Program Note: Go inside a sophisticated, newly discovered underground tunnel on the Mexican-U.S. border with Anderson Cooper tonight at 10 p.m. ET.

Ismael Estrada
AC360° Producer

It's an all-too common scene on patrol with a joint Mexican law enforcement task force in Juarez, Mexico.

Two people are shot dead in broad daylight Wednesday in a city lost in a drug war between rival cartels over the lucrative drug route into the United States.

Gunmen fire on a car, killing the driver; the passenger starts to flee and is gunned down in the street. These are the 11th and 12th killings in the Mexican city that day. Locals said killings are more frequent in the evenings. At this point, the sun hasn't even started to go down.

Juarez has become a deadly city where bodies, blood and gun-shell casings are commonplace in the streets.

In 2008, more than 1,600 people were killed in drug-related violence; this year local government officials put that number at more than 2,400. The carnage is taking place in a city with a population of around 1.5 million, literally at America's doorstep. Mexican President Felipe Calderon has declared a war on drug cartels and the way they operate their businesses.

Calderon ordered 45,000 Mexican military troops and 5,000 federal police to hot spots in the drug war. No place has witnessed the amount of carnage this Mexican border city has.

Mayor José Reyes Ferriz said in March - when Juarez saw a drop in drug-war killings during the initial buildup of those forces - that he felt there was going to be a turnaround for the city. The scores of dead here indicate that he may have been wrong.

The military and federal and local police are on patrol, on the lookout for suspicious activity and making random stops as night begins to fall Wednesday. In the distance, the city lights of El Paso, Texas, are visible. The violence is separated by the Rio Grande, which serves as the natural border between the sister cities.

The crackle of voices comes over the police radio that a 13th person is dead in Juarez that Wednesday night. The unit then goes on another call where suspicious men are causing a disturbance in a neighborhood. As the police arrive, witnesses who saw the men run off after brandishing firearms do not give a good description of them.

There are no descriptions of clothing, body types or vehicles, which police say can be a major frustration.

Many locals we spoke with say the police and military are corrupt and cannot be trusted. The city, in an attempt to counter such fears, announced a program where residents can call in information anonymously. The calls are answered on the U.S. side of the border. Local officials said they hope this strategy will generate more tips.

At 11 p.m., as the city streets begin to quiet down, there is another call. A gruesome discovery is made literally steps from the border crossing - four females are found shot; two are children, ages 14 and 12. These deaths are just steps from a pedestrian crossing, where military and local police have increased the numbers on patrol.

The death toll for Wednesday stands at 17. It's another deadly day in the life of a city just steps from American soil.

Program Note: Go inside a sophisticated, newly discovered underground tunnel on the Mexican-U.S. border with Anderson Cooper tonight at 10 p.m. ET.

Ismael Estrada
AC360° Producer

It's an all-too common scene on patrol with a joint Mexican law enforcement task force in Juarez, Mexico.

Two people are shot dead in broad daylight Wednesday in a city lost in a drug war between rival cartels over the lucrative drug route into the United States.

Gunmen fire on a car, killing the driver; the passenger starts to flee and is gunned down in the street. These are the 11th and 12th killings in the Mexican city that day. Locals said killings are more frequent in the evenings. At this point, the sun hasn't even started to go down.

Juarez has become a deadly city where bodies, blood and gun-shell casings are commonplace in the streets.

In 2008, more than 1,600 people were killed in drug-related violence; this year local government officials put that number at more than 2,400. The carnage is taking place in a city with a population of around 1.5 million, literally at America's doorstep. Mexican President Felipe Calderon has declared a war on drug cartels and the way they operate their businesses.

Calderon ordered 45,000 Mexican military troops and 5,000 federal police to hot spots in the drug war. No place has witnessed the amount of carnage this Mexican border city has.

Mayor José Reyes Ferriz said in March - when Juarez saw a drop in drug-war killings during the initial buildup of those forces - that he felt there was going to be a turnaround for the city. The scores of dead here indicate that he may have been wrong.

The military and federal and local police are on patrol, on the lookout for suspicious activity and making random stops as night begins to fall Wednesday. In the distance, the city lights of El Paso, Texas, are visible. The violence is separated by the Rio Grande, which serves as the natural border between the sister cities.

The crackle of voices comes over the police radio that a 13th person is dead in Juarez that Wednesday night. The unit then goes on another call where suspicious men are causing a disturbance in a neighborhood. As the police arrive, witnesses who saw the men run off after brandishing firearms do not give a good description of them.

There are no descriptions of clothing, body types or vehicles, which police say can be a major frustration.

Many locals we spoke with say the police and military are corrupt and cannot be trusted. The city, in an attempt to counter such fears, announced a program where residents can call in information anonymously. The calls are answered on the U.S. side of the border. Local officials said they hope this strategy will generate more tips.

At 11 p.m., as the city streets begin to quiet down, there is another call. A gruesome discovery is made literally steps from the border crossing - four females are found shot; two are children, ages 14 and 12. These deaths are just steps from a pedestrian crossing, where military and local police have increased the numbers on patrol.

The death toll for Wednesday stands at 17. It's another deadly day in the life of a city just steps from American soil.

Editor's Note: Today a former member of a polygamist group has taken the stand in the sexual assault trial of the first group member tried since Texas authorities raided the group's ranch last year.

The former member testified that jailed leader Warren Jeffs kept detailed notes on his interactions with church members because he believed God would hold him accountable. Jeffs' notes could become part of the prosecution's case against 38-year-old Raymond Jessop. He is charged with sexual assault of a child, stemming from his alleged marriage to an underage girl. We have been following this case ever since authorities arrested Jessop. Below, read a blog from one of our producers about meeting Carolyn Jessop - Raymond Jessop's fourth wife. She recounts her experiences in a book about her life on the FLDS ranch. Watch David Mattingly's report on the Jessop trial tonight on AC360° at 10 p.m. ET.

Betty Jessop at the FLDS compound.

Carolyn Jessop at 22, feeding daughter Betty.

Carolyn Jessop's book on her experience.

Ismael Estrada
AC360° Producer

It was the moment Carolyn Jessop had been waiting for. The mother of eight and the fourth wife of a powerful FLDS man wanted out of the only life she knew. It was a rare moment. All of Jessop’s eight children were home and her husband was not. She only had a few hours to gather her kids and leave the polygamist life where she was born and raised. She says she was desperately seeking a new life on the outside. She wanted to escape.

Carolyn Jessop broke free from a life of arranged marriage, polygamy and a male dominated and controlled society. She says she wanted more for her and her children. Jessop began a new life with her children outside the FLDS. Her kids attended public school and no longer practiced the religion with which they were raised.

After four years, when Carolyn’s daughter Betty turned 18, she told her mother this new life was not for her. Betty wanted to return to her former life. She was the only of the eight children who desired to go back. Carolyn Jessop was shocked, but her daughter was now an adult and could make her own decisions. She says she had no choice but to let her return.

Learn more about Carolyn's experience here.

The sweat lodge in Sedona, AZ organized by James Arthur Ray.

Ismael Estrada
AC360° Producer

At 6:30 pm on Wednesday night, people were lining up at the Heritage Ballroom inside the Antlers Hilton in Colorado Springs. About 125 people filled the ballroom to listen to James Arthur Ray. He was here to sell and promote his beliefs, teaching people how to “enrich their lives and their pocket book in the process.”

Gary Tuchman and I were there for another reason. We were trying to speak with Ray about a homicide investigation surrounding the deaths of three people at a sweat lodge Mr. Ray organized and attended in Sedona, AZ two weeks ago.

Authorities at the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office say they would like to speak with Ray about his involvement in the sweat lodge ceremony and have said the incident is now considered a homicide investigation. Family members of those who died also say they would like to speak with him. While he may not be talking to them, Ray has kept very busy, sticking with his schedule -  stopping at various cities across the country over the past two weeks trying to drum up business.

Last night, Gary was finishing a phone interview with Beverly Bunn, a woman who was inside the sweat lodge two weeks ago, while I was sitting in the lobby waiting for Ray to arrive.

Bunn told Gary that the group was encouraged by Ray to fight through the pain of sitting inside the hot conditions of the sweat lodge. She told Gary people were passing out and people started shouting names to see check if anyone else had passed out. Bunn says a woman passed out and the group wasn’t sure if she was breathing. When it was brought to Ray's attention, Bunn said, “He said the door has now closed and the round has begun.” Bunn says Ray told the group “we’ll deal with that at the end of this round.”

When Gary came down to the lobby, he and photojournalist Kevin Myers were approached by Hilton Security and a police officer and were told they were not allowed to take any video of Ray. I was inside the ballroom, where the self–help promoter was about to take the stage. Ray was introduced and immediately addressed the crowd saying that the past 10 days had been the toughest days of his life because of those who passed away. He also said there were many things being said about him that were very disparaging.

It was then that I introduced myself as a reporter with CNN and asked him how he could justify touring from city to city, earning money, not two weeks after three people had died in a sweat lodge he organized.

He told me that the event was not a press conference, and I kept repeating my question asking why he hadn’t spoken with anyone about these issues. I was then asked by security to get up, and was escorted out of the ballroom never getting an answer.

A sweat lodge being prepared in Cornville, Arizona.

Ismael Estrada
AC360° Producer

Last night, Gary Tuchman and I were sitting inside a hot, dark sweat lodge with 11 other people.

Members of various Native American tribes in Cornville, AZ wanted us to see what a sweat lodge was all about, and it’s importance to their culture.

The lodge itself is constructed of willow branches, tied together and sturdy enough to hold several coverings and finally a tarp. Inside, there are hot rocks, placed inside a hole and water is poured on the rocks to increase the heat. The space inside is very small.

We all sat shoulder-to-shoulder as various Native American songs were sung and prayers were voiced.

The people here are worried that the tragic deaths of two people in a sweat lodge near Sedona last week is going to destroy what they consider to be a very important part of their culture.

Self Help guru James Arthur Ray, held what he calls a spiritual warrior retreat, charging close to $10,000 dollars for several days of activities - including a sweat lodge experience. Two people died and many others were hospitalized when something went terribly wrong. Investigators are looking into what caused the deaths.

The Native Americans inside our sweat lodge were also angered that people would do what they consider spiritual as part of a money making event. To them, a sweat lodge is very spiritual, steeped in tradition and is not something to be exploited.

In this rare instance they invited us in so they could show the world how important this ritual is to their culture. Gary Tuchman will have our story on James Ray and the sweat lodge deaths tonight at 10 p.m. ET.

A memorial honoring the victims of the violence in Chicago, including Blair Holt.

Ismael Estrada
AC360° Producer

I'll never forget the day I met Ronald Holt and Annette Nance. It was in the spring of 2007 and their son, Blair Holt had just been killed on his way home from school on a city bus.

CNN Correspondent David Mattingly, Photographer Derek Davis and I walked into their home to interview the grieving parents of their honor roll student who had plans to move on to college. Two gunmen got on the bus and started firing when Blair jumped in front of his friend to protect her. He was killed.

As they told us about their loss, the pain in their voices was gut-wrenching. In the end they made a promise - to do all they could to stop the violence that is killing so many school children in Chicago.

They marched, held rallies and worked with social programs, but kids continue to die.

Two weeks ago, a video underscored the violence. A cell phone camera caught the brutal beating of 16-year-old Derrion Albert, another honor roll student whose life ended before it even got started.

Now, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, and Attorney General Holder are in Chicago to meet with Mayor Daley and other public officials to figure out how to stop the kids from killing each other.

We have been covering this story for three years. In that time, more than 100 school kids have died. How can this stop?

Alexandra Poolos and Ismael Estrada
AC360°

Jerri Hyde first sent Anderson an email in July. In it, she wrote that her sons Donald and Daniel had both served in Iraq. Dan, 23, worked as an explosives expert in the Marines, and Don, 25, had been in the Army. Both, Jerri wrote, now suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and weren't getting the help they needed.

"I am writing because I feel Mr. Cooper just might be the one to listen," Jerri wrote. "My sons are suffering PTSD after serving our country. And getting no help. I don't understand this."

Jerri's email arrived after visiting her younger son Dan in Texas.

When we first called her, Jerri told us that Dan's problems seemed minor when compared to his older brother Don’s, who had deserted the military almost six months ago after reenlisting for another tour of duty. Don didn't know what to do now that he deserted the army. Jerri didn't know where he was hiding, just that he was somewhere in their home state of Illinois. For three months, the family kept in touch, and then finally in late September, Don reached out and said he wanted to talk.

Don was on the run and was getting tired of looking over his shoulder. He was ready to turn himself in and face the reality of his decision to abandon his duties.

According to the army, the penalties for desertion can be quite steep. He could receive up to 5 years of confinement, forfeiture of all pay, and a dishonorable discharge.

Still, Don showed up at the Illinois State Police station with his mother, father-in-law and girlfriend. He was emotional, but ready to turn himself in. He says leaving was a good decision because he was worried that he would hurt himself or a fellow soldier while he was in the army. His only regret was re-enlisting.

CNN is broadcasting live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Ismael Estrada
AC360° Producer

We headed out bright and early this morning to pick up Anderson at his hotel and start our day at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles.

As soon as we got close we could tell this was going to be a traffic nightmare. Anderson had to jump out of the car and head over to our set up while we were directed to drive around in circles until we could get our parking spot. The blue wristbands they handed out to the media don’t seem to impress the cops.

Gold wristbands were given to ticket holders who will attend the service.

But the gold wristbands – those are the most coveted items we’ve seen since Willy Wonka opened the gates to his chocolate factory. We saw fans lining up – wearing their wristbands with pride—they just won the lottery.

As we headed over to the media platforms—the buzz around the Stapes Center was growing. Large screens with images of Michael Jackson starting from his time with the Jackson 5 until just days before his death at his last rehearsal. As I sit here and write this, I can hear fans screaming as celebrities pass through the main entrance.

CNN photographer Chris Turner was able to snap a quick photo of Lou Ferrigno, Michael Jackson’s former personal trainer –better known as the incredible hulk from his 70’s acting days, entering the building.

Right now—the Jackson family is having a private memorial and will head over here in a short while. We just got word that the ceremony, which was supposed to start at 10:30 a.m. PST., may be delayed about 30 minutes.

Jackson's former trainer, Lou Ferrigno outside of the Staples Center.

Ismael Estrada
AC360° Producer

I was sitting at home in Chicago when I saw the video for the first time. An off-duty officer was caught on surveillance tape beating a female bartender in February of 2007. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing! The guy was huge. Anthony Abbate was behind the bar slamming the woman around, throwing her to the ground and punching her over and over in the head. I called a couple friends who are cops here in Chicago to ask if they knew this guy. One friend told me, “He deserves every day he gets behind bars! This gives us such a bad name.”

I knew the attorney, Terry Ekl, who had the tape. I gave him a call and he met me at our Chicago bureau in the morning with his client, the bartender who was beaten, Karolina Obyrcka. I remember thinking that Obyrcka was small, but I was also impressed with the fact that she was able to walk away from the beating she took.

Obyrcka told us her story which you were able to see on AC360° that night and gave us a copy of the surveillance tape. During the interview she says she refused to serve Abbate any more drinks when he became enraged. She says he went behind the bar and started to beat her. Abbate admitted during the trial that he was drunk during the incident, but also says the 5’ 3” bartender was the aggressor in the violent scuffle.

Today, two-and-a-half years later, Obyrcka was in court to hear the sentencing for Abbate. He was found guilty of aggravated battery in the incident, after a judge rejected Abbate’s claim that he was acting in self defense when he threw, punched and kicked Obyrcka. Abbate was offered an opportunity to address the judge before sentencing, but declined. He never offered an apology to the bartender who is more than half his size. He was given his sentence, two years probation, community service, and ordered to take anger management classes. No jail time. None. Abbate must feel like the luckiest man in the world.

Outside the courtroom, Obyrcka said she was disappointed Abbate didn’t get a stiffer penalty, but also disappointed Abbate never said he was sorry. The Chicago Police Department says that Abbate “has been relieved of his police duties and is suspended pending separation.”

Ismael Estrada
AC360° Producer

I’ll never forget a story I was working on about five years ago in Chicago.

It was a story on housing scams on the south and west areas of the city. I was snooping around an abandoned building that had been purchased for an incredible amount of money. I went around back and two pit bulls were about ready to attack each other. I realized they were getting trained to fight and I knew there was trouble around the corner. I tried to quietly walk away, but I was spotted.

Three guys started coming after me, so I ran as fast as I could back to my car. I don’t think they would have done anything to me, I probably could have told them what I was doing and been just fine, but as I was starting the car, one guy was raising his hands and I noticed a gun in the front of his pants. They let me drive away and that was that.

But ask any kid around here in the tough neighborhoods and they’ll tell you how to get a gun. I’m not arguing for or against gun control. It’s just a fact: guns are easy to get here, even when it’s illegal to have them in Chicago. Another fact, they are using them at an alarming rate. According the police department, in the first five months of this year close to 700 people have been shot. This school year, 36 Chicago Public School children have been killed, most of them by gun shots.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta and I were in the emergency room of Advocate Christ Medical Center near Chicago last week. We watched as people who were shot were rushed to the hospital and taken to the operating room. Tonight we bring you the story that you don’t see. It’s the story that doctors see here on a daily basis, people fighting for their lives after being shot on Chicago’s streets.

Tania Lozoya was shot dead in Juarez, Mexico earlier this month.

Ismael Estrada
AC360° Producer

Earlier this week, Mexican government officials announced a major corruption bust. Ten mayors and 17 other officials were arrested, suspected of having ties to one of Mexico’s most violent drug syndicates. It was a shift from what we have seen in Mexican president Felipe Calderon’s war on drug cartels. Until recently, we have seen much of the war fought by military force and beefed up police forces, but little done on the actual corruption of many in local governments who are rumored to be bought off by Mexican Drug cartels.

Yet, despite the military force in border towns and arrests of government officials, people continue to die. In one sad case, an innocent, promising 15-year-old girl was killed.

Tania Lozoya was shot dead in Juarez, Mexico earlier this month. She wasn’t over the border partying, she wasn’t doing anything she wasn’t supposed to be doing. She was not involved with the drug cartels. She was with family celebrating a cousin’s baptism when a gun battle broke out between suspected drug traffickers near the party. A stray bullet hit Lozoya in the neck and she was killed.

She was a freshman at Coronado High School in El Paso, Texas, just minutes from Juarez, Mexico. She was an honor roll student and a star player on the high school girls’ softball team. Her family says she had plans to go on to college and perhaps law school. She was described by teachers and students as a leader both on the field and in the class room with a bright future. She was enrolled in advanced placement classes and was active in student government. Now, she is another victim in killings over drugs.

So many times people say, it’s just drug traffickers killing other drug traffickers, but there are innocent victims in the drug war. There are good people like Tania Lozoya who are taken from their parents long before she was supposed to.

How many more Tania’s will die before the drug was is over?

Program Note: Tune in tonight for a full report on the kidnapping in Mexico on AC360° at 10 p.m. ET.

George Norman Harrison in his pizzeria. Harrison was kidnapped and murdered in Mexico.

A family photo of Harrison with his niece, Andrea.

The bull ring across the street from where Harrison's body was found.

Ismael Estrada
AC360° Producer

This week all the attention is on Mexico and how to contain the Swine Flu that has taken so many lives. As the illness pops up in the United States and other parts of the world, people are learning how to avoid the deaths like those in Mexico. People living in Mexico are walking around in surgical masks, encouraged to stay inside and restaurants are only serving food to go. At the San Ysidro border crossing, just south of San Diego, Customs and Border Protection agents are screening people coming back from Mexico, looking for signs of the illness.

But in the news this morning there was a quick reminder of another virus killing so many people in Mexico. Last night after 8pm, 10 Tijuana police officers were shot, leaving five dead and the others in critical condition. The drug war is a virus that no one seems to be able to stop. We have spent much of this year going into Mexico and talking with people who live in this danger zone. People are afraid to take their children out in the streets, many are upset that their country is being hijacked by a cartel members who have no value for human life.

Gary Tuchman and I were in Tijuana, Mexico two weeks ago when we met a man named Guadalupe who dealt with the drug war like no one could ever imagine. He was in contact with kidnappers who were holding a friend ransom. His friend was an American, George Norman Harrison, who was living in Mexico and owned a pizza business. Guadalupe, who wouldn’t give us his last name out of fear, dropped ransom money off and negotiated with the kidnappers. Harrison’s fingers were chopped off and sent to Guadalupe to keep pressure on to find more money. After delivering a second drop, his body was found, headless and without arms.

Mexico’s drug war has crippled their economy which relies so much on tourism. The United States has now issued a travel warning against unnecessary travel to Mexico because of the Swine Flu. The Mexican government is taking steps to try to contain the illness. They have ordered the closing of bars, clubs, movie theaters, pool halls, theaters, gyms, sport centers, and convention halls. It makes you wonder how much more can Mexico take?

Ismael Estrada
AC360° Producer

I’ve got three wonderful kids between the ages of two and seven, but they make a mess. Okay, my wife and I also contribute, but we never collected this much garbage before we had kids.

I swear we end up filling our trash and recycle bins to the very top each and every day. I guess I never think of where all this garbage goes, I only try to do our part and make sure our paper, cans, bottles, etc. get to the bins where they’re supposed to be recycled. Sadly, for me, that’s where it ends. I feel like I’ve done my part.

A very good friend and colleague Bill Kirkos at CNN feels very differently. He took a year off from his paid newsgathering duties and studied the trash issue putting together an eye-opening documentary, “Trashed.” Most of us touch on an issue when covering stories, but get moved on to the next story so quickly that you hardly have the time you would like to dedicate yourself to the things that you cover.

Bill sunk his own money into his project and has since returned to the newsroom working as a freelance producer with us at CNN. Some of these figures from the EPA and other noted sources got him motivated to check out what’s going on after we dump our trash.

• Americans make up only about 5 percent of earth’s total population, yet we generate about 25 percent of the world’s waste.
• In 2000, the EPA established a link between global climate change and solid waste management. Since then, the amount of garbage each American produces every single day has risen to over 4 pounds a day.
• 250 millions tons of garbage is produced every year in the U.S.
• Almost 40% of all food produced in the U.S. gets wasted. That's why so many environmentalists believe composting could be one of the best ways to reduce the amount of garbage we throw out. Most food waste gets thrown into landfills. This is largely why landfills recently claimed the title of being the largest source of human-related methane in the United States. Methane is a greenhouse gas 23 times more powerful than carbon dioxide.
• According to the Algalita Marine Research Foundation in California, less than 4% of all plastics get recycled.
• Trash is BIG business with 43 billion dollars in annual waste industry revenues.

So on this earth day, perhaps we can all do a little better at reducing some of our own trash.

For more information or education materials on this issue check out Bill Kirkos’ web site.

George Norman Harrison and his daughter, Andrea.

Ismael Estrada
AC360° Producer

Gary Tuchman and I were in Tijuana last month covering a story on the drug war and the way it has impacted tourism when we heard about a gruesome discovery. 3 bodies were found just minutes from the US border next to a Tijuana bull ring. The bodies were missing heads, arms and legs and a note was attached with the word “snitches.” Turns out, one of those bodies was a 38-year-old American who had been living in Tijuana.

George Norman Harrison is described by his family as a loving man who loved Mexico and the Mexican people. He was born and raised in San Diego County, but lived in Tijuana, Mexico just south of the U.S. border for 13 years. He loved Harley Davidson motorcycles and owned 2 pizza shops in Tijuana calling them Harley’s Pizza. His employees describe him as a great boss, his friends describe him as a hard working, honest man, his family describes him as a loving, caring person, but law enforcement in Mexico say he was connected to the drug cartels, but could offer no evidence as to what those connections were.

On Feb 3rd, 3 men kidnapped him while he was working in one of his pizza shops. His family and friends would never see him again. His family says he was held for ransom, with the kidnappers asking for 1 million dollars. The family says when kidnappers realized they didn’t have the means to come up with the cash, the ransom was lowered to 100 thousand dollars. It took them time to raise the money and had to make more than one payment to the kidnappers. The family says kidnappers delivered 2 of Harrison’s severed fingers to his home to keep pressure on the family to come up with the money.

On the day a second payment was made, George Harrison’s lifeless, beheaded body was found.

We talked with family members who were negotiating with the kidnappers and struggled do deal with Harrison’s brutal murder.

Gary Tuchman has the story tonight on AC360.

Program Note: Tune in tonight to hear the full report on what happened after Natasha Richardson's fall on AC360° at 10 p.m. ET.

Richardson was taking a beginner lesson at Mount Tremblant ski resort.

Ismael Estrada
AC360° Producer

When Natasha Richardson fell while skiing in Quebec last month, she hit her head hard enough that an ambulance was called to the scene by ski patrol. She got up and walked off her injury, turning away an ambulance, thinking she was fine.

I think I know how she felt. I fell last year down a flight of concrete stairs after an ice storm, the impact knocked me out for about 15 seconds. I came to, stood up and walked it off. I also turned away the ambulance. I felt they were better used to take care of sick people. Luckily, I was fine.

Natasha Richardson was not. She suffered an epidural hematoma. A condition that causes a blood clot on the brain between the hard skull and a layer of skin that covers the brain. Too much swelling and it can cause brain damage or in some cases, death.

Once symptoms are felt, doctors say you need to get to a trauma center within 60 to 90 minutes.

The closest trauma center to the Quebec ski resort is a two-and-a-half hour drive to Montreal. Too long for Richardson to survive. But there are no medical helicopters.

Natasha Richardson’s death is a wake-up call. Many doctors say the absence of medical helicopters and trauma centers within close proximity is a long standing problem in that area of Eastern Canada. So could a medical helicopter have saved Richardson's life?

Dr. Sanjay Gupta and I traveled there this week to reveal new details of just what happened after Richardson fell. Our report will be on AC360 tonight at 10PM.

Actress Natasha Richardson died after suffering an epidural hematoma in a fall during a ski lesson.

An ambulance took Richardson from the Hotel Quintessence, above, to a nearby hospital.

Ismael Estrada
AC360° Producer

Natasha Richardson came to Mont Tremblant ski resort in eastern Canada last month for what was supposed to be a skiing getaway.

But what she may not have known is some doctors have been arguing that if a person here is in need of urgent care at a medical trauma center, he or she may not be able to get there fast enough. The only way to get to the closest trauma center from here is to drive 2½ hours to Montreal. No helicopter medical service is available.

The Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail obtained 911 recordings from Monday, March 16, when Richardson fell on a beginners slope on a sunny, clear day at the resort. The first request for help came in at 12:43 p.m., an urgent call that a woman had fallen on the slopes. That woman was Richardson. Seventeen minutes later, at 1 p.m., an ambulance arrived, but Richardson had been able to walk away from the fall and was headed back to her hotel room.

Ten minutes later the ambulance was told to stand down, the call canceled.

What Richardson couldn't have known is that she suffered an epidural hematoma. It's a condition where a blood clot forms between the skull and the outer layer of the brain. Too much pressure can cause brain damage and even death. Symptoms include dizziness, headaches and nausea.

"The person seems to be fine and walks it off, and that's one of the problems with an injury such as this," said Dr. Liam Durkan, a neurologist with the Montreal Neurology Institute. "Anytime there is any sort of process expanding in the skull, which is a closed space, once the symptoms are apparent, it can be a matter of 30 minutes to an hour to 90 minutes before there is a major deterioration."

Two hours after her initial fall, while Richardson was back in her hotel room, she was feeling the symptoms. The clock was ticking and she needed to get to a trauma center fast. With the closest trauma center 2½ hours away, time may have been running out on her. It's recommended that anyone with an epidural hematoma get to the trauma center within 30-90 minutes.

At 2:59 p.m., another ambulance was dispatched to the resort. This time, the paramedics went inside and worked on Richardson for 33 minutes before transporting her to the closest hospital an hour away, but it is not a trauma center. Inside the ambulance, Richardson drifted in and out of consciousness.

"It is a rapidly deteriorating situation and the distance might have been just too much by ambulance, road ambulance or air ambulance. It's difficult to say," said Durkan, who did not treat Richardson. Depending on the severity of the injury at the time, he said, even helicopter services may have been too late.

Some trauma doctors have argued for air transport here since the mid-1990s. They say the safest and fastest way to move anyone suffering a trauma injury such as Richardson's is by helicopter. Helicopter transport is common practice in the United States and other areas of Canada. But in the Quebec region, very few places have access to air transport.

In an open letter to the citizens of Quebec sent to the Montreal Gazette, Dr. Michael Churchill Smith, director of professional services at the Montreal General Hospital, said incidents like Natasha Richardson's should serve as a wake-up call to Quebec. "It is no longer morally acceptable for our citizens who, in the moment of their greatest needs, do not have access to a rapid transit system that gives them the best chance to not only survive, but to survive with a quality of life."

Daniel LeFrancois, director of Quebec's pre-hospital care, told the Gazette that cost is prohibitive when a one-hour flight costs $6,000. It's a question of resources and priorities focusing on "the biggest gain for the biggest need," he said.

Richardson was taken from Mont Tremblant to a hospital in St. Agathe, which does not have the facilities to help someone with a severe head trauma. Richardson was transferred to the trauma center in Montreal about 7 p.m., more than six hours after her initial fall. Twenty-four hours later she was flown to a New York hospital, where she was taken off life support and died.

No one can answer the question whether a helicopter service could have saved Richardson's life. She refused services immediately after her fall, but with the clock ticking immediately after she felt symptoms from her injury, 2½ hours may have been too far away even if she'd gotten help immediately.

Program Note: Tune in to hear more on Dr. Sanjay Gupta's report Thursday on AC360° at 10 p.m. ET.

A view from the base of the Mont Tremblant ski resort in Canada.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta
CNN Chief Medical Correspondent

I just returned from Mont Tremblant, Canada. It is one of the more beautiful ski resorts in eastern, Canada, and it is also the place where actress Natasha Richardson fell and suffered a fatal brain injury. What caused her death is now well known, but there were some other details that struck me while I was there. Let me try and work through this with you.

What no one knew at the time was that she had hit her head hard enough to cause a fracture in her skull. Just underneath that fracture is a small blood vessel that runs just on top of the brain, and it was that blood vessel that started to bleed. By many reports, Richardson got up after her fall and felt well enough to go back to her room and wave off paramedics who had been called. In neurosurgery, we refer to this as a lucid interval. She may have lost consciousness briefly, but now felt fine. The problem for Natasha or anyone with an epidural hematoma is that the pressure continues to build up in the brain.

A little while later, now in her room, Natasha started to feel sick. The most likely symptoms were headache, nausea, disorientation and lethargy. 911 was called again, and now the clock was definitely ticking. If you ask a dozen neurosurgeons, how much time someone has after starting to develop the symptoms Natasha had, you will get varied answers. Anywhere from a few minutes to 90 minutes, but the message is the same: Speed matters. The problem for Natasha was she was 2.5 hours away from a trauma hospital by ambulance, and there was no helicopter available to take her more quickly.

By the time she got to the hospital, too much pressure had built up on her brain and we know she died 24 hours later. The medical care in Canada is world class and the neurosurgeons there could have performed a lifesaving operation, if only she had arrived sooner.

There are doctors in Canada who have been calling for more air ambulances, long before we learned about Natasha Richardson. Others argue that the cost-benefit analysis comes down on the side of not having them.

Read More...

Ismael Estrada
AC360° Producer

It really wasn’t that long ago when people outside of Illinois didn’t know who Rod Blagojevich was. The Chicago Cubs held the crown of the biggest loser in Chicago. The Cubs faithful were fooled once again when the 2008 team, which was “supposed” to go to the World Series, was swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers. Order was restored in windy city. Then Chicago sent one if its own to the White House. The city was buzzing, White Sox and Cubs fans were getting along, people were happier than they have been since Michael Jordan had this city on his shoulders.

Then the headlines on December 9th, 2008: “Governor Busted” “Prosecutors: Blagojevich tried to sell Obama’s vacant senate seat!”

It was as if the air had been let out of the city. The allegations were eye opening. Did our Governor really do what the U.S attorney Patrick Fitzgerald says he did? The prosecutors touted wire taps where conversations were recorded. There were allegations that he tried to have Chicago Tribune editorial writers fired in return for the state of Illinois helping structure a sale of Wrigley Field. Suddenly, everyone forgot about the Cubs. Everyone was talking about Rod Blagojevich.

I live not too far from the governor, about 8 blocks to be exact. Over the years we had grown accustomed to seeing the governor on his weekly jog around the neighborhood. People would nod, say hello, and allow him to go on. But suddenly those jogs were happening in the snow with photographers chasing him. Coffee shops and pubs around the city were filled with people talking about the allegations. Suddenly people were wondering whether players in the upcoming Obama administration were caught on tape with the governor.

Governor Blagojevich went on the talk show circuit while the Illinois Senate was debating his impeachment. He appeared on The View, Larry King, Campbell Brown, David Letterman, professing his innocence. He appointed Roland Burris to the open senate seat. A short time later, Blagojevich was impeached. He walked outside his home and again professed his innocence saying he was looking forward to his day in court.

A federal grand jury today handed up sweeping corruption charges against Blagojevich, his brother Robert Blagojevich, the Governor’s former chief of staff , his most recent chief of staff, his chief fundraiser, and an Illinois powerbroker. A columnist for the Chicago Tribune, John Kass, wrote that the country was getting a taste of Chicago doing politics as usual. He wrote that “By Chicago standards, Blagojevich isn’t crazy.”

Whether Blagojevich was doing business as usual, as Kass suggested, or not, the former governor’s day in court is coming. But for now, a patron in my local coffee shop suggested out loud, “ Blagojevich narrowly beats out the Cubs for the biggest loser in Chicago.”

Cops on patrol in Juarez, Mexico.

At one site of the California/Mexico border

Ismael Estrada
AC360° Producer

Over the past month I have been to every major city on both sides of the Mexico border. I’ve been covering the drug war and I’ve seen how it is affecting so many people on both sides.

There have been many eye-opening experiences. But nothing remains as vivid in my mind as the morgue in Juarez, Mexico.

It was a bloody week toward the end of February. Numerous cops had been killed throughout the week and the cartels were threatening to kill even more. My photographer, Gil DeLaRosa, and I walked into the morgue and couldn’t believe what we saw.

There wasn’t enough room to fit the bodies that were piling up. There was a cop laid out on a steel stretcher, his body riddled with bullet wounds. Bodies were stacked in every direction. Many were destined for mass graves they hadn’t been claimed and remained unidentified.

A blood-stained helmet of a police officer killed in Juarez, Mexico.

One week later we went to Baja, Mexico. The resort towns along the coast are dying as tourists don’t visit them anymore. We were nearby by when police discovered three headless bodies close to the Tijuana shores. All were missing their hands and one body missing feet. There was a note with the word “snitch” on the bodies.

As we were setting up for a live on the air outside of the only open club in the area, a bar owner walked up to us in desperation. His business was dying, he said, and he could only afford to keep it open two days a week. He was hoping someone - anyone - would walk in the door. The beautiful beaches were completely empty. Hotels were without guests and restaurants had only a few local patrons.

Teen killers tattoo of death.

Days later, we moved on to Laredo, Texas, where we worked on a story about how some drug cartels recruit American teens to be assassins on the U.S. side of the border. These kids would sit around playing video games waiting for the call to kill. They were paid $500 a week to be available. They would get paid approximately $10,000 – $50,000 for a kill.

We listened to hours of police interrogation tape from Rosalio Reta who had his first hit when he was 13. He talked with pride about how good it made him feel to kill someone with a gun. He said he felt like “superman” and when the cartel members who encouraged him to kill asked for the gun back, Reta said it was like “taking candy from a baby.” The kids tattooed their bodies with their patron saint of death.

Now we are back on the El Paso/Juarez border to continue our reporting on the violence. The amount of death, kidnapping, violence and extortion is horrible. But what amazes me are the people who have to live through this every day of their lives.

There are people on both sides of the border that have to confront this as part of their daily lives. They are good, hard working people who didn’t ask for any of this. It’s for them that I hope this war can be resolved and that Mexico can return to what it once was.

Gabriel Cardona, of Laredo, Texas.

Gabriel Cardona's tattooed back.

Rosalio Reta, of Laredo, Texas.

Ismael Estrada
AC360° Producer

Gabriel Cardona and Rosalio Reta should have been enrolled in classes at their Laredo, Texas high school - but these two teenagers were living a very different life from going to gym, math or history classes.

These two American high school dropouts were contract killers — on the payroll of drug cartels in Mexico. Investigators say they were paid $500 a week, just to sit around and wait for orders from Mexico to kill. Depending on the target they could bring in anywhere between $10,000 and $50,000. They would drive around in a $70,000 Mercedes Benz, flash cash, guns and live with little fear of any consequences for their actions.

Their crimes were heinous. They admitted to burning bodies in barrels and joked about cutting another victim in the stomach, taking his blood and toasting to their patron saint of death. They wore tattoos of the grim reaper – tattooed their eyelids and face and lived together in houses bought by the cartels. They would leave bodies in blood stained streets, cars riddled with bullets. All signatures of cartel killings, only these were happening on the United States side of the border.

When investigators caught up with Cardona and Reta, they say what they learned was chilling. The cartels have cells of contract killers –not only in Laredo, but in many other cities in the United States.

During hours of police interviews and recorded phone conversations, these two killers laugh about their crimes. Reta says he felt like Superman after his first killing. Cardona spoke of killing cells that exist in Dallas and Houston.

Cardona, now 21, is serving a life sentence for his crimes. And Reta, now 19, was sentenced to 40 years in prison, but he is scheduled for another court appearance soon.

A chilling wake up call that Mexican drug cartels don’t stop at the border; they are present where drugs are sold or distributed.