have them out front overlooking the main road out there, just so we could get a getaway car.

HARRIS: There are now two million video surveillance systems in the United States.

YANG: We are about 20 miles away from a location in Washington, D.C.

HARRIS: This camera on top of a building along a busy street can be moved with the click of a mouse.

YANG: You can actually zoom in on an individual or a vehicle. There is a white van.

HARRIS: But technology alone is not enough. Last week, a motorist was gunned down at this Sunoco station in Manassas, Virginia. The manager told us he'd ordered security cameras before the shooting, but they had not yet arrived. They are due to be installed this weekend. Two cameras will look out over the pumps.

Had they been in place eight nights ago, investigators say, they might have helped pinpoint where the sniper was standing. Another station on the opposite corner did have cameras. That night, they were turned off.

(on camera): Even with security cameras in so many places and investigators checking every frame after each shooting to catch the killer on tape, police will need a bit of luck. And, so far, that kind of luck has been elusive.

Art Harris, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHUNG: And still ahead: when a witness to a crime does see something, how it's translated into a weapon in the fight against crime.

Stay with us.

ANNOUNCER: Next: Could the serial sniper killings be the work of a terrorist? Why these detainees may hold the key to solving the crime.

CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHUNG: Although the sniper attacks do not fit the patterns of past terrorist attacks, speculation about such a link continues. To make sure they cover every possibility, no matter how remote, investigators will interrogate suspected al Qaeda detainees in U.S. custody.

CNN justice correspondent Kelli Arena lays out the facts.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): U.S. officials say it makes good investigative sense to question al Qaeda detainees in Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere to see if they know about any plans to use snipers in terror attacks. Even though there is no evidence linking the recent sniper attacks to al Qaeda or any terrorist organization, investigators want to make absolutely sure, after all al Qaeda documents obtained by CNN and law enforcement agencies, detail how sniper teams could easily get guns and train in the United States. But, when asked about a possible terror link, officials would not comment.

CHARLES MOOSE, MONTGOMERY COUNTY POLICE CHIEF: We're not going to talk about the investigation. We're not going to talk about anything that is in a manual that, you know, we haven't brought out here and distributed. Obviously you're talking about matters of national security.

ARENA: Speculation about whether al Qaeda may be involved intensified after Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge said earlier this week he could not rule out a terror connection.

TOM RIDGE, HOMELAND SECURITY DIRECTOR: I don't think we can foreclose that.

ARENA: Counterterrorism officials say they don't think there is a terror connection because many terrorist organizations take credit for attacks and that has not happened. Also, al Qaeda terrorists typically do not leave tarot cards behind. What's more terror organizations usually plan operations, such as the September 11th attacks, which claim more than one life at a time.

DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: I have no information that it's terrorist related. Do you?

ARENA (on camera): The sniper attacks come amid warnings that al Qaeda continues to plan major attacks against U.S. interests. Now, given that backdrop, one U.S. official says it would simply be irresponsible not to go back to detainees for more information.

Kelli Arena, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHUNG: Now joining us are two men with similar backgrounds, but two different views of what we've just heard.

In Erie, Pennsylvania, we have former FBI Deputy Director of Counterterrorism Robert Heibel. And, in Memphis, we have former FBI Deputy Director Weldon Kennedy.

Gentlemen, thank you for being with us.

WELDON KENNEDY, FORMER FBI DEPUTY DIRECTOR: Thank you, Connie.

CHUNG: Mr. Heibel, we'll start with you.

Do you believe that this sniper might be a terrorist or might emerge from a terrorist group, Mr. Heibel?

ROBERT HEIBEL, FORMER FBI DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF COUNTERTERRORISM: I think any experienced investigator, analyst or decision-maker has got to realize that the al Qaeda organization would benefit greatly by being able to create fear in the Washington, D.C area.

CHUNG: So what are you saying? It's possible?

HEIBEL: And the sniper here in Washington, D.C. certainly has done that.

CHUNG: So you're saying it's possible.

HEIBEL: So I'm saying it's a consideration that has to be looked at. Yes, I am saying it is possible.

CHUNG: All right, Mr. Kennedy, what do you think?

KENNEDY: You can't totally discount it, Connie.

But I think, to this point, what's already been previously alluded to: that is, A, no one has claimed any responsibility for these actions; B, there's interviews been going on and a worldwide search for information, all of which, apparently, as far as we know, is negative with regard to any information concerning these organizations.

CHUNG: But, Mr Kennedy, al Qaeda did not claim responsibility in the African Embassy explosion. And, in fact, it was attributed to al Qaeda. And I don't think that there are rules in these deadly games, do you? KENNEDY: No, but in the African -- no, they didn't claim responsibility immediately, but there was a flow of intelligence information very soon after those explosions, giving very strong indications as to who was responsible.

CHUNG: But let me throw one more at you: 9/11 was a new tactic, using planes as weapons. So why wouldn't the terrorists come up with a new tactic?

KENNEDY: As I've said, I cannot totally discount it. No one can possibly do that, because everything is pure speculation at this point. What I'm saying is, is that, up until this point, all of the evidence seems to indicate that this is not terrorist connected.

CHUNG: All right, Mr. Heibel, I will destroy my earlier argument by saying to you, in this particular case, most terrorists would not have killed a 13-year-old boy and targeted him. Wouldn't you agree with that? Or attempted to kill a 13-year-old boy -- forgive me. This child is still in critical condition.

HEIBEL: I wouldn't agree with that because I -- all right. I would not agree with that.

What's interesting about this sniper is that what you are seeing is that he's completely arbitrary in the targets he picks. There is no concern here about sex or race, completely arbitrary.

CHUNG: All right, and just one final word on that child: He's in serious condition, upgraded from critical.

Mr. Kennedy, the FBI is now talking about -- the federal government is talking about interviewing these prisoners at Gitmo, at Guantanamo Bay. Do you think that they will be able to get some information out of them?

KENNEDY: Well, hopefully, if there's been talk previously. Obviously, they've been out of circulation for a long time. But it's possible that, if there were some background or involvement here, that they were party to conversation or maybe even plans to do something of this sort.

CHUNG: And, Mr. Kennedy, we have seen these videotapes of training in al Qaeda camps. Wouldn't it be fairly reasonable to suggest that indeed there were snipers who were trained in al Qaeda camps?

KENNEDY: Not unreasonable at all.

CHUNG: All right, Mr. Heibel, can you wrap this up for us and tell us what you think? The long and the short of it, do you believe -- what are the chances that this is a terrorist or a terrorist organization? Put a percentage on it. What do you think?

HEIBEL: I'd say there's a good 50/50 shot here that it is. And I think it's an operation that's an economic operation. They don't have to have a large infrastructure to do this. And it appears to be the work of someone who is highly skilled. I think there's a good possibility.

I'm not saying it is, but I think it certainly has to be a major consideration. And I'm sure it is.

CHUNG: All right, finally, Mr. Kennedy, your percentages, would you say?

KENNEDY: I'm not saying it is not, but I think it's a very small possibility, maybe 10 percent or 15 percent.

CHUNG: All right, gentlemen, thank you so much. We appreciate it.

And whether or not al Qaeda has any actual link to the killings, the threat from al Qaeda is as great as it was prior to September 11, 2001. That's what CIA director George Tenet told a congressional committee today in assessing al Qaeda's current status.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE TENET, CIA DIRECTOR: The threat environment we find ourselves in today is as bad as it was last summer, the summer before 9/11. It is serious. They have reconstituted. They're coming after us. They want to execute attacks. You see it in Bali, you see it in Kuwait. They plan in multiple theaters of operation. They intend to strike this homeland again. And we better get about the business of putting the right structure in place as fast as we can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHUNG: Chilling. Despite Tenet's warning, he gave no indication The CIA has any more information now about future attacks than it did before September 11. And he said the agency should not have waited from December 1999 until late August 2001 to warn the FBI and other agencies about two of the September 11 hijackers. By August 2001, the two men had been in the U.S. almost a year.

Coming up: what it takes to track down a killer. We'll be right back.

ANNOUNCER: Next: making a sketch from eyewitness descriptions. We'll look back at another high-profile case: how a composite caught a killer.

CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT returns in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHUNG: After Monday's shooting, it initially appeared there might be enough witness accounts to lead to a police sketch of a suspect. Those hopes fell through after one of the main witnesses turned out to have made up his story.

Police had had high hopes for a sketch because they know what a powerful tool it has been in past cases. After a sketch of the Unabomber suspect was widely publicized, Ted Kaczynski broke his own nose to alter his appearance. In Orange, California, Officer Michael Streed's sketch of Samantha Runnion's abductor helped police find suspect Alejandro Avila four days later.

And Officer Streed joins us with some insights on how it's done. Thank you, sir, for being with us.

MICHAEL STREED, ORANGE POLICE DEPARTMENT: Thank you, Connie, for having me.

CHUNG: How do you determine what information is credible, when, in this particular case, obviously, the investigators fortunately were able to ferret out the information that this witness was bogus.

STREED: You know, Connie, that's what we rely on mostly, because, oftentimes, we don't get to the witness until they've been talked to by several investigators, or officers on the scene initially.

CHUNG: You said that's what you rely on, meaning what?

STREED: Well, you know, we rely on the investigators to provide our witnesses for us. It's not often that we are on the scene to determine who actually is the best witness. A lot of times, we're depending upon the investigators to feed us the witnesses, so to speak.

CHUNG: I see. And if the investigators feed you a witness that you are a little bit questionable about, are you able to read these witnesses and sort of ferret out your information?

STREED: Occasionally.

You know, I think part of the job of being a police composite artist is the ability to understand or relate to people. And I think sometimes there's some cues that you pick up along the way, because we're spending a considerable amount of time with them, that we're able to alert investigators that there might not be all there is to it.

CHUNG: How can you tell if a witness is credible, in terms of, if they are confident, does that tell you, "Ah, yes, this person really knows what he's talking about and we'll buy his story"?

STREED: Not necessarily. I've had cases where people are totally confident and they've been wholly wrong, unfortunately, with all their best intentions. They were trying the best they can. But, for a lot of reasons, they come forward and boast that they've seen what they haven't. And, in some cases, they are so sure of what they saw because they are trying to cover up maybe a relative or friend's involvement in the crime.

CHUNG: I'm sure you remember the David Berkowitz Son of Sam case.

STREED: Yes, I do.

CHUNG: That sketch bore no resemblance to Berkowitz. That does happen, doesn't it? In this particular case, it just didn't look like him.

STREED: And, again, you are talking about the human memory, which is very fragile, at best. And I have to say that I certainly support what they are doing back East. And I think that they are being very responsible in their approach of how they are handling it and not rushing to put out a sketch that might certainly hamper their investigation.

But, at the same time, with the Son of Sam case, you are talking about a guy that walks up on cars in the middle of the night, and these people are at a disadvantage.

CHUNG: Can you walk us through the process of how you come up with a composite sketch? If there are conflicting bits of information from witnesses, how do you come to a consensus?

STREED: For me, it's a matter of talking to the people, spending the time to find out where exactly they were at the time the crime was committed, what their perspective was, how long they saw the person, angle of observation, different things like that, time and distance, lighting, if they were -- their mind was altered in any way from either alcohol or maybe prescription medication, things like that, and the amount of detail they're able to provide, actually.

CHUNG: We just had a shot up of Alejandro Avila and the sketch that you made. And it's extraordinary, it's so close. How often do composite sketches lead to arrests, would you say?

STREED: I don't think there's any study. Everybody keeps their own statistics. And there's no data pool on that.

But I would say, in a great number of cases, they are instrumental in either identifying somebody or eliminating somebody that they might have been looking at. So, as a tool, they are very valuable.

CHUNG: All right, I thank you so much for being with us, Michael Streed.

STREED: Thank you, Connie.

CHUNG: OK.

A little later, we'll have an update on the latest in the sniper investigation. So do stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHUNG: For the first time, the human form of mad cow disease has come to America. A young British woman who moved to Florida 10 years ago has it. And she's dying. She's in her early 20s. Already much of who she was is gone, taken by the disease which killed 128 people in the United Kingdom, the nation that was hit hardest by the disease. You'll meet her dad in a moment. And we'll answer some questions about how the disease got here and whether it could spread.

But first, CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has the exclusive story of a young woman named Charlene.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just a year ago, Charlene appeared completely healthy. This is the damage mad cow disease can do in less than one year.

LISA, SISTER OF CHARLENE: It's deteriorated her brain to a point where she can't talk. She can't control her functions. She doesn't eat anymore.

COHEN: Charlene -- her family doesn't want their last name used -- has less than three months to live, doctors believe. She's the first known case in the United States of the human form of mad cow disease. And the Centers for Disease Control says more cases are sure to follow: people infected while living in Britain.

Charlene's family members have decided to break their silence, because, before she dies, they want answers.

SHARON: Whose fault is it? That's what I want to know. I want someone from the UK to come tell me: Why is my niece lying in this position now?

COHEN: Charlene was born in England and lived there until she was 13. She moved to Florida 10 years ago. Doctors are sure she caught the disease in the United Kingdom, where there have been 117 human cases and thousands of sick cows. The disease has never been found in cattle in the United States.

As the disease always does, it lurked in Charlene's body for years before attacking. Then, in November of last year, Charlene, a vibrant young woman who had won a scholarship to college, kept forgetting things and losing her temper.

LISA: She came to me a couple of times and she said, "Lisa, I think something's wrong with me."

COHEN: Her family took her to the doctor, who prescribed an anti-depressant. Then things got worse.

PATRICK, FATHER OF CHARLENE: Her hand began to shake pretty rapidly. And, well, we decided, well, this can't be depression. Depression doesn't make your hand shake. It doesn't make you walk and stumble.

COHEN: In January, her family brought her to London, where doctors diagnosed variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, the scientific name for mad cow disease in humans. By her 23rd birthday in May, when she'd returned home to Florida, she couldn't even walk on her own. Then, she started to go mad.

She bit people and hit them. She couldn't control herself. Her family brought in a priest, hoping for a miracle. None came. By summer, she could barely hug her brother. Now she can't even do that. Now she can't even swallow.

LISA: She was always there for me. She always said, "Lisa, if you need anything, anything, always you can come to me." She always took care of me. Now it's my turn to take care of her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's so upsetting, when she had such a bright future ahead of her and -- I'm sorry.

COHEN: Charlene's family blames the British government. They say the government knew in the 1980s that infected cows could make people sick, but covered it up.

PATRICK: I just want them to feel the pain that we're feeling, the anger we're going through, the anguish we're feeling. I would love them just to come here and look at what's going on here.

COHEN: The British government did not respond to numerous CNN requests for an interview. A report commissioned by the British Parliament in 1996 said the government had not lied, but simply failed to recognize the threat, and later was slow to warn the public mad cow disease could spread to humans.

Now Charlene's family is left to wonder: Are they next? Did they, too, consume tainted meat? Scientists don't know whether the disease is transmitted in a single serving or cumulatively over time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLENE, MAD COW DISEASE VICTIM: I just want to say that, on behalf of all the grandkids, congratulations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: For the next three months, they'll try to remember Charlene as she once was, as she slowly slips away.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHUNG: Oh, my gosh.

Medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us with more on the story.

Elizabeth, I can't believe it. She is so beautiful. And you know what? I haven't been paying attention to this mad cow story. I had no idea that there was this long incubation period. Might it spread elsewhere? And will we hear more cases about it?

COHEN: Well, the CDC says that we'll certainly be hearing about more cases. The number, they don't know, because, of course, there are many Americans -- or British people who live there and then come here, or Americans who go to live in Britain for a long period of time.

So it's not spreading in the way that you think of the flu as spreading. You don't sneeze on someone and give it to them. It's not spread sexually or anything like that. But it's that people who lived there during the time when it was thought that the meat was tainted and then come here. And the incubation period is so long. It's five years at least. It can be decades. And you don't know who is walking around with it.

CHUNG: So, it's just if you eat the tainted meet.

COHEN: If you eat the tainted meet, but there is another concern that health authorities have. And that is, what happens if someone like her, during the incubation period, donated organs?

When her judgment started to get bad, she got into a car accident. Her car was totaled. She was fine. However, if she had died, her family said: "You know what? We're big believers in organ donations. We would have donated her organs."

CHUNG: Oh, my gosh.

COHEN: Yes. And that could have been very bad. And so they're trying to work out how to work around that -- so that it can be spread that way. Or, if she had surgery, it's not clear that the sterilization techniques that are used after surgery on the instruments would have killed it. So it could be spread that way.

CHUNG: All right, so is there any treatment or any cure?

COHEN: Nothing.

CHUNG: Absolutely nothing?

COHEN: There is nothing. It doesn't help if you catch it early.

CHUNG: That's why this patient is going to die in three months?

COHEN: Yes.

CHUNG: Oh, my gosh.

COHEN: There is nothing they can do -- just keep her comfortable.

CHUNG: And is there any treatment on the horizon?

COHEN: Various researchers are working on different things. For example, there's a group in Germany that is going to try one approach out on mice. But we're talking in mice now. So when something is only in mice, you know that it's pretty far away in humans.

CHUNG: Elizabeth, thank you so much. Charlene's father, Patrick, who you saw in Elizabeth's report, has seen first-hand what the human form of mad cow disease can do to a person. He joins us now from Miami. As Elizabeth mentioned, the family has asked us not to use their last names.

Patrick, thank you so much for being with us. We appreciate it. I'm so sorry that your beautiful daughter has this terrible disease.

PATRICK: Thank you. Very kind words.

CHUNG: Sir, can you tell us -- tell us what Charlene was like. I know that you called her the star of the family.

PATRICK: She was an incredible young lady. She was beautiful. She was just an incredible young lady. To see what she is now, it just appalls me. I'm angry. It just disgusts me.

CHUNG: It started off as depression, being diagnosed as depression. What did you think? Did you think your daughter could possibly be depressed?

PATRICK: Yes, I thought, after finishing college last year -- and she was trying to get the job of her dream -- and that maybe she was depressed, because she changed two or three jobs last year. So I thought maybe she was depressed because of that.

CHUNG: But, in fact, you got the horrible news that it was mad cow disease. Did she understand what was happening to her?

PATRICK: No, she did not understand what was happening to her.

She kept asking. She knew something was wrong. What is it that was happening to her, she did not know. Neither did us. When it started, when I saw her hands begin to tremble and she would walk and stumble, then I realized that this is no depression. Something is definitely wrong here.

CHUNG: Now, the worst period, of course, was when she was agitated. And she was climbing furniture, I understand, and even trying bite all the family members?

PATRICK: Yes.

When she came back, just after she came back from England, she was out of control, basically. There's nothing -- to try to keep her calm was very difficult. She would try to climb over chairs. If you tried to touch her, if you tried to hold her, she would probably bite after you or try to push you away with her hands. So it was terrifying.

CHUNG: What are you doing now, sir, to keep her comfortable?

PATRICK: Well, we try to take the best care of her as humanly possible. We love her very much. You know, we tell her every day that we love her. We make her very comfortable. God, I don't know what else to do. We're just trying to make her as comfortable as possible.

CHUNG: Do you think that she can hear you, can understand you?

PATRICK: Sometimes I think so. Early in the morning, when she wakes up, she's a little bit alert. But by midday, she totally doesn't know who you are or what's going on.

CHUNG: I know you gave this exclusive story to Elizabeth Cohen. Tell me, why did you come forward with your story?

PATRICK: Well, one of the reasons why I came forward with this story is because every time I go home and look at my daughter and realize this could have been prevented. This was a natural occurrence. This was due to a decision somebody made somewhere in England, for example. And because of that decision, my daughter is suffering today.

CHUNG: Patrick, thank you so much for sharing your story. We appreciate it, and for sharing Charlene's story at this very difficult time for you. Thank you.

PATRICK: Sure. Thank you.

CHUNG: Stay with us.

ANNOUNCER: Next: She was stuck behind the wheel of a runaway car: the high-speed chase through two states to save her life -- when CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT returns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHUNG: You are about to meet a young woman who survived an unbelievable nightmare scenario. Virginia Isfahani was driving home from the University of New Orleans Monday when, suddenly, her brakes failed her. Her car was stuck moving at speeds between 65 and 92 miles an hour. When she couldn't slow the car down, she called her mother, who patched her through to 911.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

911 OPERATOR: OK, Ginny, can you turn your engine off?

V. ISFAHANI: No, it won't move.

911 OPERATOR: Your engine won't -- your key won't turn off?

V. ISFAHANI: No, it won't move.

911 OPERATOR: Have you tried applying your brakes?

V. ISFAHANI: Yes, and it just won't do anything.

911 OPERATOR: And your car will not slow down?

V. ISFAHANI: No.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

CHUNG: How did she survive?

Joining me now from New Orleans: Virginia Isfahani and her mother, Nikki.

Virginia, thank you so much for being with us. Oh, my gosh. I'm listening to you on that 911 call. And you were -- you're crying, aren't you?

V. ISFAHANI: I was hysterical.

CHUNG: Let's start from the beginning. You are driving home from the University of New Orleans.

V. ISFAHANI: Right.

CHUNG: What happened?

V. ISFAHANI: I was getting ready to change lanes. And I went to go use my brakes, because there was a car that was getting ready to pass me and I had to slow down in order to get behind him. And I was trying to slow down my car and I was tapping on my brakes. And it wasn't working. I was watching my speedometer and it wasn't changing. And I kept trying and softly touching my brakes and then harder and harder. And it just wasn't doing anything.

CHUNG: And you have a Toyota?

V. ISFAHANI: I have a 1997 Toyota corolla.

CHUNG: And prior to this, it had been working just fine?

V. ISFAHANI: Yes, it was great, besides your average flat tires. I loved my car.

CHUNG: OK, so then you called your mother?

V. ISFAHANI: I did. I called my mother.

CHUNG: OK, let's go talk to Nikki.

Nikki, when she called you, was she already crying? Was she hysterical?

NIKKI ISFAHANI, MOTHER OF VIRGINIA: She was bawling out of control.

CHUNG: Oh, my gosh.

N. ISFAHANI: I could barely understand her.

CHUNG: So what did you do?

N. ISFAHANI: I tried to three-way 911 in. And I ended up dropping her. I got them. And I gave... CHUNG: But, eventually, you got a three-way going, right?

N. ISFAHANI: I did.

CHUNG: And did you make suggestions to her as to what she could do?

N. ISFAHANI: Well, before I had patched 911, and I had already asked her to try to put it in neutral, try to turn it off. So I already knew we were in trouble.

But, yes, the whole time, I was on a 28-minute phone call with her and mostly Officer Wilcox (ph), trying to brainstorm, come up with anything we could to disable the vehicle. And absolutely nothing would respond.

CHUNG: Virginia, what methods did you try besides putting the car in neutral?

V. ISFAHANI: We tried to turn off the engine. And it wouldn't turn off. We tried using the emergency brake and it would bring it down to -- at this point, I was going about 85.

CHUNG: Oh, my gosh.

V. ISFAHANI: It would bring it down to about 70 and then it would go back up. We tried using -- we tried putting it in neutral. We put it in second gear and it didn't do anything. They told me to put it in first gear. And when I put it in first gear, I was probably going about 65 miles an hour, the slowest I was going after getting it to use the emergency brake. And as soon as I put it in first gear, my car shot up from 65 to 86 in a second.

CHUNG: So you are speeding down the highway, sometimes as much as 90 miles an hour. What happened?

V. ISFAHANI: Six Mississippi troopers came out to help stop my car.

CHUNG: Oh, because you crossed state lines, didn't you?

V. ISFAHANI: Because I crossed state lines and went into Mississippi from Louisiana. They formed a road block that's usually used to stop criminals that are running away from them.

And they stationed a car in front of me, directly in front of me, one beside me, who was telling me what I was going to do, and one behind me. And then there was a few behind them who was stopping traffic and one way in front of us who was diverting traffic away from us. The guy next to me, the officer next to told me that I was going to run into -- the car in front in me was going to slow down, and I was going to hit him, and he was going to use his brakes to stop us both.

CHUNG: So then he would just slow down gradually, right?

V. ISFAHANI: Yes.

CHUNG: OK. So, finally, did it work?

V. ISFAHANI: It did. At first, my car seemed to kind of push his. It wanted to keep going. But he just pushed on his brakes harder. And, eventually, my car did stop.

CHUNG: When you actually hit him, could you feel a big jerk?

V. ISFAHANI: Yes, my seat belt had to catch me. And I looked up at him and he was flying forward, too.

CHUNG: How fast were you going at that time?

V. ISFAHANI: I thought I was going 65. But, however, when we were talking to the officers, they said we were going more like 70.

CHUNG: Nikki, you must have lost contact with her on the cell phone, right?

N. ISFAHANI: Right.

CHUNG: So what did you think?

N. ISFAHANI: When I lost contact with her, I didn't know whether she had wrecked or just didn't have reception. I waited for a few minutes. Officer Wilcox called and asked me if I had her. And I said, "No, I lost her."

He says, "I don't have her either." He says, "I'll call you back." And that's when I lost it.

CHUNG: Aw.

So, Virginia, do you still have that car?

V. ISFAHANI: No, and I don't want it back. They can have it.

(LAUGHTER)

CHUNG: I don't blame you.

Thank you so much, Virginia, and thank you, Nikki, for being with us. So glad you are all in one piece.

V. ISFAHANI: Thank you.

N. ISFAHANI: Thank you.

CHUNG: We'll be right back with the latest on the hunt for the sniper.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHUNG: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHUNG: Before we go tonight, a quick recap: The hunt for the Washington area sniper is now into its third week. It's just short of 72 hours, three days, since the sniper's last attack. Tonight, police say they are considering bringing charges against a man at the scene of the Monday shooting who they say intentionally gave them false information. Police still stand by their composites of a white box truck and a Chevy Astro van or Ford Econoline van.

And we'll have all the day's developments on the sniper hunt tomorrow night.

Coming up next on "LARRY KING LIVE": inside the mind of a killer, the latest on the sniper hunt with a former FBI forensics director.

We want to thank you so much for joining us. And for all of us at CNN, good night, have a good night, and we'll see you tomorrow.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com





Cow Victim Speaks Out>


Aired October 17, 2002 - 20:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CONNIE CHUNG, HOST: Good evening. I'm Connie Chung.

Tonight: the hunt for the sniper, a surprising setback: false information from a bogus witness.

ANNOUNCER: "Sniper on the Loose."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I saw her on the floor laying there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We saw them go after a guy in a van that was parked out across the street.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: What did the witnesses see? What does it take to create a profile sketch of the killer? And why surveillance cameras now may play the key role. Plus: a terrorist connection? Investigators question al Qaeda detainees in Cuba.

The heart-wrenching story of the first known victim of the human form of mad cow disease in the U.S. Tonight, her family says the British government is to blame.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHARON, AUNT OF MAD COW DISEASE VICTIM: Whose fault is it? That's what I want to know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: A panicked call.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

911 OPERATOR: OK, Ginny, can you turn your engine off?

VIRGINIA ISFAHANI, SURVIVED RUNAWAY VEHICLE: No, it won't move.

911 OPERATOR: Your engine won't -- your key won't turn off?

V. ISFAHANI: No, it won't move. (END AUDIO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: A runaway car and the wild ride through two states to save the driver.

This is CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT. Live from the CNN Broadcast Center in New York: Connie Chung.

CHUNG: Good evening.

Tonight, we've got the latest developments on every angle of the hunt for the Washington area sniper, as well as a new chilling warning from the CIA director about the chances of another terrorist attack in the U.S. We'll have more on that a little later.

But first: a shocking setback in the sniper hunt. Remember all that great information and detail that emerged about the Washington area sniper over the last two days? Wrong. The man who gave all those details to police actually didn't see a thing. Why would someone do something so hurtful to the investigation?

CNN's Jeanne Meserve is manning the evidence desk in Washington tonight with the latest on this incredible twist -- good evening, Jeanne.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Connie.

The man has a criminal record and his nickname is "Slim," according to law enforcement sources. He gave investigators the most specific information to date about the shooter and his weapon. But now it turns out the witness was not a witness at all. He saw nothing. And his phony information has wasted investigators' time and perhaps allowed the sniper to slip away.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): The man was very specific with police about the sniper's weapon, an AK-74, he said, that the shooter had put to his shoulder and fired. But investigators grew suspicious when his recollections of the sniper's vehicle were relatively vague and fuzzy and when he could not clarify other actions of the shooter. He was pressed by investigators and Wednesday night confessed he was inside the Home Depot at the time of the shooting and had not seen a thing.

TOM MANGER, FAIRFAX COUNTY POLICE CHIEF: It's been determined through further investigation that the information provided by one of the witnesses at the scene of the shooting in the Home Depot describing a cream-colored van with a malfunctioning taillight is not credible. In addition, there have been several media reports related to the description of a specific weapon and the suspect. That information as well is not reliable.

MESERVE: Based on the man's bogus information, a lookout went out for a cream-colored van soon after Monday's shooting. Did the hunt for that fictional van divert the police from finding the sniper's real vehicle? Police claim it did not. LIEUTENANT AMY LUBAS, FAIRFAX COUNTY POLICE: It's one of these situations where it would have been better if it didn't happen. But did it cripple the investigation? No. Officers were still looking for vehicles that may have been suspicious and people that may have been suspicious and things like that.

MESERVE: Police must now discard several pieces of information they thought were the most promising yet, including a description of the shooter, his movements and his distance from the victim, 30 yards away, a description of his weapon, a description of his vehicle, a partial license plate tag.

PATRICK BROSNAN, FORMER NYPD DETECTIVE: It led investigators down avenues that they may not have went down otherwise. And that's a waste of time. It's a waste of money. It's a waste of energy. And, more importantly, the clock is ticking.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MESERVE: Investigators do have other witnesses from near the Falls Church shooting. And they are not discounting their testimony about vehicles and the people inside. They also have the composite of the white box truck and of white vans with ladder racks, those composites gleaned from the testimony of witnesses at other shooting sites.

However, detectives close to this investigation say the bottom line is, they are back where they were before the Falls Church shooting -- Connie.

CHUNG: Jeanne, why would this person do such a thing?

MESERVE: Well, if people know why he did it, they aren't saying. I can tell you that people close to the investigation are doing some speculation. One theory is that he wanted the fame and the attention. The other is that he wanted money. There is a half-million dollar reward in this case.

CHUNG: Oh, sure, absolutely.

Will he be prosecuted?

MESERVE: That's unclear at this point. I can tell you that there are some people close to this investigation that badly want to see him prosecuted. Other people are saying that authorities are going to go slow for a while and let him stew.

The bottom line is that the man who will make the decision, the Fairfax County Commonwealth's attorney, Robert Horan, has been in incommunicado all day. We haven't been able to talk to him -- Connie.

CHUNG: All right, Jeanne Meserve, in Washington tonight at the evidence desk, thank you.

Tonight, the search for the sniper is entering its third week. And it's been about 71 hours since he last struck. Police in Montgomery County held a briefing today.

And CNN's Kathleen Koch joins us from Rockville, Maryland, with the latest details.

Kathleen, from your vantage point, are investigators considering this a serious setback?

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Connie, clearly, this is not the type of revelation that any investigation, especially one of this magnitude, wants to make, and especially at a time that there was a real sense of momentum building.

But police Chief Charles Moose today tried to put the best face possible on a very bad situation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLES MOOSE, MONTGOMERY COUNTY POLICE CHIEF: It has not set back the investigation. We have very good investigators, and I think what you have in the report from Chief Manger is that investigators have done their job.

And in the interim, all of the other investigators have continued to open up, turn over, and follow up on leads. We are making progress. We remain very optimistic. But certainly, we felt that this piece received so much attention that it was important that Chief Manger himself tell you the status of that situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOCH: Obviously, law enforcement here is very aware, though, that the killer or killers may be watching. So they did not want to show any signs of weakness or any frustration, but there is plenty of that frustration behind the scenes -- Connie.

CHUNG: Jeanne Meserve had mentioned the other witnesses in Falls Church. They are not discounting what they have to say, are they?

KOCH: They absolutely are not, Connie. They say they have no reason to believe that the information that those witnesses gave them is not good, is not credible. But they are going to be very reluctant in the future with those witnesses and if there are any future shootings to share with the media and with the public what witnesses have revealed, because they do not want to have egg on their face twice.

CHUNG: So what's next, Kathleen, from your vantage point?

KOCH: From here, really, at least when it comes to the Falls Church investigation, you're back to square one.

Police went back to the scene today, going over the area in sort of a grid search, trying to find what they might have missed. Right now, they've returned to Route 50, an area across from the shopping mall, searching the Route 50 area and the median strip. It is quite a distance from the area inside the parking lot, the covered parking garage area, where they were initially searching.

There were more than 60 police cadets who did this grid search on their hands and knees, combing the area. Also, detectives tried to determine the trajectory, the approximate angle from which the shot may have been fired. But this crime occurred on Monday night. And we're talking about coming back to the scene on Thursday, a time when countless numbers of people have walked through there, cars driven through there, and when we've already had our first nor'easter that's blown through this region, dumping plenty of rain on the area, something that clearly could have compromised any bits of evidence that were on the scene, trace gunpowder.

Connie, so it's very damaging to the investigation.

CHUNG: Kathleen, the investigators have to be encouraged somewhat, because several days have past since an attack.

KOCH: I think it's hard to say they are encouraged. I think everyone here is somewhat relieved. But at the same time, I think, on the part of investigators, on the part of the public at large, there is a real sense of unease, because you want to hope that the killer or killers has stopped, has given up, won't kill again. But it's like you're waiting for the other shoe to drop and you just don't know when and where it's going to come.

CHUNG: All right, Kathleen Koch in Rockville, Maryland, thank you.

Although human witnesses can be unreliable or even dishonest, as we've learned, police are also turning to automated witnesses. By some estimates, the average law-abiding American is caught on surveillance video as often as eight to 10 times a day -- eight to 10 times every day.

And, recently, the surveillance camera has played a big role in stories ranging from the beating in Inglewood, California, to Madelyne Toogood hitting her child in a parking lot. In the case of the sniper, investigators are poring over videos from the shooting locations in hopes that they will prove to be more reliable witnesses.

CNN's Art Harris on this story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ART HARRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Look around the next time you walk into a store and, chances are, the hidden eye is looking back at you.

DAVID YANG, CONTINENTAL SECURITY SYSTEMS: Throughout the day, we can probably go through the whole day being captured on camera without noticing, without knowing.

HARRIS: Today, security cameras seem to be everywhere. So why haven't they caught the sniper still on the loose? One reason: Most stores put their cameras inside to catch a thief, a robber, a shoplifter. The sniper has lurked outside, out of view. YANG: The theft inside is more of a priority than what occurs outside.

HARRIS (on camera): So, once you are outside, you're on your own?

YANG: Pretty much. Once you've walked out of the building, pretty much you are no longer being monitored. You are no longer being recorded.

HARRIS (voice-over): The latest victim was shot down in a Home Depot parking garage. The store had cameras inside, not outside. Many stores put the first camera right above the cash register.

(on camera): How many cameras do you have?

TRACY BELAEUER, OWNER, SUPER PETZ: We have 18 cameras right now.

HARRIS (voice-over): Only after this bird named Bubba was stolen from his cage did this pet store put cameras up and down the aisles. This is one of the few places we found with cameras installed on the outside.

BELAEUER: We have them out front overlooking the main road out there, just so we could get a getaway car.

HARRIS: There are now two million video surveillance systems in the United States.

YANG: We are about 20 miles away from a location in Washington, D.C.

HARRIS: This camera on top of a building along a busy street can be moved with the click of a mouse.

YANG: You can actually zoom in on an individual or a vehicle. There is a white van.

HARRIS: But technology alone is not enough. Last week, a motorist was gunned down at this Sunoco station in Manassas, Virginia. The manager told us he'd ordered security cameras before the shooting, but they had not yet arrived. They are due to be installed this weekend. Two cameras will look out over the pumps.

Had they been in place eight nights ago, investigators say, they might have helped pinpoint where the sniper was standing. Another station on the opposite corner did have cameras. That night, they were turned off.

(on camera): Even with security cameras in so many places and investigators checking every frame after each shooting to catch the killer on tape, police will need a bit of luck. And, so far, that kind of luck has been elusive.

Art Harris, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHUNG: And still ahead: when a witness to a crime does see something, how it's translated into a weapon in the fight against crime.

Stay with us.

ANNOUNCER: Next: Could the serial sniper killings be the work of a terrorist? Why these detainees may hold the key to solving the crime.

CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHUNG: Although the sniper attacks do not fit the patterns of past terrorist attacks, speculation about such a link continues. To make sure they cover every possibility, no matter how remote, investigators will interrogate suspected al Qaeda detainees in U.S. custody.

CNN justice correspondent Kelli Arena lays out the facts.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): U.S. officials say it makes good investigative sense to question al Qaeda detainees in Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere to see if they know about any plans to use snipers in terror attacks. Even though there is no evidence linking the recent sniper attacks to al Qaeda or any terrorist organization, investigators want to make absolutely sure, after all al Qaeda documents obtained by CNN and law enforcement agencies, detail how sniper teams could easily get guns and train in the United States. But, when asked about a possible terror link, officials would not comment.

CHARLES MOOSE, MONTGOMERY COUNTY POLICE CHIEF: We're not going to talk about the investigation. We're not going to talk about anything that is in a manual that, you know, we haven't brought out here and distributed. Obviously you're talking about matters of national security.

ARENA: Speculation about whether al Qaeda may be involved intensified after Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge said earlier this week he could not rule out a terror connection.

TOM RIDGE, HOMELAND SECURITY DIRECTOR: I don't think we can foreclose that.

ARENA: Counterterrorism officials say they don't think there is a terror connection because many terrorist organizations take credit for attacks and that has not happened. Also, al Qaeda terrorists typically do not leave tarot cards behind. What's more terror organizations usually plan operations, such as the September 11th attacks, which claim more than one life at a time.

DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: I have no information that it's terrorist related. Do you?

ARENA (on camera): The sniper attacks come amid warnings that al Qaeda continues to plan major attacks against U.S. interests. Now, given that backdrop, one U.S. official says it would simply be irresponsible not to go back to detainees for more information.

Kelli Arena, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHUNG: Now joining us are two men with similar backgrounds, but two different views of what we've just heard.

In Erie, Pennsylvania, we have former FBI Deputy Director of Counterterrorism Robert Heibel. And, in Memphis, we have former FBI Deputy Director Weldon Kennedy.

Gentlemen, thank you for being with us.

WELDON KENNEDY, FORMER FBI DEPUTY DIRECTOR: Thank you, Connie.

CHUNG: Mr. Heibel, we'll start with you.

Do you believe that this sniper might be a terrorist or might emerge from a terrorist group, Mr. Heibel?

ROBERT HEIBEL, FORMER FBI DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF COUNTERTERRORISM: I think any experienced investigator, analyst or decision-maker has got to realize that the al Qaeda organization would benefit greatly by being able to create fear in the Washington, D.C area.

CHUNG: So what are you saying? It's possible?

HEIBEL: And the sniper here in Washington, D.C. certainly has done that.

CHUNG: So you're saying it's possible.

HEIBEL: So I'm saying it's a consideration that has to be looked at. Yes, I am saying it is possible.

CHUNG: All right, Mr. Kennedy, what do you think?

KENNEDY: You can't totally discount it, Connie.

But I think, to this point, what's already been previously alluded to: that is, A, no one has claimed any responsibility for these actions; B, there's interviews been going on and a worldwide search for information, all of which, apparently, as far as we know, is negative with regard to any information concerning these organizations.

CHUNG: But, Mr Kennedy, al Qaeda did not claim responsibility in the African Embassy explosion. And, in fact, it was attributed to al Qaeda. And I don't think that there are rules in these deadly games, do you? KENNEDY: No, but in the African -- no, they didn't claim responsibility immediately, but there was a flow of intelligence information very soon after those explosions, giving very strong indications as to who was responsible.

CHUNG: But let me throw one more at you: 9/11 was a new tactic, using planes as weapons. So why wouldn't the terrorists come up with a new tactic?

KENNEDY: As I've said, I cannot totally discount it. No one can possibly do that, because everything is pure speculation at this point. What I'm saying is, is that, up until this point, all of the evidence seems to indicate that this is not terrorist connected.

CHUNG: All right, Mr. Heibel, I will destroy my earlier argument by saying to you, in this particular case, most terrorists would not have killed a 13-year-old boy and targeted him. Wouldn't you agree with that? Or attempted to kill a 13-year-old boy -- forgive me. This child is still in critical condition.

HEIBEL: I wouldn't agree with that because I -- all right. I would not agree with that.

What's interesting about this sniper is that what you are seeing is that he's completely arbitrary in the targets he picks. There is no concern here about sex or race, completely arbitrary.

CHUNG: All right, and just one final word on that child: He's in serious condition, upgraded from critical.

Mr. Kennedy, the FBI is now talking about -- the federal government is talking about interviewing these prisoners at Gitmo, at Guantanamo Bay. Do you think that they will be able to get some information out of them?

KENNEDY: Well, hopefully, if there's been talk previously. Obviously, they've been out of circulation for a long time. But it's possible that, if there were some background or involvement here, that they were party to conversation or maybe even plans to do something of this sort.

CHUNG: And, Mr. Kennedy, we have seen these videotapes of training in al Qaeda camps. Wouldn't it be fairly reasonable to suggest that indeed there were snipers who were trained in al Qaeda camps?

KENNEDY: Not unreasonable at all.

CHUNG: All right, Mr. Heibel, can you wrap this up for us and tell us what you think? The long and the short of it, do you believe -- what are the chances that this is a terrorist or a terrorist organization? Put a percentage on it. What do you think?

HEIBEL: I'd say there's a good 50/50 shot here that it is. And I think it's an operation that's an economic operation. They don't have to have a large infrastructure to do this. And it appears to be the work of someone who is highly skilled. I think there's a good possibility.

I'm not saying it is, but I think it certainly has to be a major consideration. And I'm sure it is.

CHUNG: All right, finally, Mr. Kennedy, your percentages, would you say?

KENNEDY: I'm not saying it is not, but I think it's a very small possibility, maybe 10 percent or 15 percent.

CHUNG: All right, gentlemen, thank you so much. We appreciate it.

And whether or not al Qaeda has any actual link to the killings, the threat from al Qaeda is as great as it was prior to September 11, 2001. That's what CIA director George Tenet told a congressional committee today in assessing al Qaeda's current status.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE TENET, CIA DIRECTOR: The threat environment we find ourselves in today is as bad as it was last summer, the summer before 9/11. It is serious. They have reconstituted. They're coming after us. They want to execute attacks. You see it in Bali, you see it in Kuwait. They plan in multiple theaters of operation. They intend to strike this homeland again. And we better get about the business of putting the right structure in place as fast as we can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHUNG: Chilling. Despite Tenet's warning, he gave no indication The CIA has any more information now about future attacks than it did before September 11. And he said the agency should not have waited from December 1999 until late August 2001 to warn the FBI and other agencies about two of the September 11 hijackers. By August 2001, the two men had been in the U.S. almost a year.

Coming up: what it takes to track down a killer. We'll be right back.

ANNOUNCER: Next: making a sketch from eyewitness descriptions. We'll look back at another high-profile case: how a composite caught a killer.

CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT returns in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHUNG: After Monday's shooting, it initially appeared there might be enough witness accounts to lead to a police sketch of a suspect. Those hopes fell through after one of the main witnesses turned out to have made up his story.

Police had had high hopes for a sketch because they know what a powerful tool it has been in past cases. After a sketch of the Unabomber suspect was widely publicized, Ted Kaczynski broke his own nose to alter his appearance. In Orange, California, Officer Michael Streed's sketch of Samantha Runnion's abductor helped police find suspect Alejandro Avila four days later.

And Officer Streed joins us with some insights on how it's done. Thank you, sir, for being with us.

MICHAEL STREED, ORANGE POLICE DEPARTMENT: Thank you, Connie, for having me.

CHUNG: How do you determine what information is credible, when, in this particular case, obviously, the investigators fortunately were able to ferret out the information that this witness was bogus.

STREED: You know, Connie, that's what we rely on mostly, because, oftentimes, we don't get to the witness until they've been talked to by several investigators, or officers on the scene initially.

CHUNG: You said that's what you rely on, meaning what?

STREED: Well, you know, we rely on the investigators to provide our witnesses for us. It's not often that we are on the scene to determine who actually is the best witness. A lot of times, we're depending upon the investigators to feed us the witnesses, so to speak.

CHUNG: I see. And if the investigators feed you a witness that you are a little bit questionable about, are you able to read these witnesses and sort of ferret out your information?

STREED: Occasionally.

You know, I think part of the job of being a police composite artist is the ability to understand or relate to people. And I think sometimes there's some cues that you pick up along the way, because we're spending a considerable amount of time with them, that we're able to alert investigators that there might not be all there is to it.

CHUNG: How can you tell if a witness is credible, in terms of, if they are confident, does that tell you, "Ah, yes, this person really knows what he's talking about and we'll buy his story"?

STREED: Not necessarily. I've had cases where people are totally confident and they've been wholly wrong, unfortunately, with all their best intentions. They were trying the best they can. But, for a lot of reasons, they come forward and boast that they've seen what they haven't. And, in some cases, they are so sure of what they saw because they are trying to cover up maybe a relative or friend's involvement in the crime.

CHUNG: I'm sure you remember the David Berkowitz Son of Sam case.

STREED: Yes, I do.

CHUNG: That sketch bore no resemblance to Berkowitz. That does happen, doesn't it? In this particular case, it just didn't look like him.

STREED: And, again, you are talking about the human memory, which is very fragile, at best. And I have to say that I certainly support what they are doing back East. And I think that they are being very responsible in their approach of how they are handling it and not rushing to put out a sketch that might certainly hamper their investigation.

But, at the same time, with the Son of Sam case, you are talking about a guy that walks up on cars in the middle of the night, and these people are at a disadvantage.

CHUNG: Can you walk us through the process of how you come up with a composite sketch? If there are conflicting bits of information from witnesses, how do you come to a consensus?

STREED: For me, it's a matter of talking to the people, spending the time to find out where exactly they were at the time the crime was committed, what their perspective was, how long they saw the person, angle of observation, different things like that, time and distance, lighting, if they were -- their mind was altered in any way from either alcohol or maybe prescription medication, things like that, and the amount of detail they're able to provide, actually.

CHUNG: We just had a shot up of Alejandro Avila and the sketch that you made. And it's extraordinary, it's so close. How often do composite sketches lead to arrests, would you say?

STREED: I don't think there's any study. Everybody keeps their own statistics. And there's no data pool on that.

But I would say, in a great number of cases, they are instrumental in either identifying somebody or eliminating somebody that they might have been looking at. So, as a tool, they are very valuable.

CHUNG: All right, I thank you so much for being with us, Michael Streed.

STREED: Thank you, Connie.

CHUNG: OK.

A little later, we'll have an update on the latest in the sniper investigation. So do stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHUNG: For the first time, the human form of mad cow disease has come to America. A young British woman who moved to Florida 10 years ago has it. And she's dying. She's in her early 20s. Already much of who she was is gone, taken by the disease which killed 128 people in the United Kingdom, the nation that was hit hardest by the disease. You'll meet her dad in a moment. And we'll answer some questions about how the disease got here and whether it could spread.

But first, CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has the exclusive story of a young woman named Charlene.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just a year ago, Charlene appeared completely healthy. This is the damage mad cow disease can do in less than one year.

LISA, SISTER OF CHARLENE: It's deteriorated her brain to a point where she can't talk. She can't control her functions. She doesn't eat anymore.

COHEN: Charlene -- her family doesn't want their last name used -- has less than three months to live, doctors believe. She's the first known case in the United States of the human form of mad cow disease. And the Centers for Disease Control says more cases are sure to follow: people infected while living in Britain.

Charlene's family members have decided to break their silence, because, before she dies, they want answers.

SHARON: Whose fault is it? That's what I want to know. I want someone from the UK to come tell me: Why is my niece lying in this position now?

COHEN: Charlene was born in England and lived there until she was 13. She moved to Florida 10 years ago. Doctors are sure she caught the disease in the United Kingdom, where there have been 117 human cases and thousands of sick cows. The disease has never been found in cattle in the United States.

As the disease always does, it lurked in Charlene's body for years before attacking. Then, in November of last year, Charlene, a vibrant young woman who had won a scholarship to college, kept forgetting things and losing her temper.

LISA: She came to me a couple of times and she said, "Lisa, I think something's wrong with me."

COHEN: Her family took her to the doctor, who prescribed an anti-depressant. Then things got worse.

PATRICK, FATHER OF CHARLENE: Her hand began to shake pretty rapidly. And, well, we decided, well, this can't be depression. Depression doesn't make your hand shake. It doesn't make you walk and stumble.

COHEN: In January, her family brought her to London, where doctors diagnosed variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, the scientific name for mad cow disease in humans. By her 23rd birthday in May, when she'd returned home to Florida, she couldn't even walk on her own. Then, she started to go mad.

She bit people and hit them. She couldn't control herself. Her family brought in a priest, hoping for a miracle. None came. By summer, she could barely hug her brother. Now she can't even do that. Now she can't even swallow.

LISA: She was always there for me. She always said, "Lisa, if you need anything, anything, always you can come to me." She always took care of me. Now it's my turn to take care of her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's so upsetting, when she had such a bright future ahead of her and -- I'm sorry.

COHEN: Charlene's family blames the British government. They say the government knew in the 1980s that infected cows could make people sick, but covered it up.

PATRICK: I just want them to feel the pain that we're feeling, the anger we're going through, the anguish we're feeling. I would love them just to come here and look at what's going on here.

COHEN: The British government did not respond to numerous CNN requests for an interview. A report commissioned by the British Parliament in 1996 said the government had not lied, but simply failed to recognize the threat, and later was slow to warn the public mad cow disease could spread to humans.

Now Charlene's family is left to wonder: Are they next? Did they, too, consume tainted meat? Scientists don't know whether the disease is transmitted in a single serving or cumulatively over time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLENE, MAD COW DISEASE VICTIM: I just want to say that, on behalf of all the grandkids, congratulations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: For the next three months, they'll try to remember Charlene as she once was, as she slowly slips away.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHUNG: Oh, my gosh.

Medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us with more on the story.

Elizabeth, I can't believe it. She is so beautiful. And you know what? I haven't been paying attention to this mad cow story. I had no idea that there was this long incubation period. Might it spread elsewhere? And will we hear more cases about it?

COHEN: Well, the CDC says that we'll certainly be hearing about more cases. The number, they don't know, because, of course, there are many Americans -- or British people who live there and then come here, or Americans who go to live in Britain for a long period of time.

So it's not spreading in the way that you think of the flu as spreading. You don't sneeze on someone and give it to them. It's not spread sexually or anything like that. But it's that people who lived there during the time when it was thought that the meat was tainted and then come here. And the incubation period is so long. It's five years at least. It can be decades. And you don't know who is walking around with it.

CHUNG: So, it's just if you eat the tainted meet.

COHEN: If you eat the tainted meet, but there is another concern that health authorities have. And that is, what happens if someone like her, during the incubation period, donated organs?

When her judgment started to get bad, she got into a car accident. Her car was totaled. She was fine. However, if she had died, her family said: "You know what? We're big believers in organ donations. We would have donated her organs."

CHUNG: Oh, my gosh.

COHEN: Yes. And that could have been very bad. And so they're trying to work out how to work around that -- so that it can be spread that way. Or, if she had surgery, it's not clear that the sterilization techniques that are used after surgery on the instruments would have killed it. So it could be spread that way.

CHUNG: All right, so is there any treatment or any cure?

COHEN: Nothing.

CHUNG: Absolutely nothing?

COHEN: There is nothing. It doesn't help if you catch it early.

CHUNG: That's why this patient is going to die in three months?

COHEN: Yes.

CHUNG: Oh, my gosh.

COHEN: There is nothing they can do -- just keep her comfortable.

CHUNG: And is there any treatment on the horizon?

COHEN: Various researchers are working on different things. For example, there's a group in Germany that is going to try one approach out on mice. But we're talking in mice now. So when something is only in mice, you know that it's pretty far away in humans.

CHUNG: Elizabeth, thank you so much. Charlene's father, Patrick, who you saw in Elizabeth's report, has seen first-hand what the human form of mad cow disease can do to a person. He joins us now from Miami. As Elizabeth mentioned, the family has asked us not to use their last names.

Patrick, thank you so much for being with us. We appreciate it. I'm so sorry that your beautiful daughter has this terrible disease.

PATRICK: Thank you. Very kind words.

CHUNG: Sir, can you tell us -- tell us what Charlene was like. I know that you called her the star of the family.

PATRICK: She was an incredible young lady. She was beautiful. She was just an incredible young lady. To see what she is now, it just appalls me. I'm angry. It just disgusts me.

CHUNG: It started off as depression, being diagnosed as depression. What did you think? Did you think your daughter could possibly be depressed?

PATRICK: Yes, I thought, after finishing college last year -- and she was trying to get the job of her dream -- and that maybe she was depressed, because she changed two or three jobs last year. So I thought maybe she was depressed because of that.

CHUNG: But, in fact, you got the horrible news that it was mad cow disease. Did she understand what was happening to her?

PATRICK: No, she did not understand what was happening to her.

She kept asking. She knew something was wrong. What is it that was happening to her, she did not know. Neither did us. When it started, when I saw her hands begin to tremble and she would walk and stumble, then I realized that this is no depression. Something is definitely wrong here.

CHUNG: Now, the worst period, of course, was when she was agitated. And she was climbing furniture, I understand, and even trying bite all the family members?

PATRICK: Yes.

When she came back, just after she came back from England, she was out of control, basically. There's nothing -- to try to keep her calm was very difficult. She would try to climb over chairs. If you tried to touch her, if you tried to hold her, she would probably bite after you or try to push you away with her hands. So it was terrifying.

CHUNG: What are you doing now, sir, to keep her comfortable?

PATRICK: Well, we try to take the best care of her as humanly possible. We love her very much. You know, we tell her every day that we love her. We make her very comfortable. God, I don't know what else to do. We're just trying to make her as comfortable as possible.

CHUNG: Do you think that she can hear you, can understand you?

PATRICK: Sometimes I think so. Early in the morning, when she wakes up, she's a little bit alert. But by midday, she totally doesn't know who you are or what's going on.

CHUNG: I know you gave this exclusive story to Elizabeth Cohen. Tell me, why did you come forward with your story?

PATRICK: Well, one of the reasons why I came forward with this story is because every time I go home and look at my daughter and realize this could have been prevented. This was a natural occurrence. This was due to a decision somebody made somewhere in England, for example. And because of that decision, my daughter is suffering today.

CHUNG: Patrick, thank you so much for sharing your story. We appreciate it, and for sharing Charlene's story at this very difficult time for you. Thank you.

PATRICK: Sure. Thank you.

CHUNG: Stay with us.

ANNOUNCER: Next: She was stuck behind the wheel of a runaway car: the high-speed chase through two states to save her life -- when CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT returns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHUNG: You are about to meet a young woman who survived an unbelievable nightmare scenario. Virginia Isfahani was driving home from the University of New Orleans Monday when, suddenly, her brakes failed her. Her car was stuck moving at speeds between 65 and 92 miles an hour. When she couldn't slow the car down, she called her mother, who patched her through to 911.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

911 OPERATOR: OK, Ginny, can you turn your engine off?

V. ISFAHANI: No, it won't move.

911 OPERATOR: Your engine won't -- your key won't turn off?

V. ISFAHANI: No, it won't move.

911 OPERATOR: Have you tried applying your brakes?

V. ISFAHANI: Yes, and it just won't do anything.

911 OPERATOR: And your car will not slow down?

V. ISFAHANI: No.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

CHUNG: How did she survive?

Joining me now from New Orleans: Virginia Isfahani and her mother, Nikki.

Virginia, thank you so much for being with us. Oh, my gosh. I'm listening to you on that 911 call. And you were -- you're crying, aren't you?

V. ISFAHANI: I was hysterical.

CHUNG: Let's start from the beginning. You are driving home from the University of New Orleans.

V. ISFAHANI: Right.

CHUNG: What happened?

V. ISFAHANI: I was getting ready to change lanes. And I went to go use my brakes, because there was a car that was getting ready to pass me and I had to slow down in order to get behind him. And I was trying to slow down my car and I was tapping on my brakes. And it wasn't working. I was watching my speedometer and it wasn't changing. And I kept trying and softly touching my brakes and then harder and harder. And it just wasn't doing anything.

CHUNG: And you have a Toyota?

V. ISFAHANI: I have a 1997 Toyota corolla.

CHUNG: And prior to this, it had been working just fine?

V. ISFAHANI: Yes, it was great, besides your average flat tires. I loved my car.

CHUNG: OK, so then you called your mother?

V. ISFAHANI: I did. I called my mother.

CHUNG: OK, let's go talk to Nikki.

Nikki, when she called you, was she already crying? Was she hysterical?

NIKKI ISFAHANI, MOTHER OF VIRGINIA: She was bawling out of control.

CHUNG: Oh, my gosh.

N. ISFAHANI: I could barely understand her.

CHUNG: So what did you do?

N. ISFAHANI: I tried to three-way 911 in. And I ended up dropping her. I got them. And I gave... CHUNG: But, eventually, you got a three-way going, right?

N. ISFAHANI: I did.

CHUNG: And did you make suggestions to her as to what she could do?

N. ISFAHANI: Well, before I had patched 911, and I had already asked her to try to put it in neutral, try to turn it off. So I already knew we were in trouble.

But, yes, the whole time, I was on a 28-minute phone call with her and mostly Officer Wilcox (ph), trying to brainstorm, come up with anything we could to disable the vehicle. And absolutely nothing would respond.

CHUNG: Virginia, what methods did you try besides putting the car in neutral?

V. ISFAHANI: We tried to turn off the engine. And it wouldn't turn off. We tried using the emergency brake and it would bring it down to -- at this point, I was going about 85.

CHUNG: Oh, my gosh.

V. ISFAHANI: It would bring it down to about 70 and then it would go back up. We tried using -- we tried putting it in neutral. We put it in second gear and it didn't do anything. They told me to put it in first gear. And when I put it in first gear, I was probably going about 65 miles an hour, the slowest I was going after getting it to use the emergency brake. And as soon as I put it in first gear, my car shot up from 65 to 86 in a second.

CHUNG: So you are speeding down the highway, sometimes as much as 90 miles an hour. What happened?

V. ISFAHANI: Six Mississippi troopers came out to help stop my car.

CHUNG: Oh, because you crossed state lines, didn't you?

V. ISFAHANI: Because I crossed state lines and went into Mississippi from Louisiana. They formed a road block that's usually used to stop criminals that are running away from them.

And they stationed a car in front of me, directly in front of me, one beside me, who was telling me what I was going to do, and one behind me. And then there was a few behind them who was stopping traffic and one way in front of us who was diverting traffic away from us. The guy next to me, the officer next to told me that I was going to run into -- the car in front in me was going to slow down, and I was going to hit him, and he was going to use his brakes to stop us both.

CHUNG: So then he would just slow down gradually, right?

V. ISFAHANI: Yes.

CHUNG: OK. So, finally, did it work?

V. ISFAHANI: It did. At first, my car seemed to kind of push his. It wanted to keep going. But he just pushed on his brakes harder. And, eventually, my car did stop.

CHUNG: When you actually hit him, could you feel a big jerk?

V. ISFAHANI: Yes, my seat belt had to catch me. And I looked up at him and he was flying forward, too.

CHUNG: How fast were you going at that time?

V. ISFAHANI: I thought I was going 65. But, however, when we were talking to the officers, they said we were going more like 70.

CHUNG: Nikki, you must have lost contact with her on the cell phone, right?

N. ISFAHANI: Right.

CHUNG: So what did you think?

N. ISFAHANI: When I lost contact with her, I didn't know whether she had wrecked or just didn't have reception. I waited for a few minutes. Officer Wilcox called and asked me if I had her. And I said, "No, I lost her."

He says, "I don't have her either." He says, "I'll call you back." And that's when I lost it.

CHUNG: Aw.

So, Virginia, do you still have that car?

V. ISFAHANI: No, and I don't want it back. They can have it.

(LAUGHTER)

CHUNG: I don't blame you.

Thank you so much, Virginia, and thank you, Nikki, for being with us. So glad you are all in one piece.

V. ISFAHANI: Thank you.

N. ISFAHANI: Thank you.

CHUNG: We'll be right back with the latest on the hunt for the sniper.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHUNG: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHUNG: Before we go tonight, a quick recap: The hunt for the Washington area sniper is now into its third week. It's just short of 72 hours, three days, since the sniper's last attack. Tonight, police say they are considering bringing charges against a man at the scene of the Monday shooting who they say intentionally gave them false information. Police still stand by their composites of a white box truck and a Chevy Astro van or Ford Econoline van.

And we'll have all the day's developments on the sniper hunt tomorrow night.

Coming up next on "LARRY KING LIVE": inside the mind of a killer, the latest on the sniper hunt with a former FBI forensics director.

We want to thank you so much for joining us. And for all of us at CNN, good night, have a good night, and we'll see you tomorrow.

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Cow Victim Speaks Out>