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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Sistani Brokers Peace With al-Sadr; Presidential Election a Dead Heat; Kennedy Smith Faces Another Rape Accusation
Aired August 26, 2004 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, HOST: The world crosses its fingers are two religious firebrands agree to a peace in Iraq.
360 starts now.
Iraq's most powerful holy man, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, brokers a peace in Najaf with Muqtada al-Sadr. A deal's been made, but is this the real deal?
A new national poll shows the race for president is a dead heat. But has the swift boat drama changed the mind of some voters?
William Kennedy Smith faces a new accuser with an old charge, rape. But why did it take the woman five years to come forward, and why is she only asking for money?
Food and bash at the Olympics. We go 360 with gymnasts Paul and Morgan Hamm. They speak out about bad judges, backstabbing officials, and being hung out to dry in Athens.
And porn superstar Jenna Jameson, now an bestselling author? She joins me to talk candidly about sex, women, and the harsh realities of porn.
ANNOUNCER: Live from the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is ANDERSON COOPER 360.
COOPER: And good evening, thanks for joining us.
We begin tonight with something in rare supply lately, good news from Iraq, or at least the hope of good news. Two religious leaders have negotiated a peace deal to end the violence in Najaf. And the new Iraqi government has agreed to fund the deal. Whether the ragtag forces of rebel cleric Muqtada al-Sadr will honor the deal remains to be seen.
In the dusty, demolished streets of Najaf, deals have been made and broken before.
CNN's Matthew Chance joins us from Najaf. Matthew?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Anderson.
And you're right, the deals have been made and broken before, but it seems that this one has the authority of the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani behind it, and that gives it extra weight.
But basically the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- the deal calls for the holy city of Najaf, as well as the neighboring town of Kufa, to be made a weapons-free zones, and for the Imam Ali Shrine at the center of this ferocious fighting that we've been witnessing here for the past three weeks to be cleared of Mehdi Army fighters and for Iraqi police to allowed to patrol and take over security duties around Najaf and other areas.
That's a big thing for the Iraqi interim government, because it means that the militia, the Mehdi Army, which the Iraqi government says is illegal, is no longer walking the streets with weapons. And so this is something of a face-saving truce for the interim Iraqi government.
Muqtada al-Sadr as well comes off relatively well, in the sense that the charges of murder against him that's emerged will be dropped, and the door is still open for him to take part in the mainstream political fray. So Muqtada al-Sadr, it seems, is far from finished as well as a result of this, Anderson.
COOPER: Matthew Chance, thanks much, live from Najaf.
A news note now from Iraq. An Italian journalist has reportedly been executed by a group calling itself the Iraqi Islamic Army. The group said it would kill this man, Enzo Baldoni, if the Italian government didn't announce within 48 hours its intent to withdraw its troops from Iraq.
For the record, this show has decided not to show video provided by the hostage takers of the journalist in captivity or of his body. We've decided airing the images they taped simply encourages them, something we refuse to do.
In the presidential race, the country is clearly divided, deeply polarized, and a new CNN-Gallup poll just hours old shows that fault lines are virtually unchanged. The two main presidential candidates are running neck and neck whether you look at registered voters, who split 48 percent for Kerry and 47 percent for Bush, or likely voters, who favor Bush 50 to 47. The margin of error makes the results a tie, and that makes the undecideds a very important voting block.
Today, Senator John Kerry went after them.
Here's CNN congressional correspondent, Joe Johns.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With a new national poll showing the race still a virtual dead heat, John Kerry hit the state fair in the swing state of Minnesota. Earlier in Anoka, Minnesota, Kerry spoke to a group the campaign said were mostly undecided voters on health care, an issue where polls show he holds a clear advantage.
Kerry cited new U.S. Census data to support his claim that the middle class is getting squeezed, numbers that show 1.4 million people lost their health care in 2003, and 1.3 million fell into poverty.
SEN. JOHN KERRY, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: And the census figures are facts. They're not political diatribe. They don't have a political label on them. They're facts, statistics, and they tell a story when you add them all up.
JOHNS: The Bush campaign says the Census report does not include all the data from the past 11 months when the economy started picking up steam.
On the swift boat controversy, Kerry repeated his charge that the Bush campaign is engaging in fear-and-smear tactics and said the swift boat veteran charges were flat-out wrong.
KERRY: I'm absolutely telling you the God's honest truth about what happened and what took place over there.
JOHNS: But Kerry's aides also announced that they have asked television stations to stop running a response ad on the issue that features John McCain from four years ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, KERRY CAMPAIGN AD)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (February 15, 2000): That fringe veteran said that John McCain had abandoned the veterans. Now, I don't know how -- if you can understand this, George, but that really hurts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: The Kerry campaign said it pulled the ad out of deference to McCain after reading press reports that said the Arizona senator didn't like it.
Joe Johns, CNN, Anoka, Minnesota.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, for his part, President Bush left the ranch today and returned to the campaign trail, visiting the battleground state of New Mexico. In a preview, perhaps, of next week's convention, the president brought some heavy reinforcements with him.
We turn to White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux. Suzanne?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, as you know, New Mexico is a critical state for the president. He lost by just 366 votes back in 2000. Today, President Bush, traveling with what many Republicans consider their own rock star, that's former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, we also learned, of course, that the president, before even getting off of Air Force One, made a very important call, that call to Republican Senator John McCain.
Now, as you know, McCain had been disappointed that the president didn't specifically denounce the those Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ads, criticizing Senator Kerry's service, that he didn't specifically call to get them off the air.
We understand that President Bush reached out to McCain. He said that the Bush campaign was going to take legal action to make sure those political groups, outside groups, would not run those political ads. He said that they were going to try to clamp down on that. If that didn't happen, they would use some sort of legislative action.
Now, also, as you know, of course, McCain, who's been at the forefront of the campaign finance reform as well as someone who took those ads very seriously, says that he is satisfied, that he's appreciative of what the president has done.
Also, Anderson, of course, that comes just in time when President Bush and McCain are supposed to campaign together next week.
COOPER: All right, Suzanne Malveaux, thanks very much from the White House tonight.
More insight from today's new CNN Gallup poll. All the emotion, energy, and ink used to debate the swift boat ad may turn out to be, to borrow words from William Shakespeare, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. When asked how John Kerry's war record will affect their vote, 54 percent said it made no difference at all, and the rest were evenly split for and against.
But the controversy may have dampened spirits among some voters a little. When asked how enthusiastic they are about voting, 60 percent said they were more enthusiastic this year than in past elections. But that number's actually down from 69 percent just after the Democratic convention.
William Kennedy Smith is once again accused of sexual assault, something he again denies. The nephew of Senator Edward Kennedy is being sued in civil court by his former personal assistant. Again, we say civil court, not a criminal proceeding. She claims he sexually assaulted her after a night out celebrating her birthday.
Now, back in 1991, you'll remember, the attention of the country focused on Smith and his criminal trial on rape charges. That trial ended in an acquittal. Smith is now a doctor living in Chicago.
That's where CNN's Jonathan Freed picks up the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Audra Soulias claims she is stricken with physical and emotional pain. In a civil lawsuit, she accuses William Kennedy Smith of sexually assaulting her five years ago.
AUDRA SOULIAS, SUING KENNEDY SMITH: My innocence was involuntarily taken from me in a manner by someone who I trusted and respected. It was taken in a violent act that will haunt me till the day I die.
FREED: The suit claims Kennedy Smith got Soulias drunk at a Chicago bar in January of 1999, where she was celebrating her 23rd birthday, forced her to come home with him, stripped her clothes off, and then violated her with his fingers.
Kennedy Smith is a doctor and heads an organization that helps victims of land mines. Soulias was his personal assistant.
KEVIN O'REILLY, AUDRA SOULIAS'S ATTORNEY: Money isn't going to do a thing to him. This is about getting this to stop. This is about right and wrong.
FREED: Soulias's civil suit seeks at least $50,000 in damages. In a statement, Kennedy Smith calls it all outrageous and untrue, saying, quote, "Unfortunately, my family and my personal history have made me unusually vulnerable to these kind of allegations."
After the alleged incident, Soulias and Kennedy Smith had a relationship lasting several months. Her lawyer says she waited years before filing suit, because she was ashamed and afraid of Kennedy Smith's wealth and family influence.
The lawsuit claims Soulias received threatening phone calls from Kennedy Smith in January of this year, after she offered to help with an internal investigation at his office into sexual harassment claims against him.
SOULIAS: I do not wish to see one more woman victimized by this individual. Enough is enough.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FREED: Now, Soulias's lawyer says that she went to the authorities three years ago with her story, and she even had taken her own polygraph test, which she says that she passed. But the authorities told her that there was just not enough evidence for a criminal trial, Anderson.
COOPER: All right. Thanks very much for that from Chicago tonight.
Making air travel more secure with secure flight, that story tops our look at what's going on cross-country.
Washington, D.C., secure flights, the name, passenger screening's the game. The government's taking over that job from the airlines. The new system's was designed to more accurately check passenger manifests against terror watch lists.
Trenton, New Jersey, now, apologize, and maybe there will be no lawsuit. That word from the Israeli man who accuses Governor Jim McGreevey of sexual harassment. The governor's office told Golan Cipel, Don't wait by the phone.
Hollywood, Florida, the father of a Marine is expected to survive his burns. Police say a distraught Carlos Arredondo torched a government van when Marine officers told him his son was killed in Iraq. Arredondo was burned over 40 percent of his body. New York, now, a federal judge strikes down the law banning a type of late-term abortion, calling it "gruesome and barbaric." This time the law was challenged on the grounds that it fails to include an exemption that protects the health of the mother.
Jupiter, Florida, meet Cara, a mild-mannered canine who holds two world records for doggy skydiving, one for highest altitude, the second for speed. Cara's more than just a playgirl, she's a member of an elite search and rescue squad that's trained to parachute into disasters. Remarkable.
That looks at stories cross-country tonight.
360 next, one of the nation's most grisly murders, a follower of Charles Manson begs for parole. She may be a model prisoner, but should she be set free? We'll take a closer look at that.
Plus, controversial gold, why Paul Hamm felt hung out to dry at the Olympics. A friend talked with Paul and Morgan Hamm ahead.
And an emergency hearing over DNA evidence and jury selection about to begin. The Kobe Bryant case heats up in Colorado.
All that ahead.
First, let's take a look at your picks, the most popular stories right now on CNN.com.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Well, the crimes were so horrific that 35 years later, people still talk about the Charles Manson murders. On a day in August of 1969, film star Sharon Tate and four other people were found slain in her estate. A day later, a store owner and his wife were found brutally murdered in their home.
All those involved in the killings are still in prison, including the leader, of course, Charles Manson. One of his disciples, Leslie Van Houten, faced a parole board for the 15th time.
CNN's Adaora Udoji reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ADAORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Leslie Van Houten, the youngest convicted in cult leader Charles Manson's 1969 murder plots, hoped after 14 tries she'd get paroled.
LESLIE VAN HOUSTON, CONVICTED KILLER: I was raised to be a decent human being. I turned into a monster. And I have spent these years going back to a decent human being. And I just don't know what else to say.
UDOJI: The prosecutor argued she deserved more time, given her gruesome crime of stabbing a woman 16 times. STEPHEN KAY, LOS ANGELES COUNTY DEPUTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: What was inside her that let her respond to what Manson and the others were saying? And can we ever be sure that that is no longer there?
UDOJI: The California parole board apparently agreed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are not yet suited for parole.
UDOJI: They also denied parole to her co-defendant, Patricia Krenwinkel, last month.
Van Houten, Krenwinkel, along with Susan Atkins and Manson, members of the so-called Manson family, were convicted of seven murders over two days that summer. Among the victims, an eight-month- pregnant Sharon Tate, actress and wife of movie director Roman Polanski, along with four friends in her secluded home above Beverly Hills.
The crimes horrified the nation, vicious and bloody. Four victims suffered over 100 stab wounds, "Helter Skelter" written in their blood on the walls.
The killers belonged to a cult fueled by drugs and Manson's belief a race war was imminent. Each has been denied parole at least 10 times.
In prison 35 years, Manson will not be eligible for parole again until 2007. Many predict he will never get out, though he and the others did escape the original death sentences after capital punishment was temporarily suspended in the '70s.
Adaora Udoji, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, an aging former dictator loses immunity from prosecution. That story tops what's happening around the world in the uplink.
Santiago, Chile, General Augusto Pinochet was stripped of immunity protection by Chile's supreme court. It is a major victory for the families of thousands of people who disappeared during his Pinochet's 17-year regime. Opponents want the 88-year-old Pinochet tried for human rights abuses.
U.S. Naval Base, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a detainee from Yemen admits he is a member of al Qaeda at his arraignment before a military tribunal. Prosecutors accuse the detainee of being a bodyguard for Osama bin Laden and an al Qaeda recruiter.
Pujon (ph) Province, China, typhoon Aere slams into mainland China with battering winds and pounding rains. Nearly a million Chinese are forced from their homes. The typhoon also devastated parts of Taiwan. the powerful storm has killed at least 35 people.
The Athens Olympics, a golden victory for the U.S. women's soccer team. They beat Brazil two to one in a match that went into overtime, capturing the gold medal.
That's a quick look at what's going on around the world in the uplink.
Last week, we told you the story of seven kids adopted by a Texas woman, who were discovered sick and hungry in an orphanage halfway around the world. A lot of questions still need to be answered, such as, how did they get there? Where was their mother? And a new one tonight, who else knew they were in that orphanage?
CNN's Ed Lavandera reports tonight from Dallas.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The oldest of the seven American children discovered in a Nigerian orphanage is described as angry and resentful about being abandoned by their adoptive mother. But the woman's attorney says she's done nothing wrong.
MICHAEL DELANEY, ADOPTIVE MOTHER'S ATTORNEY: My client does absolutely not feel like she should take any of the blame for what happened in Africa. If that's what the question is, then the question is no, because she didn't do anything wrong.
LAVANDERA: The children were first discovered in Nigeria on July 30, but it wasn't until August 7 before U.S. State Department officials visited the children. U.S. officials are defending their actions.
J. ADAM ERELI, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: We acted quickly when we found out that there was a problem. We contacted family members. We contacted the Nigerians. We did everything that I think is prudent and called for in this situation.
LAVANDERA: The children and mother are back in Houston, where the children remain in the custody of Child Protective Services. The children are undergoing psychological testing and counseling, and a judge has granted the adoptive mother supervised visits.
The children are from more than one family. Two of the biological parents now say they'd like to regain custody of their children.
GREGORY BONNER, BIOLOGICAL FATHER: We may as well get them back. Look how they were shipping them around like cattle. Why not get them back? I'll try. Maybe it may not -- we may not get them back, but I won't know unless I try.
LAVANDERA: The attorney for the adoptive mother says, after meeting with Child Protective Service officials on Thursday, he thinks there's a chance that she could be reunited with her seven children again.
Ed Lavandera, CNN, Dallas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, 360 next, the Kobe Bryant sexual assault case. Jury selection is about to begin, but was some DNA evidence contaminated? We'll have the latest on the emergency hearing.
Also tonight, the story that cable news just can't get enough of, the swift boat ad. Given priceless air time over the weeks, this week feels like overkill.
And a little later, porn star Jenna Jameson. She talks candidly about sex, women, and the realities of porn.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Kobe Bryant's fate may very well rest under a microscope. That's why the lawyers were in court today, battling over something so small, yet so very big.
The prosecution is challenging DNA evidence the defense says shows the accuser had sex with someone other than Bryant. The judge lashed out at prosecutors for bringing this up so late, but he's giving it a few more days before making a decision.
All this on the eve of jury selection of the courtroom saga of a superstar.
National correspondent Gary Tuchman reminds us of where it all began.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): His fans will never forget these images, Kobe Bryant and his Los Angeles Laker teammates celebrating three straight NBA championships.
Just as unforgettable, though, this image from just a year ago, Bryant arrested on allegations of raping a woman, a 19-year-old concierge at this hotel in Eagle County, Colorado, where Bryant was staying following off-season knee surgery.
Two weeks after the July 4 arrest came a formal criminal charge.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Defendant was charged with one count of sexual assault. a class 3 felony.
TUCHMAN: Bryant faced the possibility of up to life in prison if found guilty, and mandatory branding as a sexual offender forever. With his wife sitting by his side, he admitted he was an adulterer, but insisted he was not a rapist.
KOBE BRYANT: I didn't force her to do anything against her will. I'm innocent.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do you plead, not guilty or guilty?
BRYANT: Not guilty. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A plea of not guilty will be entered.
TUCHMAN: During month of hearings, Bryant's attorneys asked Judge Terry Ruckriegel to allow evidence that the woman had sex with other men in the same time period as her encounter with Bryant. This, they said, could explain her injuries.
The accuser herself testified, as did DNA experts, and some of the woman's acquaintances.
DET. DOUG WINTERS, EAGLE COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: Well, sometime in early July, you can expect this critical ruling on rape shield. That may well determine the outcome of this case.
TUCHMAN: The judge's decision was a victory for Bryant.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TUCHMAN: And now, almost 14 months later, we are on the verge of jury selection. Tomorrow morning, hundreds of Eagle County residents will come to this courthouse behind me. They'll converge upon it, possibly overwhelm this small mountain courthouse, for the beginning of jury selection. They will fill out 82-question questionnaires. They'll then be informed over the weekend If they need to come back for further questioning next week.
It is expected that opening statements in this case will take place a week from Tuesday, the day after Labor Day, Anderson.
COOPER: Gary Tuchman, thanks very much for that from Eagle.
Joining me in justice served now to talk about jury selection in the Kobe Bryant trial is, from Chicago, trial consultant Paul Lisnek.
Paul, good to see you again.
PAUL LISNEK, TRIAL CONSULTANT: You too, Anderson.
COOPER: I want to read you some of the facts about residents of Eagle, Colorado, where this jury is going to be pooled from. Their median age is 31, median household income about $73,000, 43 percent of them are college graduates. These facts, what does it tell us about potential jurors showing up tomorrow?
LISNEK: What this tell us, Anderson, is that we are not in an area of sort of rural Colorado that I think a lot of people have this sense of. We are in a place where people are more educated, wealthier, than the typical American. So we're going to get a group of people who are a little more sophisticated than we might expect.
But most importantly, this area is that of celebrity. Celebrities like to hang here. This is Madonna-land. And those people can be sort of disruptive in resorts and those kind of things. We're going to be real concerned about people who work in resorts and the attitudes they bring in.
COOPER: What about race? I mean, you, you, these days you can't ask, you have to ask that question in this kind of a trial.
LISNEK: Yes, that, you know, that's a fascinating situation here, because it's an old sort of concept, but the idea here is, Kobe is black, and the victim here, or the alleged victim, is white, and there is still that sort of old thought that this black-on-white situation could be a problem. Race could come in to be a factor.
He's also a very tall, imposing person. But it's sort of a behind-the-scenes issue. It's one the lawyers are going to want to be sure is not a factor for these more educated people who may show up for this case.
COOPER: What about men versus (UNINTELLIGIBLE) women, a gender difference?
LISNEK: Yes, you know, a lot of people would say, Look, we're in big trouble with women on the jury, but the reality is, research shows us that men will be tougher on Kobe. Men will hold him to a standard for him to understand that no means no, and this is a consent case.
COOPER: That sort of defies conventional wisdom.
LISNEK: Yes, doesn't it? It does, and that's what jury consulting research is all about, right? Because women may have more of a skeptical view here, that this woman, being in the land of celebrity, did she put herself in this situation? Did she create this scenario for herself? It may go against intuition, but men will, would be generally tougher on Kobe than women would.
COOPER: That's a fascinating discussion. Jury selection begins tomorrow. Paul Lisnek, thanks very much.
LISNEK: Thank you, Anderson.
COOPER: Iraq's most powerful holy man, Grand Ayatollah Ali al- Sistani, brokers a peace in Najaf with Muqtada al-Sadr. A deal's been made, but is this the real deal?
Booed and bashed at the Olympics. We go 360 with gymnasts Paul and Morgan Hamm. They speak out about bad judges, backstabbing officials, and being hung out to dry in Athens.
And porn superstar Jenna Jameson, now a bestselling author? She joins me to talk candidly about sex, women, and the harsh realities of porn.
360 continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: 360 next, his Olympic glory tainted by judges with bad math. Paul Hamm speaks out about his dramatic win and the controversy that has followed it.
And tonight. Inside the porn industry. Jenna Jameson shares her cautionary tale. All that ahead. First our top stories. In Iraq today the news of a deal brought hope, but many questions. Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and Grand Ayatollah Ali al- Sistani say they have reached a positive deal which reportedly will allow al-Sadr to remain free, turn Najaf and nearby Kufa into weapons- free cities, provide for elections and give compensation to victims of the violence which the new government of Iraq has agreed to fund.
Joining us to discuss today's events senior international correspondent Nic Robertson. Nic, what do you make of deal?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, it looks pretty good. Everyone can walk away from this happy. Sadr gets to walk away to fight another day. He's not going to be charged with the murder of a Shia cleric in Najaf last year. He gets to keep his army, they get to fight another day. The government gets the problem dealt with and Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has his religious standing if you will improved further despite the fact that he is the highest religious authority in the country. There's something good in there for everyone but that is if the deal sticks and they've had a lot of these deals before. .
COOPER: What role, if any, do you think the U.S. played in all this? Because, I mean, Ali al-Sistani has refused to meet with the U.S. all along.
ROBERTSON: Fascinating. Ali al-Sistani was out in the United Kingdom getting medical treatment. He comes right back into Iraq, brokers a deal that the government hasn't been able to do for the last three weeks. He's been out if you will of this hot, intense, religious hothouse of Najaf. Who has he been talking to and who has been guiding him in saying, look, you have to play a stronger role, you're the one that has the religious and moral authority here to weigh into this. You're the one that can talk Muqtada al-Sadr down from this position, go in and do it.
Or has he merely come to that conclusion himself. So who knows what talks have been going to behind the scenes, but this is a dramatic shift for the grand ayatollah. He hasn't played a central role publicly until now. He's done it from behind the scenes. We've seen the influence that he's had before so they say it's a shift on why. Good question.
COOPER: A shift also because there's no love lost between these two.
ROBERTSON: Absolutely not. Just over a year ago Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani was essentially hiding in his house, holed up. We went to his house to visit him, had guards at the end of the street. Why? Because his followers believed that Muqtada al-Sadr who was just then on the sort of rise and quest in power was going to kill him. It was as simple as that.
So really this is as far as we know the first public time that's it's been announced that they've come together and it certainly would put it in the position where Sistani comes out looking as if he's on top, but certainly for Muqtada al-Sadr he gets to walk away. There's a lot in this for him at this time.
COOPER: One can only imagine how some of the U.S. marines feel who have been battling the forces of Muqtada al-Sadr and who have lost marines in the process. We'll just have to wait to hear from them in the coming days. Nic Robertson, thanks very much.
We'd be willing to bet that until a few weeks ago you'd never even heard of the Swift Boat. Now it probably seems you don't hear much about anything else. The so-called Swift Boat ad only ran in a few select markets, but the coverage on cable and network news has been or at least felt endless. In this election year when important issues are still to be settled the Swift Boats are sailing into overkill.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AD ANNOUNCER: John Kerry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: John Kerry has not been honest about what happened in Vietnam.
COOPER (voice-over): The ad, as you probably know by now, was created by a group calling itself Swift Boat Veterans For Truth. It began running in early August in just three states. The initial buy cost just $500,000, but talk about bang for your buck.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Negative campaign ads.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The anti-Kerry ads.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Swift Boat Veterans. That's the group that's caused such a stir.
COOPER: Stories about the ad and about reaction to the ad have flooded the airwaves. According to video monitoring service, the Swift Boat ad has been mentioned on TV 21,000 times since August 5. 21,000 times.
The Kerry campaign called on President Bush to denounce the ad. The president called on Kerry to denounce all 527 ads but wouldn't specifically denounce this one. The allegations in the ad are unproven and are largely based on hearsay, but still, the controversy surrounding it and the political response to it continue.
Yesterday we saw former Senator Max Cleland in Crawford, Texas, trying to deliver a letter to President Bush asking him to denounce the Swift Boat ad.
MAX CLELAND, FMR. U.S. SENATOR: The mission was to Kerry to the president this plea to please stop attacking the credibility and courage and character of John Kerry.
COOPER: Cleland was met by another Vietnam vet and Bush supporter trying to give him a letter as well.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Either we pull them all down or all get their piece.
COOPER: Both sides say they want to get back to the real issues, but both sides continue to make the Swift Boat ad an issue.
This week, politics and controversy created a perfect storm of overkill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Another controversy this week. Olympic gymnast Paul Hamm. He won the gold, he soon discovered it had been tarnished by controversy. South Korea protested saying a scoring error cost them the very medal Hamm took home. Now instead of celebrating Hamm finds himself defending himself. Ironically for this Olympian, his is not the agony of defeat, but the agony of winning when others said his victory is unfair. I talked to Paul earlier today along with his twin brother and fellow gymnast Morgan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: The greatest comeback in the history of gymnastics it's been called. Take us through the event, that feeling when you knew you got the gold.
PAUL HAMM, OLYMPIC GYMNAST: Well, the first time I knew when I got the medal when my coach yelled to me, "Olympic champion" and I was, like, no. I didn't believe it. It was hard for me to comprehend at the time because I wasn't expecting to score so high and I wasn't expecting to be Olympic champ. I was like, oh, my god. I did it. I've done what I came here to do.
COOPER: It was two days later, I think, on Friday that you heard the South Koreans would be protesting. What did you think?
P. HAMM: At first when I heard about the Koreans' protest I thought it was nothing significant. I thought they were just upset with the way the routine was scored. I didn't know it was a technical issue with the start value, but once I realized that there had been a mistake with the start value then I kind of decided that this was, you know, a more serious issue.
COOPER: The image most people have of athletes in the Olympics is that you're sort of -- you're protected and you're surrounded by these official bodies. It sounds like you were kind of on your own, though. I read that you got most of your information about what was going on from the Internet.
P. HAMM: Yes. A lot of the time I did not know what the FIG had decided or what the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) was doing and what I was doing was basically looking on the Internet to see what reporters had been saying because no one had contacted me. Not a single person. The first time that I was even informed about it, like, you know, specifically was, I had a meeting with the president of U.S.A. Gymnastics and he informed me that this protest is going on, and he said but there's nothing that can be done about it according to the rules. You're still going to be the gold medalist. COOPER: Do you feel he was being honest with you?
P. HAMM: At that time, you know, that's what I had understood. That there was really nothing that could be done about it and I think the only thing that kept this whole story going was the media because according to the FIG they said from the very beginning this matter could not be changed.
COOPER: But it also seems to be kept going by some officials. I mean, in the IOC, the USSC, who would say kind of to reporters maybe he -- maybe he should just give back the medal on his own.
P. HAMM: Reporters have told me that Bruno Grande from the FIG said that we're not going to make a decision to have Paul give back the medal, but he said I think he should and then he gestured like that to them and that's what the media had told me.
COOPER: When you heard that what did you think, how did you feel?
P. HAMM: I was disappointed because they were kind of putting the whole decision on me when in fact they're the ones that are supposed to be making the decision in the first place and they just seemed as if they were trying to run and hide and, you know, not deal with the situation.
COOPER: Did you feel let down by the various Olympic committees?
P. HAMM: You know, for me, personally I went to the Olympics just trying to make my country proud of everything that I've done in my life as far as gymnastics and I did my job. I competed my heart out. I followed all of the rules and then to have the governing bodies sort of putting the pressure on me to make these decisions kind of made me feel that I had been left out there by myself.
COOPER: I understand you wanted to hold a press conference Monday night, after you won the silver basically showing a videotape of the event and the South Koreans' performance and basically showing where he could have been even sort of scored even lower when you were advised by the head of the U.S.A. Gymnastics, don't do it, the whole thing's blowing over.
P. HAMM: Basically what was going to happen was some of the coaches and the Olympic coach was going to go over the Koreans' routine and try to point out, you know, to the public that not only there was a mistake made that was in the start value, but there was also a mistake made by overlooking a deduction as well and I was advised not do that by U.S.A. Gymnastics and Bob Colarossi, and he basically said, you know what? Let's just do a press release. This whole thing will die down. I thought at the time that, you know, it was probably, you know, the best thing to do, but things did not seem to die down after that.
COOPER: What was it like for you? I mean, we're seeing Paul go through all this, seeing this sort of firestorm? MORGAN HAMM, OLYMPIC GYMNAST: It was tough for both of us. I mean, we still had to compete when a lot of the stuff was going on. So I had to tell him, you know, to concentrate on his gymnastics and not to deal with this too much, because he still had to go out there. And he did a great job. He went out there and hit a (UNINTELLIGIBLE) set, you know, even when the crowd booing before he went, and got a silver medal. So I'm very proud of him.
COOPER: How does it feel to wear the medal?
M. HAMM: It's amazing. You know, I think a couple of guys slept with it that night. I personally didn't, but it feels awesome. It's a dream come true.
COOPER: 2008, you guys want to be there?
M. HAMM: Definitely. I think we're going to train for that and see how it goes.
COOPER: You as well, Paul? 2008?
P. HAMM: Yeah. We're both trying to -- planning to finish our career probably then. And we're not sure. We may continue on after that, but right now we're just focusing on these next four years.
COOPER: Thank you guys for coming. Thanks very much.
P. HAMM: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, she's one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, sort of. Just ahead on 360, queen of porn Jenna Jameson dishes the dirt on her life and adult movies. This is one interview you won't want to miss.
Also tonight, banner beware, how a couple of dangling demonstrators tried to get their point across in a big way this morning in the Big Apple.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: It took a fraction of a second for a Google search to return 992,000 hits for Jenna Jameson; 700,000 of those sites also come with the letters X, X and X. But that's understandable, considering she's the reigning queen of porn.
Now, the woman who gave us "I Dream of Jenna" and "Lip Service" is telling her very adult story in the book "How to Make Love Like a Porn Star: A Cautionary Tale." Suspense thriller it ain't. It is also a best seller. I spoke to Jenna Jameson earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: OK, Jenna, I have got to clear up something right from the beginning. I read an account that said you actually wanted to be a TV anchorwoman one day. Is that true?
JENNA JAMESON, ACTRESS: That is -- that was definitely what I wanted to do. I used to practice with the TelePrompTer when I was young, because my father was a television producer. So it didn't come to pass, but you know, at least I'm still on TV.
COOPER: Well, you know, such is life. Maybe in the next lifetime.
JAMESON: Yeah, I don't think it is going to work out for me now.
COOPER: Well, you never know.
Why porn? I mean, you -- why did you get into that business?
JAMESON: Well, that's a very good question. I tried to track it back and figure out what I decided to do what I've done, but who knows? I mean, I've always been so overtly sexual. And I've always been driven to succeed at something that hasn't always been accepted by the American public. So I think I chose the right profession.
COOPER: But you had a really tough background, which you write about in the book a lot. I mean, you know, you were abused as a child, you lost your mom at an early age. I mean, did that in any way play a part? Because there are those who say, look, you know, young people who experience abuse often gravitate to the porn industry.
JAMESON: Right. Absolutely. It's something that I've thought about a lot, and I can't really say for sure if that is reasoning behind why I've gotten into the adult industry. All I know is that when I lay my head down at night, I feel comfortable and I'm happy, and I guess that's all that really matters.
COOPER: It's a huge industry, which I think a lot of people don't really realize, or maybe they just don't admit that they realize. But I mean, it's in terms of income, it rivals, you know, motion pictures. It rivals pro sports in America. And yet it's an industry which is kind of in the shadows and is -- has a lot of pitfalls, which you write about in the book.
JAMESON: Right.
COOPER: You know, I mean, as you say, I think, in the book, it can be very demeaning to women.
JAMESON: Well, it can be. I think that nowadays, the American public, or they're much more accepting of the adult industry, and it goes to show that we should give the American public much more credit than we do.
COOPER: Do you think people are hypocritical about this? On the one hand, I mean, publicly they say, oh...
JAMESON: Absolutely.
COOPER: ... they condemn it, but in truth, if they're logging onto the Internet, they're buying the DVDs.
JAMESON: Well, obviously they are, because this is a billion- dollar industry. So everybody watches porn. It's just a fact of the matter.
COOPER: It's just a question of whether they admit it or not.
JAMESON: Exactly. I think a lot more people are starting to admit it, because women feel that it's acceptable nowadays. So that's really helped our industry, because now men feel comfortable bringing the moves home.
COOPER: There are, you know, obviously you know there are critics. A writer Naomi Wolf recently wrote that basically the sort of the porn industry has raised expectations for men in a way that women feel, how can I compete with this? And in fact, she claims it's sort of has deadened the male libido, because you know, they feel like the real thing isn't good enough. Everyone has to be a porn star.
JAMESON: I really don't believe that. I think that it's added to people's sexual lives, and I think that it's added to women's especially, because there's a little bit of Jenna Jameson in every woman out there, and I think that now that they're starting to see me coming out more into the mainstream, they feel a little bit more comfortable being naughty in the bedroom.
COOPER: I've read that you want to have a child now.
JAMESON: Yes.
COOPER: After you have had the child, you've said that you would stop doing porn. Is that true?
JAMESON: Yes. Absolutely. And it's certainly not because I feel ashamed of being a porn star, but I think it's because I want to focus 100 percent of my time on my child, and I want to be able to tell my child that once they came along, that mommy was no longer a porn star.
COOPER: And if your daughter one day said to you, if you had a daughter, if she came to you and said that she wanted to get into that industry?
JAMESON: I'd tie her in the closet. Only because this is such a hard industry for a woman to get ahead and get the respect that she deserves. I fought tooth and nail to get to where I am, and it's not something that I would want my daughter to go through. It's not something that any parent would choose for their child.
COOPER: So you would advise young women not to get involved in the industry?
JAMESON: Not unless they had their head on completely straight and they knew that this is what they wanted to do. For my child, hey, I want them to go to college and be a doctor. COOPER: Well, Jenna Jameson, you are a leader in your industry and you are now a best-selling author. Your book's on "The New York Times" best-seller list. We appreciate you joining us. Thanks very much.
JAMESON: Thank you very much.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, today's "Buzz" is this. What do you think? Do you think pornography changes the way people view sex in their own lives? Log onto cnn.com/360. Cast your votes, we'll have results at the end of program.
Rappelling down a hotel with a 60-foot banner isn't easy. Next on 360, a protest suspended in mid-air, and the story of how the guy's doing the climbing pulled it off. Next on 360.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: For $300 a night and up, many guests at New York's swanky Plaza Hotel wake up with sweeping views of Central Park. This morning, their windows offered a different sight, that of protesters from above and a media circus below.
Jeanne Moos has more, including how another group of demonstrators let their feelings really show.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Even as the dangling protesters were looking down, things were looking up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is not your father's protest.
MOOS: The goal? Hang an anti-Bush banner off the world famous Plaza Hotel. A handful of individuals spent three months planning this.
(on camera): Are they experienced rappellers?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
MOOS: You mean they just learned to rappel just to do this?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They learned how to do this for this action. All of them were scared to death to be up there.
MOOS (voice-over): They got the room the night before, somehow made their way up to the roof, then two of the four rapelled down.
He's the owner of a small holistic business, and she's an attorney. A minister and an architect stayed up on the roof.
This wasn't the only pre-convention protest police had to deal with. If this is "the truth," then this must be the naked truth. A totally unrelated demonstration.
UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: Bush! Drop it! Drop it now!
MOOS: Anti-AIDS protesters from Act Up dropped their clothes in the middle of 8th Avenue outside Madison Square Garden. They soon found themselves in handcuffs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These people are now enjoying a naked ride in that NYPD paddy wagon.
MOOS: As for the banner atop the Plaza, the rappellers didn't get hurt, but a policeman's leg needed 38 stitches after he fell through a skylight. The protesters say they warned the officer not to step on it.
Police arrested the four on charges ranging from assault to trespassing. Eventually, they arrested this spokesman as well.
(on camera): They trained three months for a banner that stayed up how long before the police got it down?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: About 45 minutes.
MOOS: Forty-five minutes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right, and now we're on CNN.
MOOS (voice-over): They even supplied much of this video. It was a banner day for them, though their banner ended up as evidence.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, Alice Cooper wants to clarify something, so we have a quick news note. When the 56-year-old rock star called fellow rockers "treasonous morons" for mounting an anti-Bush campaign, he was talking about treason against rock'n' roll, not the United States. Rock is about rebellion, he says, not fund-raising and campaigning. As for people who take voting advice from rock stars, Cooper says, quote, "you're a bigger moron than they are." There he is, the rebel, accepting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Hey, he said it, we didn't.
It was Cooper, not me, Cooper. Anyway, I think you get it.
She changed the way we all looked at the long goodbye. Next on 360, remembering the woman who built a life out of helping others with death.
Plus, tomorrow, the Charles Manson murders, where the killer's asking for freedom. We'll talk with a sister of one of their victims, Sharon Tate.
First, today's "Buzz." Do you think pornography changes the way people view sex in their own lives? Log on to cnn.com/360. Cast your vote now. Results when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Time now for "The Buzz." Earlier, we asked you, do you think pornography changes the way people view sex in their own lives? Sixty-one percent of you said yes; 39 percent no. Not a scientific poll, but it is your buzz. We appreciate you voting.
Tonight, a final salute to "The Nth Degree."
Death has been around as long as life has, obviously. That would be how many hundreds of millions of years. And yet not until our own time did someone finally come along who was willing to look it squarely in the eye, calmly to study and consider and size it up, in order to help us all understand and go through it.
That was Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, whose own time came yesterday at the age of 78. She was a doctor and psychiatrist who made the end of life her own life's work. Dr. Kubler-Ross spent much of her time with those whose time was running out, and she wrote and lectured and taught, and thereby almost single-handedly changed the way we all think about death.
There are hospices now, thanks to her, and programs and training for doctors and clergy and family. In her life, thorough her work, she improved life and death for everyone.
We'd somehow fallen into the habit of turning out backs at the very last moment. It took Elizabeth Kubler-Ross to teach us that the only way, really, to say goodbye is face to face.
I'm Anderson Cooper. Thanks for watching 360. Coming up next, "PAULA ZAHN NOW."
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Aired August 26, 2004 - 19:00 ET
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ANDERSON COOPER, HOST: The world crosses its fingers are two religious firebrands agree to a peace in Iraq.
360 starts now.
Iraq's most powerful holy man, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, brokers a peace in Najaf with Muqtada al-Sadr. A deal's been made, but is this the real deal?
A new national poll shows the race for president is a dead heat. But has the swift boat drama changed the mind of some voters?
William Kennedy Smith faces a new accuser with an old charge, rape. But why did it take the woman five years to come forward, and why is she only asking for money?
Food and bash at the Olympics. We go 360 with gymnasts Paul and Morgan Hamm. They speak out about bad judges, backstabbing officials, and being hung out to dry in Athens.
And porn superstar Jenna Jameson, now an bestselling author? She joins me to talk candidly about sex, women, and the harsh realities of porn.
ANNOUNCER: Live from the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is ANDERSON COOPER 360.
COOPER: And good evening, thanks for joining us.
We begin tonight with something in rare supply lately, good news from Iraq, or at least the hope of good news. Two religious leaders have negotiated a peace deal to end the violence in Najaf. And the new Iraqi government has agreed to fund the deal. Whether the ragtag forces of rebel cleric Muqtada al-Sadr will honor the deal remains to be seen.
In the dusty, demolished streets of Najaf, deals have been made and broken before.
CNN's Matthew Chance joins us from Najaf. Matthew?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Anderson.
And you're right, the deals have been made and broken before, but it seems that this one has the authority of the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani behind it, and that gives it extra weight.
But basically the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- the deal calls for the holy city of Najaf, as well as the neighboring town of Kufa, to be made a weapons-free zones, and for the Imam Ali Shrine at the center of this ferocious fighting that we've been witnessing here for the past three weeks to be cleared of Mehdi Army fighters and for Iraqi police to allowed to patrol and take over security duties around Najaf and other areas.
That's a big thing for the Iraqi interim government, because it means that the militia, the Mehdi Army, which the Iraqi government says is illegal, is no longer walking the streets with weapons. And so this is something of a face-saving truce for the interim Iraqi government.
Muqtada al-Sadr as well comes off relatively well, in the sense that the charges of murder against him that's emerged will be dropped, and the door is still open for him to take part in the mainstream political fray. So Muqtada al-Sadr, it seems, is far from finished as well as a result of this, Anderson.
COOPER: Matthew Chance, thanks much, live from Najaf.
A news note now from Iraq. An Italian journalist has reportedly been executed by a group calling itself the Iraqi Islamic Army. The group said it would kill this man, Enzo Baldoni, if the Italian government didn't announce within 48 hours its intent to withdraw its troops from Iraq.
For the record, this show has decided not to show video provided by the hostage takers of the journalist in captivity or of his body. We've decided airing the images they taped simply encourages them, something we refuse to do.
In the presidential race, the country is clearly divided, deeply polarized, and a new CNN-Gallup poll just hours old shows that fault lines are virtually unchanged. The two main presidential candidates are running neck and neck whether you look at registered voters, who split 48 percent for Kerry and 47 percent for Bush, or likely voters, who favor Bush 50 to 47. The margin of error makes the results a tie, and that makes the undecideds a very important voting block.
Today, Senator John Kerry went after them.
Here's CNN congressional correspondent, Joe Johns.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With a new national poll showing the race still a virtual dead heat, John Kerry hit the state fair in the swing state of Minnesota. Earlier in Anoka, Minnesota, Kerry spoke to a group the campaign said were mostly undecided voters on health care, an issue where polls show he holds a clear advantage.
Kerry cited new U.S. Census data to support his claim that the middle class is getting squeezed, numbers that show 1.4 million people lost their health care in 2003, and 1.3 million fell into poverty.
SEN. JOHN KERRY, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: And the census figures are facts. They're not political diatribe. They don't have a political label on them. They're facts, statistics, and they tell a story when you add them all up.
JOHNS: The Bush campaign says the Census report does not include all the data from the past 11 months when the economy started picking up steam.
On the swift boat controversy, Kerry repeated his charge that the Bush campaign is engaging in fear-and-smear tactics and said the swift boat veteran charges were flat-out wrong.
KERRY: I'm absolutely telling you the God's honest truth about what happened and what took place over there.
JOHNS: But Kerry's aides also announced that they have asked television stations to stop running a response ad on the issue that features John McCain from four years ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, KERRY CAMPAIGN AD)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (February 15, 2000): That fringe veteran said that John McCain had abandoned the veterans. Now, I don't know how -- if you can understand this, George, but that really hurts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: The Kerry campaign said it pulled the ad out of deference to McCain after reading press reports that said the Arizona senator didn't like it.
Joe Johns, CNN, Anoka, Minnesota.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, for his part, President Bush left the ranch today and returned to the campaign trail, visiting the battleground state of New Mexico. In a preview, perhaps, of next week's convention, the president brought some heavy reinforcements with him.
We turn to White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux. Suzanne?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, as you know, New Mexico is a critical state for the president. He lost by just 366 votes back in 2000. Today, President Bush, traveling with what many Republicans consider their own rock star, that's former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, we also learned, of course, that the president, before even getting off of Air Force One, made a very important call, that call to Republican Senator John McCain.
Now, as you know, McCain had been disappointed that the president didn't specifically denounce the those Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ads, criticizing Senator Kerry's service, that he didn't specifically call to get them off the air.
We understand that President Bush reached out to McCain. He said that the Bush campaign was going to take legal action to make sure those political groups, outside groups, would not run those political ads. He said that they were going to try to clamp down on that. If that didn't happen, they would use some sort of legislative action.
Now, also, as you know, of course, McCain, who's been at the forefront of the campaign finance reform as well as someone who took those ads very seriously, says that he is satisfied, that he's appreciative of what the president has done.
Also, Anderson, of course, that comes just in time when President Bush and McCain are supposed to campaign together next week.
COOPER: All right, Suzanne Malveaux, thanks very much from the White House tonight.
More insight from today's new CNN Gallup poll. All the emotion, energy, and ink used to debate the swift boat ad may turn out to be, to borrow words from William Shakespeare, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. When asked how John Kerry's war record will affect their vote, 54 percent said it made no difference at all, and the rest were evenly split for and against.
But the controversy may have dampened spirits among some voters a little. When asked how enthusiastic they are about voting, 60 percent said they were more enthusiastic this year than in past elections. But that number's actually down from 69 percent just after the Democratic convention.
William Kennedy Smith is once again accused of sexual assault, something he again denies. The nephew of Senator Edward Kennedy is being sued in civil court by his former personal assistant. Again, we say civil court, not a criminal proceeding. She claims he sexually assaulted her after a night out celebrating her birthday.
Now, back in 1991, you'll remember, the attention of the country focused on Smith and his criminal trial on rape charges. That trial ended in an acquittal. Smith is now a doctor living in Chicago.
That's where CNN's Jonathan Freed picks up the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Audra Soulias claims she is stricken with physical and emotional pain. In a civil lawsuit, she accuses William Kennedy Smith of sexually assaulting her five years ago.
AUDRA SOULIAS, SUING KENNEDY SMITH: My innocence was involuntarily taken from me in a manner by someone who I trusted and respected. It was taken in a violent act that will haunt me till the day I die.
FREED: The suit claims Kennedy Smith got Soulias drunk at a Chicago bar in January of 1999, where she was celebrating her 23rd birthday, forced her to come home with him, stripped her clothes off, and then violated her with his fingers.
Kennedy Smith is a doctor and heads an organization that helps victims of land mines. Soulias was his personal assistant.
KEVIN O'REILLY, AUDRA SOULIAS'S ATTORNEY: Money isn't going to do a thing to him. This is about getting this to stop. This is about right and wrong.
FREED: Soulias's civil suit seeks at least $50,000 in damages. In a statement, Kennedy Smith calls it all outrageous and untrue, saying, quote, "Unfortunately, my family and my personal history have made me unusually vulnerable to these kind of allegations."
After the alleged incident, Soulias and Kennedy Smith had a relationship lasting several months. Her lawyer says she waited years before filing suit, because she was ashamed and afraid of Kennedy Smith's wealth and family influence.
The lawsuit claims Soulias received threatening phone calls from Kennedy Smith in January of this year, after she offered to help with an internal investigation at his office into sexual harassment claims against him.
SOULIAS: I do not wish to see one more woman victimized by this individual. Enough is enough.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FREED: Now, Soulias's lawyer says that she went to the authorities three years ago with her story, and she even had taken her own polygraph test, which she says that she passed. But the authorities told her that there was just not enough evidence for a criminal trial, Anderson.
COOPER: All right. Thanks very much for that from Chicago tonight.
Making air travel more secure with secure flight, that story tops our look at what's going on cross-country.
Washington, D.C., secure flights, the name, passenger screening's the game. The government's taking over that job from the airlines. The new system's was designed to more accurately check passenger manifests against terror watch lists.
Trenton, New Jersey, now, apologize, and maybe there will be no lawsuit. That word from the Israeli man who accuses Governor Jim McGreevey of sexual harassment. The governor's office told Golan Cipel, Don't wait by the phone.
Hollywood, Florida, the father of a Marine is expected to survive his burns. Police say a distraught Carlos Arredondo torched a government van when Marine officers told him his son was killed in Iraq. Arredondo was burned over 40 percent of his body. New York, now, a federal judge strikes down the law banning a type of late-term abortion, calling it "gruesome and barbaric." This time the law was challenged on the grounds that it fails to include an exemption that protects the health of the mother.
Jupiter, Florida, meet Cara, a mild-mannered canine who holds two world records for doggy skydiving, one for highest altitude, the second for speed. Cara's more than just a playgirl, she's a member of an elite search and rescue squad that's trained to parachute into disasters. Remarkable.
That looks at stories cross-country tonight.
360 next, one of the nation's most grisly murders, a follower of Charles Manson begs for parole. She may be a model prisoner, but should she be set free? We'll take a closer look at that.
Plus, controversial gold, why Paul Hamm felt hung out to dry at the Olympics. A friend talked with Paul and Morgan Hamm ahead.
And an emergency hearing over DNA evidence and jury selection about to begin. The Kobe Bryant case heats up in Colorado.
All that ahead.
First, let's take a look at your picks, the most popular stories right now on CNN.com.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Well, the crimes were so horrific that 35 years later, people still talk about the Charles Manson murders. On a day in August of 1969, film star Sharon Tate and four other people were found slain in her estate. A day later, a store owner and his wife were found brutally murdered in their home.
All those involved in the killings are still in prison, including the leader, of course, Charles Manson. One of his disciples, Leslie Van Houten, faced a parole board for the 15th time.
CNN's Adaora Udoji reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ADAORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Leslie Van Houten, the youngest convicted in cult leader Charles Manson's 1969 murder plots, hoped after 14 tries she'd get paroled.
LESLIE VAN HOUSTON, CONVICTED KILLER: I was raised to be a decent human being. I turned into a monster. And I have spent these years going back to a decent human being. And I just don't know what else to say.
UDOJI: The prosecutor argued she deserved more time, given her gruesome crime of stabbing a woman 16 times. STEPHEN KAY, LOS ANGELES COUNTY DEPUTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: What was inside her that let her respond to what Manson and the others were saying? And can we ever be sure that that is no longer there?
UDOJI: The California parole board apparently agreed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are not yet suited for parole.
UDOJI: They also denied parole to her co-defendant, Patricia Krenwinkel, last month.
Van Houten, Krenwinkel, along with Susan Atkins and Manson, members of the so-called Manson family, were convicted of seven murders over two days that summer. Among the victims, an eight-month- pregnant Sharon Tate, actress and wife of movie director Roman Polanski, along with four friends in her secluded home above Beverly Hills.
The crimes horrified the nation, vicious and bloody. Four victims suffered over 100 stab wounds, "Helter Skelter" written in their blood on the walls.
The killers belonged to a cult fueled by drugs and Manson's belief a race war was imminent. Each has been denied parole at least 10 times.
In prison 35 years, Manson will not be eligible for parole again until 2007. Many predict he will never get out, though he and the others did escape the original death sentences after capital punishment was temporarily suspended in the '70s.
Adaora Udoji, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, an aging former dictator loses immunity from prosecution. That story tops what's happening around the world in the uplink.
Santiago, Chile, General Augusto Pinochet was stripped of immunity protection by Chile's supreme court. It is a major victory for the families of thousands of people who disappeared during his Pinochet's 17-year regime. Opponents want the 88-year-old Pinochet tried for human rights abuses.
U.S. Naval Base, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a detainee from Yemen admits he is a member of al Qaeda at his arraignment before a military tribunal. Prosecutors accuse the detainee of being a bodyguard for Osama bin Laden and an al Qaeda recruiter.
Pujon (ph) Province, China, typhoon Aere slams into mainland China with battering winds and pounding rains. Nearly a million Chinese are forced from their homes. The typhoon also devastated parts of Taiwan. the powerful storm has killed at least 35 people.
The Athens Olympics, a golden victory for the U.S. women's soccer team. They beat Brazil two to one in a match that went into overtime, capturing the gold medal.
That's a quick look at what's going on around the world in the uplink.
Last week, we told you the story of seven kids adopted by a Texas woman, who were discovered sick and hungry in an orphanage halfway around the world. A lot of questions still need to be answered, such as, how did they get there? Where was their mother? And a new one tonight, who else knew they were in that orphanage?
CNN's Ed Lavandera reports tonight from Dallas.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The oldest of the seven American children discovered in a Nigerian orphanage is described as angry and resentful about being abandoned by their adoptive mother. But the woman's attorney says she's done nothing wrong.
MICHAEL DELANEY, ADOPTIVE MOTHER'S ATTORNEY: My client does absolutely not feel like she should take any of the blame for what happened in Africa. If that's what the question is, then the question is no, because she didn't do anything wrong.
LAVANDERA: The children were first discovered in Nigeria on July 30, but it wasn't until August 7 before U.S. State Department officials visited the children. U.S. officials are defending their actions.
J. ADAM ERELI, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: We acted quickly when we found out that there was a problem. We contacted family members. We contacted the Nigerians. We did everything that I think is prudent and called for in this situation.
LAVANDERA: The children and mother are back in Houston, where the children remain in the custody of Child Protective Services. The children are undergoing psychological testing and counseling, and a judge has granted the adoptive mother supervised visits.
The children are from more than one family. Two of the biological parents now say they'd like to regain custody of their children.
GREGORY BONNER, BIOLOGICAL FATHER: We may as well get them back. Look how they were shipping them around like cattle. Why not get them back? I'll try. Maybe it may not -- we may not get them back, but I won't know unless I try.
LAVANDERA: The attorney for the adoptive mother says, after meeting with Child Protective Service officials on Thursday, he thinks there's a chance that she could be reunited with her seven children again.
Ed Lavandera, CNN, Dallas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, 360 next, the Kobe Bryant sexual assault case. Jury selection is about to begin, but was some DNA evidence contaminated? We'll have the latest on the emergency hearing.
Also tonight, the story that cable news just can't get enough of, the swift boat ad. Given priceless air time over the weeks, this week feels like overkill.
And a little later, porn star Jenna Jameson. She talks candidly about sex, women, and the realities of porn.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Kobe Bryant's fate may very well rest under a microscope. That's why the lawyers were in court today, battling over something so small, yet so very big.
The prosecution is challenging DNA evidence the defense says shows the accuser had sex with someone other than Bryant. The judge lashed out at prosecutors for bringing this up so late, but he's giving it a few more days before making a decision.
All this on the eve of jury selection of the courtroom saga of a superstar.
National correspondent Gary Tuchman reminds us of where it all began.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): His fans will never forget these images, Kobe Bryant and his Los Angeles Laker teammates celebrating three straight NBA championships.
Just as unforgettable, though, this image from just a year ago, Bryant arrested on allegations of raping a woman, a 19-year-old concierge at this hotel in Eagle County, Colorado, where Bryant was staying following off-season knee surgery.
Two weeks after the July 4 arrest came a formal criminal charge.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Defendant was charged with one count of sexual assault. a class 3 felony.
TUCHMAN: Bryant faced the possibility of up to life in prison if found guilty, and mandatory branding as a sexual offender forever. With his wife sitting by his side, he admitted he was an adulterer, but insisted he was not a rapist.
KOBE BRYANT: I didn't force her to do anything against her will. I'm innocent.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do you plead, not guilty or guilty?
BRYANT: Not guilty. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A plea of not guilty will be entered.
TUCHMAN: During month of hearings, Bryant's attorneys asked Judge Terry Ruckriegel to allow evidence that the woman had sex with other men in the same time period as her encounter with Bryant. This, they said, could explain her injuries.
The accuser herself testified, as did DNA experts, and some of the woman's acquaintances.
DET. DOUG WINTERS, EAGLE COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: Well, sometime in early July, you can expect this critical ruling on rape shield. That may well determine the outcome of this case.
TUCHMAN: The judge's decision was a victory for Bryant.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TUCHMAN: And now, almost 14 months later, we are on the verge of jury selection. Tomorrow morning, hundreds of Eagle County residents will come to this courthouse behind me. They'll converge upon it, possibly overwhelm this small mountain courthouse, for the beginning of jury selection. They will fill out 82-question questionnaires. They'll then be informed over the weekend If they need to come back for further questioning next week.
It is expected that opening statements in this case will take place a week from Tuesday, the day after Labor Day, Anderson.
COOPER: Gary Tuchman, thanks very much for that from Eagle.
Joining me in justice served now to talk about jury selection in the Kobe Bryant trial is, from Chicago, trial consultant Paul Lisnek.
Paul, good to see you again.
PAUL LISNEK, TRIAL CONSULTANT: You too, Anderson.
COOPER: I want to read you some of the facts about residents of Eagle, Colorado, where this jury is going to be pooled from. Their median age is 31, median household income about $73,000, 43 percent of them are college graduates. These facts, what does it tell us about potential jurors showing up tomorrow?
LISNEK: What this tell us, Anderson, is that we are not in an area of sort of rural Colorado that I think a lot of people have this sense of. We are in a place where people are more educated, wealthier, than the typical American. So we're going to get a group of people who are a little more sophisticated than we might expect.
But most importantly, this area is that of celebrity. Celebrities like to hang here. This is Madonna-land. And those people can be sort of disruptive in resorts and those kind of things. We're going to be real concerned about people who work in resorts and the attitudes they bring in.
COOPER: What about race? I mean, you, you, these days you can't ask, you have to ask that question in this kind of a trial.
LISNEK: Yes, that, you know, that's a fascinating situation here, because it's an old sort of concept, but the idea here is, Kobe is black, and the victim here, or the alleged victim, is white, and there is still that sort of old thought that this black-on-white situation could be a problem. Race could come in to be a factor.
He's also a very tall, imposing person. But it's sort of a behind-the-scenes issue. It's one the lawyers are going to want to be sure is not a factor for these more educated people who may show up for this case.
COOPER: What about men versus (UNINTELLIGIBLE) women, a gender difference?
LISNEK: Yes, you know, a lot of people would say, Look, we're in big trouble with women on the jury, but the reality is, research shows us that men will be tougher on Kobe. Men will hold him to a standard for him to understand that no means no, and this is a consent case.
COOPER: That sort of defies conventional wisdom.
LISNEK: Yes, doesn't it? It does, and that's what jury consulting research is all about, right? Because women may have more of a skeptical view here, that this woman, being in the land of celebrity, did she put herself in this situation? Did she create this scenario for herself? It may go against intuition, but men will, would be generally tougher on Kobe than women would.
COOPER: That's a fascinating discussion. Jury selection begins tomorrow. Paul Lisnek, thanks very much.
LISNEK: Thank you, Anderson.
COOPER: Iraq's most powerful holy man, Grand Ayatollah Ali al- Sistani, brokers a peace in Najaf with Muqtada al-Sadr. A deal's been made, but is this the real deal?
Booed and bashed at the Olympics. We go 360 with gymnasts Paul and Morgan Hamm. They speak out about bad judges, backstabbing officials, and being hung out to dry in Athens.
And porn superstar Jenna Jameson, now a bestselling author? She joins me to talk candidly about sex, women, and the harsh realities of porn.
360 continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: 360 next, his Olympic glory tainted by judges with bad math. Paul Hamm speaks out about his dramatic win and the controversy that has followed it.
And tonight. Inside the porn industry. Jenna Jameson shares her cautionary tale. All that ahead. First our top stories. In Iraq today the news of a deal brought hope, but many questions. Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and Grand Ayatollah Ali al- Sistani say they have reached a positive deal which reportedly will allow al-Sadr to remain free, turn Najaf and nearby Kufa into weapons- free cities, provide for elections and give compensation to victims of the violence which the new government of Iraq has agreed to fund.
Joining us to discuss today's events senior international correspondent Nic Robertson. Nic, what do you make of deal?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, it looks pretty good. Everyone can walk away from this happy. Sadr gets to walk away to fight another day. He's not going to be charged with the murder of a Shia cleric in Najaf last year. He gets to keep his army, they get to fight another day. The government gets the problem dealt with and Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has his religious standing if you will improved further despite the fact that he is the highest religious authority in the country. There's something good in there for everyone but that is if the deal sticks and they've had a lot of these deals before. .
COOPER: What role, if any, do you think the U.S. played in all this? Because, I mean, Ali al-Sistani has refused to meet with the U.S. all along.
ROBERTSON: Fascinating. Ali al-Sistani was out in the United Kingdom getting medical treatment. He comes right back into Iraq, brokers a deal that the government hasn't been able to do for the last three weeks. He's been out if you will of this hot, intense, religious hothouse of Najaf. Who has he been talking to and who has been guiding him in saying, look, you have to play a stronger role, you're the one that has the religious and moral authority here to weigh into this. You're the one that can talk Muqtada al-Sadr down from this position, go in and do it.
Or has he merely come to that conclusion himself. So who knows what talks have been going to behind the scenes, but this is a dramatic shift for the grand ayatollah. He hasn't played a central role publicly until now. He's done it from behind the scenes. We've seen the influence that he's had before so they say it's a shift on why. Good question.
COOPER: A shift also because there's no love lost between these two.
ROBERTSON: Absolutely not. Just over a year ago Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani was essentially hiding in his house, holed up. We went to his house to visit him, had guards at the end of the street. Why? Because his followers believed that Muqtada al-Sadr who was just then on the sort of rise and quest in power was going to kill him. It was as simple as that.
So really this is as far as we know the first public time that's it's been announced that they've come together and it certainly would put it in the position where Sistani comes out looking as if he's on top, but certainly for Muqtada al-Sadr he gets to walk away. There's a lot in this for him at this time.
COOPER: One can only imagine how some of the U.S. marines feel who have been battling the forces of Muqtada al-Sadr and who have lost marines in the process. We'll just have to wait to hear from them in the coming days. Nic Robertson, thanks very much.
We'd be willing to bet that until a few weeks ago you'd never even heard of the Swift Boat. Now it probably seems you don't hear much about anything else. The so-called Swift Boat ad only ran in a few select markets, but the coverage on cable and network news has been or at least felt endless. In this election year when important issues are still to be settled the Swift Boats are sailing into overkill.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AD ANNOUNCER: John Kerry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: John Kerry has not been honest about what happened in Vietnam.
COOPER (voice-over): The ad, as you probably know by now, was created by a group calling itself Swift Boat Veterans For Truth. It began running in early August in just three states. The initial buy cost just $500,000, but talk about bang for your buck.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Negative campaign ads.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The anti-Kerry ads.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Swift Boat Veterans. That's the group that's caused such a stir.
COOPER: Stories about the ad and about reaction to the ad have flooded the airwaves. According to video monitoring service, the Swift Boat ad has been mentioned on TV 21,000 times since August 5. 21,000 times.
The Kerry campaign called on President Bush to denounce the ad. The president called on Kerry to denounce all 527 ads but wouldn't specifically denounce this one. The allegations in the ad are unproven and are largely based on hearsay, but still, the controversy surrounding it and the political response to it continue.
Yesterday we saw former Senator Max Cleland in Crawford, Texas, trying to deliver a letter to President Bush asking him to denounce the Swift Boat ad.
MAX CLELAND, FMR. U.S. SENATOR: The mission was to Kerry to the president this plea to please stop attacking the credibility and courage and character of John Kerry.
COOPER: Cleland was met by another Vietnam vet and Bush supporter trying to give him a letter as well.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Either we pull them all down or all get their piece.
COOPER: Both sides say they want to get back to the real issues, but both sides continue to make the Swift Boat ad an issue.
This week, politics and controversy created a perfect storm of overkill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Another controversy this week. Olympic gymnast Paul Hamm. He won the gold, he soon discovered it had been tarnished by controversy. South Korea protested saying a scoring error cost them the very medal Hamm took home. Now instead of celebrating Hamm finds himself defending himself. Ironically for this Olympian, his is not the agony of defeat, but the agony of winning when others said his victory is unfair. I talked to Paul earlier today along with his twin brother and fellow gymnast Morgan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: The greatest comeback in the history of gymnastics it's been called. Take us through the event, that feeling when you knew you got the gold.
PAUL HAMM, OLYMPIC GYMNAST: Well, the first time I knew when I got the medal when my coach yelled to me, "Olympic champion" and I was, like, no. I didn't believe it. It was hard for me to comprehend at the time because I wasn't expecting to score so high and I wasn't expecting to be Olympic champ. I was like, oh, my god. I did it. I've done what I came here to do.
COOPER: It was two days later, I think, on Friday that you heard the South Koreans would be protesting. What did you think?
P. HAMM: At first when I heard about the Koreans' protest I thought it was nothing significant. I thought they were just upset with the way the routine was scored. I didn't know it was a technical issue with the start value, but once I realized that there had been a mistake with the start value then I kind of decided that this was, you know, a more serious issue.
COOPER: The image most people have of athletes in the Olympics is that you're sort of -- you're protected and you're surrounded by these official bodies. It sounds like you were kind of on your own, though. I read that you got most of your information about what was going on from the Internet.
P. HAMM: Yes. A lot of the time I did not know what the FIG had decided or what the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) was doing and what I was doing was basically looking on the Internet to see what reporters had been saying because no one had contacted me. Not a single person. The first time that I was even informed about it, like, you know, specifically was, I had a meeting with the president of U.S.A. Gymnastics and he informed me that this protest is going on, and he said but there's nothing that can be done about it according to the rules. You're still going to be the gold medalist. COOPER: Do you feel he was being honest with you?
P. HAMM: At that time, you know, that's what I had understood. That there was really nothing that could be done about it and I think the only thing that kept this whole story going was the media because according to the FIG they said from the very beginning this matter could not be changed.
COOPER: But it also seems to be kept going by some officials. I mean, in the IOC, the USSC, who would say kind of to reporters maybe he -- maybe he should just give back the medal on his own.
P. HAMM: Reporters have told me that Bruno Grande from the FIG said that we're not going to make a decision to have Paul give back the medal, but he said I think he should and then he gestured like that to them and that's what the media had told me.
COOPER: When you heard that what did you think, how did you feel?
P. HAMM: I was disappointed because they were kind of putting the whole decision on me when in fact they're the ones that are supposed to be making the decision in the first place and they just seemed as if they were trying to run and hide and, you know, not deal with the situation.
COOPER: Did you feel let down by the various Olympic committees?
P. HAMM: You know, for me, personally I went to the Olympics just trying to make my country proud of everything that I've done in my life as far as gymnastics and I did my job. I competed my heart out. I followed all of the rules and then to have the governing bodies sort of putting the pressure on me to make these decisions kind of made me feel that I had been left out there by myself.
COOPER: I understand you wanted to hold a press conference Monday night, after you won the silver basically showing a videotape of the event and the South Koreans' performance and basically showing where he could have been even sort of scored even lower when you were advised by the head of the U.S.A. Gymnastics, don't do it, the whole thing's blowing over.
P. HAMM: Basically what was going to happen was some of the coaches and the Olympic coach was going to go over the Koreans' routine and try to point out, you know, to the public that not only there was a mistake made that was in the start value, but there was also a mistake made by overlooking a deduction as well and I was advised not do that by U.S.A. Gymnastics and Bob Colarossi, and he basically said, you know what? Let's just do a press release. This whole thing will die down. I thought at the time that, you know, it was probably, you know, the best thing to do, but things did not seem to die down after that.
COOPER: What was it like for you? I mean, we're seeing Paul go through all this, seeing this sort of firestorm? MORGAN HAMM, OLYMPIC GYMNAST: It was tough for both of us. I mean, we still had to compete when a lot of the stuff was going on. So I had to tell him, you know, to concentrate on his gymnastics and not to deal with this too much, because he still had to go out there. And he did a great job. He went out there and hit a (UNINTELLIGIBLE) set, you know, even when the crowd booing before he went, and got a silver medal. So I'm very proud of him.
COOPER: How does it feel to wear the medal?
M. HAMM: It's amazing. You know, I think a couple of guys slept with it that night. I personally didn't, but it feels awesome. It's a dream come true.
COOPER: 2008, you guys want to be there?
M. HAMM: Definitely. I think we're going to train for that and see how it goes.
COOPER: You as well, Paul? 2008?
P. HAMM: Yeah. We're both trying to -- planning to finish our career probably then. And we're not sure. We may continue on after that, but right now we're just focusing on these next four years.
COOPER: Thank you guys for coming. Thanks very much.
P. HAMM: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, she's one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, sort of. Just ahead on 360, queen of porn Jenna Jameson dishes the dirt on her life and adult movies. This is one interview you won't want to miss.
Also tonight, banner beware, how a couple of dangling demonstrators tried to get their point across in a big way this morning in the Big Apple.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: It took a fraction of a second for a Google search to return 992,000 hits for Jenna Jameson; 700,000 of those sites also come with the letters X, X and X. But that's understandable, considering she's the reigning queen of porn.
Now, the woman who gave us "I Dream of Jenna" and "Lip Service" is telling her very adult story in the book "How to Make Love Like a Porn Star: A Cautionary Tale." Suspense thriller it ain't. It is also a best seller. I spoke to Jenna Jameson earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: OK, Jenna, I have got to clear up something right from the beginning. I read an account that said you actually wanted to be a TV anchorwoman one day. Is that true?
JENNA JAMESON, ACTRESS: That is -- that was definitely what I wanted to do. I used to practice with the TelePrompTer when I was young, because my father was a television producer. So it didn't come to pass, but you know, at least I'm still on TV.
COOPER: Well, you know, such is life. Maybe in the next lifetime.
JAMESON: Yeah, I don't think it is going to work out for me now.
COOPER: Well, you never know.
Why porn? I mean, you -- why did you get into that business?
JAMESON: Well, that's a very good question. I tried to track it back and figure out what I decided to do what I've done, but who knows? I mean, I've always been so overtly sexual. And I've always been driven to succeed at something that hasn't always been accepted by the American public. So I think I chose the right profession.
COOPER: But you had a really tough background, which you write about in the book a lot. I mean, you know, you were abused as a child, you lost your mom at an early age. I mean, did that in any way play a part? Because there are those who say, look, you know, young people who experience abuse often gravitate to the porn industry.
JAMESON: Right. Absolutely. It's something that I've thought about a lot, and I can't really say for sure if that is reasoning behind why I've gotten into the adult industry. All I know is that when I lay my head down at night, I feel comfortable and I'm happy, and I guess that's all that really matters.
COOPER: It's a huge industry, which I think a lot of people don't really realize, or maybe they just don't admit that they realize. But I mean, it's in terms of income, it rivals, you know, motion pictures. It rivals pro sports in America. And yet it's an industry which is kind of in the shadows and is -- has a lot of pitfalls, which you write about in the book.
JAMESON: Right.
COOPER: You know, I mean, as you say, I think, in the book, it can be very demeaning to women.
JAMESON: Well, it can be. I think that nowadays, the American public, or they're much more accepting of the adult industry, and it goes to show that we should give the American public much more credit than we do.
COOPER: Do you think people are hypocritical about this? On the one hand, I mean, publicly they say, oh...
JAMESON: Absolutely.
COOPER: ... they condemn it, but in truth, if they're logging onto the Internet, they're buying the DVDs.
JAMESON: Well, obviously they are, because this is a billion- dollar industry. So everybody watches porn. It's just a fact of the matter.
COOPER: It's just a question of whether they admit it or not.
JAMESON: Exactly. I think a lot more people are starting to admit it, because women feel that it's acceptable nowadays. So that's really helped our industry, because now men feel comfortable bringing the moves home.
COOPER: There are, you know, obviously you know there are critics. A writer Naomi Wolf recently wrote that basically the sort of the porn industry has raised expectations for men in a way that women feel, how can I compete with this? And in fact, she claims it's sort of has deadened the male libido, because you know, they feel like the real thing isn't good enough. Everyone has to be a porn star.
JAMESON: I really don't believe that. I think that it's added to people's sexual lives, and I think that it's added to women's especially, because there's a little bit of Jenna Jameson in every woman out there, and I think that now that they're starting to see me coming out more into the mainstream, they feel a little bit more comfortable being naughty in the bedroom.
COOPER: I've read that you want to have a child now.
JAMESON: Yes.
COOPER: After you have had the child, you've said that you would stop doing porn. Is that true?
JAMESON: Yes. Absolutely. And it's certainly not because I feel ashamed of being a porn star, but I think it's because I want to focus 100 percent of my time on my child, and I want to be able to tell my child that once they came along, that mommy was no longer a porn star.
COOPER: And if your daughter one day said to you, if you had a daughter, if she came to you and said that she wanted to get into that industry?
JAMESON: I'd tie her in the closet. Only because this is such a hard industry for a woman to get ahead and get the respect that she deserves. I fought tooth and nail to get to where I am, and it's not something that I would want my daughter to go through. It's not something that any parent would choose for their child.
COOPER: So you would advise young women not to get involved in the industry?
JAMESON: Not unless they had their head on completely straight and they knew that this is what they wanted to do. For my child, hey, I want them to go to college and be a doctor. COOPER: Well, Jenna Jameson, you are a leader in your industry and you are now a best-selling author. Your book's on "The New York Times" best-seller list. We appreciate you joining us. Thanks very much.
JAMESON: Thank you very much.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, today's "Buzz" is this. What do you think? Do you think pornography changes the way people view sex in their own lives? Log onto cnn.com/360. Cast your votes, we'll have results at the end of program.
Rappelling down a hotel with a 60-foot banner isn't easy. Next on 360, a protest suspended in mid-air, and the story of how the guy's doing the climbing pulled it off. Next on 360.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: For $300 a night and up, many guests at New York's swanky Plaza Hotel wake up with sweeping views of Central Park. This morning, their windows offered a different sight, that of protesters from above and a media circus below.
Jeanne Moos has more, including how another group of demonstrators let their feelings really show.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Even as the dangling protesters were looking down, things were looking up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is not your father's protest.
MOOS: The goal? Hang an anti-Bush banner off the world famous Plaza Hotel. A handful of individuals spent three months planning this.
(on camera): Are they experienced rappellers?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
MOOS: You mean they just learned to rappel just to do this?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They learned how to do this for this action. All of them were scared to death to be up there.
MOOS (voice-over): They got the room the night before, somehow made their way up to the roof, then two of the four rapelled down.
He's the owner of a small holistic business, and she's an attorney. A minister and an architect stayed up on the roof.
This wasn't the only pre-convention protest police had to deal with. If this is "the truth," then this must be the naked truth. A totally unrelated demonstration.
UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: Bush! Drop it! Drop it now!
MOOS: Anti-AIDS protesters from Act Up dropped their clothes in the middle of 8th Avenue outside Madison Square Garden. They soon found themselves in handcuffs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These people are now enjoying a naked ride in that NYPD paddy wagon.
MOOS: As for the banner atop the Plaza, the rappellers didn't get hurt, but a policeman's leg needed 38 stitches after he fell through a skylight. The protesters say they warned the officer not to step on it.
Police arrested the four on charges ranging from assault to trespassing. Eventually, they arrested this spokesman as well.
(on camera): They trained three months for a banner that stayed up how long before the police got it down?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: About 45 minutes.
MOOS: Forty-five minutes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right, and now we're on CNN.
MOOS (voice-over): They even supplied much of this video. It was a banner day for them, though their banner ended up as evidence.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, Alice Cooper wants to clarify something, so we have a quick news note. When the 56-year-old rock star called fellow rockers "treasonous morons" for mounting an anti-Bush campaign, he was talking about treason against rock'n' roll, not the United States. Rock is about rebellion, he says, not fund-raising and campaigning. As for people who take voting advice from rock stars, Cooper says, quote, "you're a bigger moron than they are." There he is, the rebel, accepting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Hey, he said it, we didn't.
It was Cooper, not me, Cooper. Anyway, I think you get it.
She changed the way we all looked at the long goodbye. Next on 360, remembering the woman who built a life out of helping others with death.
Plus, tomorrow, the Charles Manson murders, where the killer's asking for freedom. We'll talk with a sister of one of their victims, Sharon Tate.
First, today's "Buzz." Do you think pornography changes the way people view sex in their own lives? Log on to cnn.com/360. Cast your vote now. Results when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Time now for "The Buzz." Earlier, we asked you, do you think pornography changes the way people view sex in their own lives? Sixty-one percent of you said yes; 39 percent no. Not a scientific poll, but it is your buzz. We appreciate you voting.
Tonight, a final salute to "The Nth Degree."
Death has been around as long as life has, obviously. That would be how many hundreds of millions of years. And yet not until our own time did someone finally come along who was willing to look it squarely in the eye, calmly to study and consider and size it up, in order to help us all understand and go through it.
That was Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, whose own time came yesterday at the age of 78. She was a doctor and psychiatrist who made the end of life her own life's work. Dr. Kubler-Ross spent much of her time with those whose time was running out, and she wrote and lectured and taught, and thereby almost single-handedly changed the way we all think about death.
There are hospices now, thanks to her, and programs and training for doctors and clergy and family. In her life, thorough her work, she improved life and death for everyone.
We'd somehow fallen into the habit of turning out backs at the very last moment. It took Elizabeth Kubler-Ross to teach us that the only way, really, to say goodbye is face to face.
I'm Anderson Cooper. Thanks for watching 360. Coming up next, "PAULA ZAHN NOW."
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