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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

Siegfried Defends Tiger's Attack; Arnold Schwarzenegger Prepares to Assume Power

Aired October 09, 2003 - 17:00 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.

(LIVE NEWS EVENT)
BLITZER: Arnold Schwarzenegger, the governor-elect of California praising Congressman David Dreier for all the help he received in helping to get him elected the governor of California. Arnold Schwarzenegger announcing his transition team, getting ready to assume power in Sacramento. We'll continue to monitor this news conference by the governor-elect and go back there live if warranted.

In the meantime, there's other news we're following right now. After months of waiting, Kobe Bryant is in court right now for the first time hearing the prosecutor's evidence against him, the details very, very graphic, explosive in fact. We'll go there live.

Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): From the court to the courtroom, is Kobe Bryant betting it all on a trial?

Bad day in Baghdad, six months later it's still a war.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's hard and it's not finished. We will stay the course.

BLITZER: Siegfried speaks, an astonishing assertion about a tiger.

SIEGFRIED FISCHBACHER, SIEGFRIED AND ROY: So he took Roy and put him backstage behind the curtain.

LARRY KING, CNN ANCHOR: To protect him?

FISCHBACHER: To protect him.

BLITZER: Battle against breast cancer, a potential breakthrough you need to know about.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The results of this study unquestionably offer new hope to hundreds of thousands of breast cancer patients.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: It's Thursday, October 09, 2003. Hello from Washington, I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting.

For the first time we're hearing her side of the story, the woman accusing Kobe Bryant of sexual assault. The basketball star is in Eagle, Colorado right now for a preliminary hearing.

His lawyers had been expected to waive their right to this hearing, which had investigators recounting the alleged victim's version of what happened and some of that testimony was quite graphic.

Let's go immediately to our National Correspondent Gary Tuchman. He's heard it all. He's joining us live from outside the courthouse - Gary.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, right now we are outside the courthouse where the preliminary hearing is taking place. This is the absolute first time we have ever heard any public evidence in this case from the prosecution since this happened, this incident, 100 days ago.

And here is what Detective Doug Winters of the Eagle County Sheriff's Office is telling us. There is a videotape of this accuser testifying. Both sides agreed not to play the videotapes. The detective is paraphrasing it and quoting it. He said that the woman worked in a hotel here in Edwards, Colorado.

She heard Kobe Bryant was coming to the hotel. She said she was excited about him coming to the hotel. When he arrived she gave him a tour of the hotel upon his request, according to the testimony. According to the testimony, Kobe Bryant asked her to come back to his room.

She said she did go back to the room. According to the detective she says he began kissing her mouth and neck, which she agreed to. That's what the detective said that she agreed to the kissing and that she did acknowledge they were flirtatious with each other.

But then the detective says the 19-year-old told him: "He began to grope her, touching her breasts and her buttocks area and then he grabbed her with both hands around her neck." That is the testimony coming from the sheriff's deputy in the court just a short time ago.

He said that the woman was afraid he was going to choke her that she was scared at this point. According to the detective he then said that Kobe Bryant turned the woman around with his hands on her neck, bent her over a chair and the quote was "pulled her panties down and after he pulled her panties down he had sexual intercourse with her."

The sexual intercourse, according to the detective, lasted five minutes. At that point, the detective says Kobe Bryant asked several times you're not going to tell anybody about this and the woman said no I will not.

Now it's very important to point out this is very graphic, harsh testimony, but this is one side's viewpoint of what happened. The defense as of now hasn't had a chance to cross-examine this detective who's on the stand. She said she cried during the sexual intercourse, according to the detective and then a short time ago we were shown pictures in the courtroom. One of the pictures was of the private area of the woman where there were many lacerations, according to the testimony, also a picture of her jaw, a laceration on her jaw. Nurses said that these injuries were consistent with trauma, not consistent with consensual sex.

And one more item we want to mention to you and this is also harsh and, once again and we've emphasized this over the last hour since we've been talking about this that if you have someone in the room with you you don't want to hear this please you can take them out right now. We are certainly not saying everything we heard in the court, just what we think to provide the news properly.

But according to the detective on the stand, after the sexual intercourse the woman said that Kobe Bryant asked the woman to kiss his private parts. The woman said no and then according to the detective Kobe Bryant made her do it.

Now once again the defense will get a chance to cross-examine this detective. We did not think we would have a preliminary hearing today specifically for these reasons because of the details coming out which are quite sordid.

But one philosophy among legal experts was it might be better to have these details come out now than six months down the road when you're seating a jury. The jury will be familiar with this, will have digested this already and that might be the strategy of the defense. Either way the judge has to decide today if there is probable cause to bring this case to trial - Wolf, back to you.

BLITZER: This is very, very risky strategy I take it on the part of Kobe Bryant's lawyers because there was widespread speculation as you point out, Gary, that they would waive this right to this preliminary hearing.

All of these details coming out right now. What is happening in the courtroom expected in the next few hours? There will be cross- examination by the defense attorneys of this detective?

TUCHMAN: I think a couple things. First of all, most observers are pretty surprised this is taking place. I do want to tell you that as we speak the lawyers are meeting without the news media present to decide with the judge if an audio tape of Kobe Bryant talking about this after the incident but before he was arrested should be allowed to be played in this preliminary hearing. That's taking place.

Inside the courthouse, Kobe Bryant has been there relatively expressionless looking very serious, not really talking to his attorneys, and we should mention that his wife is not here.

BLITZER: Is it possible that this preliminary hearing could continue tomorrow as well? Originally we thought it was going to be rather brief. It looks like it could get dragged on. TUCHMAN: We're told that the judge was planning on this to last about four hours to 7:00 Eastern time, 5:00 Mountain time. Right now though, as you see, it's 5:10 Eastern time. They're in a break. We anticipate much more still to come so I would guess it will go longer but the judge did tell us he wants to put this all to a finish by the close of business today.

BLITZER: Are you getting any indication how Kobe Bryant, Gary, was reacting as this very explosive graphic testimony was being delivered by this detective?

TUCHMAN: Well, that's something that everyone watches very carefully because I've been in many trials over the years where you hear explosive testimony and the defendant just erupts and says it's not true. It's not true or starts to cry and that hasn't happened in this case.

Kobe Bryant is looking very serious, looking studious, trying to listen to everything, not talking to his attorneys and we don't know if that will change when we go back inside the courthouse but as of now that's how he's looked.

But it is fair to say that this testimony is very shocking to a lot of people even though we've known about this case. The simple fact is, Wolf, there have been lots of rumors out there and I got to tell you that most of the rumors that we've heard and that we haven't reported have proved not to be true, the allegations that we've heard. We've now heard the actual prosecution evidence, much of which wasn't rumors.

BLITZER: And it's not just testimony. These pictures that you say are they going to be made public in the sense that they're going to be released to the news media? Will these pictures actually appear in newspapers?

TUCHMAN: I could tell you we're not sure about that. We've asked that question. No one seems to know the answer to that. We haven't asked the judge yet. I will tell you that the one picture from the private area I could tell you that it will in no possible way be released. You just can't do that. The jaw area that's a whole other story we don't know.

BLITZER: And the other business this was actually the one and only time that they had met. She took him on a tour of the hotel complex and it was only then that he invited her up to his room. They hadn't known each other or met at an earlier occasion is that right, Gary?

TUCHMAN: Exactly right. They had never met before and that was one of the rumors that they had met before. No, they had never met before according to the prosecution testimony and he had been in the hotel less than an hour and a half according to the prosecution testimony when not only all this took place but it was all over by then.

Ninety minutes after he arrived there this woman was crying to the bellhop, the bellhop following her home and the bellhop is a very significant part of this because he is what they call in legal terms an outcry witness. He'll be testifying as to her state after this happened and that is a very important part of sexual assault trials that have a so-called outcry witness.

BLITZER: And what about there was a widespread suggestion, Gary, that perhaps he had put his hand on the door, prevented her from leaving, in effect kidnapping her. I guess that could have been one of the charges against her. Did anything like that come out in testimony by the detective?

TUCHMAN: What the testimony is that he did prevent her from leaving by holding her neck. The detective says that he held her neck with two hands for a period of time and then, and once again this is graphic, but according to the testimony bent her over the chair and then took one of his hands off her neck and used it to take off her underwear.

BLITZER: And, Gary, just because I think this is very important what happened after she left the room? He remained in the room. She left. What happened then? The detective walked everyone in that room through the process where she went.

TUCHMAN: Right. She said several times to him I will not tell anyone this happened. She then went - she then, according to the testimony, Kobe Bryant asked her to clean herself up. She went into the bathroom, dried her tears, brushed her hair, according to the testimony.

I apologize for emphasizing that so much but that's important to state. She then went downstairs, according to the testimony, started to close up her shift. Her shift was normally supposed to come to an end at 7:00 at night. She came late to work that day.

It was then supposed to end at 11:00 at night. It was at this point past midnight or close to midnight. She started counting up money and then she saw the bellhop, told the bellhop, according to the testimony, what had happened, was very upset. The bellhop then followed her all the way to her home to make sure she got home safely. The next day she went to the hospital for the checkup.

BLITZER: Did the detective explain why she waited to go to the hospital, why she waited to report this to police because that presumably could be crucial evidence that the defense attorneys will bring forward? Why the delay?

TUCHMAN: Well, your defense attorney's wheels are spinning, Wolf, and we anticipate that's a question that the defense might ask during their cross-examination.

Also something they'll talk about is the fact that she, according to her own testimony, she did agree to kiss and hug him. She did say she was flirtatious but that was also one of the rumors and normally I wouldn't want to state rumors but they said, according to the rumors, that she went much further than that. According to this testimony today and this is important to emphasize from the prosecution standpoint, the furthest she was prepared to go with this man, according to their testimony, was kissing and hugging him. Once he started groping her that is when the prosecution says she started objecting to it and continued objecting the rest of the time.

BLITZER: And they're in recess right now as they go through this whole issue of whether or not to release the actual tape, the videotape or the audio tape, is that right Gary?

TUCHMAN: Well, technically it's not a recess. It's a closed session. They kicked the reporters basically out of the courtroom to discuss this. What has apparently happened and this wasn't explicitly said but after covering legal stories for all this years and covering this one since July, I know implicitly what has happened.

The defense agreed to carry on with this preliminary hearing provided they don't play the videotape of the accuser so the decision was made because we know the videotape is there. The prosecutors have already said that in court papers so they agreed to have the detective testify as to what was on the videotape.

Now the judge said when he came in, the defense asked today before this hearing began, hey, we'll go through with the preliminary hearing but keep the press out and the judge said the press will be allowed in; however, if the prosecution decides it wants to play Kobe Bryant's audio tape we'll then meet in a closed session and discuss whether or not the press should be allowed to be in when we play the audio tape and if we should play the audio tape at all.

BLITZER: All right, Gary, stand by. I'm going to get back to you because there's still a lot more details but I want to get some legal analysis in the meantime.

For that in this high profile case we're joined from Denver by the criminal defense attorney Larry Pozner. Larry thanks very much for joining us. What you've heard right now what goes through your mind? This is all explosive, very detailed, graphic testimony against Kobe Bryant.

LARRY POZNER, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Indeed, Wolf. It's a sad and savage story but the thing we must keep in mind is none of this can take the defense by surprise. They have the police reports under Colorado law. They have the tape recordings so they knew this was coming.

So we must ask ourselves why then are they doing the preliminary hearing? And the answer is cross-examination. They must have some details they think the detective doesn't want to talk about, perhaps changes of the witness' story, perhaps other witnesses who have heard her give a different version of events.

So, this preliminary hearing is designed by the defense to give them an opportunity to explore the other parts of the case that we wouldn't hear about. In other words, they have a good reason to do this hearing.

BLITZER: As you know, Larry, going into this hearing today there was widespread assumption, speculation there wouldn't even be a hearing, that the defense attorneys would waive that preliminary hearing. That was their right.

POZNER: Yes, Wolf, and I heard that over and over but frankly I didn't agree with it and spoke yesterday saying that is not the likely course of events. It's not as if you can keep this case quiet. Her story was going to come out and so the defense I don't think is playing to the media here.

I think the defense has its mind where it should be, which is what will the evidence be at trial and we're going to get a preview of that in defense evidence today.

They get to say to the detective now you interviewed so and so and they told you something different or you interviewed the girl a second time and she changed. That's what we need to be listening for today because, Wolf, at the end of this it will be the credibility of this witness that goes to trial.

BLITZER: The whole notion, and we're going to take a quick break, I want to get back to you Larry, but very briefly the whole notion of this high stakes strategy by the defense attorneys they must know something else that so far we don't know.

POZNER: That is exactly right, Wolf. You are onto it. There are things they must know that they want to bring out today through the prosecution witnesses and perhaps by calling their own witnesses or they wouldn't be in this hearing.

BLITZER: All right, Larry, stand by because I have a lot more questions. We have a lot more issues to resolve. We're going to get right back to you.

As we've been reporting it's happening right now, at long last the details officially coming out in a court of law, the preliminary hearing against Kobe Bryant that's going on. We're going to get through much more of that throughout the course of this hour.

And we're also following other important news of this hour as well. Six months after the fall, coalition forces continue to face a barrage of bullets from opposition fighters in Iraq.

And this important news breakthrough, potential at least, for breast cancer patients, there are some drawbacks. We'll explain.

And later, Siegfried offers his explanation of why one of their show tigers attacked Roy, a lot of news coming up. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: This is a picture, a live picture outside the courthouse in Eagle, Colorado, inside Kobe Bryant and his attorneys facing the evidence, the first time the prosecution laying out very graphic, indeed explosive, evidence, allegations of a sexual assault. Kobe Bryant against a 19-year-old alleged victim. We'll go back there live. We have a correspondent on the scene, our on Gary Tuchman. Larry Pozner the criminal defense attorney is standing by as well, coming up much more on this detail.

But there is other important news we're following this hour as well. Exactly six months after the fall of Baghdad, President Bush is now back on the road defending his Iraq policy. It's part of a new PR campaign by the Bush administration.

Let's get details. Let's go live to our White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux - Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, it has been six months since the fall of Baghdad and President Bush is still trying to convince Americans that he made the right decision to go to war with Iraq that, yes, he has a post-war policy in place that it is working.

Today, President Bush was in New Hampshire before a friendly audience of reservists as well as National Guard to make his case, and this came at a very difficult day. It was a day when ten Iraqis as well as a Spanish diplomat and one U.S. soldier were all killed in attacks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: I was not about to stand by and wait and trust in the sanity and restraint of Saddam Hussein so our coalition acted in one of the swiftest and most humane military campaigns in history and six months ago today the statue of the dictator was pulled down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Now, Wolf, it's all a part of the White House strategy to counter the criticism that he does not have a post-war Iraq policy that is in place, at least not one that is working but it doesn't seem as if it's working, the critics not being silent today as a matter of fact coming out criticizing this whole PR blitz, one of them, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, saying that this PR offensive is offensive - Wolf.

BLITZER: Suzanne Malveaux at the White House thanks Suzanne very much.

On the ground today in Baghdad the grinding reality of violence that just won't end. In a Shiite neighborhood an attacker drove through a checkpoint, exchanged fire with police, then blew up the vehicle at a police station killing eight Iraqi officers and wounding a number of other people.

A Spanish military attache, a liaison for his country's intelligence service, was killed outside his Baghdad home. Gunmen knocked down his door and shot him down as he tried to flee.

And north of the capital, a 4th Infantry Division soldier died after he was wounded during an ambush of a U.S. convoy.

Just about two and a half hours from now, right here on CNN, the bickering Democratic presidential candidates will square off in yet another debate, their fourth in five weeks. It comes as a new CNN/USA Today Gallup poll shows the retired U.S. Army General Wesley Clark has a slight lead over his rivals.

Clark is favored by 21 percent of registered Democrats. Just behind him the former Vermont Governor Howard Dean with 16 percent and tied at 13 percent, Senators John Kerry and Joe Lieberman.

CNN's live coverage of tonight's debate among the Democratic presidential candidates starts at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, 5:00 p.m. on the West Coast.

We're standing by for additional details from Colorado on the Kobe Bryant sexual assault case. It's happening right now. We'll go there live.

Then, if it's happened to you once you don't want it to happen again. We'll tell you about a breakthrough in breast cancer research. This is very important information you need to know. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. For the first time we're hearing dramatic, graphic testimony against Kobe Bryant in the sexual assault case. Our national correspondent Gary Tuchman is in Eagle, Colorado. He's joining us from just outside the courthouse. For viewers, Gary, just tuning in right now, briefly summarize what has happened over the past couple hours.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well once again, Wolf, the testimony is very harsh. There are no cameras inside so I have to describe it to you. So I just want to give our viewers a warning about that.

We have seen from the prosecution evidence for the first time since the crime allegedly happened on June 30. They've shown two pictures in the court. One picture is of the private areas of the 19 year-old accuser with, according to them, many lacerations. Another picture is of her jaw with a long laceration. According to a nurse, the injuries are consistent with trauma, not consistent with consensual sex.

According it a sheriff's office detective who took the stand, the woman said she heard Kobe Bryant was coming to her hotel, was excited about it, gave him a tour after he asked for the tour. This is all according to the prosecution evidence at this point. Kobe Bryant asked her to come back to the room, they started kissing and hugging. That kissing and hugging, the prosecution says, was consensual. They say after that nothing was consensual.

According to the woman, the detective says that Kobe Bryant then began groping her, began reaching under her underwear, then bent her over a chair, according to the testimony, and had sexual intercourse with her while holding her neck. The testimony was the woman was afraid she was going to be choked. After five minutes, she left the room crying, according to the testimony, told the bellhop who escorted her back to her house.

The preliminary hearing will continue perhaps for the rest of the afternoon and much of the evening -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Gary. Thanks very much. I'll be checking back with you.

Let's bring back Larry Pozner, the criminal defense attorney. He goes a great deal about the Colorado law. What exactly is the Colorado law as far as consensual sex? She went up there by her own testimony, by her own account, willingly. She wanted to flirt with him, she wanted to kiss him. What does the law say about sexual assault in Colorado?

POZNER: It's no different, I think, than common sense and what it would say anywhere, Wolf, which is this woman could have engaged in all of this consensually. But at the point at which she says no, means no.

But the question that a jury will have is did the no occur? What occurred? And that's why we need to hear the cross examinations and whether this woman has told other stories or whether there are other facts inconsistent with this. The false imprisonment claim seems to be that he didn't let her out of the room.

Now on any of the sexual assault charges, under Colorado law, Wolf, the sentencing can be extraordinarily strict, up to potentially life in prison.

BLITZER: It's at least four years to life in prison if he's convicted of this charge. Talk a little bit, Larry, about the judge in this particular case. You know him.

POZNER: Yes. Both the county court and district court judges in this case are very well respected. Right now the case is before the county court. After the preliminary hearing, it will be bound over to the district court.

This county court judge is famous for his hard-working attitude. And if he does not get this hearing finished by 5:00, I would not be surprised to see it go to 6:00, 7:00, 8:00 and midnight, if necessary. He's not the kind of judge that likes to have things flop over into the next day.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: ... this could be a very long night, in other words.

POZNER: It will, Wolf. And the real question is, what is the prosecution doing in these private hearings, these in camera hearings, as we call them, to restrict the defendant's rights to call witnesses? That's the inside story. We have reason to believe, Wolf, that the defense wants to do this hearing so they can call witnesses to produce evidence on what happened. And I suggest to you that the prosecution probably doesn't want that to occur.

The defense had a reason for going forward today. They certainly want to tell some of the facts they know, and that's what Hadden and Mackey are famous for doing, just great investigation.

BLITZER: But there is no chance -- and correct me if I'm wrong -- that they would put Kobe Bryant himself on the stand and offer his side of what he says happened.

POZNER: Great question, Wolf. No, there is no chance whatsoever they would do that. And one of the reasons is that under Colorado law, the judge must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution.

What that means is if there is any difference of opinion between any witness in the case, and the complaining witness, the judge is required to accept the complaining witness' version today, and today only. And that means at the end of this hearing, Wolf, the judge is required to bind this case over for trial and we shouldn't be surprised when that ruling comes.

BLITZER: So there's absolutely no doubt that they're going to go forward with a trial. This was always a foregone conclusion. The only explanation -- at least the most compelling explanation I've heard why the defense attorneys didn't waive their right is they want to get all of this on the record now so that down the road they might be able to come up with some inconsistencies to raise some doubt about the prosecution case once the real trial begins.

POZNER: Wolf, they're probably going to raise those doubts today. From what we're hearing, they have evidence now, they have witnesses already, they may have changes of story.

But we know from the motion practice they've been after the credibility of this witness, a 19 year-old that we're told has two suicide attempts, at least, recently before this, that the campus police took into custody for her own safety. We have 911 phone calls from her house that we don't know about that the defense has.

I don't think today is a fishing expedition. I think today is a revealing expedition where the defense wants to say to the prosecutors, we know it's going to be bound over for trial, but that doesn't mean it's going to be tried. Why don't you reconsider your case?

BLITZER: All right, Larry, stand by. Because there may be some more issues coming up as we unfold this hour. I'll get back to you.

But I also want to turn to some other legal news that happening not far away from where I am right now. There's been a very dramatic turn of events in the Washington-area sniper case. Let's go straight to CNN's Kathleen Koch. She's live at the courthouse in suburban Fairfax County, Virginia. That's right outside the nation's capital -- Kathleen.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, attorneys for sniper suspect Lee Boyd Malvo had long (UNINTELLIGIBLE) that they believe their client was brainwashed. And today they made it official, announcing their intention to mount an insanity defense.

They say that during last year's sniper spree, that the then 17- year-old was so indoctrinated, so controlled by fellow sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad, that he couldn't tell right from wrong. Now prosecutors insist there is no evidence of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRAIG COOLEY, MALVO DEFENSE ATTORNEY: This case is so bizarre in its facts, and the degree of indoctrination is so significant in this case, that we would be remiss in our responsibilities if we failed to put that issue forward for a jury to make a determination of.

ROBERT HORAN, COMMONWEALTH ATTORNEY: I've received the mental health report of the expert who has examined him supposedly 15 times in the last five months. And nowhere in that report is there any suggestion of insanity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOCH: Now what this means is that there will likely and longer trial. The prosecution will still have to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Lee Boyd Malvo is guilty. Malvo's attorneys will then try to prove that he is insane.

The possible verdicts in the case would be guilty, guilty of a lesser charge, not guilty, or not guilty by reason of insanity. And if the latter were the final verdict, then Lee Boyd Malvo would be taken to a mental health institution in the state, evaluated and held there until doctors and the courts determine determined he was no longer a threat to himself or the community -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, CNN's Kathleen Koch at the courthouse in Virginia, thanks very much.

We're tracking developments in Eagle, Colorado. Kobe Bryant's preliminary hearing now under way. More details of the night that changed his life and the accuser forever.

And one of the newer drugs used to fight breast cancer shows tremendous results for patients. We'll have the details.

And later, a slip that led to disaster. Siegfried's explanation of why a tiger attacked. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Virginia police say quick thinking by the wife of a United States senator, Judd Gregg, may have saved her life when she was abducted at knifepoint this week. Kathleen Gregg managed to escape after withdrawing money from a bank in Fairfax County, Virginia as demanded by her captors. Two suspects now under arrest. CNN's Patty Davis is over at the Fairfax County Police headquarters. She has more now on Mrs. Gregg's terrifying ordeal -- Patty.

PATTY DAVIS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, Mrs. Gregg says she was running errands and came home. And when she was confronted by two men in her home, she says ran for the door but didn't make it before they grabbed her. She will likely she these two men next in court.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVIS (voice-over): New Jersey police spotted this stolen Chevy Monte Carlo around 10:00 Wednesday night. Arrested after a chase 31-year-old Christopher Ford, after he tried to run over a police officer and drove into a river.

CHIEF JOHN PIECZYSKI, CARTERET, N.J. POLICE: The suspect vehicle failed to negotiate a turn. Pretty serious accident. I believe he has a broken leg, the suspect.

DAVIS: Also caught, 26-year-old Michael Pierre as he ran from police. Both are suspected of abducting Kathleen Gregg, the wife of New Hampshire Senator Judd Gregg, and forcing her to withdraw money at a McLean, Virginia bank. Fairfax County, Virginia Police say some of Gregg's property was in the suspect's car.

SGT. JEFFREY GOSSATT, FAIRFAX CO. POLICE: Some of the charges are going to be abduction and robbery as well as the burglary and the stolen vehicle.

DAVIS: Gregg says the two men threatened her with a knife in her home and tied her up.

KATHLEEN GREGG: I kept thinking -- well one man was sitting on me. And I kept thinking, I need to get out of this house. I said the only way I can get you money is if we go to the bank because I can get money at the bank.

DAVIS: Gregg says once at the bank, she handed money over to one of the suspects and ran locking herself in a closet. Gregg and her husband appeared with President Bush, a family friend, as he spoke in New Hampshire.

BUSH: Don't mess with Kathy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DAVIS: The two men are being held on $250,000 bail each and the prosecutor in Virginia says that he will seek their extradition here to Fairfax County -- Wolf.

BLITZER: A very courageous woman indeed. Thanks very much, Patty Davis for that.

And a dramatic development in the fight against breast cancer. I'll speak live with a doctor and a patient who took part in a new study. You will want to see what they found. It could save your life.

And startling comments from the Las Vegas magician Siegfried on the tiger attack that has his partner, Roy, fighting for his life. All that, much more. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: There's very encouraging words -- news today in the battle against breast cancer. A study has found that the new estrogen-suppressing drug FEMARA reduced the recurrence of breast cancer by nearly half. A daily dose of FEMARA was given to older women whose cancer had been spotted early and who had completed five years on another estrogen inhibitor, Tamoxifen.

Because of the surprising results, researchers stopped the patients could start taking the drug. Joining us now with some insight into this important development, two guests, Dr. Kimberly Blackwell of the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center in Durham, North Carolina. And with her, Sally Wilkerson, she's a cancer patient.

First to you, Dr. Blackwell, thanks very much for joining us. How big of a break-through potentially is this?

DR. KIMBERLY BLACKWELL, DUKE COMPREHENSIVE CANCER CENTER: Wolf, I think this is one of the top five big resulting trials that's been available for physicians and their patients probably in the past decade.

When you consider the number of women that take Tamoxifen for the treatment breast cancer, and estimate that's well over 50,000 patients per year will be put on this drug, you have to realize that this trial affects tens of thousands of women. That's one of the reasons it's an important trial.

The other reason it's an important trial is because up until yesterday, we stopped cancer treatment, particularly breast cancer treatment, with five years of Tamoxifen. This trial now says we can do something after five years of Tamoxifen. But as you mentioned, it reduces the risk of cancer coming back by half.

BLITZER: So after they finish the Tamoxifen, they start taking FEMARA. That would really, potentially help these women a great deal.

Sally, you're a breast cancer patient. Talk a little bit about what this means potentially for you.

SALLY WILKERSON, CANCER PATIENT: This is the most exciting news for me. When you're diagnosed with breast cancer, it's so devastating. And you want every option available to you to maximize your survival.

This gives me one more treatment option which is something I did not have yesterday. And when you're diagnosed, you have to keep focusing on the positive, that we never know what tomorrow will bring. It will bring new cures and options better formulated by doctors like Dr. Blackwell. And luckily, tomorrow is today now. And for the tens of thousands of women who are affected by breast cancer as I am, this is just fantastic news.

BLITZER: Well, good luck to you, Sally Wilkerson. Good work, Dr. Blackwell. Good work on your part as well. I know a lot of the women out there and the men who love them will be very interested in this potential break-through in dealing with breast cancer.

BLACKWELL: Great.

And you'll want to hear the surprising assertion from a Las Vegas legend about the tiger attack that almost killed his partner. That story and much more coming up on the sexual assault charges against Kobe Bryant. Dramatic developments unfolding in Eagle, Colorado right now. We'll go there live. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: There is a surprising development in the tiger mauling of Roy Horn. There may be more to the attack than what was played out before a horrified audience last Friday.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Roy Horn, magician, tiger trainer, Las Vegas superstar, maimed by one of his own tigers in front of a live audience. As Horn lies in a Las Vegas hospital still fighting for his life, his long-time partner in showbiz has a startling assertion. In an exclusive interview with CNN's Larry King, Siegfried Fischbacher says this was no mauling.

SIEGFRIED FISCHBACHER, ENTERTAINER: Roy, fall and he want protect. Because that's danger, you know. An animal like this and tripping and he got over there. So he took Roy and put him back stage behind the curtain.

KING: To protect him.

FISCHBACHER: To protect him. And then he let Roy go and he bent back. And Roy said...

KING: What did Roy say?

FISCHBACHER: Roy said, don't harm the tiger.

BLITZER: Fischbacher repeated the claim. This was an accident. Horn actually fell. The tiger was trying to help him and was simply unaware of his own strength.

FISCHBACHER: The tiger goes, when he grabs you, it's the strength. Like it's another tiger. He thinks it's another tiger. Another tiger has skin like this and the fur, it's nothing, you know.

BLITZER: Witnesses in the audience Friday night said it looked like the tiger lashed out against Horn, mauled him, then carried him off stage. One witness said Horn looked like a rag doll in the tiger's mouth.

FISCHBACHER: I say it was an accident. If it would be, the tiger would be out killing Roy, it would be in no time.

BLITZER: The questions seem to outnumber the answers. Was the tiger trying to protect horn? Are Siegfried, Roy and their managers trying to protect the rare endangered tiger from being destroyed?

Another potential problem. CNN has learned the Agriculture Department is investigating the Siegfried and Roy show for possible violations of the Animal Welfare Act. That law says, during a public exhibition, there should be minimal risk to the animal and the public with sufficient distance or barriers between the animal and the audience. During the Siegfried and Roy show, some audience members sit very close to the stage with no barriers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: And our prayers, of course, remain right now with Roy Horn.

We'll return to our top story. Kobe Bryant is in court right now facing sexual assault charges. We'll go there live. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Let's get back to our top story. Kobe Bryant, he's in a courtroom right now hearing the evidence against him presented by the prosecution. Larry Pozner is a criminal defense attorney, he joining us from Denver.

What should we be looking for right now, Larry, in the hours, perhaps the next day to emerge from this preliminary hearing.

POZNER: Two things, Wolf. First is the cross examination of the detective. Hearsay is admissible so the defense will be allowed to ask the detective about other people he's interviewed and other versions of the story the women may have given. The next part is the defense allowed called witnesses, because any witness they call will not be a fishing expedition, it will be a point they want to make with the prosecution. A change of story or something that attacks the credibility of the complaining witness because that's the heart and soul of the prosecution case.

BLITZER: This could go on until tomorrow, you think?

POZNER: This is the kind of judge that likes to get it wrapped up. I think could go very late tonight, but I think we'll have it bound over for trial, but remember, Wolf, it doesn't mean it has to be tried. It just can be tried.

BLITZER: All right. We'll be checking back with you. Larry Pozner, thanks very much.

And stay with CNN for complete coverage. "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com

Prepares to Assume Power>

Aired October 9, 2003 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(LIVE NEWS EVENT)
BLITZER: Arnold Schwarzenegger, the governor-elect of California praising Congressman David Dreier for all the help he received in helping to get him elected the governor of California. Arnold Schwarzenegger announcing his transition team, getting ready to assume power in Sacramento. We'll continue to monitor this news conference by the governor-elect and go back there live if warranted.

In the meantime, there's other news we're following right now. After months of waiting, Kobe Bryant is in court right now for the first time hearing the prosecutor's evidence against him, the details very, very graphic, explosive in fact. We'll go there live.

Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): From the court to the courtroom, is Kobe Bryant betting it all on a trial?

Bad day in Baghdad, six months later it's still a war.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's hard and it's not finished. We will stay the course.

BLITZER: Siegfried speaks, an astonishing assertion about a tiger.

SIEGFRIED FISCHBACHER, SIEGFRIED AND ROY: So he took Roy and put him backstage behind the curtain.

LARRY KING, CNN ANCHOR: To protect him?

FISCHBACHER: To protect him.

BLITZER: Battle against breast cancer, a potential breakthrough you need to know about.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The results of this study unquestionably offer new hope to hundreds of thousands of breast cancer patients.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: It's Thursday, October 09, 2003. Hello from Washington, I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting.

For the first time we're hearing her side of the story, the woman accusing Kobe Bryant of sexual assault. The basketball star is in Eagle, Colorado right now for a preliminary hearing.

His lawyers had been expected to waive their right to this hearing, which had investigators recounting the alleged victim's version of what happened and some of that testimony was quite graphic.

Let's go immediately to our National Correspondent Gary Tuchman. He's heard it all. He's joining us live from outside the courthouse - Gary.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, right now we are outside the courthouse where the preliminary hearing is taking place. This is the absolute first time we have ever heard any public evidence in this case from the prosecution since this happened, this incident, 100 days ago.

And here is what Detective Doug Winters of the Eagle County Sheriff's Office is telling us. There is a videotape of this accuser testifying. Both sides agreed not to play the videotapes. The detective is paraphrasing it and quoting it. He said that the woman worked in a hotel here in Edwards, Colorado.

She heard Kobe Bryant was coming to the hotel. She said she was excited about him coming to the hotel. When he arrived she gave him a tour of the hotel upon his request, according to the testimony. According to the testimony, Kobe Bryant asked her to come back to his room.

She said she did go back to the room. According to the detective she says he began kissing her mouth and neck, which she agreed to. That's what the detective said that she agreed to the kissing and that she did acknowledge they were flirtatious with each other.

But then the detective says the 19-year-old told him: "He began to grope her, touching her breasts and her buttocks area and then he grabbed her with both hands around her neck." That is the testimony coming from the sheriff's deputy in the court just a short time ago.

He said that the woman was afraid he was going to choke her that she was scared at this point. According to the detective he then said that Kobe Bryant turned the woman around with his hands on her neck, bent her over a chair and the quote was "pulled her panties down and after he pulled her panties down he had sexual intercourse with her."

The sexual intercourse, according to the detective, lasted five minutes. At that point, the detective says Kobe Bryant asked several times you're not going to tell anybody about this and the woman said no I will not.

Now it's very important to point out this is very graphic, harsh testimony, but this is one side's viewpoint of what happened. The defense as of now hasn't had a chance to cross-examine this detective who's on the stand. She said she cried during the sexual intercourse, according to the detective and then a short time ago we were shown pictures in the courtroom. One of the pictures was of the private area of the woman where there were many lacerations, according to the testimony, also a picture of her jaw, a laceration on her jaw. Nurses said that these injuries were consistent with trauma, not consistent with consensual sex.

And one more item we want to mention to you and this is also harsh and, once again and we've emphasized this over the last hour since we've been talking about this that if you have someone in the room with you you don't want to hear this please you can take them out right now. We are certainly not saying everything we heard in the court, just what we think to provide the news properly.

But according to the detective on the stand, after the sexual intercourse the woman said that Kobe Bryant asked the woman to kiss his private parts. The woman said no and then according to the detective Kobe Bryant made her do it.

Now once again the defense will get a chance to cross-examine this detective. We did not think we would have a preliminary hearing today specifically for these reasons because of the details coming out which are quite sordid.

But one philosophy among legal experts was it might be better to have these details come out now than six months down the road when you're seating a jury. The jury will be familiar with this, will have digested this already and that might be the strategy of the defense. Either way the judge has to decide today if there is probable cause to bring this case to trial - Wolf, back to you.

BLITZER: This is very, very risky strategy I take it on the part of Kobe Bryant's lawyers because there was widespread speculation as you point out, Gary, that they would waive this right to this preliminary hearing.

All of these details coming out right now. What is happening in the courtroom expected in the next few hours? There will be cross- examination by the defense attorneys of this detective?

TUCHMAN: I think a couple things. First of all, most observers are pretty surprised this is taking place. I do want to tell you that as we speak the lawyers are meeting without the news media present to decide with the judge if an audio tape of Kobe Bryant talking about this after the incident but before he was arrested should be allowed to be played in this preliminary hearing. That's taking place.

Inside the courthouse, Kobe Bryant has been there relatively expressionless looking very serious, not really talking to his attorneys, and we should mention that his wife is not here.

BLITZER: Is it possible that this preliminary hearing could continue tomorrow as well? Originally we thought it was going to be rather brief. It looks like it could get dragged on. TUCHMAN: We're told that the judge was planning on this to last about four hours to 7:00 Eastern time, 5:00 Mountain time. Right now though, as you see, it's 5:10 Eastern time. They're in a break. We anticipate much more still to come so I would guess it will go longer but the judge did tell us he wants to put this all to a finish by the close of business today.

BLITZER: Are you getting any indication how Kobe Bryant, Gary, was reacting as this very explosive graphic testimony was being delivered by this detective?

TUCHMAN: Well, that's something that everyone watches very carefully because I've been in many trials over the years where you hear explosive testimony and the defendant just erupts and says it's not true. It's not true or starts to cry and that hasn't happened in this case.

Kobe Bryant is looking very serious, looking studious, trying to listen to everything, not talking to his attorneys and we don't know if that will change when we go back inside the courthouse but as of now that's how he's looked.

But it is fair to say that this testimony is very shocking to a lot of people even though we've known about this case. The simple fact is, Wolf, there have been lots of rumors out there and I got to tell you that most of the rumors that we've heard and that we haven't reported have proved not to be true, the allegations that we've heard. We've now heard the actual prosecution evidence, much of which wasn't rumors.

BLITZER: And it's not just testimony. These pictures that you say are they going to be made public in the sense that they're going to be released to the news media? Will these pictures actually appear in newspapers?

TUCHMAN: I could tell you we're not sure about that. We've asked that question. No one seems to know the answer to that. We haven't asked the judge yet. I will tell you that the one picture from the private area I could tell you that it will in no possible way be released. You just can't do that. The jaw area that's a whole other story we don't know.

BLITZER: And the other business this was actually the one and only time that they had met. She took him on a tour of the hotel complex and it was only then that he invited her up to his room. They hadn't known each other or met at an earlier occasion is that right, Gary?

TUCHMAN: Exactly right. They had never met before and that was one of the rumors that they had met before. No, they had never met before according to the prosecution testimony and he had been in the hotel less than an hour and a half according to the prosecution testimony when not only all this took place but it was all over by then.

Ninety minutes after he arrived there this woman was crying to the bellhop, the bellhop following her home and the bellhop is a very significant part of this because he is what they call in legal terms an outcry witness. He'll be testifying as to her state after this happened and that is a very important part of sexual assault trials that have a so-called outcry witness.

BLITZER: And what about there was a widespread suggestion, Gary, that perhaps he had put his hand on the door, prevented her from leaving, in effect kidnapping her. I guess that could have been one of the charges against her. Did anything like that come out in testimony by the detective?

TUCHMAN: What the testimony is that he did prevent her from leaving by holding her neck. The detective says that he held her neck with two hands for a period of time and then, and once again this is graphic, but according to the testimony bent her over the chair and then took one of his hands off her neck and used it to take off her underwear.

BLITZER: And, Gary, just because I think this is very important what happened after she left the room? He remained in the room. She left. What happened then? The detective walked everyone in that room through the process where she went.

TUCHMAN: Right. She said several times to him I will not tell anyone this happened. She then went - she then, according to the testimony, Kobe Bryant asked her to clean herself up. She went into the bathroom, dried her tears, brushed her hair, according to the testimony.

I apologize for emphasizing that so much but that's important to state. She then went downstairs, according to the testimony, started to close up her shift. Her shift was normally supposed to come to an end at 7:00 at night. She came late to work that day.

It was then supposed to end at 11:00 at night. It was at this point past midnight or close to midnight. She started counting up money and then she saw the bellhop, told the bellhop, according to the testimony, what had happened, was very upset. The bellhop then followed her all the way to her home to make sure she got home safely. The next day she went to the hospital for the checkup.

BLITZER: Did the detective explain why she waited to go to the hospital, why she waited to report this to police because that presumably could be crucial evidence that the defense attorneys will bring forward? Why the delay?

TUCHMAN: Well, your defense attorney's wheels are spinning, Wolf, and we anticipate that's a question that the defense might ask during their cross-examination.

Also something they'll talk about is the fact that she, according to her own testimony, she did agree to kiss and hug him. She did say she was flirtatious but that was also one of the rumors and normally I wouldn't want to state rumors but they said, according to the rumors, that she went much further than that. According to this testimony today and this is important to emphasize from the prosecution standpoint, the furthest she was prepared to go with this man, according to their testimony, was kissing and hugging him. Once he started groping her that is when the prosecution says she started objecting to it and continued objecting the rest of the time.

BLITZER: And they're in recess right now as they go through this whole issue of whether or not to release the actual tape, the videotape or the audio tape, is that right Gary?

TUCHMAN: Well, technically it's not a recess. It's a closed session. They kicked the reporters basically out of the courtroom to discuss this. What has apparently happened and this wasn't explicitly said but after covering legal stories for all this years and covering this one since July, I know implicitly what has happened.

The defense agreed to carry on with this preliminary hearing provided they don't play the videotape of the accuser so the decision was made because we know the videotape is there. The prosecutors have already said that in court papers so they agreed to have the detective testify as to what was on the videotape.

Now the judge said when he came in, the defense asked today before this hearing began, hey, we'll go through with the preliminary hearing but keep the press out and the judge said the press will be allowed in; however, if the prosecution decides it wants to play Kobe Bryant's audio tape we'll then meet in a closed session and discuss whether or not the press should be allowed to be in when we play the audio tape and if we should play the audio tape at all.

BLITZER: All right, Gary, stand by. I'm going to get back to you because there's still a lot more details but I want to get some legal analysis in the meantime.

For that in this high profile case we're joined from Denver by the criminal defense attorney Larry Pozner. Larry thanks very much for joining us. What you've heard right now what goes through your mind? This is all explosive, very detailed, graphic testimony against Kobe Bryant.

LARRY POZNER, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Indeed, Wolf. It's a sad and savage story but the thing we must keep in mind is none of this can take the defense by surprise. They have the police reports under Colorado law. They have the tape recordings so they knew this was coming.

So we must ask ourselves why then are they doing the preliminary hearing? And the answer is cross-examination. They must have some details they think the detective doesn't want to talk about, perhaps changes of the witness' story, perhaps other witnesses who have heard her give a different version of events.

So, this preliminary hearing is designed by the defense to give them an opportunity to explore the other parts of the case that we wouldn't hear about. In other words, they have a good reason to do this hearing.

BLITZER: As you know, Larry, going into this hearing today there was widespread assumption, speculation there wouldn't even be a hearing, that the defense attorneys would waive that preliminary hearing. That was their right.

POZNER: Yes, Wolf, and I heard that over and over but frankly I didn't agree with it and spoke yesterday saying that is not the likely course of events. It's not as if you can keep this case quiet. Her story was going to come out and so the defense I don't think is playing to the media here.

I think the defense has its mind where it should be, which is what will the evidence be at trial and we're going to get a preview of that in defense evidence today.

They get to say to the detective now you interviewed so and so and they told you something different or you interviewed the girl a second time and she changed. That's what we need to be listening for today because, Wolf, at the end of this it will be the credibility of this witness that goes to trial.

BLITZER: The whole notion, and we're going to take a quick break, I want to get back to you Larry, but very briefly the whole notion of this high stakes strategy by the defense attorneys they must know something else that so far we don't know.

POZNER: That is exactly right, Wolf. You are onto it. There are things they must know that they want to bring out today through the prosecution witnesses and perhaps by calling their own witnesses or they wouldn't be in this hearing.

BLITZER: All right, Larry, stand by because I have a lot more questions. We have a lot more issues to resolve. We're going to get right back to you.

As we've been reporting it's happening right now, at long last the details officially coming out in a court of law, the preliminary hearing against Kobe Bryant that's going on. We're going to get through much more of that throughout the course of this hour.

And we're also following other important news of this hour as well. Six months after the fall, coalition forces continue to face a barrage of bullets from opposition fighters in Iraq.

And this important news breakthrough, potential at least, for breast cancer patients, there are some drawbacks. We'll explain.

And later, Siegfried offers his explanation of why one of their show tigers attacked Roy, a lot of news coming up. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: This is a picture, a live picture outside the courthouse in Eagle, Colorado, inside Kobe Bryant and his attorneys facing the evidence, the first time the prosecution laying out very graphic, indeed explosive, evidence, allegations of a sexual assault. Kobe Bryant against a 19-year-old alleged victim. We'll go back there live. We have a correspondent on the scene, our on Gary Tuchman. Larry Pozner the criminal defense attorney is standing by as well, coming up much more on this detail.

But there is other important news we're following this hour as well. Exactly six months after the fall of Baghdad, President Bush is now back on the road defending his Iraq policy. It's part of a new PR campaign by the Bush administration.

Let's get details. Let's go live to our White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux - Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, it has been six months since the fall of Baghdad and President Bush is still trying to convince Americans that he made the right decision to go to war with Iraq that, yes, he has a post-war policy in place that it is working.

Today, President Bush was in New Hampshire before a friendly audience of reservists as well as National Guard to make his case, and this came at a very difficult day. It was a day when ten Iraqis as well as a Spanish diplomat and one U.S. soldier were all killed in attacks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: I was not about to stand by and wait and trust in the sanity and restraint of Saddam Hussein so our coalition acted in one of the swiftest and most humane military campaigns in history and six months ago today the statue of the dictator was pulled down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Now, Wolf, it's all a part of the White House strategy to counter the criticism that he does not have a post-war Iraq policy that is in place, at least not one that is working but it doesn't seem as if it's working, the critics not being silent today as a matter of fact coming out criticizing this whole PR blitz, one of them, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, saying that this PR offensive is offensive - Wolf.

BLITZER: Suzanne Malveaux at the White House thanks Suzanne very much.

On the ground today in Baghdad the grinding reality of violence that just won't end. In a Shiite neighborhood an attacker drove through a checkpoint, exchanged fire with police, then blew up the vehicle at a police station killing eight Iraqi officers and wounding a number of other people.

A Spanish military attache, a liaison for his country's intelligence service, was killed outside his Baghdad home. Gunmen knocked down his door and shot him down as he tried to flee.

And north of the capital, a 4th Infantry Division soldier died after he was wounded during an ambush of a U.S. convoy.

Just about two and a half hours from now, right here on CNN, the bickering Democratic presidential candidates will square off in yet another debate, their fourth in five weeks. It comes as a new CNN/USA Today Gallup poll shows the retired U.S. Army General Wesley Clark has a slight lead over his rivals.

Clark is favored by 21 percent of registered Democrats. Just behind him the former Vermont Governor Howard Dean with 16 percent and tied at 13 percent, Senators John Kerry and Joe Lieberman.

CNN's live coverage of tonight's debate among the Democratic presidential candidates starts at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, 5:00 p.m. on the West Coast.

We're standing by for additional details from Colorado on the Kobe Bryant sexual assault case. It's happening right now. We'll go there live.

Then, if it's happened to you once you don't want it to happen again. We'll tell you about a breakthrough in breast cancer research. This is very important information you need to know. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. For the first time we're hearing dramatic, graphic testimony against Kobe Bryant in the sexual assault case. Our national correspondent Gary Tuchman is in Eagle, Colorado. He's joining us from just outside the courthouse. For viewers, Gary, just tuning in right now, briefly summarize what has happened over the past couple hours.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well once again, Wolf, the testimony is very harsh. There are no cameras inside so I have to describe it to you. So I just want to give our viewers a warning about that.

We have seen from the prosecution evidence for the first time since the crime allegedly happened on June 30. They've shown two pictures in the court. One picture is of the private areas of the 19 year-old accuser with, according to them, many lacerations. Another picture is of her jaw with a long laceration. According to a nurse, the injuries are consistent with trauma, not consistent with consensual sex.

According it a sheriff's office detective who took the stand, the woman said she heard Kobe Bryant was coming to her hotel, was excited about it, gave him a tour after he asked for the tour. This is all according to the prosecution evidence at this point. Kobe Bryant asked her to come back to the room, they started kissing and hugging. That kissing and hugging, the prosecution says, was consensual. They say after that nothing was consensual.

According to the woman, the detective says that Kobe Bryant then began groping her, began reaching under her underwear, then bent her over a chair, according to the testimony, and had sexual intercourse with her while holding her neck. The testimony was the woman was afraid she was going to be choked. After five minutes, she left the room crying, according to the testimony, told the bellhop who escorted her back to her house.

The preliminary hearing will continue perhaps for the rest of the afternoon and much of the evening -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Gary. Thanks very much. I'll be checking back with you.

Let's bring back Larry Pozner, the criminal defense attorney. He goes a great deal about the Colorado law. What exactly is the Colorado law as far as consensual sex? She went up there by her own testimony, by her own account, willingly. She wanted to flirt with him, she wanted to kiss him. What does the law say about sexual assault in Colorado?

POZNER: It's no different, I think, than common sense and what it would say anywhere, Wolf, which is this woman could have engaged in all of this consensually. But at the point at which she says no, means no.

But the question that a jury will have is did the no occur? What occurred? And that's why we need to hear the cross examinations and whether this woman has told other stories or whether there are other facts inconsistent with this. The false imprisonment claim seems to be that he didn't let her out of the room.

Now on any of the sexual assault charges, under Colorado law, Wolf, the sentencing can be extraordinarily strict, up to potentially life in prison.

BLITZER: It's at least four years to life in prison if he's convicted of this charge. Talk a little bit, Larry, about the judge in this particular case. You know him.

POZNER: Yes. Both the county court and district court judges in this case are very well respected. Right now the case is before the county court. After the preliminary hearing, it will be bound over to the district court.

This county court judge is famous for his hard-working attitude. And if he does not get this hearing finished by 5:00, I would not be surprised to see it go to 6:00, 7:00, 8:00 and midnight, if necessary. He's not the kind of judge that likes to have things flop over into the next day.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: ... this could be a very long night, in other words.

POZNER: It will, Wolf. And the real question is, what is the prosecution doing in these private hearings, these in camera hearings, as we call them, to restrict the defendant's rights to call witnesses? That's the inside story. We have reason to believe, Wolf, that the defense wants to do this hearing so they can call witnesses to produce evidence on what happened. And I suggest to you that the prosecution probably doesn't want that to occur.

The defense had a reason for going forward today. They certainly want to tell some of the facts they know, and that's what Hadden and Mackey are famous for doing, just great investigation.

BLITZER: But there is no chance -- and correct me if I'm wrong -- that they would put Kobe Bryant himself on the stand and offer his side of what he says happened.

POZNER: Great question, Wolf. No, there is no chance whatsoever they would do that. And one of the reasons is that under Colorado law, the judge must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution.

What that means is if there is any difference of opinion between any witness in the case, and the complaining witness, the judge is required to accept the complaining witness' version today, and today only. And that means at the end of this hearing, Wolf, the judge is required to bind this case over for trial and we shouldn't be surprised when that ruling comes.

BLITZER: So there's absolutely no doubt that they're going to go forward with a trial. This was always a foregone conclusion. The only explanation -- at least the most compelling explanation I've heard why the defense attorneys didn't waive their right is they want to get all of this on the record now so that down the road they might be able to come up with some inconsistencies to raise some doubt about the prosecution case once the real trial begins.

POZNER: Wolf, they're probably going to raise those doubts today. From what we're hearing, they have evidence now, they have witnesses already, they may have changes of story.

But we know from the motion practice they've been after the credibility of this witness, a 19 year-old that we're told has two suicide attempts, at least, recently before this, that the campus police took into custody for her own safety. We have 911 phone calls from her house that we don't know about that the defense has.

I don't think today is a fishing expedition. I think today is a revealing expedition where the defense wants to say to the prosecutors, we know it's going to be bound over for trial, but that doesn't mean it's going to be tried. Why don't you reconsider your case?

BLITZER: All right, Larry, stand by. Because there may be some more issues coming up as we unfold this hour. I'll get back to you.

But I also want to turn to some other legal news that happening not far away from where I am right now. There's been a very dramatic turn of events in the Washington-area sniper case. Let's go straight to CNN's Kathleen Koch. She's live at the courthouse in suburban Fairfax County, Virginia. That's right outside the nation's capital -- Kathleen.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, attorneys for sniper suspect Lee Boyd Malvo had long (UNINTELLIGIBLE) that they believe their client was brainwashed. And today they made it official, announcing their intention to mount an insanity defense.

They say that during last year's sniper spree, that the then 17- year-old was so indoctrinated, so controlled by fellow sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad, that he couldn't tell right from wrong. Now prosecutors insist there is no evidence of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRAIG COOLEY, MALVO DEFENSE ATTORNEY: This case is so bizarre in its facts, and the degree of indoctrination is so significant in this case, that we would be remiss in our responsibilities if we failed to put that issue forward for a jury to make a determination of.

ROBERT HORAN, COMMONWEALTH ATTORNEY: I've received the mental health report of the expert who has examined him supposedly 15 times in the last five months. And nowhere in that report is there any suggestion of insanity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOCH: Now what this means is that there will likely and longer trial. The prosecution will still have to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Lee Boyd Malvo is guilty. Malvo's attorneys will then try to prove that he is insane.

The possible verdicts in the case would be guilty, guilty of a lesser charge, not guilty, or not guilty by reason of insanity. And if the latter were the final verdict, then Lee Boyd Malvo would be taken to a mental health institution in the state, evaluated and held there until doctors and the courts determine determined he was no longer a threat to himself or the community -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, CNN's Kathleen Koch at the courthouse in Virginia, thanks very much.

We're tracking developments in Eagle, Colorado. Kobe Bryant's preliminary hearing now under way. More details of the night that changed his life and the accuser forever.

And one of the newer drugs used to fight breast cancer shows tremendous results for patients. We'll have the details.

And later, a slip that led to disaster. Siegfried's explanation of why a tiger attacked. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Virginia police say quick thinking by the wife of a United States senator, Judd Gregg, may have saved her life when she was abducted at knifepoint this week. Kathleen Gregg managed to escape after withdrawing money from a bank in Fairfax County, Virginia as demanded by her captors. Two suspects now under arrest. CNN's Patty Davis is over at the Fairfax County Police headquarters. She has more now on Mrs. Gregg's terrifying ordeal -- Patty.

PATTY DAVIS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, Mrs. Gregg says she was running errands and came home. And when she was confronted by two men in her home, she says ran for the door but didn't make it before they grabbed her. She will likely she these two men next in court.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVIS (voice-over): New Jersey police spotted this stolen Chevy Monte Carlo around 10:00 Wednesday night. Arrested after a chase 31-year-old Christopher Ford, after he tried to run over a police officer and drove into a river.

CHIEF JOHN PIECZYSKI, CARTERET, N.J. POLICE: The suspect vehicle failed to negotiate a turn. Pretty serious accident. I believe he has a broken leg, the suspect.

DAVIS: Also caught, 26-year-old Michael Pierre as he ran from police. Both are suspected of abducting Kathleen Gregg, the wife of New Hampshire Senator Judd Gregg, and forcing her to withdraw money at a McLean, Virginia bank. Fairfax County, Virginia Police say some of Gregg's property was in the suspect's car.

SGT. JEFFREY GOSSATT, FAIRFAX CO. POLICE: Some of the charges are going to be abduction and robbery as well as the burglary and the stolen vehicle.

DAVIS: Gregg says the two men threatened her with a knife in her home and tied her up.

KATHLEEN GREGG: I kept thinking -- well one man was sitting on me. And I kept thinking, I need to get out of this house. I said the only way I can get you money is if we go to the bank because I can get money at the bank.

DAVIS: Gregg says once at the bank, she handed money over to one of the suspects and ran locking herself in a closet. Gregg and her husband appeared with President Bush, a family friend, as he spoke in New Hampshire.

BUSH: Don't mess with Kathy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DAVIS: The two men are being held on $250,000 bail each and the prosecutor in Virginia says that he will seek their extradition here to Fairfax County -- Wolf.

BLITZER: A very courageous woman indeed. Thanks very much, Patty Davis for that.

And a dramatic development in the fight against breast cancer. I'll speak live with a doctor and a patient who took part in a new study. You will want to see what they found. It could save your life.

And startling comments from the Las Vegas magician Siegfried on the tiger attack that has his partner, Roy, fighting for his life. All that, much more. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: There's very encouraging words -- news today in the battle against breast cancer. A study has found that the new estrogen-suppressing drug FEMARA reduced the recurrence of breast cancer by nearly half. A daily dose of FEMARA was given to older women whose cancer had been spotted early and who had completed five years on another estrogen inhibitor, Tamoxifen.

Because of the surprising results, researchers stopped the patients could start taking the drug. Joining us now with some insight into this important development, two guests, Dr. Kimberly Blackwell of the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center in Durham, North Carolina. And with her, Sally Wilkerson, she's a cancer patient.

First to you, Dr. Blackwell, thanks very much for joining us. How big of a break-through potentially is this?

DR. KIMBERLY BLACKWELL, DUKE COMPREHENSIVE CANCER CENTER: Wolf, I think this is one of the top five big resulting trials that's been available for physicians and their patients probably in the past decade.

When you consider the number of women that take Tamoxifen for the treatment breast cancer, and estimate that's well over 50,000 patients per year will be put on this drug, you have to realize that this trial affects tens of thousands of women. That's one of the reasons it's an important trial.

The other reason it's an important trial is because up until yesterday, we stopped cancer treatment, particularly breast cancer treatment, with five years of Tamoxifen. This trial now says we can do something after five years of Tamoxifen. But as you mentioned, it reduces the risk of cancer coming back by half.

BLITZER: So after they finish the Tamoxifen, they start taking FEMARA. That would really, potentially help these women a great deal.

Sally, you're a breast cancer patient. Talk a little bit about what this means potentially for you.

SALLY WILKERSON, CANCER PATIENT: This is the most exciting news for me. When you're diagnosed with breast cancer, it's so devastating. And you want every option available to you to maximize your survival.

This gives me one more treatment option which is something I did not have yesterday. And when you're diagnosed, you have to keep focusing on the positive, that we never know what tomorrow will bring. It will bring new cures and options better formulated by doctors like Dr. Blackwell. And luckily, tomorrow is today now. And for the tens of thousands of women who are affected by breast cancer as I am, this is just fantastic news.

BLITZER: Well, good luck to you, Sally Wilkerson. Good work, Dr. Blackwell. Good work on your part as well. I know a lot of the women out there and the men who love them will be very interested in this potential break-through in dealing with breast cancer.

BLACKWELL: Great.

And you'll want to hear the surprising assertion from a Las Vegas legend about the tiger attack that almost killed his partner. That story and much more coming up on the sexual assault charges against Kobe Bryant. Dramatic developments unfolding in Eagle, Colorado right now. We'll go there live. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: There is a surprising development in the tiger mauling of Roy Horn. There may be more to the attack than what was played out before a horrified audience last Friday.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Roy Horn, magician, tiger trainer, Las Vegas superstar, maimed by one of his own tigers in front of a live audience. As Horn lies in a Las Vegas hospital still fighting for his life, his long-time partner in showbiz has a startling assertion. In an exclusive interview with CNN's Larry King, Siegfried Fischbacher says this was no mauling.

SIEGFRIED FISCHBACHER, ENTERTAINER: Roy, fall and he want protect. Because that's danger, you know. An animal like this and tripping and he got over there. So he took Roy and put him back stage behind the curtain.

KING: To protect him.

FISCHBACHER: To protect him. And then he let Roy go and he bent back. And Roy said...

KING: What did Roy say?

FISCHBACHER: Roy said, don't harm the tiger.

BLITZER: Fischbacher repeated the claim. This was an accident. Horn actually fell. The tiger was trying to help him and was simply unaware of his own strength.

FISCHBACHER: The tiger goes, when he grabs you, it's the strength. Like it's another tiger. He thinks it's another tiger. Another tiger has skin like this and the fur, it's nothing, you know.

BLITZER: Witnesses in the audience Friday night said it looked like the tiger lashed out against Horn, mauled him, then carried him off stage. One witness said Horn looked like a rag doll in the tiger's mouth.

FISCHBACHER: I say it was an accident. If it would be, the tiger would be out killing Roy, it would be in no time.

BLITZER: The questions seem to outnumber the answers. Was the tiger trying to protect horn? Are Siegfried, Roy and their managers trying to protect the rare endangered tiger from being destroyed?

Another potential problem. CNN has learned the Agriculture Department is investigating the Siegfried and Roy show for possible violations of the Animal Welfare Act. That law says, during a public exhibition, there should be minimal risk to the animal and the public with sufficient distance or barriers between the animal and the audience. During the Siegfried and Roy show, some audience members sit very close to the stage with no barriers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: And our prayers, of course, remain right now with Roy Horn.

We'll return to our top story. Kobe Bryant is in court right now facing sexual assault charges. We'll go there live. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Let's get back to our top story. Kobe Bryant, he's in a courtroom right now hearing the evidence against him presented by the prosecution. Larry Pozner is a criminal defense attorney, he joining us from Denver.

What should we be looking for right now, Larry, in the hours, perhaps the next day to emerge from this preliminary hearing.

POZNER: Two things, Wolf. First is the cross examination of the detective. Hearsay is admissible so the defense will be allowed to ask the detective about other people he's interviewed and other versions of the story the women may have given. The next part is the defense allowed called witnesses, because any witness they call will not be a fishing expedition, it will be a point they want to make with the prosecution. A change of story or something that attacks the credibility of the complaining witness because that's the heart and soul of the prosecution case.

BLITZER: This could go on until tomorrow, you think?

POZNER: This is the kind of judge that likes to get it wrapped up. I think could go very late tonight, but I think we'll have it bound over for trial, but remember, Wolf, it doesn't mean it has to be tried. It just can be tried.

BLITZER: All right. We'll be checking back with you. Larry Pozner, thanks very much.

And stay with CNN for complete coverage. "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com

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