Off to an inequitable start, probably will continue throughout the day...

... CNN 'intends' to have their way with converting "NewsNight with Aaron Brown" into a West Coast recruitment tool. Kick dirt in Aaron's face for the day and get it over with so we can be sure to let viewers know they WILL like the program we have designed our way ! The advertisement this morning stated "NewsNight with Anderson Cooper at 10 PM." Interesting, huh? Freudian slip? I don't think so.

I am not alone in my objection of the over explosure of 'jazz' related youth oriented, shifts in news anchors along with the inability to deliver the 'heart' of any news item as is Aaron Brown's forte'.

"Sure, Anderson Cooper is cute and young, but get a grip, CNN" an article in the San Francisco Chronicle.

The Anderson Cooper cult of personality must end.
That may be difficult, given that he's the Poster Boy Anchor and Future of Broadcast Journalism, so perhaps merely containing him would be a start.
This much is certain: CNN, looking to exploit the post-Katrina face of caring, personal, passionate, youthful, hip, modern and really good looking journalism, has now further marginalized Aaron Brown and nearly ruined Brown's show, "News-Night," by throwing Cooper into the mix.
This isn't really Cooper's fault. Even before he turned Katrina coverage into his own personal mission, he was quickly becoming the It anchor. Speaking truth to power and, at times, crying in the face of heartbreaking human suffering only endeared him to viewers and sped his arrival.

TO PROVE FURTHER the lack of sophistication CNN deals their viewership, there was an interview by Soledad O'Brien of Louie Freeh, the former FBI director. In her pre-interview lead in she stated there was a great deal in the 911 Commission criticizing Mr. Freeh in regard to intelligence gathering during his directorship. However; and much to Mr. Freeh's shagrin whom according to him was compelled to write a book in defense of the 'blaming' that has gone on in other books; Soledad then went on to focus on Bill Clinton and the, in my opinion, misguided impeachment of the former president. Misguided because it grossly failed and there have been no concrete issues surrounding all that except a public relations free for all by the Republicans during every election conceivable. A country mired in two wars, profound debt, homelessness in New Orleans, joblessness across this nation and an administration bent on undermining this country's constitution the ONLY focus of elections revolve around 'past and wrongful' Republican defaming campaigns. At any rate, Mr. Freeh stated "The book is not about former President Clinton." and was acknowledged same by Soledad but she went on and on anyway including baseless accusations by the press that the book is testiment to the 'big bucks' to the Clinton library.

The point is that this clearly demonstrates CNN is not interested in delivering 'the news' so much as sensationalized Repuglican Propaganda with crony commercials and undermining dialogue. I mean what the heck was the point to the interview with Mr. Freeh? If the book is a rebuttal to unfair claims by the 911 Commission then will someone PLEASE bring that up. That is the 'type' of connetion 'the man on the roof on 911' is more than capable of bringing to his viewership. Aaron Brown is so understated in his manner of news delivery focusing on the story that his viewership is taken for granted as passive jerks who have it all wrong and don't enjoy life enough. That was never implied about Cronkite's news broadcast. I am not joking here. Serious people tune into Brown to get to the heart of the Nation's business. I hope I am not wrong in recalling a King interview with Cronkit where at the program transition to NewsNight, Cronkite stated, "Aaron, I watch your news hour all the time." You know if Aaron is going to be kicked around and toyed with like this I wish one of the majors would pick him up. He doesn't deserve this type of frivilous treament and neither does his viewership.

Returning to the issue of Louis Freeh, that is a National Security issue and I am confident the former president would agree. I want to know what the book has to say about the deficits in National Security considering Mr. Freeh is known to be the first one whom ever came out strongly against Osama bin Laden. Having a bad relationship with a president, having an ego driven defense of his directorship stating he will never be replaced and making statements about bin Laden are huge issues. Why was he determined not to be replaced during his directorship? He really screwed up at the FBI in more than one way which one of the most glaring was the McVeigh case nearing the conclusion of that trial prior to his resignation. Evidently, FINALLY.

The CNN network is 'fluffing' their programming with 'jazz' rather than hard hitting information which explains the minimally age discrimination of NewsNight with Aaron Brown.

Who's side are they on anyway?

Their own I suppose and that amounts to 'which ever way the wind blows.'

8:56 am ditto

9:52 am "Brown and Anderson Cooper NewsNight" At least Aaron got abbreviated.

10:48 am "NewsNight at 10 PM with Aaron Brown and Anderson Cooper." Perfect equitable announcement to a still inequitable circumstances in that the 7PM hour is completely dedicated to Anderson Cooper.

12:42 pm "Two ways to see the story" Ad. I think it is a very nice ad. I can't help but feel badly for those folks at 7PM eastern time that will not have that perspective. Then for some odd reason CNN repeats that mistake again at 1AM every morning.

1:00a.m. edt
10:00p.m. pacific
Anderson Cooper 360° (replay): Could one scientist's decades old mission to identify a killer virus, help keep the deadly bird flu from becoming a pandemic?

1:55 pm "Anderson Cooper NewsNight 10 PM" - age elimination.

2:14 pm "Two ways to see the story" ad.

Feds Focus on Taped NOPD Beating; Rains Hamper Pakistan Rescues; Suspected Al Qaeda Letter: Can You Spare 100K?

Aired October 11, 2005 - 22:00 ET

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

AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: And good evening again, everyone. His is the bloody face we see on the sidewalk of New Orleans, but is it also the face of police brutality?

ANNOUNCER: Robert Davis, beaten bloody on the streets of New Orleans speaks out about his ordeal. Tonight, hear from the victim himself, why this man says the police did nothing wrong. A chilling letter from one terrorist to another, al Qaeda's number two man chastises Abu Musab al-Zarqawi for his terror methods. Tonight, is al Qaeda in Iraq in trouble? And Anderson and Oprah take to the streets and reveals the lives of America's poor. Tonight, the ghastly truth about how 37 million Americans are living, the conditions will shock you. Live from the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is NEWSNIGHT WITH AARON BROWN AND ANDERSON COOPER.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening. We've got a lot to cover tonight. Here's what's happening at this moment. False alarm. It turns out the threat of a terrorist attack on New York's subway was just a hoax. Government sources tell CNN the informant in Iraq who said there was a terror plot was lying. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg defended the city's heightened alert, insisting it is better to be safe than sorry. You can see the damage brought by heavy flooding in New Hampshire, but it is much worse than a destroyed road. The flooding has claimed at least three lives. Tonight, four other people are still missing. All the victims were from the town of Alstead. Louisiana's governor says not so fast on casinos in New Orleans. Mayor Ray Nagin says it could help rebuild the city's economy. But today, Governor Kathleen Blanco says she doesn't believe gambling should be the base to bring money and tourists back the city. And President Bush wraps up a two-day trip back to the Gulf Coast. Today he and an army of photographers following him to Mississippi where he greeted children and toured a newly opened school. Earlier in the day he helped at a Habitat for Humanity construction site in New Orleans.

BROWN: That's what's happening at this moment. We begin tonight with pictures of the president sending one kind of message, pictures of Robert Davis clearly sending another. Mr. Davis was beaten by police and beaten badly in New Orleans. By now, you have seen the tape, no doubt. Tonight, you'll get a chance to really look at the tape, the way a jury might, the way investigators already are. There is a difference, and as Rodney King taught us, it is not an unimportant difference. That's coming up tonight. So is what Mr. Davis has to say about the incident. First, though, the federal investigation. Here's CNN's Dan Simon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The highest levels of the FBI have taken an interest in this incident Saturday night on New Orleans' famed Bourbon Street. Sources familiar with the investigation say FBI Director Robert Mueller himself is keeping tabs.That's because two of the officers involved in the violent arrest of Robert Davis are FBI agents, one of them seen here holding Davis's feet. The Justice Department is examining whether the 64-year-old's civil rights were violated.

RAFAEL GOYENECHE, METROPOLITAN CRIME COMMISSION: It's a black eye for the police department, it's a black eye for New Orleans. It's a national embarrassment.

SIMON: Rafael Goyeneche runs New Orleans' Metropolitan Crime Commission, a nonprofit government watchdog.

GOYENECHE: The question becomes, when did the FBI agent wander upon this scene? What did he see? And what actions did he take?

SIMON: The FBI had more than 300 agents in New Orleans immediately following Katrina to assist local police. About 90 remain. On Saturday, according to the FBI, two of those agents were off duty and merely came across the scene after eating in the French Quarter. They only got involved, says the FBI, after witnessing a struggle.This man, Calvin Briles, seen here held against a car, says he was a witness. He told CNN Davis never put up a fight.

CALVIN BRILES, WITNESSED BEATING: I really don't even remember thinking. I'm just sitting there looking at this and can't believe what's happening. And like I said, I didn't know what he had done, and then to see the other policeman the camera guy, and then all kinds of officials moved in. And that's the point where I was detained.SIMON: He claims that when he tried to report the incident, another officer told him to mind his own business, then handcuffed him, pushed him against the car, and then put him on the ground.

FELIX LOICANO, FORMER NEW ORLEANS POLICE DEPARTMENT OFFICER: It's something that you have to send a message to your officers that misconduct is never tolerated, particularly allegations or misconduct of this magnitude.

SIMON: Felix Loicano served in the New Orleans Police Department for 30 years, heading the same internal affairs unit now investigating the New Orleans officers involved. He says an explosive incident like this can further shake a demoralized city.

LOICANO: You have to send a message to your citizens, and to all the people that will be in your community, that police officers are under control.SIMON: The New Orleans police officers say they were under control when they were arresting Robert Davis, one witness now saying that wasn't the case.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIMON: Tomorrow could be a critical day in the case. That's when Mr. Davis has his arraignment on those charges of public drunkenness and resisting arrest. His attorney is hoping to have those charges dropped. I don't think that hearing is happening in the regular courthouse. Too much damage there. Court these days is at the train station -- Aaron.

BROWN: That's Mr. Davis' issue. On the three police officers, they were in court yesterday. They pled yesterday. When are they back in court? What's the next stage in their saga through the court system?

SIMON: Well, we know that their trial date has been scheduled for some time in January. But, Aaron, I think here in New Orleans, the court of public opinion has already spoken. People here are simply outraged.

BROWN: They're outraged that the police -- they have already decided after, what, 36, 48 hours, the truth of the matter?

SIMON: They have seen this tape over and over again, and when you talk to people on the street, you know, they come up to you, even though they may not necessarily know we're doing the story, and they will say, hey, we saw that tape and gosh, what those officers did is just terrible. But, you know, then again, you know, you talk to the attorney for those officers, he said these guys deserve a fair shake and they're going to get one in January.

BROWN: Everybody deserves a fair shake. Dan, thank you very much, Dan Simon down in New Orleans. We talked with the lawyer for the police officers a little bit earlier tonight, and coming up a little bit later in the program, you will hear what he has to say and perhaps view the tape somewhat differently. Perhaps. We'll see.

COOPER: It's interesting, I was talking to a couple of police officers just on the phone today who I've become friends with, and all of them pretty much had the same take on this. I mean, they were all, I wouldn't say shocked by it, but clearly disturbed by it and not making excuses which kind of surprised me. I mean, often police officers will go out of their way to protect one another. The two officers I spoke to today said, look, these guys were out of line. There's no way to defend it.

BROWN: There are elements of this, without prejudging any of it or too much of it, because I'm about to prejudge some of it, that are clearly out of line. The pushing the AP photographer is clearly over the line. What they seemed to do to this witness is clearly over the line. But as we learned in the Rodney King situation, as you present cases to juries, and you run the tape not once in its most outrageous form but sort of frame by frame and suck the emotion out of it, it can change the way a jury sees it.

COOPER: And we're going to do that in the next hour here at NEWSNIGHT at 11:00. We talked to a man who testifies many times in police trials, and he's actually going to do that, going to go frame by frame and look at it. And he's a former police officer, he had some real problems, especially with the punching in the back of the head, he says that's just bottom line something you never do. So that's the 11:00 hour. Now to Pakistan and a very large dose of reality. Millions of people are homeless and hungry, the U.N. is warning of cholera outbreaks. In a lot of places, it is raining, which may trigger mudslides literally on top of everything else. Officials now put the death toll at more than 41,000. The number of course is going to change. It's almost always does. But whatever the final number, it's going to include hundreds, perhaps even thousands of children. And there is heartbreak everywhere, but every once in a while, even amidst the devastation, even amidst the death and destruction, if you search hard enough, there's also a quiet miracle. You are about to see one. Reporting for us tonight, ITN's Bill Neely.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL NEELY, ITN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the ruins of Balakot school, they break through the collapsed floors. But what they bring out is a sight beyond sadness. It's a little girl in a green dress, all broken. She and nearly 200 other boys and girls have already been pulled out and lifted away. Their bags and books useless now. And then, the work begins again. And the work has paid off. A French rescue team using cameras to probe deep down into the school saw a face. Three-and-a-half days after he was trapped in his classroom, a scared little boy. He's about 15 feet down. Now it's critical the roof doesn't collapse. Slowly, astonishingly, the boy's limp body is pulled from the hole and handed to his father. No one could quite believe it. Four other children were rescued like this. Four-year-old Fraz (ph) was too bewildered to eat or drink. Out of 400 children, he is one of the very few who survived. (on camera): The conditions here for rescuing anyone are getting worse. They think there are still the bodies of 150 children in this school. The last two little girls they pulled out alive, that was 18 hours ago, and even that seems amazing. But the weather is getting much worse now. (voice-over): The rain lashed down on the bodies of children who had not yet been claimed by their parents. Perhaps because their parents, too, are gone. Bill Neely, ITV News, Balakot, Pakistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: The Pentagon today promised to send another 25 to 30 helicopters for rescue and recovery work in Pakistan. Trucks can only get so far because of the rain and the landslides. Even the choppers are having a tough time with the weather but they fly when they can and they do what they can. Here's CNN's Satinder Bindra.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SATINDER BINDRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They've come from the war in Afghanistan, eight U.S. helicopters here at the Rawalpindi's Chaklala air base near Pakistan's capital to help the country with its largest ever relief operation. Captain Brandon McCray is a 26-year-old Black Hawk pilot from Ft. Worth, Texas. On Tuesday, Captain McCray loads up his Black Hawk and takes off for a 40-minute flight to one of the worst affected areas in the mountains of Kashmir.

CAPT. BRANDON MCCRAY, U.S. ARMY: However you know we can help out, I pray we can do that and help these people out tremendously.

BINDRA: When Captain McCray's helicopter and the others land in the mountain city of Muzaffarabad, Pakistani soldiers are waiting for them.(on camera): It's absolutely critical to get these tents and bags of flour to hundreds of thousands of survivors in Pakistan's remote areas. Many people there have been complaining they haven't eaten a proper meal in days and at this rate they say they may not be able to hold on for too long.(voice-over): Rihasa Khan (ph) has broken both his legs. The Americans will take him back to the Pakistani capital for treatment. His family will remain here. "Three of my daughters are injured," he says. "They're in hospital. My wife is also injured." Many of the wounded are young children. Most were hurt when their schools collapsed on them. The critical element in these missions is the weather. Many sorties have had to be canceled because of heavy winds and rain. Rihasa Khan gets out just before the weather turns nasty."Allah bless the Americans," he says. "They've been very kind. I want to thank them for that." Less than an hour after we began our journey, it's time to turn back. A lightning fast mission that will have to be repeated for many days and weeks to come. Satinder Bindra, CNN, Muzaffarabad, Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: There are so many stories coming out of Pakistan right now. I just want to show you this piece of video that we saw in the piece before, in Bill Neely's piece. This is just remarkable to me. If you look closely, it is a little boy captured on Vibrascope, which is what the rescuers insert on a long pole, a television camera and a long pole. And to see that little boy alive in a camera like that is, I mean, something rescuers never get to see.

BROWN: And what must that little boy have thought about his life and whether there was going to be a life? And, it all changed in a few minutes. That's a great shot.

COOPER: Yes, it is. BROWN: One more time, there he is.

COOPER: Imagine after, you know, spending 24, 36 hours alone in this debris and all of a sudden, suddenly, this camera pokes through and you're alive. It's an incredible moment. Still ahead tonight on NEWSNIGHT, the fight for the right over the nomination of Harriet Miers and why the left is left in a very strange political place, to say the least. And the politics of Washington seem tame by comparison. Details on a political fight in Taiwan and the rest of the day's headlines when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Tonight, reading into a special letter sent to Iraq from al Qaeda to al Qaeda. The subject is terror and U.S. intelligence officials are reading it tonight word for word. So is CNN's David Ensor.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Senior U.S. intelligence officials call the 6,300-word letter from al Qaeda's number two man to its leader in Iraq chilling because of how calm, clear and well-argued it is. The letter, which a senior official says he is absolutely confident is genuine, predicts, quote, "the Americans will exit soon from Iraq." And says, "things may develop faster than we imagine." But in the letter, Ayman al-Zawahiri is clearly worried that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, with his televised beheadings of hostages and attacks on Shiite Muslims could lose what he calls a media battle for the hearts and minds of Muslims. "The populace who love and support you will never find palatable the scenes of slaughtering the hostages," Zawahiri warns. It is the language, says a senior U.S. intelligence official, of an al Qaeda elder to an occasionally hot-headed field commander, language President Bush had seen before he spoke last week.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It is cowardice that seeks to kill children and the elderly with car bombs and cuts the throat of a bound captive and targets worshippers leaving a mosque.

ENSOR: In the letter, Zawahiri is strongly opposed to Zarqawi's attacks on Shiites in the Iraq, to the many car bombs and attacks on mosques. "Is the opening of another front now in addition to the front against the Americans and the government a wise decision," he asks. The letter, dated two days after the July 7th terror attacks in London makes no mention of them and pleads for more information. Zawahiri clearly feeling cut off. He describes difficulties he and al Qaeda are facing over a dozen times, says the real danger to him comes from Pakistani army operations in the tribal areas and asks Zarqawi whether he could spare $100,000.

JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: I would think Zarqawi is reading this letter a bit skeptically. I mean, it's coming from a guy who's remote from the situation, who's asking for money, who confesses that he's having difficulty with communications and other things, while Zarqawi is probably full of himself, feeling he's the field commander, he's running troops.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ENSOR: A senior U.S. official said the letter is being released now because it would no longer hurt ongoing operations or compromise sources and methods that the U.S. intelligence service has. The American public and the world, the official said, should be fully informed about the enemy -- Anderson.

COOPER: David, any idea where the letter came from? How did they get it?

ENSOR: They won't say how they got it. And that's a very delicate subject that they don't want even to describe in any way. I gather they have had it for a bit of a while, certainly before the president spoke last week. And you did see the reference in the letter to Zawahiri saying his biggest concern was Pakistani troops moving in the tribal area. That is where U.S. intelligence has said they thought he is and this letter seems to suggest that is where he is.

COOPER: And they seem to have no doubt that this is authentic?

ENSOR: They say they're absolutely sure from multiple different intelligence sources that it is authentic, that it is a letter from Zawahiri to Zarqawi. Now they do say they're not sure whether Zarqawi got the letter.

COOPER: All right. Interesting. I mean, because it's strange that he would say that he's having money trouble or that he would say, you know, he's having problems from Pakistan authorities trying to hunt him down. It would seem to give away certain aspects of location and certainly the operational capabilities.

ENSOR: Well, remember, this is not a letter he expected to be made public, this was supposed to be a very private missive. And in fact, there is some fairly embarrassing stuff in it about his concerns about the problems with the al Qaeda effort and his concerns that Zarqawi is making mistakes. So it was not supposed to become public but now it's out and we have it.

COOPER: All right, David, thanks.

BROWN: Thank you, David. Iraq continues to make news, that's one of the other stories of the day. We are joined by Erica Hill in Atlanta tonight. Good evening, again, Ms. Hill.

ERICA HILL, CNN HEADLINE NEWS ANCHOR: And good evening to you, Mr. Brown. And that is the top story at this hour. Four suicide car bombings just four days before the country's constitutional referendum. At least 50 people were killed, dozens more wounded. Today's bombings took place in three primarily Sunni towns. In South Carolina, a controlled blast. There you go. More than a ton of explosives used to bring down a section of the old Pearman Bridge in Charleston. It is one of two to be replaced by a new eight- lane bridge that will cost more than $600 million. The bridge had dominated the city skyline for nearly four decades. In Half Moon Bay, California, the world championship pumpkin weigh-off. The prize goes to Joel Holland of Washington State. His winning squash topping the scales at 1,229 pounds. The prize, $5 a pound. That's about $6,000. Not bad. And in Taiwan, another brawl in parliament, of course. It all started when representatives of the ruling and opposition parties got the chance to tell each other how they really feel. The fight was over new bill to set up an independent media watchdog. BROWN: It's always our fault.

COOPER: Yes. You know, that's a good fight, I've got to tell you, but it does not beat my, you know, all-time favorite pound for pound best fight was Zhirinovsky versus Saveliev, March, Duma, in 2005. I mean, that was a fight for the ages. It was a Don King production. It was an amazing fight.

(LAUGHTER)

BROWN: As Donald Rumsfeld would say, democracy is a messy business but it just has to play out in its own way. Looks a bit like the Hopkins (ph) High School Student Council meetings sometime ago.

(LAUGHTER)

BROWN: Thank you, Ms. Hill. Up next on the program, she likes the boss, the boss likes her, even the opposition doesn't have too many things to say. So why is the Supreme Court nomination of Harriet Miers in such trouble, if it is? And later, a conversation with a man in the eye of the latest controversy in New Orleans. His take on the police beatings might surprise you. This is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: The personal notes of Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers are being made public this week, and while they may not reveal much of her judicial philosophy as many would like, they do make one thing clear, Miers is a fan of President Bush and she's not shy about letting him know it. CNN's Joe Johns has been reading the notes.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We don't know much about Harriet Miers yet, but we did learn something new today. She knows how to give a compliment, especially when the recipient is her boss. Back when she ran the Texas Lottery Commission and served as personal attorney to then-Governor George Bush, she sent him frequent notes. "You're the best," said one. "The state is in great hands," said another. Then there's the birthday card with a puppy on the front and the words "you're the best governor ever." That Miers charm seems to have worked on Democrats, too.

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MINORITY LEADER: I haven't known her a real long time but I found her to be very personable, very genuine. JOHNS: Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid actually suggested Miers to the president at a meeting back in September. And his warm words all but guaranteed Democrats won't try to block her, much to the dismay of some conservatives who want to see her go down. (on camera): The Democrats' leader has said he likes her. And that seems to make a difference to the administration. Should it?

MANUEL MIRANDA, CONSERVATIVE ACTIVIST: Well, that's sort of the -- like the kiss of the godfather. Clearly, he wasn't particularly -- I don't think Harry Reid was being particularly honest in that.

JOHNS (voice-over): This is Manny Miranda, a behind-the-scenes mover on judges for the hard right and a former top aide to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. He thinks Democrats are being nice to Miers because they like the division her nomination created among Republicans. (on camera): Do the Democrats have you guys between a rock and hard place on this?

MIRANDA: Well, they have us in a place that's indescribable and unimaginable. The bottom line is that the president made a decision that we could never have imagined.

JOHNS (voice-over): In the curious politics of the Miers' nomination, conservatives like Miranda hope the Democrats try to shoot her down but fear they won't. Adding confusion, a powerful voice in evangelical circles, Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family, first hinted he had secret information that makes him comfortable supporting Miers, but now says it has all been made public.

DR. JAMES DOBSON, FOCUS ON THE FAMILY: Harriet Miers is an evangelical Christian, that she is from a very conservative church.

JOHNS: Democratic strategist and former House Judiciary Committee counsel Julian Epstein says his party is consent to sit back and watch the show.

JULIAN EPSTEIN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: There's an old saying that you never shoot a guy who is getting ready to commit suicide. The Republicans right now are in a meltdown.

JOHNS: If Miers goes through and it turns out bad for the right, it won't be the first time. In 1953, GOP President Dwight Eisenhower nominated Earl Warren to be chief justice of the United States. Warren became an icon of the left. Eisenhower called it, "the worst damn fool mistake I ever made." Joe Johns, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE) COOPER: And still to come on the program tonight, the tale of the tape: the beating caught on tape in New Orleans. We'll talk with Robert Davis, the man police beat to a bloody pulp, and we'll talk with a lawyer for the Patrolmen's Union in New Orleans, representing all sides. Also tonight, Oprah takes on poverty in America and I join her. The show is tomorrow, we'll preview a bit tonight: "The Invisible Lives of America's Poor." This is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Well, without splitting hairs here, there are, broadly speaking, two possibilities where the beating of Robert Davis is concerned. Either New Orleans police were justified or they weren't. The problem is for all its power the footage of Mr. Davis being beaten only answers a single question. Was Mr. Davis beaten? The answer is, yes, and badly. But what happened before the tape was rolling? What happened after? And at what point, if any, did legitimate force become brutality? Not only do different people come to different conclusions, we suspect they literally see different things on the tape. We urge you tonight to look at the tape carefully as we go. In a moment, Mr. Davis himself. First, Frank DeSalvo, who is the lawyer for the patrolman's union in New Orleans. We spoke with him a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Mr. DeSalvo, it seems to me you're making the argument that the lawyer for the police union or the lawyer for the officers ought to make which is that what they did was perfectly appropriate. I must say, when you look at the tape, in total, it does not appear that way. What are we missing?

FRANK DESALVO, ATTORNEY, POLICE ASSOC. OF NOLA: Well, did you really look at it in total or did you look at what's been -- what you've been televising? BROWN: No, sir, I actually looked at it in total.

DESALVO: Well, you should televise the whole thing because, obviously, they were trying to arrest a man, he was up against a wall, and he was resisting. And what happened before that was not on tape and what happened there was he was so intoxicated -- he says he doesn't drink so it was probably drugs -- that he stumbled into a police horse. For his own safety, he had to be subdued.

BROWN: Sir, do you know as a matter of fact that he was either drinking or on drugs?

DESALVO: Well, what do you mean as a matter of fact? Can I prove it at this point?

BROWN: Yes, sir.

DESALVO: Well, not at this point but I will before this is over.

BROWN: How will you be able to prove that?

DESALVO: With witnesses. We're getting calls from people who were there, independent people, who saw what happened, are shocked by what happened and what's being televised.

BROWN: Everybody seems to be getting calls from witnesses a the this point. We have seen the accounts of a couple witnesses who, in a general way -- and I admit it's a general way -- seem to support Mr. Davis' argument that he was excessively beaten on. DESALVO: Well, let's see what they do when they get under cross- examination.

BROWN: The chief of police -- perhaps you have heard this, I'm not sure. Here's what he had to say about it when we asked him about this last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)WARREN RILEY, SUPERINTENDENT, NOPD: We hope that we don't have many incidents like this at all. However, when we do in fact have incidents, we will take swift and decisive action, and in this particular case, there was video, which gave a clear depiction of our officers using force beyond what I describe force that was beyond what was necessary in this incident on the video.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Seems to me, sir, the operative phrase there is force beyond what was necessary.

DESALVO: Well, you know, I've been doing this for 30 years, since 1975 I've been representing police officers. This is the first time I have seen a chief of police come out immediately after an incident without a full investigation and make a statement like that. I don't understand why he made it. I don't understand what he had to gain by doing it. But it was clearly without due process. These people were suspended without pay, without a full investigation. And that's sad. That's really sad.

BROWN: One more question or perhaps more, but one that I'm sure of. There is a ...

DESALVO: You sound like a lawyer.

BROWN: No, I just play one on TV occasionally. There is a shot when this is all over of a very bloody Davis, a very bloody street. He has clearly been pummeled pretty badly. DESALVO: That's an assumption you are making. That's an assumption you're making.

BROWN: Well no. Actually not. The assumption would be whether it was justified or not. There's no question that ...

DESALVO: That's incorrect.

BROWN: There's no question he's bleeding.

DESALVO: Where was he bleeding from?

BROWN: I have no idea.

DESALVO: Where was he being struck? Was he being struck where he was bleeding from or bleeding because he was brought down to the ground as he was resisting arrest and hit his face on the cement? That's where he was bleeding from, and none of your -- none of your -- videos show him being struck in the face. All the blows were struck behind the neck and at the shoulder area trying as taught in police procedure to bring a resisting person's arm back around to cuff him. That's police procedure. Now, if you saw something different, then you're either seeing what you wanted to see or you're seeing what you were told you should see, but that is if you take that video and look at it frame by frame, you're going to see what I saw.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: And that will be the basis of the defense that Mr. DeSalvo will put on for the three officers who have been charged now with misdemeanor battery. You will hear from Mr. Davis right after the break, his side of the story. And then later in the hour, why more Americans say they're engaging in risky sex, even if it ends up killing them. We'll take a break first. This is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Well, a moment ago you heard Frank DeSalvo say if you've only seen the tape of Robert Davis being beaten, you haven't seen everything, you don't know everything. That's one side of the story. There is, of course, another side, and it belongs to Mr. Davis himself. We talked with him and his attorney, James Bruno, a little bit ago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Mr. Davis, you said that you were out on the street the other night. You were concerned about curfew. You approached police officers. Is it possible that in the way you were walking or in the way you were talking, you might have appeared intoxicated.

ROBERT DAVIS, BEATING VICTIM: No, I don't drink. It's that simple. I have not had any alcohol at all, period, and that question has been asked a multitude of times. And the response is still the same. I do not drink. Period.

BROWN: And I assume, if I ask you if you had used drugs that night, you will say no to that too, right?

DAVIS: Also.

BROWN: Was there ever a time after they took you to the holding cell or took you to the hospital when they gave you a breathalizer test or took a blood test that would provide scientific evidence as to whether or not you were intoxicated?

DAVIS: No. In fact, during this whole -- I was never told that I was under arrest. I never knew the charges which were against me. I never was read my rights as a citizen of this United -- of the United States. I don't -- I had a difficult time just trying to survive the blows that were coming from all directions.

BROWN: What would you say precipitated their action on you? Do you remember what you said, what they said just before it got out of hand? DAVIS: Okay. I asked the officer on the horseback who was black, what time the curfew was for. OK?

BROWN: Uh-huh. DAVIS: I -- after that occurred, this other officer intervened and I had told him that he was being rude, discourteous and unprofessional. And I left the scene at that moment to go to the store which was near, very nearby. And before I could get to the store, I was attacked.

BROWN: Have you seen the tape of that, by the way?

DAVIS: No, I haven't. I have not seen the tape. I have no idea what's on the tape.

BROWN: Do you believe that in any sense you resisted arrest or resisted the police officers?

DAVIS: At no time -- I was sucker punched and thrown against the wall.

BROWN: Uh-huh.

DAVIS: I did not even see the person because my back was turned to him. BROWN: The lawyer for the police officers, the police union or the police association, they certainly don't deny that they hit you but they deny that they hit you in the face. They said they hit you in the back and the shoulders as is procedure and whatever injuries you suffered to your face was the result of a fall. Is that even remotely possible?

DAVIS: No. I'm laughing because it's really comical. I mean, if you could see my face and I don't know, Mr. Brown, if you can with this shot.

BROWN: Yes.

DAVIS: I'm -- it's totally black. I mean, it is not even remotely connected to my complexion. It is black. And there was no way I could have fell and got this.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: It's -- this is a multi layered story in a lot of ways, I mean it's an element of race and all sorts of things, but in any case we have more from Mr. Davis in the second hour of the program tonight.

COOPER: And it's also fascinating how everyone looks at this tape and sees something different. We're also going to talk to an expert witness and a former police officer who testifies in these kinds of trials and he is going to go frame by frame with this tape and tell us what he sees. And the first thing that jumps out at me when the lawyer for the police talking about it's procedure to punch people in the back of the head. This man testifies it is absolutely not procedure to punch people in the back of the head. In fact, that's the first thing they teach you, it is just too sensitive of an area. You can kill someone easily that way.

BROWN: Somewhere there's a book, a New Orleans police training manual that's going to say what the procedure is. And when this gets before a jury and it will get before a jury at some point, that book will matter, also.

COOPER: So, a lot more on this in the next 15 minutes or so, the top of the hour. Erica Hill, headline news, joins us right now with a look at the some of today's top stories. Erica, good evening.

HILL: Hello again. It is round two for "New York Times" Reporter Judith Miller. She is scheduled to make a second appearance tomorrow before a federal grand jury in Washington to investigate the disclosure of a CIA agent's identity. Now, Miller, of course, spent 85 days in jail for contempt of court before released last month. She testified the two weeks ago that the source that she'd been protecting was Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, Scooter Libby.

In New Orleans, Louisiana's governor, Kathleen Blanco, is urging caution in reaction to a proposal that would increase the number of casinos in New Orleans as a way improve the city's economy. The proposal came from New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, last Friday, but Blanco says she doesn't believe gambling should be a base for the city's economy. Currently, Louisiana law allows one land-based casino in New Orleans. Nagin wants to bring that number up to seven or eight.

New York City, where a terror plot turns out to be fake. New York City beefed up its police presence in the subways after an informant from Iraq said a subway attack was being planned. Well, now the government, government sources, that is, tell CNN the informant was lying. Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is criticized by some for overreacting to the threat, said he would have taken the same approach again to protect his city.

And according to a new sex survey, two thirds of Americans had unprotected sex while under the influence of alcohol. The survey by Zanqwee (ph) also found 19 percent have had more than 25 sexual partners. Some of the other findings here, 15 percent of Americans have actually paid for sex. That one a little bit surprising to me.

COOPER: Are you looking at me or are you look at Aaron, when you --

HILL: I wasn't looking at anybody.

BROWN: I was totally shocked by that.

HILL: Not looking at either one of you.

BROWN: I was completely shocked/

COOPER: I appreciate that, Erica. Thank you for your sensitivity on the issue.

BROWN: Not sure if it's higher or lower, but I was shocked. They are students in exile, the children of New Orleans, back to school, long way from home. We'll take a break, from New York, where all is pure.

(CROSSTALK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: This is going to be a year to remember for the boys and the girls of New Orleans west. It will also be a year to forget. Many of the 300 kids were at the Superdome or the convention center, now they're back in school with their same teachers and but one difference, they're a very long way from home. Here's CNN's Gary Tuchman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The skyline of Houston, Texas, as viewed through the school bus window. Another day for students in exile. (on camera): Do you guys miss new Orleans?

CHILDREN ON BUS: Yes!

TUCHMAN (voice-over): The Texas flag may fly outside their school, but the name of the school is New Orleans West. A place specifically for Louisiana children evacuated for Hurricane Katrina.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sixth grade, what year are you going to college?

CHILDREN IN CLASSROOM: 2012.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Seventh grade, what year are you going to college?

CHILDREN IN CLASSROOM: 2011,

TUCHMAN: This K-8 charter school is run in conjunction with the Houston school district, but it's part of the national, Knowledge is Power program, which emphasizes structure.

CHILDREN: You got to read, baby, read.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We knew it would be a good thing for the kids of New Orleans to be together in one school, with teachers that were actually teaching them in New Orleans. So the idea sounded great.

TUCHMAN (on camera): So you started this school from scratch?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We started this school from scratch.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): In addition to the academics, these youngsters, almost all of whom lost their homes, deal with what they have been through, by writing their thoughts about what they saw back home, and reading essays about their experiences.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A bully (ph) killed a man in the Superdome. The guard -- I mean, the man took the gun out the guard hand, shot him in the leg.

TUCHMAN: This 11-year-old boy wanted to tell us about his 30- year-old cousin.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was trying to save a little boy out in a hurricane, and, the boy was saying, help. And he went in the water.

TUCHMAN (on camera): Your cousin?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And he has drowned.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): It's not just the children who have lost their homes. It is also many of the teachers, and the principal, whose school in New Orleans was also destroyed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just being around the kids and the teachers, it's made it much easier.

TUCHMAN (on camera): This school was built in 1926, but was shut down last year due to declining enrollment. These children of New Orleans, starting their new lives, have brought this Houston school back to life. (voice-over): But it's only supposed to stay this way for a year. It's expected the students will return to New Orleans.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, (INAUDIBLE). How was y'all's day?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fine. TUCHMAN: Angela Banks and her children are in a temporary apartment in Houston. Angela likes the atmosphere at New Orleans West she doesn't want it to ever close.

ANGELA BANKS: I love the school. It is the dream school.

TUCHMAN (on camera): All of the things that happened during the hurricane and after the hurricane made you feel very sad about New Orleans?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

TUCHMAN: And made you not want to go back there?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

TUCHMAN: And now you want to stay in Houston?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have it right.

TUCHMAN: I have it right? (voice-over): The students of New Orleans West are being taught they can rely on their teachers for help, and the teachers are relying on them right back.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TUCHMAN: And this is the principal's destroyed school in New Orleans. You can see on the door it says "work hard, be nice." Exactly what we saw on the girls' t-shirts in Houston. This right here was the water line. I'm standing on a stoop. Right now looks like about 5 feet, but if you get up the stoop, it's 6 feet of water in this neighborhood. Totally destroyed this school. There's a lot of work to be done here. It seems to us very unlikely that they could be able to open up the beginning of next year. This whole neighborhood here, still deserted, totally dark, no one around at all. But a lot of life at the school in Houston. When it opened last Monday, 150 students were there. Now, there are 300 students eight days later. The only qualifications to go to that school, to be an evacuee from New Orleans and to be between kindergarten and eighth grade. Anyone is allowed to come who meets those two criteria. Back to you.

BROWN: You have it right. Still ahead tonight, how Anderson and Oprah spent the day. Not one of those celebrity puff pieces, isn't it? No? It's not, OK. A great story, this, coming up. So is this. What Martha Stewart was saying to Larry King, that's coming up in our next hour. Also, is it science or science fiction? Changing the weather. We take a break first. From New York, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: The poor, the hungry, the abandoned. Hurricane Katrina gave us all a stark reminder of the depths of poverty in the country.

COOPER: Yeah. The truth is, though, America's poor are often invisible. We don't really see them on TV. We don't see them in our lives. Earlier this week, I went on location with Oprah in Detroit and in Chicago to do a special report on the lives of America's poor. You can see the whole report tomorrow on "Oprah." Here's some of what we talked about.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OPRAH WINFREY, TALK SHOW HOST: That was very hard for me to believe -- obviously I do -- that 70 miles from Chicago, people don't have running water.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People don't have the necessities for everyday living.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have to be resourceful to survive.

WINFREY: If your husband leaves, or if there is a divorce, or there is a disability, who's going to take care of your kids?

COOPER: Absolutely.

WINFREY: How are you going to get daycare and all of that?

COOPER: And then if you do get a job, I mean, there are all these terrible...

WINFREY: What it takes to pay for the kids.

COOPER: There are all these terrible choices you have to make. It's the cold calculus of survival. There's a safety net. When you -- when you don't have money in the bank and when you don't have a family who loves you or who can care for you, the only place to fall back on is the street, and the street is pretty damn hard.

WINFREY: Yeah. Or you have a family who loves you, but they're in the same situation that you are in.

COOPER: Absolutely.

WINFREY: Yeah. Most Americans are two paychecks away. Two paychecks away. You miss two paychecks, and not have anybody to fall back on, and you, too, could be on the streets.

COOPER: Yeah. And once you fall, it is very hard to get back up. If you're mired in depression or you're mired in whatever the issues are.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: There's a lot more in the "Oprah" edition tomorrow. In fact, some video I think we are going to show you as part of the time I spent with two homeless people in the streets of Detroit. The truth is that that's the side of poverty we do see, the homeless people on the street. The reality, of course, is far more complex. So many single mothers are homeless with their kids because of a bad breakup or a few bad choices or simply a couple of bad breaks. They have found themselves struggling to regain their footing. We'll talk to a lot of them tomorrow.

BROWN: It's just always -- what's so sad for me is how many people live so close to the margin.

COOPER: It's incredible, yeah.

BROWN: Where you're just one -- I mean, literally a broken leg, I mean, a stumble.

COOPER: We talked to one woman who, after 17 years of marriage, her husband left her. She went into a depression, very quickly lost her job, then got kicked out of her apartment, and wound up sleeping in a van with her four kids in a park all summer long. And finally, you know, took her months to kind of get out of depression. She finally was able to get some help and, you know, is still -- is still struggling pretty hard.

BROWN: Well, all that and more on "Oprah" tomorrow.In the hour ahead tonight, there is pain in the world, and there are questions as well. We'll bring you up to date on the rescue effort in Pakistan. A look at where another one, another earthquake, might strike. Perhaps in this country. A gentle reminder here, it doesn't have to be California, not by a long shot.Also tonight, what Robert Davis had to say about the beating at the hands of the New Orleans Police Department. You may be surprised by some of it. And later, what Martha Stewart has to say about getting out of jail, as opposed to getting into jail, I guess. Taking off the bracelet and making another fortune or two. All of that ahead in this hour of NEWSNIGHT.

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

Police Beating Caught on Tape; Pakistan Earthquake; New York City Terror Hoax; Martha Stewart's Life after Prison; Former Weatherman Believes Government Manipulates The Weather; Is America Ready For The Next Big Quake?

Aired October 11, 2005 - 23:00 ET

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

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CO-ANCHOR: Also tonight, what Robert Davis had to say about the beating at the hands of the New Orleans Police Department. You may be surprised by some of it. And later, what Martha Stewart has to say about getting out of jail, as opposed to getting into jail, I guess. Taking off the bracelet and making another fortune or two. All of that ahead in this hour of NEWSNIGHT.And at the top of the hour, here's what's happening at this moment. Local officials say that more than 41,000 people are dead in Pakistan. Just think about that for a moment -- 41,000 people. More than 1,200 are dead in India, three days after an earthquake devastated the region. The truth is the numbers are likely to grow. They don't know at this point. The quake left millions of people homeless.Senior U.S. intelligence officials call a letter to Al Qaida's leader in Iraq from his number two man, chilling. The letter is dated two days after the London terror attacks on July 7. It makes no mention of those attacks, though. In the letter, Al Qaida's number two tells Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi that televised beheadings of hostages could lose what he calls a media battle for the hearts and minds of Muslims.The recent terror plot against the New York City subway system was a hoax. Police beefed up their presence in the subways after an informant from Iraq said an attack was being planned. Now government sources tell CNN the informant was lying.And Louisiana's Governor Kathleen Blanco is saying not so fast to a proposal that would increase the number of casinos in New Orleans as a way to improve the city's economy. Now the proposal came from New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin last Friday. Blanco says she doesn't believe gambling should be a base for the city's economy.

AARON BROWN, CNN CO-ANCHOR: And New Orleans is where we begin the hour. New Orleans, before Katrina, about 160,000 of the 500,000 or so residents have come back. They have come back to difficult situations and tougher questions: Can the city rebuild? Will authorities and agencies that failed during the storm ever be held accountable? There was already much to answer for, even before police were caught beating a man on tape over the weekend. We begin with CNN's John King.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRSPONDENT (voice-over): It is a scene once routine, yet now somewhat remarkable. A downtown New Orleans street. The only police cars in view actually belong here. Look around a bit. And there are still humvees carrying military police. And help form other state, local and federal agencies. But the number of outside reinforcements is steadily shrinking. Just as a police beating captured on videotape raises new credibility questions about an already embattled New Orleans Police Department. The FBI, for example, has about 90 additional agents in New Orleans now, down from a post-Katrina peak of 300. The National Guard deployment in the city is now 2,400 troops, down from more than 6,000.City Police Union President Lieutenant David Benelli says more crime is inevitable as more residents return to the city. But he insists the New Orleans force is up to the task.

DAVID BENELLI, LIEUTENANT, NEW ORLEANS POLICE UNION PRESIDENT: As you bring more people back, you have to admit now you're going to have more potential victims. As more people enter back into the city, a small portion of those people will be lawbreakers. So, I believe that as far as the men and women of New Orleans Police Department, you know, we're capable of handling the people as they come back.KING: The videotaped beating occurred two weeks after the mayor forced the police chief to resign. And as the city investigates allegations, a few of its officers join the post-Hurricane looting. But Benelli and other New Orleans cops bristle at what they call exaggerated media talk of a department in chaos.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It just seems as at some times like a piling on. That they just concentrate on the negative story.KING: Jim Arey is the New Orleans Police Department SWAT team's lead negotiator and the trained mental health counselor who says in his view there have been relatively few problems for a force under extraordinary stress.

JAMES AREY, NEW ORLEANS POLICE DEPARTMETN SPECIAL OPS NEGOTIATOR: You lost your money from overtime in details, your spouse is living in Chicago or San Antonio, your children are in a brand new school, and your house has been destroyed. That's difficult for anybody.

KING: If nothing else, questions about the police department could complicate the city's economic recovery.

TIM RYAN, CHANCELLOR, NEW ORLEANS UNIVERSITY: Clearly, there's going to be an image problem. I mean, clearly the city, the visitor convention and visitors bureau are going to have to spend a great deal of time and effort and money over the next six months to a year in reestablishing New Orleans' position as a major convention destination.

KING: Yet, there is a flipside. Military patrols don't necessarily encourage convention business either. And the acting police chief says he will need 2,000 National Guard troops at least through March.

(END VIDEOTAPE) (on camera): Now we're live in the French Quarter now, just a few steps where that police beating took place three nights ago. The police are in heavy presence out on the streets tonight. I can tell you, Aaron, they are not happy that we and other news organizations are dedicating so much attention to this story. One result of that beating, they are now being much more aggressive in enforcing a curfew in place in the city at midnight, local curfew. Again, the police are not happy at all with the attention to continue. The three suspended New Orleans police officers involved in this beating, scheduled to tell their side of the story tomorrow -- Aaron.

BROWN: Well, we don't wish to make them any more unhappy, but of the totality of the New Orleans Police Department right now on the streets, does that include the 260 plus officers who deserted at the time of the hurricane?

KING: Well, they're still taking account and of course some of those numbers are still in dispute. Some of those officers deserted, in the words of some. Others left to be with their families during emergencies. Any discipline for that -- much of that is still all being worked out. The force is now at about 1,500 people, they say. It usually has about 1,600. They're on a much more normal schedule now and they're rotating. And as we noted in the piece, one of the most significant differences -- I was gone for a bit and now back -- is you don't see on the street anymore -- you used to see the visiting police from Minnesota, other locations, everyday, almost by the hour, they are leaving. In fact, I spoke to some FBI officials a while ago, saying they're packing up and heading home too. So, many controversies -- the desertion; one of them, you noted, still to be resolved by this department, but more and more it is having to take the lead. Of course, this is its city -- Aaron.

BROWN: John, thank you.

KING: Thank you.

BROWN: John King, in New Orleans, tonight. That scene behind John actually looked like the French Quarter.

COOPER: I was going to say --

BROWN: It looked a little normal, didn't it?

COOPER: I know. I was going to say it was jarring to see it. Big guys walking by with, you know, beads on and stuff. It was, I guess, nice in a way to see it, all in all.The only voice that is clearly heard in that videotape of the beating are from police officers. But there are other people talking, people who were there that night in the French Quarter. What they saw, many of them are saying they'll never forget. Here's two of the eyewitnesses.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, EYEWITNESS: It was a brutal, brutal beating. We knew what was happening was not legal. He was on the ground at the first -- when we first saw him, he was moving. He had some sort of movement and it wasn't very -- it wasn't very long after that that he had no movement whatsoever. Police were beating him with their fists repeatedly. Many more than three officers were actually involved with this case. Video footage that we've seen so far doesn't actually even have any sort of a thing of actually what happened.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, POLICE BEATING VICTIM: I witnessed what happened and I want to tell somebody about it. And he said, you know, with vulgarities, it's none of your business. And as he picked me up, I grabbed his arms. We locked arms. At that point, he said, all right, and he threw me up against the car. Riot bands were put on me, as tight as they could get them. And I just remember a lot of pain. I remember just, as my head was shoved into the hood, I just, I closed my eyes and I just cringed because of what was happening, the way they were handling me and the process. My phone flew off. They broke my necklace off in two pieces. So they got the riot bands on me and then they just basically threw me on the ground.I was just amazed. I was already in awe of what was happening. I never seen anybody beat that way, whether it was -- even in a movie. I've never seen it before. And so, I just wanted to tell somebody. And I really -- I see a federal agent and I'm, to my knowledge, it's the New Orleans police that's doing this. So I'm thinking that, you know, he's going to understand and maybe want to hear from what I have to say. But that wasn't the thing. So when I was thrown up, I was thinking, what in the world just happened? What did I do? And he told me that I was being arrested for impeding a federal investigation, assault on a police officer and resisting arrest.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, the beating itself lasts about 50 seconds. And when this is brought to trial, no doubt both sides are going to focus on that videotape. Just as occurred in the trial of police officers in the Rodney King beating trial.We asked William Gaut to analyze the tape for us. He's a legal consultant, often called on as an expert witness. He's also a former police captain. He joined me a short time ago from Naples, Florida. And I started by asking him what surprised him most about the beating.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)WILLIAM GAUT, LEGAL CONSULTANT: It starts off seemingly innocently enough, and then it pretty rapidly progressed into something of excessive force, improper conduct.

COOPER: Let's walk through some of the key moments of the video. In the first shots you have Davis being basically pushed against the wall. Are police acting within the proper bounds there?

GAUT: Well, at first, when there's two officers there, they appear to have him facing against the wall. The escape routes are cut off. His hands are down. At least one arm looks like it's back behind him. For all practical purposes, it looks like he is being cooperative at that point and I don't really see any wrongdoing at that point.

COOPER: You then have the next shot where a police officer on horseback moves his horse, apparently to block the camera. How do you interpret that?

GAUT: Yes, that's the part that began to bother me. We constantly fight the stigma of the blue line, the blue wall of silence, where police officers supposedly act to cover each other's acts, misdeeds, that sort of thing. And at first it looks like the horse is just doing normal crowd control maneuvers. But then all of a sudden the horse starts walking backwards and I don't know a lot about horses, but I know they don't walk backwards very much.

COOPER: As the horse moves, then we then see a police officer punching Davis several times in the head or the back of the neck. What's your read on that?

GAUT: That's just really taboo. Once an officer -- well, when we go through training, officers are trained that any strikes or any blows above the neck are just out of bounds. It's taboo. It's just misconduct.

COOPER: Why?

GAUT: Well, there's too much risk of permanent injury or even death. Especially blows to the back of the head. That's the brain stem area. And that pretty quickly can cause systemic injury that can result in anything from permanent paralysis to pretty quick death.

COOPER: You know, we can't hear what is being said. Does it seem like this man is resisting arrest in any way to you when he's standing up against the wall?

GAUT: He doesn't appear to be resisting and at some point that non-resistance appears to be what we generally classically refer to as passive-resistance.

COOPER: So if this was in fact passive-resistance, what's the best way to deal with passive-resistance?GAUT: Well the best way by far is verbalization.

COOPER: You mean just talking to the guy?

GAUT: Yes. That's what I used to teach at the academy at college level and officers under my command. It's a lot easier to talk someone into complying than it is to start throwing punches.

COOPER: He's wrestled to the ground. It seems like there are an awful lot of people on top of this guy. What's your read on that?

GAUT: Well, from a training standpoint, there's a really big problem there. Just looking at the video, you see four people there; two in uniform, two not in uniform. So I don't really know about the two people that are not in uniform as to whether they are just citizens who --

COOPER: Allegedly, one of them at least is an FBI agent.

GAUT: Okay. But, nobody seems to be working in conjunction or cooperation with each other. There doesn't seem to be anybody in command. You've got one person that's literally on top of him, holding him down to the pavement so that he can't move. And you've got a second guy there who appears to grab a leg and pretty obviously he's actively trying to force the subject to roll over, which of course, is physically impossible because you've got the second guy who's literally sitting on him or laying across him. Then you've got one guy that's got him in a choke hold from the rear, which also prevents him from rolling or turning over in any way. And it kind of appears like all four officers have their own agenda of what they're trying to accomplish and they're working against each other, rather than with each other.

COOPER: At the end of the video, Davis is lying in a pool of his own blood. An officer kicks him twice. Is that justified under any circumstances

?GAUT: No. For whatever reason the officer does not want him to roll over either on his side or on his back. And if that is the case, then the appropriate procedure there is for the officer literally to bend down, hold him in the position or at least verbally instruct him not to do something that he doesn't want him to do. But just to stand up there and arbitrarily give him a couple kicks in the back, no, that's not acceptable.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Former Police Captain Gaut.

BROWN: Well, that's sort of a witness for the prosecution, I suppose, isn't it?

COOPER: Yes.

BROWN: There's one other part of this that it just doesn't tell us anything about the beating. It just tells us something about the mindset of the moment and that's when the one police officer goes over to the AP producer and braces him against the car, screaming at him.

COOPER: Braces is a polite word, I got to tell you.

BROWN: I'm polite.

COOPER: Okay.BROWN: And screaming at him.

COOPER: Yes.

BROWN: As I said, I mean, it doesn't tell us anything about the legality. It tells us something about the moment. That they weren't very comfortable with the moment. They weren't very comfortable with people witnessing the moment. And that much is understandable.

COOPER: It also shows, I mean, Gaut, I was talking to him, we didn't play that part of the tape, but when you see this man, a rather large man, pushing this producer against a car, you know, gesticulating, yelling and shoving his finger in his face, as we're seeing it right now. What Gaut says, look, this is someone whose adrenaline is pumping. This is a person out of control. This is not a rational act. Under no circumstances is it wise to just do this to a member of the public, or you know, a member of the press, anyone. That's just not the best way to deal with things. And it's all on tape.

BROWN: It's all on tape. The strange irony here is that when this all goes to court and we assume it will. Ultimately all go to court. Robert Davis himself may not be the star witness. The tape may be a star witness. That said, he still gives powerful testimony and you'll hear from Mr. Davis in a moment. Also coming up, scary? Yes. True? No. The facts behind the hoax that gave New Yorkers and the country a bit of a chill late last week and across the weekend. We'll take a break, first. From New York and around the world, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)COOPER: As a lifelong New Yorker, I can tell you there's always a little anxiety riding the subway in New York. Frankly, it's what makes it fun, really. But the anxiety -- and it usually doesn't involve terror attacks from booby-trapped baby carriages. That's what we were told to watch out for last week. As it turns out, it appears the threat was made up. A hoax from a less than reliable informant.CNN's Kelli Arena investigates.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDNENT (voice-over): New York's mayor says he had every reason to believe the threat against the city was real.

MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, MAYOR: What I do know is that we can't wait until a threat materializes to act. We have to protect this city. And you can't just sit around with your fingers crossed. You have to make decisions and show leadership.

ARENA: Mayor Bloomberg says he still isn't sure that it was all a hoax. (on camera): But law enforcement officials in both New York and Washington tell CNN that through investigative means, they have determined it was.(voice-over): From the very beginning, federal government officials had said they could not corroborate the information. The informant who approached U.S. officials in Iraq was described as inconsistent, someone who had provided both good and bad information in the past. According to government sources, he had failed some parts of his lie detector test, but passed when he was talking about the alleged plot against New York. And when the three people he fingered were captured in Iraq, Bloomberg says there was this chilling outburst.

BLOOMBERG: One of them screamed: You're too late to stop us. This was an attack or a planned attack that had a specific time and target and method.

ARENA: Intelligence is hard to screen in a war zone and the attack was allegedly supposed to take place on October 7, leaving investigators little time.

PAT D'AMURO, CNN SECURITY ANALYST, The problem you have with source information is that a lot of times the sources are of the same type of nature as the individuals you are investigating. Otherwise, how would they be able to tap into this type of information?

ARENA: What's more, past intelligence has indicated that Al Qaida and related groups have considered attacking New York's transit systems. Still, there is a danger.

D'AMURO: And you can only cry wolf so many times. To the point where there's the potential, but the public may not take the threat serious at a time where it needs to be taken serious.

ARENA: Especially when local and federal agencies don't seem to be on the same page. Kelli Arena, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: A quick check now with some of the other stories that made news today. Erica Hill in Atlanta -- Erica.

ERICA HILL, CNN CORRESONENT: Aaron, we start off with a warm correspondence raising some eyebrows. That correspondence between President George W. Bush and Supreme Court Nominee Harriet Miers. Now the correspondence is from the '90s. The 2,800 documents were released by Texas officials today. Some are described as polite and friendly. Others, downright giddy. And one that Miers told then Texas Governor George W. Bush, quote, "You were the best governor ever."

In other news, New York Times Reporter Judith Miller, heading back to court tomorrow. She is expected to testify before federal grand jury investigating the leaking of a CIA operative's name. Miller, as you may recall, spent 85 days in jail for trying to protect her source, Vice President Dick Cheney's Chief of Staff Lewis "Scooter" Libby.

In New Hampshire, trying to recover from severe weekend floods. Four people are still missing, three are reported dead, and Many homes are washed away and roads torn apart.And finally, in Charleston, South Carolina, a completely different skyline now after more than a ton of explosives were used to bring down a section of the old paramon (ph) bridge. It's been there for nearly four decades and will be replaced a new eight-lane bridge that will cost more than $600 million.

And, Aaron, that's the latest from our end. We'll hand it back over to you.

BROWN: Thank you, very much. Coming up in the hour, you see the graphic video out of New Orleans again and again. The beating of Robert Davis by police. Tonight, more from Mr. Davis, himself. And later, she's back. She seems to be everywhere. But how is Martha really doing? A look at the empire. How successful it is or is not. And those new TV shows too. Break first. This is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Like a lot of famous Americans how have fallen from grace, Martha Stewart is trying to make a comeback, as you have no doubt noticed. Having served five months in jail for lying about a stock sale and finished nearly six months in home confinement, Stewart now is talking about her time in jail. She spoke earlier tonight with CNN's Larry King.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARTHA STEWART: Actually, it wasn't as horrible as anticipated. You know, it is a total lack of freedom, a lack of being able to go where you want to go, do what you want to do. You are incarcerated. It is a very serious thing. I took it seriously. I served my time with dignity, I hope. I met many, many people there that I actually have great compassion for. And I don't regret my decision in any way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Martha Stewart, with Larry King, tonight. Okay. There are comebacks and then there are comebacks. With the Red Sox last year, that was a comeback. The White Sox this year, perhaps Robert Blake next year. I can't imagine. The fact is everybody in this country gets a second chance and you don't have to ask Martha Stewart twice.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEWART: I think I've learned some things.

LARRY KING, HOST, LARRY KING LIVE (voice-over): Just months after Martha Stewart was set free from prison, just weeks after the leg monitor came off, the domestic diva was making the rounds selling a book.

STEWART: It is really about the things I learned as I built this amazing company that I've built.

KING: And sharing kind words with Katie Couric about the women she met in the joint.

STEWART: I was so happy to be able to be of use and be helpful and give advice.

KATIE COURIC, HOST, THE TODAY SHOW: I think it's so great.

STEWART: Because their minds are working 24 hours a day, just like our minds are working.

KING: The book is called, "The Martha Rules. Ten Essentials for Achieving Success as you Start, Build or Manage a Business." Presumably, the don't include playing fast and loose with the facts about the sale of stock.The book isn't the only thing she's been up to since the end of her time. No, Martha's been multitasking with varying degrees of success.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My sister's going to be so jealous that I get to do this with you.KING: There's a new chat show where she cooks with the likes of Melanie Griffith and schmoozes with really big stars like Joan Rivers and sometimes, well sometimes Martha just gets silly. Hard to believe the ratings have been a bit challenged.

STEWART: For women in business, don't cry, my dear.

KING: Then there's The Apprentice, Martha's style. This is where Martha shows her sensitive side instead of dismissing rejected job seekers with a surly you're fired, Martha says:

STEWART: I wish you well, but I have to say good bye.

KING: Then sets about writing the sorry loser a letter.

STEWART: Dear Sean, Tonight, I know, was difficult for you.

KING: It's hard to say which is worse, the ratings for Martha's Apprentice -- not such a good thing. It ranks 67th in prime time households.Martha may have been a model prisoner except for that little incident with the crabapple picking, but she's not your average ex- con, not by a billion dollars. She's got a ranch in upstate New York, a multimillion dollar company. She's selling her ponchos like the one she wore as she headed to her private plan when life behind bars was over. The profits go to charity. And she keeps up her website just in time for pumpkin-carving season. Yes, Martha put prison behind her and returned to reality. Or at least reality TV.

STEWART: In my business, there's just no faking it.

KING: You do have to admire the spirit.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: I forgot it's pumpkin-carving season. We'll also freely concede the point Martha Stewart is was and probably always will be a story. Christopher Byron has written many chapters of that story. He's the author of, "Martha, Inc.," the incredible story of Martha Stewart living on the media.He joins us now. Good to see you, Christopher.

CHRISTOPHER BYRON, AUTHOR: Anderson, how are you?

COOPER: I want you to listen to some of what Martha told Larry King about how she sees herself, post-prison. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEWART: I don't think I'm changed. I did find out, or at least I realized a lot of things about myself while I was there that I am a strong woman, that I'm a very healthy woman -- thank heavens -- that I can put up with a lot, that I can be patient, that I can make friends in all places, that I can teach, that people still want to get information from me and inspiration, that I am able to survive very, very bad things and still come home, thrive and see a bright future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Does this Martha Stewart sound like the Martha Stewart you wrote about in your book?

BYRON: Anderson, yes. She really does. I think that first sentence was the mark -- that was the money sentence in that comment of hers. I don't think I changed at all. I think that's right. I think that's a truthful statement. She's a woman solidly on the deep middle age, and she is who she is. She's an aggressive, creative person -- extraordinarily creative person. But she's not --

COOPER: Why do you think the comeback is not perhaps working as well as she had hoped? I mean the ratings of both of her television shows are not performing particularly well.

BYRON: Well, look, that evening show, the prime time broadcast television show is the one -- Network TV -- is the one that really matters for her. And it's not working because it's essentially selling a fraudulent fake image. It's selling an image of Martha Stewart that the world now knows is not the complete story. And she spent a great deal of her time in public life trying to package and present one version of herself. Reality -- only with Martha Stewart are we stuck with this idea of real reality and fake reality. But in real reality she's had to deal with the problems that that image has created for her. She's -- she got caught lying to the cops and she went to prison. And now she's back offering a show that presents her as somebody who wouldn't do that. She's got a book out that says the 10 best ways to run your business. One of those 10 ways, as Aaron said in the set up for this, was not how to lie to the law.

COOPER: Has she ever publicly admitted that she did anything wrong?

BYRON: No.

COOPER: No, never apologized.

BYRON: That's the -- no. And I think that's the real problem. I think that we've got -- this is a really tolerant nation. We're very forgiving people. But to be forgiven for something you first have to admit you did it. And that's not happened here. She gave an interview to "USA Today", yesterday, and just danced all around that entire question. Said, look, the people that have been writing about me don't understand this case. What's to understand? She went to trial, a jury of her peers said she lied. She went to prison. She came out in home confinement and broke the terms of her home confinement. And home confinement was extended for her. She still has serious SEC charges hanging over her. And we could find the course of this winter she's back down in federal court all over again. So, when she says, yeah, I'm still the same person, I take her at her word. I think she is.

COOPER: And the public certainly is fascinated whether or not they are watching her two very successful TV programs.

BYRON: Oh, sure.

COOPER: Christopher Byron, good to talk to you, thanks.

BYRON: Thank you.

COOPER: Always interesting.

BROWN: She's incredibly polarizing figure. People either like her a lot or don't like her a lot. In an entirely different conversation when we come back, Robert Davis on the moment. Yeah, that moment, in the French Quarter over the weekend. And later, where are you safe from an earthquake, and where not? It could be surprised to hear some of the answers. This is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: About half past the hour, here is what is happening, right now, at this moment. The search for survivors is being called off in Guatemala. A landslide caused by Hurricane Stan swallowed a town, burying as many as 1,000 people. At least 500 victims are confirmed dead and there is now the threat of even more mudslides. President Bush has wrapped up his eighth visit to the Gulf Coast since Katrina hit. He visited a newly reopened school in Mississippi; he also went to New Orleans and rejected Democrats charges that his visit was just a photo op. And a military unit designed for disaster. CNN has learned that the U.S. Northern Command is considering a rapid force of 4,000 troops to be deployed immediately in the event of hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, and epidemics.

BROWN: The videotaped beating in New Orleans over the weekend of 64-year-old retired teacher Robert Davis speaks for itself in some respects. What isn't clear, though, is what lead to the incident, both sides of the story from us. Maybe you can make your own determination. You need to look very closely. We spoke with a lawyer from the patrolman's union in New Orleans, he told us Davis was drunk or on drugs. Police officers on the scene had been trying to restrain him.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANK DESALVO, POLICE ASSN. OF NEW ORLEANS: Obviously, they were trying to arrest the man. He was up against the wall and he was resisting. And what happened before that was not on tape, and what happened there was he was so intoxicated -- says he doesn't drink, so he was probably drugs -- that he stumbled into a police horse. For his own safety, he had to be subdued. None of your videos show him being struck in the face. All the blows were struck behind the neck and at the shoulder area, trying -- as taught in police procedure -- to bring a resisting person's arm back around to cuff him. That's police procedure. Now, if you saw something different then you are either seeing what you wanted to see or you are seeing what you were told you should see. But that is if take that video and looked at it frame-by-frame, you can see what I saw.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: We did ask him if he knew for a fact that he was on drugs or on alcohol. No tests had been conducted. He said that he couldn't absolutely prove it now, but by the time court comes around he expects to be able to. There is of course a different story from Mr. Davis. And we spoke with him earlier tonight, as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Mr. Davis, you said that you were out on the street the other night, you were concerned about curfew. You approached police officers. Is it possible that in the way you were walking or that in the way you were talking you might have appeared intoxicated?

ROBERT DAVIS, BEATING VICTIM: No. I don't drink. It's that simple. I have not had any alcohol, at all, period. And that question has been asked a multitude of times and the response is still the same. I do not drink, period.

BROWN: And I assume if I ask you if you had used drugs that night you are going to say no to that, too, right?

DAVIS: Also.

BROWN: Was there ever a time, after took you to the holding cell or took you to the hospital, when they gave you a breathalyzer test or took a blood test that would provide scientific evidence as to whether or not you were intoxicated?

DAVIS: No. In fact, during this whole -- I was never told that I was under arrest. I never knew the charges, which were against me. I never was read my rights as citizen of this United States. I don't -- I had a difficult time just trying to survive the blows that were coming from all directions.

BROWN: What would you say precipitated their action on you? Do you remember what you said? What they said, just before it got out of hand?

DAVIS: OK, I asked the officer on the horseback, who was black, what time the curfew was for. OK? I -- after that occurred, this other officer intervened. And I had told him that he was being rude, discourteous, and unprofessional.

BROWN: Uh-huh.DAVIS: And I left the scene at that moment to go to the store, which was very nearby. And before I could get to the store I was attacked.

BROWN: Then all of a sudden they're on you, is that what happens?

DAVIS: I had walked across the street, I guess, six -- uh, I'd venture to say it is about 12, 14 between the curb and the other curb. And by the time I reached the other curb I was attacked.

BROWN: Have you seen the tape of that, by the way?

DAVIS: No I haven't. I have not seen the tape. I have no idea what's on the tape.

BROWN: Uh-huh?DAVIS: I've been sheltered from seeing that tape by my daughter and her fiance. They don't wish for me to see. At a later time, I probably will see it.

BROWN: Well, it's going to be hard to avoid. Do you believe that in any sense you resisted arrest or resisted the police officers?

DAVIS: First, let me clear up something.

BROWN: Sure.

DAVIS: And this has been a misnomer for some time. At no time -- I was sucker punched and thrown against the wall. I did not even see the person, because my back was turned to him. See, I didn't have an opportunity to duck, or move out of the way, or anything, of that nature, at all.

BROWN: Where did they hit you?

DAVIS: Uh, a little bit of everywhere. Right now --

BROWN: Did they hit you in the face?

DAVIS: Yes.

BROWN: They punched you.

DAVIS: In the face --

BROWN: They punched you in the face?

DAVIS: Yes, I have the following injuries: I have a broken nose, a fractured cheek bone, a distorted looking eye, which may have to have surgery. I might have to have surgery. I have to go see the doctor later on this week. My daughter has that information. I don't have that information available at the moment.

BROWN: Yes.

DAVIS: But there maybe some reconstructive surgery required. BROWN: Right. The reason I ask specifically about that is that the lawyer for the police officers there, the police union, or the police association, they certainly don't deny that they hit you, but they deny that they hit in the face. They said they hit you in the back and in the shoulders as is procedure. And that whatever injuries you suffered to your face was a result of a fall. Is that even remotely possible?

DAVIS: No, I'm laughing, because there is -- really, it's comical. I mean, if you could see my face. And I don't know Mr. Brown, if you can with this shot?

BROWN: Yes.

DAVIS: It's totally black. I mean it is not even remotely connected to my complexion. It is black. And there was no way I could have fell and got this.

BROWN: I heard you say earlier today that you had no animosity towards anyone and, I'll confess, I was a little surprised to hear that. I assume you don't think the police officers who punched you are your best friends. You must have some animosity towards them?

DAVIS: No, not really. See, I don't time for being vindictive.

BROWN: Really?

DAVIS: You see, I've got other things -- Oh, yeah. Life goes on.

BROWN: Yes?

DAVIS: But I'm sure the Good Lord's gonna take care of everything.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Coming up tonight, the images are horrible, the questions unavoidable. Who else is at risk from a killer earthquake like the one in Pakistan? Could one strike here, a lot closer to home, where you live? We'll look at the possibilities. And later, in this age of science, why can't we manipulate the weather? Some actually think the government already does. We'll take a look how.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Welcome back to NEWSNIGHT. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is scheduled to fly to Pakistan tomorrow. She's vowing to mobilize long-term international support to help the country recover from its worst earthquake in a century. We're told she just arrived in Kabul, Afghanistan a few minutes ago. Local officials say that more than 41,000 people are dead in Pakistan; more than 1,200 in India. Three days after the massive quake millions more are homeless. Rescuers are still pulling survivors from the wreckage, including children.But rain is hampering the rescue efforts and prompting fears of mudslides. The United Nations has issued an emergency appeal for $272 million to respond to the crisis.

BROWN: It's natural to want to help the quake victims in Pakistan and in India, and it's human to wonder if the same thing could happen, not a world away, but right next door? The short answer is, it can. But where?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN (voice over): Where the next big American quake will be, of course, is a mystery. But if it is in the heavily populated sections of California --

LUCY JONES, U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY: There is going to be a different class of experience. And a different scope than anything we've seen in this century.

BROWN: The reasons are pretty obvious, huge population centers, far-flung transportation networks, not to mention the fragile St. Andreas Fault.

JONES: We know that everything that crosses the St. Andreas, such as water lines, pipe lines, freeways, railways, are going to be offset 20 feet, or more, during that event. And most of them will not be functional.

BROWN: This map by the U.S. Geological Survey shows San Francisco and Los Angeles as the most probable targets for destructive quakes. And if the next big one does strike there, expect the worst. Not so much in terms of casualties, but in terms of enormous damage to the infrastructure.

DAVID WALD, PH.D, U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY: Say a repeat of the earthquake that happened almost 100 years ago in San Francisco, the great San Francisco Earthquake. We'd expect to see $100, $200, perhaps $300 billion worth of losses.

BROWN: So being prepared becomes even more important.

ANTIONIO VILLARAIGOSA, MAYOR, LOS ANGELES: Every city around the nation should be looking at what happened with Hurricane Katrina and reassessing their own capabilities. I can tell you, though, that before we do we are about as prepared as any big city in the nation.

BROWN: Earthquakes can and have occurred in most parts of the country. In the Midwest, along the so-called New Madrid Fault Line, and even in the big cities of the East, where even relatively small tremors could cause huge damage.

WALD: Even a moderate size earthquake, say a magnitude 6 earthquake striking Boston or New York, for instance, could cause $100 billion worth of damage and a lot of lives lost. So the chances of an earthquake happening are lower in the East, but the consequences of a smaller earthquake are quite large because of the vulnerable structures and the large population.

BROWN: Something else for already overburdened state and local authorities to put into their computer models.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: And something else for us all to worry about. There is so much the government can and does control these days, so why not control or manipulate the weather? Do some good and maybe prevent another Katrina. Some would like to see that happen. Some believe it already is happening. CNN's Tom Foreman investigates.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Why can't a hurricane be stopped in its tracks. Why can't the U.S. military fly over the wicked eye drop a nuclear bomb right in the middle, blowing the storm to bits? The Pentagon has been asked that very question. And Air Force Colonel Harold Elkins, chief of weather plans, has an answer.

COL. HAROLD ELKINS, CHIEF, WEATHER PLANS, U.S. AIR FORCE: One hurricane is equal to like 10,000, one megaton hydrogen bombs. So dropping one bomb into the eye wall of a hurricane is about like dumping a glass of water into the ocean. It has very little effect.

FOREMAN: Manipulating tsunamis, tornadoes, hail storm, earthquakes, seems tantalizingly possible in this age of science. For half a century some farmers and scientists have sworn by cloud seeding, the practice of using silver iodide crystals to cool clouds and produce rain. In 1996, Air Force researchers explored the idea of creating great storms over enemies, sunshine over allies, and concluded the technology is there. We can own the weather. And some believe, ever since, the military has been taking control of the clouds.

ELKINS: It is one of those things that sounds good. People have active imaginations, they want to believe things. But I'm in charge of long-range plans and we don't have anything that we're working on along those lines.

FOREMAN: Is he telling the truth?

ELKINS: Yes, I am.

FOREMAN: Ah, well, others are not so sure you can believe the government. A weatherman in Idaho even quite his TV job to investigate these ideas. He has video of unusual cloud formations. Pictures of airplane con trails, which he says are used to guide storm production and a theory that the Japanese mafia used Russian technology to create Hurricane Katrina.

SCOTT STEVENS, WEATHERWARS.INFO: That technology has been developed. The question we've all wondered was, was it deployed? And the Russians boasted that they had, in the past. And what got my attention was viewing satellite imagery, where the clouds and storm behavior was simply not natural.

FOREMAN (on camera): Right now, Congress is considering a weather modification act, which would encourage scientific advances to promote more rainfall. It might work. (Voice over): In 1915 Charles Hatfield promised rain to the parched city of San Diego. He set up towers full of chemicals, a flood ensued and he was run out of town. But don't count on the Air Force to help with any revival of weather warfare ideas. After all, one of their main bases for weather testing was wiped out when Katrina hit Biloxi. Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: In a moment, everyone knows war is hell. But killing Smurfs? Barney I could understand, but Smurfs? Yikes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: What do you think was the most popular story today on CNN.com? Was it government officials say last week's New York subway terror threat was a hoax? Or reality TV's falls season taking a nosedive in the ratings? Or the original members of the group, REM, reunited to play at a road crew members' wedding? The answer when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: So what was the most popular story on CNN.com today? Well, one lucky couple got a rockin' surprise wedding gift. At a bowling alley in Athens, Georgia, REM front man, Michael Stipe (ph), along with the three original members of the rock group, played a seven-song set for the newlyweds. This marks the second time the original members have reunited since they split in '97.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: That would be pretty cool to see.We should warn you, what you are about to see, some beloved children's cartoon characters, notably the Smurfs, isn't really suitable for children, especially in this performance. In a new TV commercial, UNICEF in Belgium, has decided to annihilate the little blue creatures. That's right, UNICEF blows the cute little creatures to Smurfereens. Sure, it's for a good cause, the ad calls on viewers to donate money for the rehabilitation of former child soldiers in Burundi. Seems like a brutal message, though. We'll let you be the judge.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SMURFS SINGING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE) (FEMALE VOICE OVER, BOMBS HIT, BABY SMURF CRYING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Yikes!

BROWN: Yikes, indeed!?

COOPER: What was that?

BROWN: You can't be killing off Smurfs.

COOPER: They say that they're only going to play it late at night. And so the kids won't be completely freaked out about it.

BROWN: No, it will be on the Internet, kids will be passing it around.

COOPER: Exactly.

BROWN: You want to see the Smurfs blown up? COOPER: No sign on whether Papa Smurf actually survived the attack, but I'm sure he did.

BROWN: Oh, man.

COOPER: Yeah.

BROWN: All right. Time to check morning papers, there is actually sort of a sick shot in here, but we'll get to that in a minute. From around the country and around the world,

"The Washington Post" starts us off, "With Quake Aid Scarce, Survivors Left Out in The Cold". Kind of a cool picture up on the top of "The Post". But this is the story that caught my eye.

"Single Glass of Wine Immerses D.C. Driver in Legal Battle": D.C. Police say as little as 0.01 blood alcohol content can get you arrested." That is to say, if there is anything in your blood at all, they're going to take you in. That seems -- I mean -- listen, I don't believe in drinking and driving, OK? But it's a little over the top, isn't it? I won't be driving in Washington any time soon.

"Star & Tribune", that's in Minneapolis-St. Paul, actually it is in Minneapolis. "A Haunting Question, Why?" It is an awful story of a young boy accused of killing his parents. And over here,
"Vikings Aboard Boat with Sex Party." At least 17 players were on Lake Minnetonka cruise Thursday night that is under investigation for lewd behavior. I think they're 1-4, too.

"Chattanooga Times-Free Press"; "More Frist Investments Get Scrutiny," more trouble for the Senate majority leader. Thirty? Is that what you said, Charlie?Brook County, that's Brook County, Nebraska, you knew that.

"Plain Dealer", "Hurricane Evacuees Land Here". That's kind of a cool story, I thought.

"Chicago Sun-Times", we'll get to the weather in Chicago in a second. Give me a shot of this picture. It does appear to be a man kissing a chicken. I don't know, but guy believes that exchanging saliva with a chicken will domesticate it, or so he claims.

The weather in Chicago tomorrow, if you happen to be in the area, "Moody". We'll wrap it up in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: All right, half a minute. Your think with Oprah is tomorrow afternoon.

COOPER: Tomorrow afternoon, yes.

BROWN: Do you ever find yourself in that moment, thinking, how weird is this? I'm sitting, doing Oprah?

COOPER: It was completely surreal. I couldn't -- and the studio audience and they're all screaming and yelling. And she was lovely. Yes, it was one of those things. I couldn't believe I was on Oprah. BROWN: She's terrific. That's an interesting sort of life moment. Good to have you with us. It was sort of an interesting life moment.

COOPER: It certainly was. It always is. BROWN: "Larry King" is next.

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