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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

Florida Shark Attacks; Supreme Court Ends Session; BTK Killer Gives Details; Iraq Situation Discussed

Aired June 27, 2005 - 17:00   ET

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

BLITZER: Happening now: talking with the insurgents in Iraq. The Pentagon says that's OK, but only down the road. Still, would that be the same as negotiating with terrorists? Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER (voice-over): Church and state. Who can display the Ten Commandments and where? An issue dividing the nation, a decision by a divided Supreme Court.

Courtroom confession. Blood-chilling drama as a serial killer speaks.

DENNIS RADER, CONFESSED BTK KILLER: I started strangling, using the rope (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and he jumped up real quick like, and I pulled my gun and quickly shot him, hit him in the head.

BLITZER: Shark scare. Is it safe to go back in the water?

TIM DICUS, SHARK ATTACK WITNESS: I just swam into the blood pool and grabbed the girl and tried to pull her up on the board.

BLITZER: The beach patrol is beefed up after a fatal shark attack.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Monday, June 27, 2005.

BLITZER: Thanks very much for joining us.

A flurry of key decisions, but no retirements announced as the U.S. Supreme Court ended its term today. The justices went out with some weighty rulings, including two on the hot-button issue of the separation of church and state.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): A pair of cases asked, can the Ten Commandments be displayed on public property? The Supreme Court answer: That depends.

In a 5-4 ruling, the justices said a six-foot granite monument on the grounds of the Texas State Capitol is a permissible display of the Ten Commandments. But in another 5-4 ruling, they decreed that framed copies of the commandments inside two Kentucky courthouses crossed the line separating church and state.

With the different rulings, the justices said, in effect, that such displays must be considered on a case-by-case basis, take into account the context and intent of the display. As Chief Justice William Rehnquist conceded in one of the rulings, there is no exact formula.

People on both sides of the issue found reason to celebrate.

REV. ROB SCHENCK, NATIONAL CLERGY COUNCIL: This is a victory for our acknowledgement of God, for religious liberty, and for our Judeo- Christian heritage.

RABBI DAVID SAPERSTEIN, ACTION CENTER OF REFORM JUDAISM: The bottom line is that separation of church and state that says that the government cannot endorse or oppose religious messages is held intact.

BLITZER: In another closely-watched case, the high court declined to hear an appeal from two journalists facing jail time for refusing to reveal their sources. Matthew Cooper of "Time" magazine and Judith Miller of the "New York Times" have been held in contempt of court for refusing to tell a grand jury who leaked the name of a CIA operative to them. Each faces up to 18 months in jail.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: The court also weighed in on Internet file-sharing. The justices unanimously overturned a lower court ruling and cleared the way for entertainment companies to sue Internet services that let users share and trade copyrighted material. A music industry filing in the case estimates as much as 90 percent of songs and movies swapped online were downloaded illegally.

And another Web-related ruling. In a 6-3 vote, the Supreme Court said cable companies do not have to share their high-speed Internet lines with competitors. A lower court had ruled the cable industry was subject to telecommunications laws that require phone companies to share network access with rivals. But the justices backed a 2002 FCC decision which said broadband was an information service exempt from phone company rules.

Let's get some analysis now on what the Supreme Court did today, what it didn't do. Our senior legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, joining us.

On the Ten Commandments, sort of a split decision there, something to make everyone happy or sad.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: You know, there was only one justice who was in the majority in both cases. And that was Stephen Breyer, who's not usually the swing vote on the court.

But basically the gist seems to be is that if the purpose of the posting of the Ten Commandments is clearly religious in nature, that's unacceptable. That's the gist of David Souter's majority opinion in the Kentucky case.

And the chief justice opinions in the Texas case seemed to say, well, you know, the monument in Texas, it was -- it's been up for a long time, hasn't bothered people much. It doesn't have an explicitly religious purpose. That's going to be OK.

BLITZER: It's interesting, Stephen Breyer named to the Supreme Court by none other than Bill Clinton and he turned out to be the swing vote.

TOOBIN: Very surprising. It's usually Sandra Day O'Connor, but she was with the liberals in both cases. Justice Breyer is the person who went over, I think, surprising people in the Texas case, saying, "The way I look at it, this is not an endorsement of religion."

BLITZER: All right, bad news -- I assume bad news for Matt Cooper of "Time" magazine, Judith Miller of the "New York Times," the Supreme Court refusing to hear their appeal.

TOOBIN: Terrible news. They really are out of legal options except some sort of negotiated settlement with the prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald, in that case. If things stand the way they are, they're just going to jail.

BLITZER: I've heard a lot of experts, though, media experts say maybe bad news for these two reporters, but potentially good news for the news media because the Supreme Court could have come down with a decision which would have hammered us and our confidentiality stipulations.

TOOBIN: Well, you know, I was, frankly, surprised that they didn't take the case for just that reason. You know, this has been one area of the law that's been very murky for a long time.

The last time the Supreme Court dealt with whether the issue of whether journalists can be subpoenaed was the early '70s. And they didn't deal with it definitively at that point. But now it's status quo, the murky status quo for most journalists, but for Cooper and Miller, it's just all bad news.

BLITZER: It depends on Congress now, perhaps if Congress is going to pass legislation which would give this privilege to the news media to protect sources.

TOOBIN: They certainly could do that. But given the fact that the press is not especially popular with the Republicans who run the House and the Senate, I think that's a pretty forlorn hope for most journalists.

BLITZER: Were you surprised? And you were there all day, Jeff. Were you surprised we didn't get a resignation from Chief Justice Rehnquist and Sandra Day O'Connor?

TOOBIN: You know, I was surprised. I have seen the chief since he's been back from his cancer treatment. He looked, frankly, terrible today. He was very sick. It was very hard to understand him. His voice was amplified. It was just hard to hear him.

He's obviously a very sick man. He didn't resign. He actually obviously was of sound mind. He ran the court the way he always does, but he didn't go anywhere today. He could resign tomorrow. He could resign not at all. We just don't know.

BLITZER: What's the normal way that a chief justice, not an associate justice, a chief justice would resign?

TOOBIN: It varies by chief. Warren Berger, the last chief justice to resign, gave President Reagan about a month's notice. Other justices don't give any notice at all, sometimes not even a phone call.

Byron White resigned -- he was an associate justice -- with a letter to President Bill Clinton the morning that he resigned. There is no rule for most justices. Some take it on themselves. Some inform the president. Some do it in the spring. Some do it in the fall. We just don't know.

BLITZER: Jeffrey Toobin, thanks very much.

A surprise development today in Wichita, Kansas, in a courtroom there. On what was supposed to have been the first day of his trial, the man accused of being the BTK killer entered a plea and gave a chillingly explicit statement. Our report includes some tape of that statement that many viewers may find disturbing.

CNN's Jonathan Freed reports from Wichita.

JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, it was just after 9:00 a.m. Central Time here in Wichita, Kansas, in a courtroom just upstairs here at the Sedgwick County Courthouse that Dennis Rader ended the questions and the speculation and announced that he was guilty of all ten counts of first-degree murder, those charges that had been laid against him several months ago, murders committed between 1947 and 1991, all attributed to the infamous BTK strangler, the man who terrorized this community here in Wichita for three decades.

Now, after that was done, after those guilty police were entered, the judge in the case wanted to make sure, wanted to satisfy himself that Dennis Rader was the one who committed the acts. Now, let's listen in to some of that exchange, and a lot of the testimony in that courtroom was quite graphic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DENNIS RADER, CONFESSED BTK KILLER: I didn't have a mask on or anything that would I.D. me. And I made a decision to go ahead and put them down, I guess, or strangle them.

JUDGE GREGORY WALLER, SEDGWICK COUNTRY DISTRICT COURT JUDGE: All right. What did you do to Joseph Otero?

RADER: Justice Otero? WALLER: Mr. Otero, Senior, Mr. Otero, the father.

RADER: I put a plastic bag over his head, and then some cords, then tightened it.

WALLER: This was in the bedroom?

RADER: Yes, sir.

WALLER: Did he, in fact, suffocate and die as a result of this?

RADER: Not right away. No, sir, he didn't.

WALLER: What happened?

RADER: Well, after that, I did Mrs. Otero. I had never strangled anyone before, so I really didn't know how much pressure you had to put on a person or how long it would take but...

WALLER: Was she also tied up there in the...

RADER: Yes, yes. Both their hands and feet were tied up. She was on the bed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREED: At the end of back and forth, the judge was satisfied, and he set a date for sentencing. And that is going to be the 17th of August.

Wolf, back to you.

BLITZER: Jonathan Freed reporting from Wichita. Jonathan, thank you very much.

The murderer among us. We'll have more chilling testimony from Dennis Rader as he describes in detail how he killed ten people. We'll hear his confessions in-depth this hour.

Talking to the enemy. Is the U.S. negotiating directly with Iraqi insurgents in an effort to bring them into the political process?

Plus this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERICH RITTER, SHARK RESEARCH INSTITUTE: ... several times, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) identified at least five full bites and several partial bites.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Two days after a shark attack killed a 14-year-old girl, another teenager is bitten while swimming in the Gulf of Mexico. Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: It's been a year since the handover of sovereignty in Iraq, and the insurgency rages on. A car bomb in Baghdad killed at least four people today. The U.S. soldier was shot and killed in the capital, and two more Americans died when their Apache helicopter went down northwest of Baghdad. One witness says it was hit by a rocket.

The Iraqi prime minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, today said his government could establish security within two years. This comes a day after Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said it could take as long as a dozen years to defeat the insurgents. But even now, U.S. officials are exploring contacts and conversations with those same insurgents.

Let's go live to our senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre -- Jamie?

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the Pentagon today denied that the U.S. military is in direct talks with the very same insurgents who are inflicting daily casualties on American and Iraqi forces in Iraq. However, it didn't rule out such contacts in the future.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MCINTYRE (voice-over): Despite weekend comments that seemed to confirm the U.S. military had held face-to-face talks with insurgent leaders in Iraq, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld now says the characterization of the meetings is overblown.

DONALD RUMSFELD, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: There are meetings going on all of the time between people in Iraq and other people in Iraq attempting to get them to be supportive of the government which is, obviously, the logical thing one does in a political process.

QUESTION: Point of clarification...

RUMSFELD: No, and certainly not with people like Zarqawi. I mean, that's just someone's imagination running wild.

MCINTYRE: The top U.S. commander in Iraq insists most meetings are low-level affairs between U.S. officers and local Iraqi or tribal leaders. But some are with senior Sunni leaders, who, while not sympathetic to the U.S., are not believed to be directly behind attacks.

GEN. GEORGE CASEY, IRAQ MULTI-NATIONAL FORCE: There are discussions, and there are discussions primarily aimed at bringing these Sunni leaders and the people they represent into the political process. But to characterize them as negotiations with insurgents about stopping the insurgency, we're not quite there yet.

MCINTYRE: But neither Rumsfeld nor Casey would rule out dealing directly with insurgent leaders in the future, and the marine officer who's written a book on insurgencies thinks it's worth doing. COL. T.X. HAMMES, AUTHOR, "SLING AND THE STONE": If we can separate out those support elements from these people by talking to them. It's a positive thing. Keep in mind, it's a political struggle, not a military struggle, so use your political skills to get there.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCINTYRE: Rumsfeld also clarified his weekend statement that the insurgency could take as many as a dozen years to be defeated, saying that he believed that Iraq's government and economy could flourish, even while it was dealing with a low-level insurgency. And he said he deeply believes that the Iraqis will eventually defeat the insurgents -- Wolf?

BLITZER: All right, Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon, thanks very much.

President Bush today played host to a strong critic of the U.S.- led invasion of Iraq. But German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has said his nation was there, quote, "right from the start when it came time to help with Iraqi debt relief and training Iraqi forces."

Reacting to the election of a hardliner as president of Iran, two leaders agreed they should work with Britain and France to let Iran know that the development of a nuclear weapon is, quote, "unacceptable."

U.S. officials are sharply critical of the Iranian election, but is there room for a dialogue with Tehran? And a year after the handover of sovereignty in Iraq, should there be a dialogue with the insurgents?

Joining us now, our world affairs analyst, the former defense secretary William Cohen. He's the chairman and CEO of the Cohen Group here in Washington.

Let's talk about the insurgents first. A dialogue with the insurgents, is that appropriate?

WILLIAM COHEN, FORMER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: I think it's a positive thing. And I, frankly, think it's a positive thing that the Defense Department is making this very clear that this will continue at low levels to be sure, but maybe even higher levels.

They will not make the same mistake that was made back during the Iran-Contra controversy, where the official statement coming out of the administration at that time, "We will never talk or trade arms for hostages." In fact, those talks were going on. And it nearly caused the collapse of the Ronald Reagan administration.

President Bush and his team now are saying -- and they are admitting -- that they have been conducting these discussions. I think that's good. And I think it's a positive development and one that hopefully will bring elements of the Sunni insurgency into the political process. The military leaders have always said there's not a military solution here. It's a political solution, to the extent that they're continuing military operations combined with a political attempt to bring many of these insurgents, not the Zarqawis and the others, but many of those who might be supportive of the insurgency into the political process, a positive thing.

BLITZER: Well, what about the critics who will say this is negotiating with terrorists?

COHEN: I don't think it's negotiating with them. They've always -- the administration has said they want to see a political solution here. It's the only solution.

The military cannot end up staying there forever trying to defeat an insurgency as long as it appears that we are an occupying force. This is something that would cause many who are not Zarqawi supporters, many who are not Saddam loyalists, but many who might see us as occupiers and many who might be resisting because as many as 100,000 people may have been innocently killed throughout this. We don't know the numbers. They might be joining in the resistance simply out of revenge.

So there are a lot of different elements involved. Negotiating with Zarqawi is out. Negotiating with any kind of foreign jihadist is out. But there maybe other opportunities to separate those, quote, "foreign jihadists" and the hardliners out away from the Sunnis, who then need to be brought in the political process.

BLITZER: And we keep hearing Rumsfeld and others say the U.S. military can't defeat the insurgents. It's really, when all is said and done, up to the Iraqis themselves to do so.

COHEN: Unless we have the Iraqis supporting the Iraqi government, then a war will continue to rage for many years to come. And so the goal is to get the insurgents or elements of the insurgents into the political process, then empower the Iraqi government, a new constitution, another election, train up their police forces, train up their military so they can contend with any kind of insurgency at that point over one year, two years or even 12 years, as Secretary Rumsfeld was speculating, that it would be up to the Iraqi government then to crush the insurgency.

BLITZER: There's a new president of Iran. He's widely seen as a hard-liner. Rafsanjani lost. He was the so-called relatively moderate. What should the U.S. posture be now in dealing with this new Iranian government?

COHEN: Let's wait and see what the deeds are as opposed to the rhetoric. He's campaigned on a very hard line, some of it anti- Western, anti-United States. But he really was elected based upon local issues.

I recall the President Clinton campaign against President Bush 41 because he said President Bush 41 was too consumed with foreign policy. It was the economy, stupid. In Iran, you have anywhere from 16 to 30 percent unemployment. He was talking economic issues and talking to a lot of poor people.

So that, I think, accounted for his election more than his foreign policy, to the extent that he has a foreign policy, but to the extent of a social conservative policy. So let's wait and see whether or not his more moderate tone articulated on Sunday that he's willing to work with those countries who don't treat Iran as an enemy can prove out.

Secondly, let's harden up our position with the Europeans and make sure that they're on the same note that we are, that we are not going to contribute in any way to allowing Iran to develop a nuclear weapon capability. So I think it will have some clarity, in terms of our dealings with Iran. It'll certainly have some clarity, in terms of our dealing with the Europeans, who also understand Iran should not be encouraged or in any way aided in developing a nuclear capability.

BLITZER: William Cohen, as always, thanks very much.

COHEN: My pleasure, Wolf.

BLITZER: The Iraqi special tribunal investigating the regime of Saddam Hussein said today it's been questioning his former aides. The tribunal released videotape of former Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz who was number 25 on the U.S. list of most-wanted Iraqis.

And the man name known as "Chemical Ali" was also brought back to the court. Ali Hassan al-Majid was number five on the U.S. list.

The U.S. military said today it will expand its prisons across Iraq to hold up to 16,000 detainees. The spokesman said there are now some 10,000 detainees spread among three major facilities.

Just days after a teenage girl was fatally bitten by a shark, a second attack has occurred in the waters off the Florida panhandle. New details on both incidents. That's coming up next.

Also ahead...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RADER: I manually strangled her and she started to scream.

WALLER: You used your hands?

RADER: Yes, sir.

WALLER: When you strangled her, did she die?

RADER: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Serial killer confessions. Dennis Rader calmly describing his gruesome crimes in court. We'll have extended excerpts.

And later, pain at the pump. Why gas prices in your area could soon top $3 a gallon. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: In Florida, back-to-back shark attacks. Another teen has become a victim in the gulf of Mexico.

Today's attack happened today -- happened at Cape San Blas less than 100 miles from Saturday's fatal shark attack. The latest victim is in stable condition. This news from the Florida panhandle may cause some beachgoers to think twice before hitting the water, but how widespread are these attacks and what can you do to protect yourself?

Our Brian Todd is here. He's got some perspective -- Brian?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, experts admit the temptation right now is to think we've got a new infestation of sharks off the west coast of Florida, especially with the reports we've seen from one stretch of coastline over the past couple of days.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (voice-over): On the Florida panhandle, two beach towns reel from what one official calls a fair amount of shock, after two shark attacks in three days. Today at Cape San Blas, a teenage boy is badly injured, reportedly while fishing off a sandbar.

A short time later, 95 miles to the northwest, officials give more detail of the attack that killed 14-year-old Jamie Daigle on Saturday off Miramar Beach.

RITTER: ... was bitten several times. She had about (UNINTELLIGIBLE) at least five full bites and several partial bites. Her left side was completely mutilated. And she had (UNINTELLIGIBLE) bruises and abrasions (UNINTELLIGIBLE) slight bite mark in her stomach area.

QUESTION: What kind of a shark was it?

RITTER: It was a bull shark, six feet long.

TODD: That news from the expert who was, himself, once bitten by an adult bull shark, one of the most aggressive members of the species.

GEORGE BURGESS, DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL SHARK ATTACK FILE: They literally are bullish. And part of the story here was that there was a series of repeat attacks by the shark.

TODD: Attacks not only on the victim, but on the surfer who tried to rescue her.

DICUS: He continued the attacks all of the way to the beach.

TODD: But while experts look for more answers on these incidents, they're also lending some valuable perspective. Officials in Walton County, Florida, where Jamie Daigle was killed, tell CNN they've never before recorded a shark attack ever.

Shark researchers say there were 12 unprovoked attacks in Florida waters last year, the most of any state, and seven so far this year. They define "provoked attacks" as those where the victim attracts the shark's attention by fishing, diving or similar activity.

Before Jamie Daigle's unprovoked attack, the state hadn't had a fatality since 2001. And officials at the international shark attack file offer some critical advice on how not to provoke these creatures.

Don't go too far offshore. Avoid sandbars where the two recent attacks took place and shark drop-offs. Stay away from schools of bait-fish where you might observe water displacement or diving birds.

BURGESS: Those fishes make a living on the edges of sandbars and inlets and things like that. And when you see you have schooling fishes, you're going to have bigger fishes eating those fishes.

TODD: While you're staying away from schools of fish, experts say, also avoid people trying to catch them. Don't wear shiny jewelry or contrasting colors in the water. And stay in groups, since sharks are more likely to attack an individual like a surfer who they might think is either a large fish or something competing with them to get a fish.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: Experts also point out it's best to stay near a shore point where you can get help quickly. But Erich Ritter of the Shark Research Institute said today he did not think a lifeguard could have gotten to Jamie Daigle in time to save her -- Wolf?

BLITZER: All right, Brian Todd, good, useful information, especially as the summer season gets underway. Thanks very much, Brian.

Ten pleas of guilty and chilling details from Dennis Rader on how he tortured and killed his victims. We'll have the dramatic testimony. That's coming up.

Murderers among us. What motivates a man to become a serial killer? I'll speak live with an author who studied several cases.

Western wildfires. Firefighters battling flames in several states. We'll update you on their progress. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back.

Chilling details from the BTK serial killer Dennis Rader, as he calmly describes how he killed ten people. We'll hear his detailed confessions. That's coming up.

First, though, a quick check of some other stories "Now in the News." In Aruba, another man detained in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway has been released. Disk jockey Steve Croes was freed hours ago, a day after Aruban Judge Paul van der Sloot was released. A judge had ruled there was a lack of evidence against them. Van der Sloot's son and two others are still being held. Holloway disappeared May 30th.

Firefighters in Utah are battling a blaze that threatens the community of New Harmony. The fire is about 30 percent contained. Meantime, crews say they're making good progress on a separate blaze near St. George, which has consumed almost 70,000 acres. These are among 19 fires burning in seven western states.

You could check out CNN's most popular video of the day, at CNN.com. Just click on the video link at our Web site, watch it as many times as you want, whenever you want. It's a whole new way to experience the power of CNN video and it's free.

As we reported, the man accused of being the BTK murder admitted his guilt, today in Wichita, Kansas. After entering his guilty plea, 60-year-old Dennis Rader talked about his crimes in a chillingly matter-of-fact tone.

Once again, we want to warn you that the statement is shocking and explicit and many viewers may find it very disturbing. We're going to show you part of the statement, right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DENNIS RADER, CONFESSED BTK KILLER: First of all: Mr. Otero was strangled or a bag put over his and strangled. Then, I thought he was going down and I went over and strangled Mrs. Otero and I thought she was down. Then, I strangled Josephine and she was down and then I went over to Junior and put the bag on his head.

After that, Mrs. Otero woke back up and you know, she was pretty upset at what's going on, so I came back and at that point in time, strangled her for the death strangle, at that time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With your hands, or what?

RADER: No, with a cord -- with a rope and then I think, at that point in time, I redid Mr. Otero; put the bag over his head. Went over and then took Junior -- before that, she asked me to save her son. So, I actually had taken the bag off and then, I was really upset, at that point in time.

So, basically, when Mr. Otero was down, Mrs. Otero was down, I went ahead and took Junior, I put another bag over his head and took him to the other bedroom, at that time.

What did you do then? put a bag over his head and put a cloth and T-shirt over the bag so he couldn't tear a hole in it and he subsequently died from that. Then I went back and Josephine woke back up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What did you do then?

RADER: Put a bag over his head, put a cloth over his head; a T- shirt and bag so he couldn't tear a hole in it and he essentially died from that.

And then when I went back, Josephine had woke back up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What did you do then?

RADER: I took her to the basement and eventually hung her.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. You hung her in the basement?

RADER: Yes, sir.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. Did you do anything else, at that time?

RADER: Yes. I had some sexual fantasies but that was after she was hung.

We went back to the -- her bedroom and I proceeded to tie the kids up and I started crying and I got real upset, so I said, "Oh, this is not going to work." So, we moved them to the bathroom. She helped me and then I tied the door shut.

We put some toys and blankets and odds-and-ends in there for the kids, make them as comfortable as we could. I tied the -- we tied one of the bathroom doors shut, so they couldn't open it and we shoved -- she went back helped me shove the bed up against the bathroom other bathroom door. And then I proceeded to tie her up. She got sick, threw up. I got her a glass of water, comforted her a little bit and then, I went ahead and tied her up and then put a blag -- bag over her head and strangled her.

At first, she was spotted and then I did a little homework; I dropped by once to check the mailbox, to see what her name was, found out where she worked and stopped by there once in Hillsberg (ph). And kind of sized her up.

The more I knew about a person, the more I felt comfortable with it.

Knocked at the door first to make sure -- see if anybody was in there, because I knew she arrived home at a particular time from where she worked. Nobody answered the door, so I went around the back of the house, cut the phone lines. I could tell that there wasn't anybody in the north apartment; broke in and waited for her to come home, in the kitchen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. Did she come home?

RADER: Yes, she did.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happened?

RADER: I confronted her, told her that I was a -- had a problem, sexual problem, that I would have to tie her up and have sex with her.

I handcuffed her, had her lay on the bed and then, I tied her feet and then, I was also undressed to a certain degree and then, I got on top of her and I reached over, took -- either her feet were tied or not tied. I think I had a belt. I took the belt and then, strangled her with a belt, at that time.

I went ahead and stripped her and probably went ahead and -- I'm not sure if I tied her up at that point in time. Anyway, she was nude and I put her on a blanket and went through her purse, some personal items in the house, figured out how I was going to get her out of there.

Eventually, moved her to the trunk of the car, took the car over to Christ Lutheran Church, this was with the older church and I took some pictures of her. That was it.

I tied -- she was already dead, so I took pictures of her in different forms of bondage and that's probably what got me in trouble, was the bondage thing.

I told her I was going to have to tie her up. She was very upset and I think we -- I used some material that was in -- and that's another thing: I'm not sure, but I think I used material that they had in their bedroom and after I tied her hands, she broke that and we started fighting and we fought quite a bit back and forth.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. She was physically fighting you.

RADER: Oh yes. Yes, sir.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happened then?

RADER: Finally got the hand on her and got a nylon sock and started strangling her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Chilling confessions from the BTK serial killer, Dennis Rader. We'll have more on what motivates people like this to kill repeatedly.

Coming up, I'll speak with a professor and author who studied several serial killer cases; we'll try to get some explanation. What happens here?

Also: Oil prices on the rise; closing at its highest level ever, today -- what it means for gasoline prices and your wallet.

Our Mary Snow is on the story.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: More now on the BTK serial murder case. Just before the break, we heard part of the chilling confession of Dennis Rader, who admitted his guilt in court today. David Buss is a psychology professor at the University of Texas. He's author of the important book about killers and their murders, entitled "The Murderer Next Door." David Buss is joining us now live from Austin. Professor, thanks very much for joining us.

He literally seems like the murderer next door. Had a job, a family, active in the church, Boy Scouts. What happens in a case like this?

PROF. DAVID BUSS, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS: Yes. Well, in the case of the BTK killer, he's a psychopath. Psychopaths are characterized by a lack of empathy, lack of guilt, lack of conscience, and they're often motivated by two key things -- serial killers are. One is status. They're people who feel like they deserve to be recognized, they deserve a high status, they deserve respect, and they're not getting the respect they deserve. Sometimes they kill to seek vengeance for status denied.

The other key aspect of most serial killers -- and these are mostly men, of course -- is a sexual motivation. Serial killers are motivated to gain sexual access to women that they normally cannot gain access to, and both of those themes were very prevalent in the BTK case.

Similar cases are like Ted Bundy. Looked like an average guy next door, likable guy. Some described him as charming. Also motivated by status and by sex.

BLITZER: I was shocked at how calmly and matter-of-factly he spoke, and confessed, and described in all these gruesome details what he did. Were you surprised by that today?

BUSS: I wasn't, because psychopaths -- and unfortunately, psychopaths constitute roughly 4 percent of the male population -- psychopaths don't feel any empathy. They don't feel any empathy or sympathy for the feelings of their victims.

And so it's clear, I think, in the BTK case that he had -- he had no remorse. He was able to plan the kills -- these were premeditated kills -- carry out the kills, and then go about his life as though nothing happened.

BLITZER: When you say, when you say 4 percent of the men out there are psychopaths...

BUSS: Yes.

BLITZER: ... you don't mean they're potentially serial killers?

BUSS: Well, they're potentially serial killers. Fortunately, most don't turn into serial killers, but 4 percent of the male population has that cluster of psychological characteristics.

BLITZER: Is this a biological fact, or something that happens, something that triggers this? Or is this something that you develop from society? BUSS: Well, there's pretty good evidence that there is a biological component to hard-core psychopathy. There have been behavioral genetic studies involving identical twins and fraternal twins -- that is non-identical twins -- and identical twins show much higher similarity on these characteristics than fraternal twins, or non-identical twins.

So, yes, there's a biological component.

With psychopaths, also, in studies where they measure autonomic reactivity to stressful events or distressing events, they show basically flat affect, flat emotion. So they don't get upset or distressed by the things that most of us normal people get distressed by.

BLITZER: I know in your book you point out that most of these serial killers are men, as opposed to women. Why is that?

BUSS: Yes. Partly because of those underlying motivations that I mentioned, status and sex. Basically, from an evolutionary perspective, men are highly motivated to attain positions of status and to obtain sexual access to women. Women have much less of a difficulty obtaining those things, and they're less important motivations for women. And so evolution has built into men very powerful motivations to get ahead in the world and to gain sexual access.

BLITZER: Is there a cure? Can you deal with these people? Can you make them normal?

BUSS: Unfortunately, there are no known effective cures for psychopathy. They just simply don't work. Psychopaths are sometimes able to manipulate therapists into believing that they are cured, but there are no known cures for psychopaths. Cases like this, basically they need to be caught, locked up, and put away.

BLITZER: Professor David Buss is the author of "The Murderer Next Door." He teaches at the University of Texas. Thanks very much for joining us.

BUSS: Thank you. Glad to be here.

BLITZER: The temperature is not the only thing rising. Prices at the pump are once again soaring. Could they soon top $3 a gallon? Our Mary Snow has details on what you could face next time you fill up. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: NASA has failed to meet the toughest safety recommendations put in place after the Columbia disaster. This is just coming in to CNN. That conclusion coming from a special task force overseeing the space agency's efforts to resume shuttle flights. The panel notes that despite intensive work and a lot of progress over the past two-and-a-half years, NASA has not been able to rule out the chance that pieces of foam and ice could break off the external fuel tank and strike the shuttle at liftoff. More bad news for NASA.

The price of crude oil futures hit another new high today, $60.54 a barrel. It's the third straight session ending in record territory, and it's a sure sign the price of gas isn't coming down any time soon. Likely to go up.

CNN's Mary Snow is joining us now live from New York with more on this story -- Mary.

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, we're filling up our crew car. We have about 15 gallons to fill here at this Manhattan station. We're using regular, the cheapest kind, $2.43 a gallon, and you know, gas prices have been going down for about two months. Drivers here like drivers across America are finding that gasoline prices are creeping towards new record highs.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW (voice-over): Amir Hashimi (ph) says these days he avoids driving when he can, takes the subway, and cuts back on his food bills, all to keep his gas tank full.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm losing money every day -- I'm losing about $30 every day to gasoline.

SNOW: At this gas station in New York, prices are reaching as high as $2.63 a gallon. Across the country, the average price of self-serve regular is $2.21 a gallon, and the Lundberg Survey found the cheapest gas in Charleston, at $2.04, with the highest average in Honolulu, at $2.46 a gallon.

Experts like oil tycoon Boone Pickens see gas prices going one way -- up.

BOONE PICKENS, BP CAPITAL MANAGEMENT: You have gasoline in Europe at $5, and in the United States at $2.20. Eventually, well, it's going to have to move up. Now, I do think you're going to see gasoline prices move up to $3 within a year from now.

SNOW: The question is, will prices ease and how?

ERIC BOLLING, INDEPENDENT NYMEX TRADER: At a certain price, Americans say OK, I'm not going to drive anymore, or this is getting too expensive to heat my home this way; I may have to switch to another fuel.

When that does happen, then demand will curtail and prices will retreat.

SNOW: But energy analysts don't see that happening any time soon. They say demand is only growing, and they point to oil. Crude oil hit another record high, topping $60 a barrel. Adding to worries, oil traders are concerned that Iran's election of a hard-line government may result in tightened oil supplies.

PHIL FLYNN, ALARON TRADING: This market has been like a firecracker out on the sun. It's just been waiting to explode, and this Iranian issue was an issue that made it blow through that area today.

SNOW: Some experts believe oil could hit $100 a barrel. Until then, drivers like Leroy Frazier (ph) are having to pump and bear it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To fill my tank up, it costs me $47, $48. You know, on a fixed income, that hurts. That totally hurts.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW: As you can see, we're just finishing up here. $42.60 to fill up this tank, and with the driving season for the summer just getting under way, expert expect the gasoline prices will only go higher -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Not cheap at all. Thanks very much, Mary Snow in New York.

When we come back, anti-pullout protests. Thousands stopping traffic during rush hour in Israel today to show their disapproval of a planned withdrawal. We'll get to that.

First, though, as part of CNN's 25th anniversary series, "Then & Now," CNN's Anderson Cooper has the story of a young woman attacked by a mountain lion in California.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Her name isn't familiar, but her story is unforgettable. Twenty-seven-year-old Shannon Parker was hiking with some friends last summer in California's Sequoia National Park, when she was attacked by a mountain lion.

SHANNON PARKER: I remember making eye contact with him. He lunged at me, and he pounced, and he walked onto the right side of my face.

COOPER: Moments of terror that stretched on for more than 10 minutes. Even though her friends threw rocks and tried stabbing the big cat, the animal would not give up. But neither would Parker.

PARKER: We fought. I actually ended up falling down the hill, down the mountainside, and it was just survival and survival of the fittest.

COOPER: Parker suffered deep lacerations to her legs and her face.

PARKER: This is where one of the cat's fangs went in, through this top part of my eye, through my eyeball. And then the other two went in here and completely pulled out my tear duct.

COOPER: After multiple reconstructive surgeries and a prosthetic eye implant, Parker says she's recuperating, physically and emotionally. She's living with her parents near Bakersfield, California, and begun writing a book and paying off a $40,000 medical bill -- $100 a month. Parker says she wants to raise awareness about the dangers of mountain lions once she finishes her book.

PARKER: I take it one day at a time. It hasn't been the easiest thing to overcome, but each day it gets better.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: And we're getting this story just in to CNN. A grand jury in Manhattan has indicted two U.S. citizens for allegedly conspiring to provide material support for al Qaeda. A physician, Rafiq Sabir, and a jazz musician, Tarik Shah, were named in the indictment handed down today. They allegedly engaged in meetings and conversations with a confidential source, and an undercover FBI agent acting as an al Qaeda recruiter.

Defense attorneys deny the charges. The two men are scheduled to be arraigned tomorrow in New York City.

Let's take a quick look at some other news making headlines around the world.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Citing the lack of evidence, a judge in Kenya acquitted three men accused of conspiracy in connection with the bombing of an Israeli-owned hotel three years ago. Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network has claimed responsibility for the attack, which killed 15 people.

Pullout protests. Tens of thousands of Israelis stage protests along major highways, showing their opposition to the government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. They're angry about plans to withdraw Israeli settlers from Gaza and parts of the West Bank, starting in mid-August.

India floods. Monsoon rains and melted snow from the Himalayas caused a river in northern India to overflow, washing away roads, bridges and homes. More than 5,000 people took shelter in schools and other government buildings, and large areas have been cut off.

And that's our look around the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And that's it for me. "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now, Lou standing by in New York -- Lou.

LOU DOBBS, HOST, "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT": Thank you, Wolf.

END

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