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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

Bush to Address U.N. Tomorrow; Did Scott Peterson Approach a Neo-Nazi Gang to Kidnap his Wife?

Aired September 22, 2003 - 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.


(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON COOPER, HOST (voice-over): Tomorrow, President Bush makes a crucial address. Tonight, his strategy.

A terrorist talks. Are more strikes in the works?

Did Scott Peterson approach a neo-Nazi gang to kidnap his wife?

Wesley Clark out in front. How long will the honeymoon last?

Surviving as Tammy Faye. She joins us live.

And the bawdy return of burlesque.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Live from the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is ANDERSON COOPER 360.

COOPER: Good evening. Welcome to 360.

We begin tonight with President Bush, set to address tomorrow what is likely to be a very tough crowd, the U.N. General Assembly. The early reports suggest his appearance will be a call to action and a call for unity, asking for at least some international help in stabilizing Iraq on American terms, and convincing a skeptical world that the war and its messy aftermath was worth it.

Senior White House correspondent, John King, reports. John King will be joining us in just a little bit. Let's move on to our other top story now, which is in Iraq.

Today, an explosion in Baghdad sent shock waves throughout the world. For the second time in just over a month, a United Nations compound in Baghdad targeted by a suicide bomber. Senior international correspondent, Walter Rodgers, has more now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALTER RODGERS, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There was another loud explosion in Baghdad. Then the wail of sirens. Fire and rescue vehicles rushing again to the United Nations headquarters here. The familiar burned out hulk of a suicide bomber's car and a charred corpse. An Iraqi security guard was also killed trying to stop the suicide bomber.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He wasn't going to get in. And I think he realized that. And his targets -- his -- he changed his target.

RODGERS: Since the far more deadly bombing of the same U.N. building August 19, when 23 people died, U.S. and coalition forces pushed the U.N. security perimeter much further back. Still, if you were among the 18 or 19 wounded, this car bomb was terrifying.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (through translator): We were passing by in our car in front of the United Nations headquarters when suddenly I fainted. And then I don't remember anything. I was with my two sons, and my elder one, who was driving, was hurt in his mouth. He is in the Al Khindi (ph) hospital being treated. They just took a shell out of my head and will examine me again now.

RODGERS: After the second attack on the United Nations compound in Baghdad, officials here and in New York are reconsidering the level of the U.N.'s commitment in Iraq. That safety review puts in doubt the future of the U.N.'s vaccination water purification and other programs here.

ANTONIA PARADELA, U.N. SPOKESWOMAN: We are seeing an increase of security incidents, and we are worried that this might hamper vital U.N. operations in Iraq.

RODGERS (on camera): This latest attempt to bomb U.N. headquarters is yet another fiery reminder that the United Nations label gives no one immunity in Iraq, and that this remains a high-risk war zone for anyone who lives or works here.

Walter Rodgers, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, that fiery reminder Walter Rodgers just talked about provides the backdrop for President Bush tomorrow. His address to the U.N. General Assembly, and, as we said, it is likely to be a tough crowd. Here is White House correspondent John King.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The president will insist the war was right and tell the United Nations it should be proud Saddam Hussein is gone. And as he makes a first-hand appeal for help in rebuilding now, aides say Mr. Bush will insist Iraq's political transition must take place on an orderly timetable, his timetable.

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: As soon as possible, but to do it in a way that is responsible.

KING: The White House says a French proposal to immediately let Iraqis run their country before elections and without a constitution is a recipe for disaster.

AMB. PAUL BREMER, U.S. CIVIL ADMINISTRATOR TO IRAQ: To do so would invite economic collapse, followed by political extremism, and a return to terrorism.

KING: Last year, Mr. Bush rallied U.N. support for new weapons inspections and a new warning to Saddam Hussein, but then failed to get Security Council blessing for the war itself. This year, he will appeal for more international troops and tens of billions in reconstruction money to help win the peace. And the president invited Iraq's new public works and electricity ministers to the Oval Office to help make his case.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are going to build a democracy in Iraq, and it will become an example for all the Middle East areas.

KING: There will be no shortage of critic and skeptics at the United Nations. And Mr. Bush will speak at the lowest point of his presidency in terms of public opinion here at home.

Americans are now split when asked to rate Mr. Bush's job performance. Fifty percent approve and 47 percent disapprove. And just 50 percent of Americans now say it was worth going to war in Iraq, down from 58 percent just 10 days ago.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: John King joins us now live. John, do you know what the strategy is for the president in his address tomorrow, trying to convince the nations who had opposed U.S. involvement in Iraq to now join?

KING: Well, Anderson, as you know, it's a tough sell. The president is going to say, let's put the bitterness aside, and that the world has a responsibility to help with rebuilding post-war Iraq and security in post-war Iraq. The president will once again say the very relevance that the United Nations is in play here. Remember, that is the case he made a year ago here in trying to build up pressure on Saddam Hussein.

But there are so many skeptics, those who say for the president to get that help he must give up control in Iraq to the United Nations. The White House says the president is not prepared to do that -- Anderson.

COOPER: As you said, putting bitterness aside, a difficult thing to do. John King, thanks very much.

And as we just heard from President Bush, he will likely face a tough crowd at the U.N. He's also facing another one, and this audience is the one that gets the White House spinners lunging for their Alka Seltzer, the American people. Those new polls that John King just mentioned showing that Mr. Bush's approval ratings have now tumbled to the lowest of his presidency.

Here's CNN's Candy Crowley. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): George Bush looks more beatable than ever. The doctor gives way to a general, and politically the country has settled back into pre-9/11 divisions, as evenly split now as it was in the election of 2000.

It is a snapshot of America by the numbers in the latest CNN-"USA Today" Gallup Poll. Consider this: Wesley Clark has been a Democratic presidential candidate for less than a week. And among registered voters, Democrats or leaning Democrat, Clark beats everyone else in the race. Talk about your post-announcement bounce.

And while Clark soars, Bush sinks 10 more points to the lowest approval rating of his presidency. With Iraq in turmoil, and the economy in flux, only about half of Americans approve of the way Mr. Bush is handling his job. And only half now think the Iraq war was worth fighting.

More worrisome for the White House, just 46 percent of registered voters said George Bush agrees with them on issues they care about. In a hypothetical Bush-Clark race, advantage Clark by three points. Within the margin of error, but the first time any candidate has penetrated the Bush barrier.

John Kerry holds a one-point advantage over the president. All the other top-tier Democrats are within range.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CROWLEY: The Republicans' top pollster waves off any particular problems with his polls, saying they knew all along that 2004 would be a close race. What's interesting about this poll, he says, is that the Democratic field is so unsettled. The Dean campaign, meanwhile, is waving off the Clark boom, saying what's interesting to them is that so many top-tier Democrats are within the margin of error against the president -- Anderson.

COOPER: Interesting. Candy, thanks very much.

A quick flashback now to how the president's father was faring when he was a year to go until his election. The job approval rating for George Herbert Walker Bush was at 55 percent in the fall of 1991. It had tumbled to that point from a high of 75 percent when he was basking in the glow of victory from the first Gulf War.

He went on, of course, to lose the election. An interesting flashback that shouldn't be taken on any comment on his son's chances in 2004.

On our terror watch tonight, chilling details from the mastermind of 9/11. Talking to his American interrogators, revealing key details about al Qaeda, its fluid planning and network of operations, tales of what might have been. National Security correspondent David Ensor has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The tallest tower in Los Angeles was among the original targets discussed by Osama bin Laden and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed back in 1996 when they first planned what became the 9/11 attacks, according to U.S. government sources with access to what interrogators are getting from Mohammed, who is now a prisoner of the CIA.

The original plan called for five hijacked planes on each coast of the United States. A total of 10 aircraft, the sources say. Mohammed paints a picture of bin Laden playing a central role in the planning, five years before the attacks. Scaling them down to improve their chances.

MATT LEVITT, FMR. FBI ANALYST: It was more important to have four successful hijackings that would successfully strike to our political, military, and economic infrastructure, than to have an attack where eight or 10 planes were involved. And perhaps because of being overly ambitious, the plot would be discovered and thwarted.

ENSOR: At one point in the planning, the 9/11 attacks were to include 22 hijackers on the four aircraft. Officials say Mohammed has told his interrogators the attacks were to be followed by a second wave carried out with help from al Qaeda allies in southeast Asia.

Officials say another key prisoner has been talking, too. The man known as Hambali, accused of orchestrating the Bali bombers, has told his American interrogators about a plot to attack a couple of large hotels in Thailand during the upcoming meeting of Asian and Pacific leaders, including President Bush.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ENSOR. Officials say Hambali's brother and close associate, Rus Mangunawan (ph), has also been captured this weekend in Pakistan, along with about 16 others. One official calling, Anderson, a useful catch.

COOPER: It certainly seems to be. David Ensor, thanks very much.

Tonight, now a couple of stories to tell you about from around the world. Let's take a look at the Up Link.

Tehran, Iran: not the kind of parade Macy's puts on, featuring a half dozen medium-range ballistic missiles, ones that could reach Israel or U.S. bases in the Gulf. Iran also said today it will scale back cooperation with the U.N.'s nuclear watch dog. Iran says it's been cooperating more than an international treaty requires.

Puntarenas, Chile: a daring emergency rescue from the South Pole. An American worker who was sick, he'll now be flown to the U.S. Getting him out was treacherous. One person involved said the passage between Chile and Antarctica has probably the worst weather in the world. Baja, California: more bad weather. And here it has a name, Marty. The hurricane hit southern Baja with 85-mile-an-hour winds, heavy rain. Forecasters say the Mexican mainland will get hit by Marty as well.

We move on now. Puerto Plata, the Dominican Republic. An earthquake measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale. It was felt as far as 200 miles away in western Puerto Rico, and at least 10 people have been hurt.

And floating somewhere in the Persian Gulf, 57,000 stateless sheep. They were Australian sheep headed for Saudi Arabia. They are exiles now because of an outbreak of scabby mouth on board. No one wants them, apparently. The sheep, for their part, I think were hoping to retire to a house and maybe enjoy the cafe life in the West Bank. Now they'll be lucky to even get off the boat alive.

And that is tonight's Up Link.

Still to come tonight, this evening: behind bars. A Muslim chaplain at Guantanamo Bay. Hear in his own words about his relationship with the prisoners.

Also tonight: a cross-dressing millionaire accused of hacking his neighbor to death. Self-defense or murder? We're going to take a closer look at that.

Plus, surviving scandal. Tammy Faye Messner joins me live to talk love, heartbreak, and starting over.

As we go, a look Inside the Box. The top stories on tonight's network evening news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: All right. Welcome back to 360. Let's take a quick trip Cross Country now.

North Carolina and New Jersey, 1.2 million customers still in the dark thanks to Hurricane Isabel. Emergency workers trying to restore power in seven states and Washington, D.C. At least 36 deaths are so far blamed on the storm.

San Francisco: an appeals court began reconsidering the blockbuster question: Should we set our watches for an October 7 election or get out the calendars to mark off the months until spring? Last week, a three-judge panel postponed the election until March. Today, 11 judges from the same court began rethinking that. No answer today, though.

Sioux Falls, South Dakota: he says he couldn't be sorrier. Congressman Bill Janklow speaking out for the first time since last month's traffic accident in which a motorcyclist died. Janklow is charged with second-degree manslaughter. His preliminary hearing is on Thursday. Port Angeles, Washington: police say a letter found in a Safeway store suggesting supermarket products were tampered with. It also included an extortion attempt. The FDA and FBI are investigating. No tampered products have yet been found.

And Washington, D.C., JetBlue's legal blues. A privacy group filed a complaint today with the Federal Trade Commission. The electronic privacy information center wants the airline to pay and pay big for violating its privacy rule and sharing millions of its passenger information with a defense consultant. JetBlue apologized last week.

That's the look Cross Country.

Well, a Muslim U.S. Army chaplain is in custody tonight under suspicion for possible ties to al Qaeda. His case has sparked concern in a wide-ranging investigation.

CNN Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, has been following the story all day and has some fresh details -- Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Anderson.

Well, sources tell CNN indeed there is now a much broader investigation as to whether Army Captain James Yee, an Islamic Army chaplain, had help or may have been involved of with others in possible security breaches at Guantanamo Bay. That, of course, is the detention facility in Cuba, the U.S. naval base, where there are more than 600 detainees, some of them al Qaeda, and where Yee worked as an Islamic chaplain ministering to those detainees.

Now, when Captain Yee was taken into custody, sources say he was found to be carrying classified information without authorization. That information included maps and drawings of the detention facility, notes from interrogations of detainees, and a laptop computer with a modem, which is prohibited at that base. He also may have been seen on law enforcement surveillance tapes of areas where Muslim groups had been gathering in the United States, areas that were already under federal law enforcement surveillance.

Now, recently, Captain Yee gave an interview where he talked about his work.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPT. JAMES YEE, U.S. ARMY ISLAMIC CHAPLAIN: I have built the rapport, I have built the relationships with the detainees. So they feel, many of them, several of them -- I would say the majority of them feel comfortable talking to me, knowing that I am -- I will sincerely address their concerns (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: Now, even as this broader investigation continues as to whether there have been some security breaches at the base, it is important to remember that Captain Yee, while under military detention, has not been charged with anything. The military under the law can hold him 124 days before issuing any charges against him. But he remains under investigation tonight for possible suspicion of committing espionage and treason -- Anderson.

COOPER: The investigation continues. Barbara Starr, thanks very much.

Overseas now, the International Monetary Fund meeting in Dubai had encouraging words for Afghanistan's reconstruction efforts, and, as well, a warning. A warning to destroy Afghanistan's opium crops before they destroy that country's economic revival.

Charles Hodson reports from Dubai.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHARLES HODSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A pat on the head from the IMF for Afghanistan's leaders. The Fund's economist praised the new central bank, currency reform, commercial banking law, and functioning budget. They forecast 20 percent economic growth this year. But they say this illegal crop, opium, now accounts for 40 to 50 percent of the whole economy, thanks to security problems in southern Afghanistan, which prevent aid from reaching the region and leave its farmers with little else to survive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a vicious cycle which needs to be stopped.

HODSON: The Afghan government says it is trying. In fact, spending on security will swallow half the $1.2 billion in new funds promised in Dubai by U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow. But international donors know getting the infrastructure, health, and education into shape will cost much, much more.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Bush has indicated our commitment to providing substantial sums in support of this effort.

HODSON: And the Afghans themselves have been lobbying the holders of the world's purse strings in Dubai, making clear they need a lot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Over the next five years, Afghanistan needs close to $30 billion in order to transform Afghanistan from where it is to a country that will have a normal economy.

HODSON (voice-over): The big problem for the Afghans is they aren't the only ones looking for help. Iraq, too, desperately needs tens of billions of dollars for reconstruction. The worry is that Afghanistan's calls for help will be drowned out in the heated international discussion of Iraq's needs.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: That was Charles Hodson reporting. Still to come this evening, Scott Peterson. Did he plot with neo-Nazis to have his pregnant wife, Laci, kidnapped? Kimberly Guilfoyle Newsom sounds off on the latest twist in the case.

Also tonight: inside the Air Force Academy rape scandal. A new report blames school officials. Now a victim speaks out for the first time on her harrowing ordeal with the military.

And a little bit later on, the Clinton factor. What do Bill and Hillary have to do with this presidential hopeful? The scoop on that ahead this hour.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Now for "Justice Served." As if the Laci Peterson murder case were not strange enough, already a new informant has turned up with a story about Scott Peterson plotting to have his wife kidnapped. Now, the source for the story is a Fresno County jail inmate. There he is, Cory Lee Carroll.

He says Peterson met with a group of neo-Nazis and asked them to snatch his wife. All of this was supposed to have happened a month before Laci Peterson actually did disappear. With us live from San Francisco, our 360 legal analyst, Kimberly Guilfoyle Newsom.

Kimberly, good to see you. I've got to tell you, this is just a bizarre twist in what has already been a bizarre case. I've got this guy's arrest record. I mean, this inmate passing blank checks, grand theft. Should anyone believe anything he says?

KIMBERLY GUILFOYLE NEWSOM, PROSECUTOR: Excellent point, Anderson. Those are what are called crimes of moral turpitude, tending to show that an individual is dishonest. So this individual's testimony, should it be presented in court, should be distrusted.

But, if true -- and, in fact, he has passed a lie detector test -- it is more bad news for Scott Peterson, showing a specific intent here to maybe get rid of his wife, that he was unhappy in the marriage, and it's bad news for the defense.

COOPER: But as the defense would quickly say, look, why hasn't this guy shown up before? I mean, this case is -- we all know it's been in the news a lot. It's not like this is the first time he's heard about it. Why are we just hearing about him now? Is there something fishy here?

NEWSOM: Well, sure. Whenever you look and see somebody coming from prison to try to and make some kind of statement. But I checked this out, and he's in on a parole violation. He's due to get out soon.

He doesn't have anything to benefit, on the flip side, from giving false information. And also, we're looking at an individual, yes, who is shady, he's a criminal. And it's not necessarily someone you'd look to do good acts and come forward with information on a timely basis.

COOPER: How significant -- I mean, you mentioned this lie detector. This guy's lawyer says he passed a lie detector test. How significant is that? I mean, those things aren't allowed in court.

NEWSOM: No, they are inadmissible in a court of law, but they are basically something that is compelling when you look at it from a prosecutor's standpoint to suggest that maybe in fact this person is telling the truth and is presenting some credible evidence against Scott Peterson. It's something they'll have to look at with caution and really take a much closer look at to see if they can corroborate any aspects of his story.

Did anyone else see them at this trip (UNINTELLIGIBLE), where they met, or at the subsequent meeting at Chili's? And can these two individuals, Dirty (ph) and Skeeter (ph), as they've been named, be identified and spoken to confirm this story?

COOPER: You're a prosecutor in San Francisco. If you were a prosecutor on this case, you would seriously look into this information?

NEWSOM: Absolutely. You can't afford not to, and the defense should do the same.

COOPER: All right. Kimberly Guilfoyle Newsom, thanks very much.

NEWSOM: Thank you.

COOPER: "Justice Served" continues now.

If the Scott Peterson case seems like an episode of "Law & Order," the case of Robert Durst, well, it's more like "Twin Peaks." A cross-dressing real estate millionaire who was living as a mute woman named Dorothy accused of killing and dismembering a neighbor. The latest of the trial that's the talk of Galveston, Texas.

Here's Ed Lavandera.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN DALLAS BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): To some, Robert Durst is a killer. To others, a victim of circumstance. But there's no disputing Robert Durst's a mystery.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think what is remarkable is that you have a guy like this, with this kind of family name and power and influence, and he's been living a very weird and bizarre life.

LAVANDERA: Durst's attorney says the millionaire moved to this Galveston apartment in November, 2000. New York prosecutors had reopened the investigation into his first wife's disappearance. The attention was too much to handle, so defense attorneys say he hid as a woman named Dorothy.

Seventy-one-year-old Morris Black lived next door to the cross- dressing Durst. In September 2001, defense attorneys say Durst and black got into a fight, struggled over a gun, Black was shot in the face.

Durst says he acted in self-defense. In opening statements, his defense attorney offered this explanation of why Durst never turned himself into police. "Morris is shot with my gun," said the attorney. "He's dead in my apartment that I rented as a mute woman. They're never going to believe me."

Prosecutors say it's Durst's behavior after Black was shot that makes him a murderer. Prosecutors say Durst carved Morris like a slice of beef, cutting off his arms, legs and head, wrapping the body parts in trash bags and throwing them into Galveston Bay.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA: Defense attorneys also say Durst suffers from a mild form of autism, which they say explains why Durst acted the way he did. But prosecutors aren't buying that. They say Robert Durst is simply a cold-blooded killer.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Galveston, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, still to come this evening, a presidential dark horse and the Clinton connection. Find out what role Bill and Hillary are playing in the Clark campaign.

Also tonight, an icon of makeup and excess, Tammy Faye Messner joins me live to talk about surviving scandal.

Plus, the birds do it, the bees do it, but where do people do it most often? You might be surprised. It might just be (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Stay with us for the results of the annual global sex survey.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Time for the "Reset." Time to check the top stories.

Spokane, Washington, police shot and wounded a 17-year-old student who was holed up in a high school classroom with a gun. No one else was injured. Teachers discovered the boy had a weapon this morning. Within minutes, 2,000 students had been evacuated.

Washington several new regulatory rules put in place today. The White House says it's a way to help faith-based programs get federal money to do their work. Critics say it's a cynical attempt to cut spending on social programs. The new rules are supposed to erase barriers or ease barriers that have kept faith-based organizations from receiving federal money to help the poor.

Washington, D.C.; two new studies show veterans of the 1991 Gulf War may be at unusually high risk for ALS, the deadly incurable nerve disease also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Both studies say the disease turned up more frequently and in younger people than expected.

And Jupiter, how is that for a dateline. The spacecraft Galileo is gone for good. Mission scientists crashed it into Jupiter after it ran out of gas. It was the size of an SUV and it traveled almost 3 billion miles. And the scientific data it gathered may give us the best clues yet on where life could possibly survive out in space.

That's the "Reset" for this Monday night.

Now politics. All it took was a general to get into the race and suddenly the contest for the Democratic presidential nomination got turned on its head. In the latest CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll, General Wesley Clark is a surprise league strong front-runner. When he goes head-to-head with the president, he wins in this poll.

Joining us live to handicap the race is a Democratic strategist, Carlos Watson. And he's with us in San Francisco. Good to see you. All this support for Wesley Clark all of a sudden. Is this just that he's a new face in the race?

CARLOS WATSON, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: He's partially the flavor of the month. But I think there are three real assets he's bringing to the table. One is, everyone loves the resume. Amiss all the post- 9/11 and war and build-up issues, a guy with four stars on the Democratic on the side of the ledger is appealing. Number two, he's got the implicit backing of the Clintons. And number three he's putting together a first-rate political team.

COOPER: A resume does not win a presidential race. You talk about his military background. People were saying that about Kerry a few months back and look where he is.

WATSON: It's certainly no promise. And remember this is a country going back to George Washington and as recently as Dwight Eisenhower that's loved voting for generals. We've elected 10 generals president. But your right, it's no guarantee and John Kerry is one example of people who have risen quickly and fallen just as fast.

COOPER: We might have elected 10 generals president, the last was Eisenhower, back I think was '52. So I not sure that's a great thing to run on right now. The whole thing of him being a commanding general and commanding presence, he's made some missteps in the last few weeks. Lets put this on the screen, this quote that "Newsweek" talks about. He apparently said this to some Republicans a while ago. I would have been a Republican if Karl Rove had returned my calls. Apparently after 9/11, he was wanting to have some sort of involvement from the White House. That doesn't seem all that great if he's now running as a Democrat.

WATSON: It doesn't. He is stumbling early on. Both his comments on that and some seeming flip-flops on the war. But make no mistake about it. When you've been the race for less than a week and you are already leading the incumbent president 49-46, and you are leading all the Democratic field by at least nine points, you are in a pretty good place. Now I think there will be two big events coming up in the next 10 days that will tell us a lot about his sustaining power. No. 1 will be the debate on Thursday with the entire Democratic field. And we'll learn about his ability to discuss the issues from environment to abortion to gun control.

COOPER: What's the other one, the money factor, September 30 is it?

WATSON: And September 30. Anderson, when those third quarter fund-raising reports come out, if a guy has been in the race for only 10 days, beats Gephardt, Lieberman, and Graham and others in the fund- raising, automaticly not only does his stock continue to rise, but frankly I think you're going to see some of the Democrats get out of the race before December 31.

COOPER: Some people are saying Bill Clinton is the puppet master behind all of this. William Safire, came out and sort of said, sort of had Machiavellian scheme he was kind of going with a little bit. You are a Democratic strategist, can you tell me is Bill Clinton behind all of this?

WATSON: Make no mistake about Clinton is playing a big role in this. And He loves it. He knows exactly what he's doing. He was in Monterey, California, a couple of days ago touting Clark. He's also done it on the East Coast as well. A lot of people speculate he wants this to happen with the hopes that Clark not only wins the nomination but then selects Hillary Clinton to be his running mate. And for Hillary that would be great practice, even if they lose in 2004 for her own bid four years later. I think Clinton has a big hand in this. But that's not the only story. Wesley Clark is a guy with a tremendous ego frankly.

COOPER: All right. We'll see what happens. Carl Watson, thank you for joining us.

WATSON: Anderson, thanks for having me.

COOPER: All right. On to the scandal at the Air Force Academy where it's been hard over the last year to remember that the air force motto is integrity first. A scathing report was issued today on sexual assault at the academy and how the leadership handled it or didn't handle it. Between 1993 and 2002, there were 142 assault allegations. Many more went unreported and among those who did report it, dozens said academy commanders were complacent about it.

CNN's David Mattingly met with one woman who doesn't need to read the report, she says she's lived it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHARON FULLILOVE, FORMER CADET: I always wanted to fly fighters. I never wanted to be a cargo gal.

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In 1999, cadet Sharon Fullilove was months into her first year at the prestiges Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs when she said she was raped by an upper classman. Equally painful, she says, was the response from administrators.

FULLILOVE: After I told my story, the officer that was in charge of the investigation went outside where my mom was sitting and waiting for me and told her that I was a liar and made the whole thing up.

MATTINGLY: She dropped out of the military and attends college now in Arizona. She didn't know it at the time, but she was one of dozens of sexual assault victims from the academy suffering in a culture of silence and inaction. Now she says she is hoping for vindication. After testifying before a Congressional committee.

FULLILOVE: The academy failed me by allowing this to happen to me and felt leak the whole thing happened all over again when the system wasn't there either.

MATTINGLY: Where Fullilove once dreamed of flying jets, she now dreams of holding her former commanding officers accountable. We were with Fullilove as she read the findings of the Congressional panel for the first time. She finds comfort in the panel's recognition of a chasm of leadership and supports its blueprint for change.

(on camera): Of her three top academy officers two were reassigned and one was demoted almost four years after Fullilove left the academy. She believes it will take longer to create a new culture where female cadets are truly safe.

David Mattingly, CNN, Tucson, Arizona.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: The school district wasn't cooperating so a Pennsylvania district attorney has issued subpoenas as part of an investigation into that sexual assault of a group of high school football players. In addition, there is a county grand jury investigating the case.

Jason Carroll has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Mepham high school officials under fire investigating allegations of a brutal hazing incident. The district attorney says school officials are refusing to provide records, including witness statements.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm frustrated they are not being more cooperative.

CARROLL: School officials say they are cooperating and federal law prohibits them from releasing student information without a subpoena. Three students, all football players, are accused of sodomizing three others at this Pennsylvania training camp with a broom stick, pine cone and golf ball. The school has faced hazing allegations before. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They stripped them down to his underwear and held him upside down and they were trying to force his head in the toilet bowl.

CARROLL: Steven Burger (ph) says his son Wesley suffered a concussion during a 1995 incident involving three older players. Burger says after pressing criminal and civil charges, his son was ostracized by the team and family felt abandoned by the school.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was brutalized in the boys locker room on a hazing incident you know, and the school just did not step up. The superintendent, the coaches, nobody.

CARROLL: Police confirm charges were filed. School officials did not return our calls about Burger's allegation. Burger says he hopes this time any victims receive the support his son never had.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL: And the district attorney says one way or another he's going to get the information that he needs. He also says that at this point, his office is in the process of serving several subpoenas -- Anderson.

COOPER: All right, Jason Carroll, thanks for the update.

Still to come this evening -- she's a lover, a fighter, and above all, a survivor. We're going to talk with Tammy Faye Messner about facing the world with her head high and her makeup intact.

Also tonight, why Eastern Europe can kiss that inferiority complex goodbye. A new survey showing that new Europe is a standout, at least when it comes to getting jiggy with it. And a little bit later, a Las Vegas made safe for families, like say the Hefner family. Why burlesque is back and badder than ever. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Well, if there isn't a country music song written about Tammy Faye Messner already, there ought to be. But in a way, Tammy Faye already has an anthem, a disco anthem, it's Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive." It's also the title of Tammy Faye's new book.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): At first she was afraid, she was petrified.

TAMMY FAYE MESSNER, AUTHOR: And they dragged him out, they paraded him across the yard in shackles, sobbing and crying with his hair all messed up.

COOPER: The woman who help build the Christian television empire in the '80s with faith and God, country and extra lash mascara stood by her man, Jim Bakker, even as a sex and financial scandal unraveled it all. Did you think she'd crumble? Did you think she'd lay down and die? Oh, no, not Tammy Faye. MESSNER: Well, chains can't take your dignity away.

COOPER: She eventually divorced, remarried and had to stand by her man again when he went to jail.

A few years ago, her diva status was confirmed by a documentary called "The Eyes of Tammy Faye," narrated by someone who knew her passion for pancake makeup all too well, RuPaul.

Through it all, prescription pills, cancer, some rough time with her kids, Tammy Faye has kept brave, lacquered visage in place. She was strong. She knew how to get along.

And now she's back.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: She is back indeed, and she's here. Tammy Faye Messner joins us now. Tammy Faye, thanks so very much for being with us.

MESSNER: Hello, Anderson. Thank you for having me.

COOPER: You know that saying everyone -- is sort of popular now, what would Jesus do? What would Jesus think about Tammy Faye?

MESSNER: I think he'd think I was funny.

COOPER: Funny?

MESSNER: Yeah, and I can create a monkey kind of -- my husband calls me monkey all the time. And I think Jesus likes fun people.

COOPER: What -- why did you write a book? I mean, you -- some people say it's like a moth going into the flame. You've been brutalized in the media, you've been down, you've been out.

MESSNER: Taking another chance.

COOPER: Yes, you're taking another chance. Why?

MESSNER: They asked me to. And when they asked me to, I decided I would. I thought my 15 minutes of fame was up. And when the book people came back and asked me to write a book, I was so excited.

COOPER: And you're not just writing, I mean, you are getting back into Christian broadcasting.

MESSNER: I am. I start back in November, and in January we start syndicating the show again, a half hour daily show.

COOPER: It's a tough business. I mean, any kind of media is tough.

MESSNER: Oh, yeah.

COOPER: And I mean, as you've written in this book, you say you have been betrayed by Jerry Falwell, among others.

MESSNER: Yeah.

COOPER: Do you watch Christian broadcasting now?

MESSNER: No.

COOPER: No. Why not?

MESSNER: It hurts too bad. You know, I was a part of it for so long that it just hurts to know that I'm not able to be back there and doing what I love to do so much. You know, the gospel of Jesus Christ, the calling on your life is like a little puppy dog nipping at your heels all the time. And until you pick it up, it just won't stop. And that's what the calling is like.

COOPER: Do you believe what you see? I mean, when you see a lot of -- or some Christian broadcasters on TV, I mean, you say you don't watch them. Is that because you no longer believe what they are saying?

MESSNER: No, I believe what they are saying. I truly do. It's just sad for me. And I try to stay away from as much sadness as possible.

COOPER: You've had a lot of sadness, a lot of it you recount in your book. I mean, what for you was the worst time?

MESSNER: Well, the worst time was probably the divorce, because in our family, we never even said the word divorce. And I never dreamed that I would be part of a divorce.

COOPER: You are talking about Jim Bakker.

MESSNER: Yes.

COOPER: He was in prison, and he filed for divorce.

MESSNER: Yes, he did. He filed for divorce. And when he did, I just thought, well, I've got to end the hurt. We've all hurt so hard and so bad that I've got to end the hurt. And I didn't hardly think about it. I just signed the papers. And I -- but I'm the happiest today I've ever been, Anderson.

COOPER: You are remarried?

MESSNER: I'm remarried to a wonderful, gentle, awesome man. Hi, baby. He's home watching.

COOPER: Oh, yeah?

MESSNER: And I am so happy. I'm so peaceful.

COOPER: And it's amazing. I mean, America is a remarkable country for many reasons. One of them is that people are able to sort of have comebacks and multiple comebacks. And you seem to certainly be having one.

MESSNER: How many have I had?

COOPER; I'm not sure. I'm not sure. You seem to be at least on your third. They made this documentary about you. It brought you out to a whole new audience. You actually have a large gay following.

MESSNER: Yes.

COOPER: I think I've even read you are appearing at a gay bar later tonight. Is that true?

MESSNER: Yes.

COOPER: How do you reconcile that?

MESSNER: Well, because I think God loves everybody, and he loves us all just the same. We're all made out of the same old dirt. One of us isn't better than the other.

COOPER: Is it true you've tattooed your eyeliner on?

MESSNER: Yes, my eyeliner and my eyebrows.

COOPER: Both of those are tattooed?

MESSNER: Yes. Cotton picket, that hurts really bad.

COOPER: All right, we wish you a lot of luck on the book "I Will Survive and You Will, Too."

MESSNER: Thank you. Thank you very much, Anderson.

COOPER: All right, thank you.

Well, coming up next on 360, they could benchpress my entire family, but that won't stop me from saying my piece about them fresh princes. Next.

Also tonight, burlesque is back, and front and side and lots of other things too, as we'll show you in just a bit.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Well, sometimes you really have to push correspondents to do certain stories. Like, hey, you mind hanging out in the middle of a hurricane today?

Fortunately, CNN's Bruce Burkhardt put up little resistance when we asked him to file a report for us on the resurgence of burlesque. Thanks, Bruce.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What? I am a good girl BRUCE BURKHARDT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Burlesque, that old timey variety show that entertained many Americans back before TV, is back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Old things never die. They just kind of get reinvented.

BURKHARDT: And this is one of the reinventions, Cirque de Soleil's new show at the Las Vegas hotel New York, New York, "Humanities," (ph) some dance, some comedy and a lot of nudity. And across the stage at the MGM Grand, a rehearsal for a show called La Femme. It's the twin sister to a show in Paris at the famous Crazy Horse, which in itself started as a salute to American burlesque.

Burlesque, a marriage of sorts between the funny and the sexy. But to really know about this uniquely American entertainment, you need to head out to the Mojave Desert.

DIXIE EVANS, OWNER, "EXOTIC WORLD": And I used to stroll on stage, you know, with dark glasses and a long cigarette holder. The curtain would open up and I'd throw into my set and the band would play "You Ought to be in Pictures." Oh, who, me?

BURKHARDT: In an old goat shed...

EVANS: I was the southern comfort girl from Southern California.

BURKHARDT: Former burlesque star Dixie Evans keeps the burlesque flame alive here at Exotic World, her museum and striptease hall of fame.

EVANS: Now this is the one and only Tempest Star (ph). This is her G-string, as I was telling you.

These are Sally Lan's (ph) original fan.

And then, of course, this is Blaze Star.

BURKHARDT: It was an era when the tease was more important than the strip.

EVANS: It wasn't what you took off. It was the way you took it off.

BURKHARDT: And when you strip away all that Vegas glitz, it's burlesque, Dixie Evans Style.

EVANS: Oh, well, burlesque is definitely already back. I can't begin to tell you.

BURKHARDT: Bruce Burkhardt, CNN, Las Vegas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Remember, it's not what you take off, it's the way you take it off. Time to check "The Current."

The top movie this weekend was "Underworld," which took in $22 million. "Underworld" stars Kate Beckinsale as a leather-wearing vampire. Some moviegoers indicated they would also pay to see her as a spandex-clad accountant, a librarian in lycra or an accounts receivable clerk dipped from head-to-toe in liquid latex.

The Dixie Chicks say they're not a country band anymore after backlash to their criticism of the president and their shut-out at the Country Music Awards. The group says they consider themselves part of the rock 'n' roll family. In a statement today, rock 'n' roll replied, "Dixie who now?"

Stevie Nicks is sounding off on the kiss between Madonna and Britney Spears. Fleetwood Mac's singer called it "the most obnoxious moment in television" and complained about the clothes young stars wear today. In a related story, Stevie Nicks has now become your grandmother and she wants those hooligans off her damn lawn.

And finally, a new survey finds that Hungarians are having more sex than anyone, even overtaking the French. Hungarians claim to have sex 152 times annually compared to 144 for the French and 118 for Americans. Now the survey results apparently do not include the various sex acts France has recently performed on the U.S. Hungary? Hmm, I didn't know that.

Coming up next on 360, is there a way to end the infinite parade of weak sitcoms? We just may have the cure.

And tomorrow we'll have America's reaction and the world's to what President Bush has to say when he faces the U.N. tomorrow.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Well, this week's "Fresh Print" looks at men's exercise magazines. By reading about working out, I'm hoping to avoid actually having to work out. In my next life, I want to write headlines for "Men's Health." It must be easy, because every month it's pretty much the same headline. "Build Your Best Body"; "Burn Belly Fat Fast." Blah, blah, blah.

This month's "Men's Health" seems fixated on numbers. "Seven Pains You Can't Ignore": "Add Two Inches to Your Biceps": "1,045 Health, Fitness and Nutrition Tips." Since when did working out become so much like accounting?

"Men's Fitness" features "Fear Factor"'s Joe Rogan. He shows off his stretching routine. I could easily make a joke about having seen Joe Rogan in lots of different roles and never once thinking he's capable of stretching, but I won't since he's a martial arts expert and could snap my neck like a pasty white breadstick.

"Flex" magazine seems to go out of its way to prove it's OK for manly men to ogle other men's pecs. Flex promises a lingerie scorcher, 24 pages of buxom beauties. The problem is some of the male bodybuilders on the other pages have bigger breasts. But most of them don't look half as good in lingerie, so it's OK.

"Muscular Development" magazine reads like a chemist's cookbook. I've never read a magazine that runs disclaimers before columns saying the editorial staff does not condone illegal drug use for bodybuilding. It's probably wise they do this, however, since several of the articles seem to provide detailed recipes for contraband chemical cocktails.

Reading these magazines, however, you got to wonder -- if all the advice is so good for you and all the guys are so virile and healthy, why are so many of the ads for penile enlargement and sex enhancers? I'm just asking.

Time for "The Nth Degree."

Well, tonight we take sitcoms to "The Nth Degree." We're just seconds away from the official start of the new TV season. But "The New York Times" reports that we are also in the middle of America's third great sitcom drought. Not a single sitcom has been a breakout hit since "Will & Grace," and that was back in 1998. Among the apparent cause: resurging interest in hour-long dramas, the viral spread of reality TV and perhaps most of all, unchecked sitcom suckatood.

With no end in sight, what can we do, you ask? We can fight back. That's what we can do. When a lousy sitcom laugh track prompts you to laugh, don't do it. I'm serious. When a focus group asks you if you want a show like "Friends," say no. In your heart, you know it's a lie, but if you tell them the truth, they'll just knock out another "Friends" clone.

My friends, we can shatter (ph) our dependence on wacky neighbors and their gateway drugs, precocious kids, if we get proper treatment and counseling. The bottom line is we have to stop watching the awful stuff they put on the air. Stop now. Just stop cold turkey.

I know, withdrawal can be tough. You may find yourself exercising or reading things, having meaningful discussions with people you care about, or even becoming productive in some other way. Who knows?

I know it's scary. But it's a short term sacrifice we all have to make. If we want to get good sitcoms back on the air, that -- so we can at least get back on the couch forever.

And that wraps up our program tonight. Appreciate you joining us. Appreciate all our guests.

Coming up next, "PAULA ZAHN NOW."

See you tomorrow night.

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





a Neo-Nazi Gang to Kidnap his Wife?>


Aired September 22, 2003 - 19:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON COOPER, HOST (voice-over): Tomorrow, President Bush makes a crucial address. Tonight, his strategy.

A terrorist talks. Are more strikes in the works?

Did Scott Peterson approach a neo-Nazi gang to kidnap his wife?

Wesley Clark out in front. How long will the honeymoon last?

Surviving as Tammy Faye. She joins us live.

And the bawdy return of burlesque.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Live from the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is ANDERSON COOPER 360.

COOPER: Good evening. Welcome to 360.

We begin tonight with President Bush, set to address tomorrow what is likely to be a very tough crowd, the U.N. General Assembly. The early reports suggest his appearance will be a call to action and a call for unity, asking for at least some international help in stabilizing Iraq on American terms, and convincing a skeptical world that the war and its messy aftermath was worth it.

Senior White House correspondent, John King, reports. John King will be joining us in just a little bit. Let's move on to our other top story now, which is in Iraq.

Today, an explosion in Baghdad sent shock waves throughout the world. For the second time in just over a month, a United Nations compound in Baghdad targeted by a suicide bomber. Senior international correspondent, Walter Rodgers, has more now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALTER RODGERS, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There was another loud explosion in Baghdad. Then the wail of sirens. Fire and rescue vehicles rushing again to the United Nations headquarters here. The familiar burned out hulk of a suicide bomber's car and a charred corpse. An Iraqi security guard was also killed trying to stop the suicide bomber.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He wasn't going to get in. And I think he realized that. And his targets -- his -- he changed his target.

RODGERS: Since the far more deadly bombing of the same U.N. building August 19, when 23 people died, U.S. and coalition forces pushed the U.N. security perimeter much further back. Still, if you were among the 18 or 19 wounded, this car bomb was terrifying.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (through translator): We were passing by in our car in front of the United Nations headquarters when suddenly I fainted. And then I don't remember anything. I was with my two sons, and my elder one, who was driving, was hurt in his mouth. He is in the Al Khindi (ph) hospital being treated. They just took a shell out of my head and will examine me again now.

RODGERS: After the second attack on the United Nations compound in Baghdad, officials here and in New York are reconsidering the level of the U.N.'s commitment in Iraq. That safety review puts in doubt the future of the U.N.'s vaccination water purification and other programs here.

ANTONIA PARADELA, U.N. SPOKESWOMAN: We are seeing an increase of security incidents, and we are worried that this might hamper vital U.N. operations in Iraq.

RODGERS (on camera): This latest attempt to bomb U.N. headquarters is yet another fiery reminder that the United Nations label gives no one immunity in Iraq, and that this remains a high-risk war zone for anyone who lives or works here.

Walter Rodgers, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, that fiery reminder Walter Rodgers just talked about provides the backdrop for President Bush tomorrow. His address to the U.N. General Assembly, and, as we said, it is likely to be a tough crowd. Here is White House correspondent John King.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The president will insist the war was right and tell the United Nations it should be proud Saddam Hussein is gone. And as he makes a first-hand appeal for help in rebuilding now, aides say Mr. Bush will insist Iraq's political transition must take place on an orderly timetable, his timetable.

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: As soon as possible, but to do it in a way that is responsible.

KING: The White House says a French proposal to immediately let Iraqis run their country before elections and without a constitution is a recipe for disaster.

AMB. PAUL BREMER, U.S. CIVIL ADMINISTRATOR TO IRAQ: To do so would invite economic collapse, followed by political extremism, and a return to terrorism.

KING: Last year, Mr. Bush rallied U.N. support for new weapons inspections and a new warning to Saddam Hussein, but then failed to get Security Council blessing for the war itself. This year, he will appeal for more international troops and tens of billions in reconstruction money to help win the peace. And the president invited Iraq's new public works and electricity ministers to the Oval Office to help make his case.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are going to build a democracy in Iraq, and it will become an example for all the Middle East areas.

KING: There will be no shortage of critic and skeptics at the United Nations. And Mr. Bush will speak at the lowest point of his presidency in terms of public opinion here at home.

Americans are now split when asked to rate Mr. Bush's job performance. Fifty percent approve and 47 percent disapprove. And just 50 percent of Americans now say it was worth going to war in Iraq, down from 58 percent just 10 days ago.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: John King joins us now live. John, do you know what the strategy is for the president in his address tomorrow, trying to convince the nations who had opposed U.S. involvement in Iraq to now join?

KING: Well, Anderson, as you know, it's a tough sell. The president is going to say, let's put the bitterness aside, and that the world has a responsibility to help with rebuilding post-war Iraq and security in post-war Iraq. The president will once again say the very relevance that the United Nations is in play here. Remember, that is the case he made a year ago here in trying to build up pressure on Saddam Hussein.

But there are so many skeptics, those who say for the president to get that help he must give up control in Iraq to the United Nations. The White House says the president is not prepared to do that -- Anderson.

COOPER: As you said, putting bitterness aside, a difficult thing to do. John King, thanks very much.

And as we just heard from President Bush, he will likely face a tough crowd at the U.N. He's also facing another one, and this audience is the one that gets the White House spinners lunging for their Alka Seltzer, the American people. Those new polls that John King just mentioned showing that Mr. Bush's approval ratings have now tumbled to the lowest of his presidency.

Here's CNN's Candy Crowley. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): George Bush looks more beatable than ever. The doctor gives way to a general, and politically the country has settled back into pre-9/11 divisions, as evenly split now as it was in the election of 2000.

It is a snapshot of America by the numbers in the latest CNN-"USA Today" Gallup Poll. Consider this: Wesley Clark has been a Democratic presidential candidate for less than a week. And among registered voters, Democrats or leaning Democrat, Clark beats everyone else in the race. Talk about your post-announcement bounce.

And while Clark soars, Bush sinks 10 more points to the lowest approval rating of his presidency. With Iraq in turmoil, and the economy in flux, only about half of Americans approve of the way Mr. Bush is handling his job. And only half now think the Iraq war was worth fighting.

More worrisome for the White House, just 46 percent of registered voters said George Bush agrees with them on issues they care about. In a hypothetical Bush-Clark race, advantage Clark by three points. Within the margin of error, but the first time any candidate has penetrated the Bush barrier.

John Kerry holds a one-point advantage over the president. All the other top-tier Democrats are within range.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CROWLEY: The Republicans' top pollster waves off any particular problems with his polls, saying they knew all along that 2004 would be a close race. What's interesting about this poll, he says, is that the Democratic field is so unsettled. The Dean campaign, meanwhile, is waving off the Clark boom, saying what's interesting to them is that so many top-tier Democrats are within the margin of error against the president -- Anderson.

COOPER: Interesting. Candy, thanks very much.

A quick flashback now to how the president's father was faring when he was a year to go until his election. The job approval rating for George Herbert Walker Bush was at 55 percent in the fall of 1991. It had tumbled to that point from a high of 75 percent when he was basking in the glow of victory from the first Gulf War.

He went on, of course, to lose the election. An interesting flashback that shouldn't be taken on any comment on his son's chances in 2004.

On our terror watch tonight, chilling details from the mastermind of 9/11. Talking to his American interrogators, revealing key details about al Qaeda, its fluid planning and network of operations, tales of what might have been. National Security correspondent David Ensor has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The tallest tower in Los Angeles was among the original targets discussed by Osama bin Laden and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed back in 1996 when they first planned what became the 9/11 attacks, according to U.S. government sources with access to what interrogators are getting from Mohammed, who is now a prisoner of the CIA.

The original plan called for five hijacked planes on each coast of the United States. A total of 10 aircraft, the sources say. Mohammed paints a picture of bin Laden playing a central role in the planning, five years before the attacks. Scaling them down to improve their chances.

MATT LEVITT, FMR. FBI ANALYST: It was more important to have four successful hijackings that would successfully strike to our political, military, and economic infrastructure, than to have an attack where eight or 10 planes were involved. And perhaps because of being overly ambitious, the plot would be discovered and thwarted.

ENSOR: At one point in the planning, the 9/11 attacks were to include 22 hijackers on the four aircraft. Officials say Mohammed has told his interrogators the attacks were to be followed by a second wave carried out with help from al Qaeda allies in southeast Asia.

Officials say another key prisoner has been talking, too. The man known as Hambali, accused of orchestrating the Bali bombers, has told his American interrogators about a plot to attack a couple of large hotels in Thailand during the upcoming meeting of Asian and Pacific leaders, including President Bush.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ENSOR. Officials say Hambali's brother and close associate, Rus Mangunawan (ph), has also been captured this weekend in Pakistan, along with about 16 others. One official calling, Anderson, a useful catch.

COOPER: It certainly seems to be. David Ensor, thanks very much.

Tonight, now a couple of stories to tell you about from around the world. Let's take a look at the Up Link.

Tehran, Iran: not the kind of parade Macy's puts on, featuring a half dozen medium-range ballistic missiles, ones that could reach Israel or U.S. bases in the Gulf. Iran also said today it will scale back cooperation with the U.N.'s nuclear watch dog. Iran says it's been cooperating more than an international treaty requires.

Puntarenas, Chile: a daring emergency rescue from the South Pole. An American worker who was sick, he'll now be flown to the U.S. Getting him out was treacherous. One person involved said the passage between Chile and Antarctica has probably the worst weather in the world. Baja, California: more bad weather. And here it has a name, Marty. The hurricane hit southern Baja with 85-mile-an-hour winds, heavy rain. Forecasters say the Mexican mainland will get hit by Marty as well.

We move on now. Puerto Plata, the Dominican Republic. An earthquake measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale. It was felt as far as 200 miles away in western Puerto Rico, and at least 10 people have been hurt.

And floating somewhere in the Persian Gulf, 57,000 stateless sheep. They were Australian sheep headed for Saudi Arabia. They are exiles now because of an outbreak of scabby mouth on board. No one wants them, apparently. The sheep, for their part, I think were hoping to retire to a house and maybe enjoy the cafe life in the West Bank. Now they'll be lucky to even get off the boat alive.

And that is tonight's Up Link.

Still to come tonight, this evening: behind bars. A Muslim chaplain at Guantanamo Bay. Hear in his own words about his relationship with the prisoners.

Also tonight: a cross-dressing millionaire accused of hacking his neighbor to death. Self-defense or murder? We're going to take a closer look at that.

Plus, surviving scandal. Tammy Faye Messner joins me live to talk love, heartbreak, and starting over.

As we go, a look Inside the Box. The top stories on tonight's network evening news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: All right. Welcome back to 360. Let's take a quick trip Cross Country now.

North Carolina and New Jersey, 1.2 million customers still in the dark thanks to Hurricane Isabel. Emergency workers trying to restore power in seven states and Washington, D.C. At least 36 deaths are so far blamed on the storm.

San Francisco: an appeals court began reconsidering the blockbuster question: Should we set our watches for an October 7 election or get out the calendars to mark off the months until spring? Last week, a three-judge panel postponed the election until March. Today, 11 judges from the same court began rethinking that. No answer today, though.

Sioux Falls, South Dakota: he says he couldn't be sorrier. Congressman Bill Janklow speaking out for the first time since last month's traffic accident in which a motorcyclist died. Janklow is charged with second-degree manslaughter. His preliminary hearing is on Thursday. Port Angeles, Washington: police say a letter found in a Safeway store suggesting supermarket products were tampered with. It also included an extortion attempt. The FDA and FBI are investigating. No tampered products have yet been found.

And Washington, D.C., JetBlue's legal blues. A privacy group filed a complaint today with the Federal Trade Commission. The electronic privacy information center wants the airline to pay and pay big for violating its privacy rule and sharing millions of its passenger information with a defense consultant. JetBlue apologized last week.

That's the look Cross Country.

Well, a Muslim U.S. Army chaplain is in custody tonight under suspicion for possible ties to al Qaeda. His case has sparked concern in a wide-ranging investigation.

CNN Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, has been following the story all day and has some fresh details -- Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Anderson.

Well, sources tell CNN indeed there is now a much broader investigation as to whether Army Captain James Yee, an Islamic Army chaplain, had help or may have been involved of with others in possible security breaches at Guantanamo Bay. That, of course, is the detention facility in Cuba, the U.S. naval base, where there are more than 600 detainees, some of them al Qaeda, and where Yee worked as an Islamic chaplain ministering to those detainees.

Now, when Captain Yee was taken into custody, sources say he was found to be carrying classified information without authorization. That information included maps and drawings of the detention facility, notes from interrogations of detainees, and a laptop computer with a modem, which is prohibited at that base. He also may have been seen on law enforcement surveillance tapes of areas where Muslim groups had been gathering in the United States, areas that were already under federal law enforcement surveillance.

Now, recently, Captain Yee gave an interview where he talked about his work.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPT. JAMES YEE, U.S. ARMY ISLAMIC CHAPLAIN: I have built the rapport, I have built the relationships with the detainees. So they feel, many of them, several of them -- I would say the majority of them feel comfortable talking to me, knowing that I am -- I will sincerely address their concerns (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: Now, even as this broader investigation continues as to whether there have been some security breaches at the base, it is important to remember that Captain Yee, while under military detention, has not been charged with anything. The military under the law can hold him 124 days before issuing any charges against him. But he remains under investigation tonight for possible suspicion of committing espionage and treason -- Anderson.

COOPER: The investigation continues. Barbara Starr, thanks very much.

Overseas now, the International Monetary Fund meeting in Dubai had encouraging words for Afghanistan's reconstruction efforts, and, as well, a warning. A warning to destroy Afghanistan's opium crops before they destroy that country's economic revival.

Charles Hodson reports from Dubai.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHARLES HODSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A pat on the head from the IMF for Afghanistan's leaders. The Fund's economist praised the new central bank, currency reform, commercial banking law, and functioning budget. They forecast 20 percent economic growth this year. But they say this illegal crop, opium, now accounts for 40 to 50 percent of the whole economy, thanks to security problems in southern Afghanistan, which prevent aid from reaching the region and leave its farmers with little else to survive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a vicious cycle which needs to be stopped.

HODSON: The Afghan government says it is trying. In fact, spending on security will swallow half the $1.2 billion in new funds promised in Dubai by U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow. But international donors know getting the infrastructure, health, and education into shape will cost much, much more.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Bush has indicated our commitment to providing substantial sums in support of this effort.

HODSON: And the Afghans themselves have been lobbying the holders of the world's purse strings in Dubai, making clear they need a lot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Over the next five years, Afghanistan needs close to $30 billion in order to transform Afghanistan from where it is to a country that will have a normal economy.

HODSON (voice-over): The big problem for the Afghans is they aren't the only ones looking for help. Iraq, too, desperately needs tens of billions of dollars for reconstruction. The worry is that Afghanistan's calls for help will be drowned out in the heated international discussion of Iraq's needs.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: That was Charles Hodson reporting. Still to come this evening, Scott Peterson. Did he plot with neo-Nazis to have his pregnant wife, Laci, kidnapped? Kimberly Guilfoyle Newsom sounds off on the latest twist in the case.

Also tonight: inside the Air Force Academy rape scandal. A new report blames school officials. Now a victim speaks out for the first time on her harrowing ordeal with the military.

And a little bit later on, the Clinton factor. What do Bill and Hillary have to do with this presidential hopeful? The scoop on that ahead this hour.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Now for "Justice Served." As if the Laci Peterson murder case were not strange enough, already a new informant has turned up with a story about Scott Peterson plotting to have his wife kidnapped. Now, the source for the story is a Fresno County jail inmate. There he is, Cory Lee Carroll.

He says Peterson met with a group of neo-Nazis and asked them to snatch his wife. All of this was supposed to have happened a month before Laci Peterson actually did disappear. With us live from San Francisco, our 360 legal analyst, Kimberly Guilfoyle Newsom.

Kimberly, good to see you. I've got to tell you, this is just a bizarre twist in what has already been a bizarre case. I've got this guy's arrest record. I mean, this inmate passing blank checks, grand theft. Should anyone believe anything he says?

KIMBERLY GUILFOYLE NEWSOM, PROSECUTOR: Excellent point, Anderson. Those are what are called crimes of moral turpitude, tending to show that an individual is dishonest. So this individual's testimony, should it be presented in court, should be distrusted.

But, if true -- and, in fact, he has passed a lie detector test -- it is more bad news for Scott Peterson, showing a specific intent here to maybe get rid of his wife, that he was unhappy in the marriage, and it's bad news for the defense.

COOPER: But as the defense would quickly say, look, why hasn't this guy shown up before? I mean, this case is -- we all know it's been in the news a lot. It's not like this is the first time he's heard about it. Why are we just hearing about him now? Is there something fishy here?

NEWSOM: Well, sure. Whenever you look and see somebody coming from prison to try to and make some kind of statement. But I checked this out, and he's in on a parole violation. He's due to get out soon.

He doesn't have anything to benefit, on the flip side, from giving false information. And also, we're looking at an individual, yes, who is shady, he's a criminal. And it's not necessarily someone you'd look to do good acts and come forward with information on a timely basis.

COOPER: How significant -- I mean, you mentioned this lie detector. This guy's lawyer says he passed a lie detector test. How significant is that? I mean, those things aren't allowed in court.

NEWSOM: No, they are inadmissible in a court of law, but they are basically something that is compelling when you look at it from a prosecutor's standpoint to suggest that maybe in fact this person is telling the truth and is presenting some credible evidence against Scott Peterson. It's something they'll have to look at with caution and really take a much closer look at to see if they can corroborate any aspects of his story.

Did anyone else see them at this trip (UNINTELLIGIBLE), where they met, or at the subsequent meeting at Chili's? And can these two individuals, Dirty (ph) and Skeeter (ph), as they've been named, be identified and spoken to confirm this story?

COOPER: You're a prosecutor in San Francisco. If you were a prosecutor on this case, you would seriously look into this information?

NEWSOM: Absolutely. You can't afford not to, and the defense should do the same.

COOPER: All right. Kimberly Guilfoyle Newsom, thanks very much.

NEWSOM: Thank you.

COOPER: "Justice Served" continues now.

If the Scott Peterson case seems like an episode of "Law & Order," the case of Robert Durst, well, it's more like "Twin Peaks." A cross-dressing real estate millionaire who was living as a mute woman named Dorothy accused of killing and dismembering a neighbor. The latest of the trial that's the talk of Galveston, Texas.

Here's Ed Lavandera.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN DALLAS BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): To some, Robert Durst is a killer. To others, a victim of circumstance. But there's no disputing Robert Durst's a mystery.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think what is remarkable is that you have a guy like this, with this kind of family name and power and influence, and he's been living a very weird and bizarre life.

LAVANDERA: Durst's attorney says the millionaire moved to this Galveston apartment in November, 2000. New York prosecutors had reopened the investigation into his first wife's disappearance. The attention was too much to handle, so defense attorneys say he hid as a woman named Dorothy.

Seventy-one-year-old Morris Black lived next door to the cross- dressing Durst. In September 2001, defense attorneys say Durst and black got into a fight, struggled over a gun, Black was shot in the face.

Durst says he acted in self-defense. In opening statements, his defense attorney offered this explanation of why Durst never turned himself into police. "Morris is shot with my gun," said the attorney. "He's dead in my apartment that I rented as a mute woman. They're never going to believe me."

Prosecutors say it's Durst's behavior after Black was shot that makes him a murderer. Prosecutors say Durst carved Morris like a slice of beef, cutting off his arms, legs and head, wrapping the body parts in trash bags and throwing them into Galveston Bay.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA: Defense attorneys also say Durst suffers from a mild form of autism, which they say explains why Durst acted the way he did. But prosecutors aren't buying that. They say Robert Durst is simply a cold-blooded killer.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Galveston, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, still to come this evening, a presidential dark horse and the Clinton connection. Find out what role Bill and Hillary are playing in the Clark campaign.

Also tonight, an icon of makeup and excess, Tammy Faye Messner joins me live to talk about surviving scandal.

Plus, the birds do it, the bees do it, but where do people do it most often? You might be surprised. It might just be (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Stay with us for the results of the annual global sex survey.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Time for the "Reset." Time to check the top stories.

Spokane, Washington, police shot and wounded a 17-year-old student who was holed up in a high school classroom with a gun. No one else was injured. Teachers discovered the boy had a weapon this morning. Within minutes, 2,000 students had been evacuated.

Washington several new regulatory rules put in place today. The White House says it's a way to help faith-based programs get federal money to do their work. Critics say it's a cynical attempt to cut spending on social programs. The new rules are supposed to erase barriers or ease barriers that have kept faith-based organizations from receiving federal money to help the poor.

Washington, D.C.; two new studies show veterans of the 1991 Gulf War may be at unusually high risk for ALS, the deadly incurable nerve disease also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Both studies say the disease turned up more frequently and in younger people than expected.

And Jupiter, how is that for a dateline. The spacecraft Galileo is gone for good. Mission scientists crashed it into Jupiter after it ran out of gas. It was the size of an SUV and it traveled almost 3 billion miles. And the scientific data it gathered may give us the best clues yet on where life could possibly survive out in space.

That's the "Reset" for this Monday night.

Now politics. All it took was a general to get into the race and suddenly the contest for the Democratic presidential nomination got turned on its head. In the latest CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll, General Wesley Clark is a surprise league strong front-runner. When he goes head-to-head with the president, he wins in this poll.

Joining us live to handicap the race is a Democratic strategist, Carlos Watson. And he's with us in San Francisco. Good to see you. All this support for Wesley Clark all of a sudden. Is this just that he's a new face in the race?

CARLOS WATSON, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: He's partially the flavor of the month. But I think there are three real assets he's bringing to the table. One is, everyone loves the resume. Amiss all the post- 9/11 and war and build-up issues, a guy with four stars on the Democratic on the side of the ledger is appealing. Number two, he's got the implicit backing of the Clintons. And number three he's putting together a first-rate political team.

COOPER: A resume does not win a presidential race. You talk about his military background. People were saying that about Kerry a few months back and look where he is.

WATSON: It's certainly no promise. And remember this is a country going back to George Washington and as recently as Dwight Eisenhower that's loved voting for generals. We've elected 10 generals president. But your right, it's no guarantee and John Kerry is one example of people who have risen quickly and fallen just as fast.

COOPER: We might have elected 10 generals president, the last was Eisenhower, back I think was '52. So I not sure that's a great thing to run on right now. The whole thing of him being a commanding general and commanding presence, he's made some missteps in the last few weeks. Lets put this on the screen, this quote that "Newsweek" talks about. He apparently said this to some Republicans a while ago. I would have been a Republican if Karl Rove had returned my calls. Apparently after 9/11, he was wanting to have some sort of involvement from the White House. That doesn't seem all that great if he's now running as a Democrat.

WATSON: It doesn't. He is stumbling early on. Both his comments on that and some seeming flip-flops on the war. But make no mistake about it. When you've been the race for less than a week and you are already leading the incumbent president 49-46, and you are leading all the Democratic field by at least nine points, you are in a pretty good place. Now I think there will be two big events coming up in the next 10 days that will tell us a lot about his sustaining power. No. 1 will be the debate on Thursday with the entire Democratic field. And we'll learn about his ability to discuss the issues from environment to abortion to gun control.

COOPER: What's the other one, the money factor, September 30 is it?

WATSON: And September 30. Anderson, when those third quarter fund-raising reports come out, if a guy has been in the race for only 10 days, beats Gephardt, Lieberman, and Graham and others in the fund- raising, automaticly not only does his stock continue to rise, but frankly I think you're going to see some of the Democrats get out of the race before December 31.

COOPER: Some people are saying Bill Clinton is the puppet master behind all of this. William Safire, came out and sort of said, sort of had Machiavellian scheme he was kind of going with a little bit. You are a Democratic strategist, can you tell me is Bill Clinton behind all of this?

WATSON: Make no mistake about Clinton is playing a big role in this. And He loves it. He knows exactly what he's doing. He was in Monterey, California, a couple of days ago touting Clark. He's also done it on the East Coast as well. A lot of people speculate he wants this to happen with the hopes that Clark not only wins the nomination but then selects Hillary Clinton to be his running mate. And for Hillary that would be great practice, even if they lose in 2004 for her own bid four years later. I think Clinton has a big hand in this. But that's not the only story. Wesley Clark is a guy with a tremendous ego frankly.

COOPER: All right. We'll see what happens. Carl Watson, thank you for joining us.

WATSON: Anderson, thanks for having me.

COOPER: All right. On to the scandal at the Air Force Academy where it's been hard over the last year to remember that the air force motto is integrity first. A scathing report was issued today on sexual assault at the academy and how the leadership handled it or didn't handle it. Between 1993 and 2002, there were 142 assault allegations. Many more went unreported and among those who did report it, dozens said academy commanders were complacent about it.

CNN's David Mattingly met with one woman who doesn't need to read the report, she says she's lived it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHARON FULLILOVE, FORMER CADET: I always wanted to fly fighters. I never wanted to be a cargo gal.

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In 1999, cadet Sharon Fullilove was months into her first year at the prestiges Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs when she said she was raped by an upper classman. Equally painful, she says, was the response from administrators.

FULLILOVE: After I told my story, the officer that was in charge of the investigation went outside where my mom was sitting and waiting for me and told her that I was a liar and made the whole thing up.

MATTINGLY: She dropped out of the military and attends college now in Arizona. She didn't know it at the time, but she was one of dozens of sexual assault victims from the academy suffering in a culture of silence and inaction. Now she says she is hoping for vindication. After testifying before a Congressional committee.

FULLILOVE: The academy failed me by allowing this to happen to me and felt leak the whole thing happened all over again when the system wasn't there either.

MATTINGLY: Where Fullilove once dreamed of flying jets, she now dreams of holding her former commanding officers accountable. We were with Fullilove as she read the findings of the Congressional panel for the first time. She finds comfort in the panel's recognition of a chasm of leadership and supports its blueprint for change.

(on camera): Of her three top academy officers two were reassigned and one was demoted almost four years after Fullilove left the academy. She believes it will take longer to create a new culture where female cadets are truly safe.

David Mattingly, CNN, Tucson, Arizona.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: The school district wasn't cooperating so a Pennsylvania district attorney has issued subpoenas as part of an investigation into that sexual assault of a group of high school football players. In addition, there is a county grand jury investigating the case.

Jason Carroll has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Mepham high school officials under fire investigating allegations of a brutal hazing incident. The district attorney says school officials are refusing to provide records, including witness statements.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm frustrated they are not being more cooperative.

CARROLL: School officials say they are cooperating and federal law prohibits them from releasing student information without a subpoena. Three students, all football players, are accused of sodomizing three others at this Pennsylvania training camp with a broom stick, pine cone and golf ball. The school has faced hazing allegations before. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They stripped them down to his underwear and held him upside down and they were trying to force his head in the toilet bowl.

CARROLL: Steven Burger (ph) says his son Wesley suffered a concussion during a 1995 incident involving three older players. Burger says after pressing criminal and civil charges, his son was ostracized by the team and family felt abandoned by the school.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was brutalized in the boys locker room on a hazing incident you know, and the school just did not step up. The superintendent, the coaches, nobody.

CARROLL: Police confirm charges were filed. School officials did not return our calls about Burger's allegation. Burger says he hopes this time any victims receive the support his son never had.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL: And the district attorney says one way or another he's going to get the information that he needs. He also says that at this point, his office is in the process of serving several subpoenas -- Anderson.

COOPER: All right, Jason Carroll, thanks for the update.

Still to come this evening -- she's a lover, a fighter, and above all, a survivor. We're going to talk with Tammy Faye Messner about facing the world with her head high and her makeup intact.

Also tonight, why Eastern Europe can kiss that inferiority complex goodbye. A new survey showing that new Europe is a standout, at least when it comes to getting jiggy with it. And a little bit later, a Las Vegas made safe for families, like say the Hefner family. Why burlesque is back and badder than ever. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Well, if there isn't a country music song written about Tammy Faye Messner already, there ought to be. But in a way, Tammy Faye already has an anthem, a disco anthem, it's Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive." It's also the title of Tammy Faye's new book.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): At first she was afraid, she was petrified.

TAMMY FAYE MESSNER, AUTHOR: And they dragged him out, they paraded him across the yard in shackles, sobbing and crying with his hair all messed up.

COOPER: The woman who help build the Christian television empire in the '80s with faith and God, country and extra lash mascara stood by her man, Jim Bakker, even as a sex and financial scandal unraveled it all. Did you think she'd crumble? Did you think she'd lay down and die? Oh, no, not Tammy Faye. MESSNER: Well, chains can't take your dignity away.

COOPER: She eventually divorced, remarried and had to stand by her man again when he went to jail.

A few years ago, her diva status was confirmed by a documentary called "The Eyes of Tammy Faye," narrated by someone who knew her passion for pancake makeup all too well, RuPaul.

Through it all, prescription pills, cancer, some rough time with her kids, Tammy Faye has kept brave, lacquered visage in place. She was strong. She knew how to get along.

And now she's back.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: She is back indeed, and she's here. Tammy Faye Messner joins us now. Tammy Faye, thanks so very much for being with us.

MESSNER: Hello, Anderson. Thank you for having me.

COOPER: You know that saying everyone -- is sort of popular now, what would Jesus do? What would Jesus think about Tammy Faye?

MESSNER: I think he'd think I was funny.

COOPER: Funny?

MESSNER: Yeah, and I can create a monkey kind of -- my husband calls me monkey all the time. And I think Jesus likes fun people.

COOPER: What -- why did you write a book? I mean, you -- some people say it's like a moth going into the flame. You've been brutalized in the media, you've been down, you've been out.

MESSNER: Taking another chance.

COOPER: Yes, you're taking another chance. Why?

MESSNER: They asked me to. And when they asked me to, I decided I would. I thought my 15 minutes of fame was up. And when the book people came back and asked me to write a book, I was so excited.

COOPER: And you're not just writing, I mean, you are getting back into Christian broadcasting.

MESSNER: I am. I start back in November, and in January we start syndicating the show again, a half hour daily show.

COOPER: It's a tough business. I mean, any kind of media is tough.

MESSNER: Oh, yeah.

COOPER: And I mean, as you've written in this book, you say you have been betrayed by Jerry Falwell, among others.

MESSNER: Yeah.

COOPER: Do you watch Christian broadcasting now?

MESSNER: No.

COOPER: No. Why not?

MESSNER: It hurts too bad. You know, I was a part of it for so long that it just hurts to know that I'm not able to be back there and doing what I love to do so much. You know, the gospel of Jesus Christ, the calling on your life is like a little puppy dog nipping at your heels all the time. And until you pick it up, it just won't stop. And that's what the calling is like.

COOPER: Do you believe what you see? I mean, when you see a lot of -- or some Christian broadcasters on TV, I mean, you say you don't watch them. Is that because you no longer believe what they are saying?

MESSNER: No, I believe what they are saying. I truly do. It's just sad for me. And I try to stay away from as much sadness as possible.

COOPER: You've had a lot of sadness, a lot of it you recount in your book. I mean, what for you was the worst time?

MESSNER: Well, the worst time was probably the divorce, because in our family, we never even said the word divorce. And I never dreamed that I would be part of a divorce.

COOPER: You are talking about Jim Bakker.

MESSNER: Yes.

COOPER: He was in prison, and he filed for divorce.

MESSNER: Yes, he did. He filed for divorce. And when he did, I just thought, well, I've got to end the hurt. We've all hurt so hard and so bad that I've got to end the hurt. And I didn't hardly think about it. I just signed the papers. And I -- but I'm the happiest today I've ever been, Anderson.

COOPER: You are remarried?

MESSNER: I'm remarried to a wonderful, gentle, awesome man. Hi, baby. He's home watching.

COOPER: Oh, yeah?

MESSNER: And I am so happy. I'm so peaceful.

COOPER: And it's amazing. I mean, America is a remarkable country for many reasons. One of them is that people are able to sort of have comebacks and multiple comebacks. And you seem to certainly be having one.

MESSNER: How many have I had?

COOPER; I'm not sure. I'm not sure. You seem to be at least on your third. They made this documentary about you. It brought you out to a whole new audience. You actually have a large gay following.

MESSNER: Yes.

COOPER: I think I've even read you are appearing at a gay bar later tonight. Is that true?

MESSNER: Yes.

COOPER: How do you reconcile that?

MESSNER: Well, because I think God loves everybody, and he loves us all just the same. We're all made out of the same old dirt. One of us isn't better than the other.

COOPER: Is it true you've tattooed your eyeliner on?

MESSNER: Yes, my eyeliner and my eyebrows.

COOPER: Both of those are tattooed?

MESSNER: Yes. Cotton picket, that hurts really bad.

COOPER: All right, we wish you a lot of luck on the book "I Will Survive and You Will, Too."

MESSNER: Thank you. Thank you very much, Anderson.

COOPER: All right, thank you.

Well, coming up next on 360, they could benchpress my entire family, but that won't stop me from saying my piece about them fresh princes. Next.

Also tonight, burlesque is back, and front and side and lots of other things too, as we'll show you in just a bit.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Well, sometimes you really have to push correspondents to do certain stories. Like, hey, you mind hanging out in the middle of a hurricane today?

Fortunately, CNN's Bruce Burkhardt put up little resistance when we asked him to file a report for us on the resurgence of burlesque. Thanks, Bruce.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What? I am a good girl BRUCE BURKHARDT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Burlesque, that old timey variety show that entertained many Americans back before TV, is back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Old things never die. They just kind of get reinvented.

BURKHARDT: And this is one of the reinventions, Cirque de Soleil's new show at the Las Vegas hotel New York, New York, "Humanities," (ph) some dance, some comedy and a lot of nudity. And across the stage at the MGM Grand, a rehearsal for a show called La Femme. It's the twin sister to a show in Paris at the famous Crazy Horse, which in itself started as a salute to American burlesque.

Burlesque, a marriage of sorts between the funny and the sexy. But to really know about this uniquely American entertainment, you need to head out to the Mojave Desert.

DIXIE EVANS, OWNER, "EXOTIC WORLD": And I used to stroll on stage, you know, with dark glasses and a long cigarette holder. The curtain would open up and I'd throw into my set and the band would play "You Ought to be in Pictures." Oh, who, me?

BURKHARDT: In an old goat shed...

EVANS: I was the southern comfort girl from Southern California.

BURKHARDT: Former burlesque star Dixie Evans keeps the burlesque flame alive here at Exotic World, her museum and striptease hall of fame.

EVANS: Now this is the one and only Tempest Star (ph). This is her G-string, as I was telling you.

These are Sally Lan's (ph) original fan.

And then, of course, this is Blaze Star.

BURKHARDT: It was an era when the tease was more important than the strip.

EVANS: It wasn't what you took off. It was the way you took it off.

BURKHARDT: And when you strip away all that Vegas glitz, it's burlesque, Dixie Evans Style.

EVANS: Oh, well, burlesque is definitely already back. I can't begin to tell you.

BURKHARDT: Bruce Burkhardt, CNN, Las Vegas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Remember, it's not what you take off, it's the way you take it off. Time to check "The Current."

The top movie this weekend was "Underworld," which took in $22 million. "Underworld" stars Kate Beckinsale as a leather-wearing vampire. Some moviegoers indicated they would also pay to see her as a spandex-clad accountant, a librarian in lycra or an accounts receivable clerk dipped from head-to-toe in liquid latex.

The Dixie Chicks say they're not a country band anymore after backlash to their criticism of the president and their shut-out at the Country Music Awards. The group says they consider themselves part of the rock 'n' roll family. In a statement today, rock 'n' roll replied, "Dixie who now?"

Stevie Nicks is sounding off on the kiss between Madonna and Britney Spears. Fleetwood Mac's singer called it "the most obnoxious moment in television" and complained about the clothes young stars wear today. In a related story, Stevie Nicks has now become your grandmother and she wants those hooligans off her damn lawn.

And finally, a new survey finds that Hungarians are having more sex than anyone, even overtaking the French. Hungarians claim to have sex 152 times annually compared to 144 for the French and 118 for Americans. Now the survey results apparently do not include the various sex acts France has recently performed on the U.S. Hungary? Hmm, I didn't know that.

Coming up next on 360, is there a way to end the infinite parade of weak sitcoms? We just may have the cure.

And tomorrow we'll have America's reaction and the world's to what President Bush has to say when he faces the U.N. tomorrow.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Well, this week's "Fresh Print" looks at men's exercise magazines. By reading about working out, I'm hoping to avoid actually having to work out. In my next life, I want to write headlines for "Men's Health." It must be easy, because every month it's pretty much the same headline. "Build Your Best Body"; "Burn Belly Fat Fast." Blah, blah, blah.

This month's "Men's Health" seems fixated on numbers. "Seven Pains You Can't Ignore": "Add Two Inches to Your Biceps": "1,045 Health, Fitness and Nutrition Tips." Since when did working out become so much like accounting?

"Men's Fitness" features "Fear Factor"'s Joe Rogan. He shows off his stretching routine. I could easily make a joke about having seen Joe Rogan in lots of different roles and never once thinking he's capable of stretching, but I won't since he's a martial arts expert and could snap my neck like a pasty white breadstick.

"Flex" magazine seems to go out of its way to prove it's OK for manly men to ogle other men's pecs. Flex promises a lingerie scorcher, 24 pages of buxom beauties. The problem is some of the male bodybuilders on the other pages have bigger breasts. But most of them don't look half as good in lingerie, so it's OK.

"Muscular Development" magazine reads like a chemist's cookbook. I've never read a magazine that runs disclaimers before columns saying the editorial staff does not condone illegal drug use for bodybuilding. It's probably wise they do this, however, since several of the articles seem to provide detailed recipes for contraband chemical cocktails.

Reading these magazines, however, you got to wonder -- if all the advice is so good for you and all the guys are so virile and healthy, why are so many of the ads for penile enlargement and sex enhancers? I'm just asking.

Time for "The Nth Degree."

Well, tonight we take sitcoms to "The Nth Degree." We're just seconds away from the official start of the new TV season. But "The New York Times" reports that we are also in the middle of America's third great sitcom drought. Not a single sitcom has been a breakout hit since "Will & Grace," and that was back in 1998. Among the apparent cause: resurging interest in hour-long dramas, the viral spread of reality TV and perhaps most of all, unchecked sitcom suckatood.

With no end in sight, what can we do, you ask? We can fight back. That's what we can do. When a lousy sitcom laugh track prompts you to laugh, don't do it. I'm serious. When a focus group asks you if you want a show like "Friends," say no. In your heart, you know it's a lie, but if you tell them the truth, they'll just knock out another "Friends" clone.

My friends, we can shatter (ph) our dependence on wacky neighbors and their gateway drugs, precocious kids, if we get proper treatment and counseling. The bottom line is we have to stop watching the awful stuff they put on the air. Stop now. Just stop cold turkey.

I know, withdrawal can be tough. You may find yourself exercising or reading things, having meaningful discussions with people you care about, or even becoming productive in some other way. Who knows?

I know it's scary. But it's a short term sacrifice we all have to make. If we want to get good sitcoms back on the air, that -- so we can at least get back on the couch forever.

And that wraps up our program tonight. Appreciate you joining us. Appreciate all our guests.

Coming up next, "PAULA ZAHN NOW."

See you tomorrow night.

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