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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Italian Hostage Killed in Iraq; Pentagon Extends Stay of 20,000 Troops; FBI, CIA Directors Testify Before 9/11 Commission
Aired April 14, 2004 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): A disturbing videotape falls into the hands of Al-Jazeera said to show the killing of one Italian hostage in Iraq.
The Pentagon moves to extend the stay of 20,000 troops. Where will they come from? How long will they stay?
Tough testimony before the 9/11 commission. CIA and FBI directors speak out on what went wrong.
John Ashcroft cracks down on porn. Is your idea of obscenity the same as his?
Bill Clinton's new memoir, will it give the Kerry campaign something to worry about?
And, batting the odds, meet the man who caught San Francisco slugger Barry Bonds' two latest home run balls.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: Live from the CNN Broadcast Center in New York this is ANDERSON COOPER 360.
(VIDEO GAP)
COOPER: I apologize for that video problem. Good evening. Welcome to 360.
We're following several developing stories tonight. CNN has confirmed one of the four Italians being held hostage has been killed.
Jim Clancy is in Baghdad with that. At the White House John King. In New York Kelly Wallace with John Kerry's sharp comments on Iraq. And, in Washington, Kelli Arena on the 9/11 Commission, the leaders of the FBI and CIA in the hot seat today.
We begin in Iraq. Jim, what can you tell us about the Italian hostages?
(BREAKING NEWS)
JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, there's about 40 hostages here that are being held from 12 different countries, some of them with death threats hanging over their heads this the first time that the terrorist kidnappers have made good on one of those threats.
The Foreign Minister of Italy, Franco Frattini, saying just a short time ago that he can confirm one Italian hostage was killed. The four were shown on videotape earlier this week. They are believed to have come to Iraq as security guards working for a U.S. company.
The tape was received by Al-Jazeera, the Arabic news channel. The tape was accompanied by a message saying that the hostage was being killed because the prime minister of Italy refused to pull his troops out of Iraq and warning the others would also be executed one at a time. Al-Jazeera said it wouldn't even air the video. It was too gruesome.
Meantime, some good news for one family in France certainly. A French cameraman was released by his kidnappers. He said he was carried around for days, four days and during that entire ordeal constantly threatened with death.
Meantime, here on the ground in Iraq around Fallujah deceptively peaceful looking scenes during the day in that city. The mediator sent in by the Iraqi Governing Council says this week he has escaped two assassination bids at the hands of some of those inside the city this raising the specter that there are gunmen in that city who do not want a negotiated settlement.
Marines are sandbagging their positions. There is reported to be fierce night fighting. Now this has been a regular occurrence. Some of the scenes that we have already witnessed coming out of Fallujah indicate that the insurgents they are fighting in larger numbers, better tactics, challenging the Marines, and really raising the question of just how long this truce can last.
Now there are many Iraqis, Anderson, who were saying that they want the Marines to keep up the pressure there. They say all of this is evidence that there are foreign fighters inside there in alliance with former loyalists to Saddam Hussein and they believe unless the problem is addressed now it will only come back later to create more instability and insecurity in their country -- back to you.
COOPER: All right, Jim Clancy live from Baghdad, thanks Jim.
A quick news note for you on troop levels. The Pentagon is backing off a promise to draw down troops in Iraq. Today, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld approved extending combat tours for roughly 20,000 troops. The forces will spend an extra three months in Iraq.
Coming up, we'll talk with former Defense Secretary William Cohen about the change. That's ahead.
Right now the other volatile situation in the Middle East, peace efforts between the Israelis and Palestinians. Today at the White House, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon got President Bush's blessing for his plan to get out of Gaza but stay in parts of the West Bank. Senior White House Correspondent John King has been covering it all. John, how long has this been in the works at the White House?
JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: This plan has been in the works for several weeks. The Bush administration three times has sent teams to Israel to negotiate this endorsement deal, Anderson, significant because it is a reflection not only of the president's close friendship with Prime Minister Sharon but the simple fact that the peace process as we have known it, direct negotiations, are dead.
The president today essentially conceding that point and saying Prime Minister Sharon is now taking unilateral steps to try to revive a peace process now in shambles.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Israel plans to remove certain military installations and all settlements from Gaza and certain military installations and settlements from the West Bank. These are historic and courageous actions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: But angry reaction from the Palestinian side. Mr. Bush said that he believed any Palestinian refugee should ultimately return to a Palestinian state, not Israel. That is taking the Israeli position.
Mr. Bush also said that the realities on the ground in his view mandate that any final peace agreement should allow Israel to keep some territory outside of its 1949 borders.
The Palestinians again say that is taking sides on an issue that is supposed to be resolved directly between the parties. So, Anderson, the president says he hopes this is a step that gets peace talks going again. The Palestinians say it is a step in exactly the wrong direction.
COOPER: John, from the White House perspective let's talk about the press conference last night. Does the White House think President Bush achieved his goals, what he needed to do?
KING: The White House says yes that the president's main goal was to convince the American people he would not cut and run that there is a plan to have a political transition in Iraq despite the violence of recent days and that if the generals need more troops they will get them. The White House says the president delivered that message.
The president's critics though are saying that the president said the political plan was up to the United Nations. The troop levels are up to the generals. They say, the critics say, this president did not demonstrate the leadership that presidents must demonstrate at times of crisis like this.
COOPER: All right, John King thanks very much for that. Not just Israel but Iraq, of course, the focus of politics today. Senator John Kerry with sharp words for President Bush saying there is "a smarter way to accomplish the mission in Iraq."
Covering the comments Kelly Wallace who is with Kerry tonight at a gala fund-raiser in New York.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLY WALLACE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): John Kerry teaming up on the campaign trail for the first time with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton but that photo op overshadowed by events overseas.
WALTER DAUM, ANTIWAR ACTIVIST: We say stay the course of this imperialist war and you say you are a stark difference from President Bush. People hate George Bush. By the end of your presidency people will hate you for the same things.
WALLACE: In the audience a semi-retired math teacher passionately against the war.
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't subscribe to the same course that George Bush is pursing but we are where we are sir and it would be unwise beyond belief for the United States of America to leave a failed Iraq in its wake.
WALLACE: And then in a session with reporters, Kerry offered some of the sharpest criticism yet of the president's approach.
KERRY: And we're in a more difficult place because of the stubbornness of this administration to acknowledge what a lot of people know, which is we could make this less risky for our troops and we could make this less costly to Americans.
WALLACE: The Senator says he would partner with the United Nations and use the power of persuasion to convince more U.S. allies to help.
KERRY: Listen, if I were the president of the United States, I can tell you right now I would be personally, deeply involved with the leaders of those countries.
WALLACE: A spokesman for the Bush-Cheney campaign accused Kerry of "playing politics offering political attacks and pessimism, not a real policy."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALLACE: And the Senator rejected the charge saying he is not playing politics with this issue at all. Aides say he will continue to talk about Iraq on the stump because he does not believe the president has a plan to bring peace to Iraq.
Right now though John Kerry turning his attention to fund- raising, expected to bring in what Democrats say will be a record more than $6.5 million at two different events in Manhattan tonight -- Anderson.
COOPER: $6.5 million in one night that's pretty good. All right, Kelly Wallace thanks very much for that.
On Capitol Hill today, both the CIA and FBI chiefs under oath before the 9/11 Commission. The constant theme changes. Some that have already been made, others that are still needed. There's also the question should a domestic intelligence agency be put on a to-do list?
Here's CNN Justice Correspondent Kelli Arena.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): FBI Director Robert Mueller did his best to convince commissioners that the creation of a new domestic intelligence agency is not the way to go.
ROBERT MUELLER, FBI DIRECTOR: I do believe that creating a separate agency to collect intelligence in the United States would be a grave mistake. Splitting the law enforcement and the intelligence functions would leave both agencies fighting the war on terrorism with one hand tied behind their backs.
ARENA: While applauding some of the FBI's reforms, the commission says problems persist, among them shortages of linguists and personnel to surveil terrorists, in adequate training for recruiting and handling sources, and no national strategy for sharing information.
THOMAS KEAN (R), 9/11 COMMISSION CHAIRMAN: What I've learned has not reassured me. It's frightened me a bit frankly.
ARENA: The director did his best to reassure. The FBI trotted out a new report touting its post-9/11 reforms and the popular director of its new Office of Intelligence Maureen Baginski.
Mueller has been courting the commission and clearly has won the confidence of its members. So, too, has CIA Director George Tenet but still the panel warned him of changes to come.
JOHN E. LEHMAN (R), 9/11 COMMISSION MEMBER: There is a train coming down the track. There are going to be very real changes made.
ARENA: With the overall goal of preventing another major attack by al Qaeda, some commissioners were not thrilled to hear this assessment.
GEORGE TENET, CIA DIRECTOR: It will take us another five years to have the kind of clandestine service our country needs.
KEAN: I wonder whether we have five years.
(END VIDEOTAPE) ARENA: Several commissioners privately said they haven't settled on which recommendations to embrace but they all say the intelligence community is not working the way that it should. Their final report, which is due by the end of July, is expected to call for major structural change -- Anderson.
COOPER: All right, Kelli Arena thanks from Washington.
Right now we are following a number of developing stories "Cross Country." Let's take a look.
In New York City, new disclosures. According to Martha Stewart's attorneys juror Chappell Hartridge once embezzled from a Little League organization and admitted a cocaine habit but they say he disclosed neither on his juror questionnaire. Stewart's lawyers are asking for a new trial.
Madison, Wisconsin, consequences, college student Audrey Seiler charged today with faking her own kidnapping and leading police on a wild goose chase that cost the department $96,000. Her motive they say getting her boyfriend's attention.
New York again, rapper facing a serious wrap, hip hop artist Lil' Kim pleads not guilty at her arraignment on perjury charges. She's accused of lying about a shooting she witnesses outside a local radio station three years ago.
Newark, New Jersey, the defendant's new baby, Jayson Williams' wife gave birth to the couple's second daughter yesterday and named her Wisdom. Williams' manslaughter trial has been suspended since the beginning of April.
In Washington, D.C., sobering study, researchers say heavy social drinkers risk the same sort of brain damage seen in hospitalized alcoholics. They looked at people who had more than 100 drinks a month and found a noticeable impairment when it came to things like balance, memory and spatial functioning. That's a quick look at stories "Cross Country" for you tonight.
Coming up, a little girl survives ten days in the wilderness after plunging off a cliff, her amazing story of survival is ahead.
Plus, "Indecent Crackdown," the government cracked down on what it calls obscenity but is their definition the same as yours? That's ahead.
And, a CNN exclusive, Randall Terry, leader in anti-abortion, anti-gay rights groups faces a personal crisis. His son is gay and publicly coming out, all that ahead.
Let's take a look "Inside the box," for the top stories on tonight's network newscasts.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Well, from California now, a remarkable story of survival, a young girl and her mother had been missing for more than a week until a highway crew spotted something unusual at the bottom of a ravine.
National Correspondent Frank Buckley picks up the story from there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Workers repairing guardrail found the wreckage first then the girl. Five- year-old Ruby Bustamante had survived a plunge down a hillside and ten days in the elements.
BOB CLARK, CALIFORNIA HIGHWAY PATROL: It's amazing she was able to live that long.
BUCKLEY: Ruby's mother was nearby. Authorities believe Norma Bustamante survived the initial collision. Family members say Ruby lived on dry noodles and Gatorade that were in the car. Ruby and Norma were reported missing on April 4. At a news conference, some family members said police didn't do enough to find the mother and child.
ROSE LOPEZ, RUBY BUSTAMANTE'S AUNT: This is an outrage. Someone needs to be held accountable for this. There is no excuse for this young mother to have been left out there to die and the child had to go through such a horrific ordeal.
BUCKLEY: CHP officers say they received a call of a possible car over the side in this area but found nothing. Indio Police officers who were handling the missing person's case say they understand the family's anguish but they were actively investigating. Ruby, meanwhile survived the ordeal with only cuts and bruises. She's expected to make a full recovery.
DR. WEBSTER WONG, RIVERSIDE COUNTY HOSPITAL: Suffice it to say she's smiling, watching TV. She is happy to be surrounded by her family again and happy to be here at Riverside County.
BUCKLEY (on camera): In short, she is physically fine but hospital officials say they're keeping a close watch on the little girl because Ruby also understands that her mother died.
Frank Buckley, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Terrible.
We're tracking a number of developing stories around the globe right now. Let's take a look at the "Up Link."
In Beijing, China, focusing on North Korea, Vice President Dick Cheney wants China to push North Korea in negotiations to dismantle its nuclear program. Cheney met top Chinese leaders today and visits South Korea tomorrow. In Seoul, South Korea, antiwar protests. Parliamentary elections tomorrow and Cheney's upcoming visit set off antiwar demonstrations in the streets protesting the promise of 3,000 more troops for Iraq. South Korea already has 600 engineers and medics in Iraq.
Madrid, Spain, terror cells neutralized. Spain's interior minister says the central nucleus of the terrorist cell responsible for the March 11 train bombing is out of action. Investigators say the terrorists traded drugs for the explosives used in the bombing.
South Africa, election day. South Africans lined up to cast ballots today, the third all race national election since apartheid ended ten years ago. The ruling African National Congress Party is expected to remain in power by a large majority.
Milan, Italy, now ear this, a British performance artist dragged a TV set tied to his ear through the city to protest what he calls excessive political control over the media in Italy and other nations, a unique form of protest certainly. That is a look at tonight's "Up Link."
Obscenity and the Justice Department crackdown, some say it's long overdue, others say it has already gone too far. What do you think? We're going to hear from all sides coming up.
Also tonight, homecoming delayed, 20,000 troops and an extended stay in Iraq, how families and soldiers are handling the news.
And the Clinton factor, Hillary is campaigning and Bill's publishing his memoirs. Will the Clintons overshadow John Kerry's quest for the White House? We'll go on the trail for that all ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Well, tonight we continue our look at the Justice Department's war on obscenity. In a moment you'll hear from those who support it and condemn it but first let's look at the exact criteria the government is using to define what is obscene.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER (voice-over): In 1973, in the landmark case Miller v. California, the Supreme Court came up with a three part test for obscenity that still applies today.
Does the average person applying community standards find that the work appeals to the prurient interest? Does the work depict or describe in a patently offensive way sexual conduct? Does the work taken as a whole lack serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value?
Community standards may differ from place to place and change over time but the Supreme Court's three part test is still used today, though administrations have differed in how vigilantly they've enforced obscenity laws. During the 1980s the Attorney General Ed Meese began the National Obscenity Enforcement Unit. Adult magazines like "Playboy" and "Penthouse" were removed from thousands of convenience store shelves.
In the Clinton era, obscenity prosecutions decreased 86 percent according to a Syracuse University report but today the crackdown on porn is very real. The Justice Department has prosecuted 25 obscenity cases in mostly conservative communities. They won them all.
They targeted small hardcore porn producers. One company, currently facing prosecution, makes movies with extraordinarily graphic portrayals of sex, rape, and murder. Its founder Rob Zicari could face up to 50 years in jail.
ROB ZICARI, CO-FOUNDER, EXTREME ASSOCIATES: I think without a shadow of a doubt we're going to win. I have a lot of faith in the people out there that this is not necessarily an adult entertainment issue. It's not a pornography issue. It's an issue of this administration telling you what you can and cannot see.
COOPER: Obscenity, however, is not protected by the First Amendment. The Justice Department has some 50 cases currently under investigation. That means juries across the country may soon be asked to determine what porn does and does not violate their community standards.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: So, is the porn crackdown on the right course or going too far? Joining me here is Robert W. Peters, President of Morality in Media. Thanks for being on the program and it's an organization, of course, working to combat obscenity.
And, in Buffalo, New York, Paul Cambria, a lawyer for the adult entertainment industry. Among his clients, "Hustler" magazine publisher Larry Flynt. Paul thanks for being on as well.
Let me start off with you, Paul. Why shouldn't a community be able to determine that they don't want someone like Mr. Zicari selling his extraordinarily extreme and disturbing pornography in their community?
PAUL CAMBRIA, LAWYER FOR ADULT ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY: Well, I think the community can determine that. That's not a problem at all. The people who are fueling the fire, if you will, with Attorney General Ashcroft want to wipe out all adult material and not just the material that the average adult would find to be unacceptable in the community and that's really the problem.
They're trying to reach in and eradicate anything and everything that would be adult, as opposed to just that which exceeds the community standard and that really is the problem.
COOPER: Robert, is that what they're trying to do?
ROBERT W. PETERS, PRESIDENT, MORALITY IN MEDIA: Well, you begin with the law of obscenity, which the Supreme Court has set down and the obscenity definition is limited to hardcore pornography, not "whatever the heck adult material is."
COOPER: But it does seem the Justice Department may widen their scope or it's unclear at this point whether they may go after more soft core pornographers.
PETERS: If they follow the law they're limited to obscenity and ultimately it's up to the community. If Mr. Cambria is right that the American people love most hardcore pornography, then Mr. Ashcroft is going to lose all the cases. Personally, I think Mr. Cambria is wrong.
CAMBRIA: Well, that's what the juries are determining as well.
PETERS: I think most people support enforcement of obscenity laws. Now does that mean we won't lose a case, no. We will but so will Mr. Cambria. We'll both win and lose cases.
CAMBRIA: Yes. I've tried many cases to juries in the heartland of American and very graphic adult material but I'm talking about adults, made for adults the juries have no problem with. And this gentleman, if he had his way, and if Mr. Ashcroft had his way, there would be no erotic material whatsoever and, if he's honest, he'll admit that.
PETERS: Well, I'll tell you it isn't true because I really in my own personal life I distinguish between my personal morality, which happens to be based on my religion and what I consider a social morality, which has to depend in large measure on what the people of this country and of this city determine. It's not up to me.
And, by the way, this is not Mr. Ashcroft's war. He was appointed certainly in part by President Bush to carry out the president's policies and, I would add, in the 2000 year election both Gore and Bush came out in favor of obscenity laws. So did Bill Clinton when he ran for president in 1992. Ashcroft will probably never see any of this material. He is not going to be making the decisions here.
COOPER: Paul, you have the final word, a few seconds.
CAMBRIA: Yes. The determination is whether or not the federal government should be spending FBI agents and prosecutors on something like this which billions of dollars are being spent on, meaning people want it and acquire it and think it's acceptable or whether or not they should be protecting our country and really siphoning off this talent for something that the adult, average adult does not find to be offensive unless it's at the extreme fringe.
PETERS: If you're right you'll win all the cases, Mr. Cambria.
CAMBRIA: And I have so far.
PETERS: And you know you're not going to.
CAMBRIA: And I have so far.
PETERS: You have not won all your cases.
CAMBRIA: Well, yes, well you don't think so but you'll find out.
PETERS: OK, we'll find out.
COOPER: Gentlemen, appreciate you being on the program. Paul Cambria thanks very much and Robert Peters thank you very much.
Well, a quick news note on unwanted, some say obscene, spam in your e-mail. Soon it will be easier to filter out. Starting May 19th, the FTC says unsolicited e-mails that contain pornographic material must have the warning "sexually explicit" in the subject line, plus pictures won't be allowed in the e-mail, sexual pictures, but links will be permitted. Each violation could cost as much as $250 or $2 million total. Jail time is also possible.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER (voice-over): The Pentagon moves to keep up to 20,000 troops in place in Iraq. We'll talk with former Secretary of Defense William Cohen.
Bill Clinton's new memoir, will it give the Kerry campaign something to worry about?
And, batting the odds, meet the man who caught San Francisco slugger Barry Bonds' two latest home run balls. 360 continues.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: In the next half hour here on 360.
Combat tours extended. Roughly 20,000 troops in Iraq will stay an extra three months. Troops's families react just ahead.
But first lets check our top stories in the "Reset."
Somewhere in Iraq's an Italian hostage is killed. Italy's foreign minister confirms one of these four Italian hostages has been executed. Al-Jazeera received a videotape of the killing, but they won't broadcast it because they say it's too gory. The group take responsibility says it will kill the other three if Italy doesn't pull troops out of Iraq.
In Washington, CIA Director George Tenet predicts it will take five years to develop the kind of spy network needed to help uncover terrorist attack plots. Tenet testified before the 9/11 Commission today. He challenged the panel's charge that his agency was slow to recognize the al Qaeda threat.
Chicago and Los Angeles, liberal radio net dropped. Air America is off the air in second and third largest markets. Multicultural Radio dropped the two week old liberal talk network from it's Chicago and L.A. stations today in a dispute over payment for air time.
New York, JFK Jr. mementos stolen. A suspended warehouse worker at Sotheby's Auction House stands charged with stealing 35 items including, several belongings to the late JFK Jr. Among them is a father's day card Kennedy made as a small boy for his father, President Kennedy, in 1963.
In Boston, multiple births decline. A new study says women are not unintentionally having multi-birth test tube babies. New advances permit doctors to implant fewer embryo's during each attempt to make a women pregnant.
That's a quick look at stories in the "Reset" tonight.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld approved the plan to extend combat duty for 20,000 troops currently in Iraq. The official announcement could come as early as tomorrow.
Senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre, has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: The last time the Pentagon extended combat tours in Iraq back in November, it promised to limit service in the war zone to one year.
LT. GEN. NORTON SCHWARTZ, JOINT STAFF OPERATIONS DIRECTOR: The principle that we are working to here is alert early to provide predictability and make sure that families, employers and others have a sense of ground truth.
MCINTYRE: With counterinsurgency operation raging in Fallujah and perhaps soon in Najaf, the Pentagon can't afford to keep its promise. Some 20,000 U.S. troops, including the 1st Armored Division based in Germany and the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment in Fort Polk, Louisiana will have to stay three more months. That will keep 135,000 American troops in Iraq, instead of drawing down to 115,000 as the Pentagon planned. It's tough on the troops, tougher on their families.
LAVONDA WOODRING, WIFE OF KENNETH WOODRING: He called and said, Lavonda, I didn't want to call you yesterday, because I know it was Easter, and I wanted to wait until today but what they've told us, we have been extended.
MCINTYRE: Lavonda Woodring's husband is a military policeman, a national guard volunteer. When another soldier from the same North Carolina unit, Staff Sergeant Steve Lillard gave his wife the news, she started a petition drive to get them home.
LEE LILLARD, WIFE OF STAFF SGT. STEVE LILLARD: This came as a blow, my husband has been gone since March of 2003, and he is national guard. And I consider that as everyone else does our weekend warriors, our part-time soldiers.
(END VIDEOTAPE) MCINTRE: Asked about last year's promise to limit tours to one year, one Pentagon official said we meant it with we said it. Another official added but, this is war -- Anderson.
COOPER: All right, Jamie McIntyre, thanks.
With troop strength going up instead of down, I talked a short time ago today with former secretary of defense William Cohen about the strategy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: 20,000 troops, is that enough?
WILLIAM COHEN, FORMER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: It may not be enough. And I think General Abizaid has to make a decision almost day by day to see what is needed. But clearly, more will have to be inserted whether it's a reduction as they're talking about now, reduction on those who were scheduled to come home to freeze that, so there's no real increase that the point.
COOPER: But you think it's inevitable there are going to have to be more troops sent?
COHEN: I think we should plan on mow, plan on a worst-case scenario so that if it's a better case, you're so much better off than if you start with a lower estimate what you need and then have to increase it.
COOPER: Three months does, that sound long enough to you?
COHEN: I think we're going to be there a long time. And how the numbers will ultimately shake out depends what support or lack thereof we'll have from the allied forces.
COOPER: That brings me to the next point, John Kerry today criticized that the president yet again for not bringing the U.N. more in for not seek the help of allies more. At this point, though, that seems talking about the past. In terms of going to the future, is that a done deal -- seems like a done deal.
It's going to be very difficult to bring in allies at this point?
COHEN: I think there are three names that we have to take into account. One is Brahimi, the second is Sistani, there are two countries Iraq, the Iraqis and the Israelis. Those four factors very much determine the outcome.
COOPER: Lakhdar Brahimi from the United Nations.
COHEN: Brahimi has to play a key role in terms of shaping what that governing council is going to look like. The interim government as such. And his recommendation how to shape that will be critical. Sistani will play a much more aggressive role in dealing with the radical elements in the Shia community that we have seen with Al Sadr.
COOPER: Do you think we know where Sistani's mind is, where he's going?
COHEN: I don't think we know at that time. He has not been talking to the coalition authority. He is talking to Brahimi, and that's very important. That's why I think Brahimi, Sistani will play important roles and then we get on to the Iraqi people. We have to persuade the governing council and the factions that they represent that this is in their interest that they come together and stop any warring within, internal dissent. Because, their future is very much at stake and in balance in this. So, we've got to develop and hold onto that coalition of the willing right now and to expand its solidity.
COOPER: Obviously disturbing news about the performance of some Iraqi forces in battles in Fallujah and elsewhere. Training police, training the military, the U.S. has done in a number of countries. It's a very difficult thing to do and a very time consuming thing to do. It takes a long time.
COHEN: It's a difficult thing to do, and also there's a good deal of fear. And I think the fear comes about on the part of Iraqis who are being trained as to whether or not we're going to have the strength to stay on, whether we're going to be committed, because they certainly don't want to be in a position of having the United States and the coalition of forces falter. And then have them left...
COOPER: Lack of political will. Is there also a danger now -- Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon was reporting, that they're talking about bringing back Saddam's military officers to sort of fill in these roles, because they were strong leaders?
COHEN: They'd have to be very well vetted. There's a lot at stake here, there's going to be a lot reconsideration, and we certainly have our hands full. We have to have one national security policy. And I believe Democrats as well as Republicans have to come together and support this effort to go forward.
COOPER: Former secretary of defense, William Cohen, thank you.
COHEN: Thank you.
COOPER: There's some what of controversy brewing between the U.S. military and some Arab news channel in Iraq that covers the war. But some of the news channels has become a source of controversy. Let's see what they're talking about.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER (voice-over): These are the picture of the war in Iraq. They are beamed around the Arab world every night. Fierce fighting in Fallujah last week, dead civilian, hundreds of them claims the Arabic network, Al Jazeera, many they say killed by U.S. firepower. Reports vehemently denied by the U.S. military. What viewers routinely see by Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya is well very different from what you've seen on CNN. The two Arab networks are the only TV channels that have access to the insurgents and exclusive footage of civilian hostages. Both, in frequently show dead bodies, chard U.S. tanks. UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Get out of Fallujah in peace.
COOPER: And outpourings of anti-U.S. sentiment on. Al Jazeera, the U.S.-led coalition is called occupation forces. Recently this kind of coverage has infuriated the U.S. military which accused both Arab networks of anti-U.S. bias.
BRIG. GENERAL MARK KIMMITT, U.S. ARMY: It is interesting how Al Jazeera manages to be at scene of a crime whenever a hostage shows up.
COOPER: Last week Kimmitt had a heated exchange with an Al Jazeera anchor.
KIMMITT: What your correspondents have been doing for the last few days, repeating and confirming lies.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can indulge in a conversation with you which might turn ugly, because the pictures confirm what our correspondents are reporting.
COOPER: Both Arab networks reject the U.S. accusation are bias, saying they are objective and continue to stand by their reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Just ahead, a CNN exclusive, Randall Terry, leader in anti-abortion anti-gay rights forces faces a personal crisis, his son is gay and publicly coming out.
Plus a Clinton memoir, why are some John Kerry supporters worried.
And major league luck, meet the man who got his hands on both of Barry Bonds' historic home run balls.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: For decades, Randall Terry has been a vocal foe of abortion rights and same-sex marriage. But as Maria Hinojosa reports now we're learning a great deal about his kids and the very different lifestyles they live. A family at cross purposes. It's tonight's midweek crisis.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He became famous being dragged from the doorways of abortion clinics. Randall Terry, founder of Operation Rescue.
This is what choice is all about.
HINOJOSA: He was in prison for sending Bill Clinton an aborted fetus. Then Randall Terry found other causes, preaching against infidelity, birth control, divorce. His moral enemies, gays and unwed mothers. The homosexual agenda is to normalize what is a tragic lifestyle of bondage.
HINOJOSA: But today it's his own children who are speaking out, saying that the very people his father condemns are just like them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, there it is.
HINOJOSA: Jamiel, the adopted son who once accompanied his father to Vermont to fight gay marriage now says he is gay in an essay in May's "Out Magazine."
JAMIEL TERRY, SON OF RANDALL TERRY: In my family it was you start having sex outside of marriage, you get AIDS, you're a whore, you're a slut. Those are exact words. Yesterday he said to me, I'm going to be at your funeral. You're going to die at 42.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HINOJOSA: Harsh words from a father to a son. Tonight on "NEWSNIGHT" you can hear the rest of this story and hear from Randall Terry himself who says his son has betrayed the family's privacy and took money from "Out" Magazine. Jamiel Terry says the reason why he's talking publicly now about being the gay son of a Christian anti- abortionist and anti-gay activist is that he wants others to know that if he can accept his homosexuality so can others. Now one other point, Randall Terry has said that unwed mothers are his moral enemies. Tonight, Anderson, we'll hear from two of his daughters both of whom have had pregnancies outside of marriage.
COOPER: All right. Maria Hinojosa. It's going to be on "NEWSNIGHT" later on tonight with Aaron Brown at 10:00.
Coming up later on, you can hear his side of the story on "NEWSNIGHT," 10:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN. Including an exclusive interview with Randall Terry. He'll join Aaron on "NEWSNIGHT" at 10:00.
Justice served, the Los Angeles police department is being asked to looked into a new child abuse claim against Michael Jackson. The question is are they taking it seriously and should they? CNN's Miguel Marquez explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Los Angeles police department acting at the request of a Los Angeles district attorney's office is investigating new child abuse charges leveled against pop star Michael Jackson. But sources close to the investigation say there are doubts about this latest claim. And L.A.P.D. is trying to determine if the accuser was ever with Jackson at any time. In a statement, L.A.P.D. says the alleged victim claims the acts took place in Los Angeles during the 1980s. It's not clear how the alleged victim came to the attention of the L.A. county district attorney's office. Jackson's lawyer Benjamin Brafman in a statement said, quote, "this story, like so many others, will eventually prove to be false and in all likelihood promoted by people who have their own selfish agendas." Unquote.
A grand jury already hearing testimony on earlier charges against Jackson meets again on Thursday. If it indicts the pop star, he could be back in court for arraignment Friday, April 30. Miguel Marquez, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Coming up tonight, Bill Clinton's memoirs still in the works. Why is his book causing some Democrats to be worried about when it might come out and how it might influence John Kerry. That is ahead.
Also tonight. Lightning strikes twice for one baseball fan who fished out two historic home run balls. Tonight you will meet him. And a little later, Prince Charles gets jiggy with it, see who's joining him for dinner. That's ahead in "The Current."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Today in New York, Senator Hillary Clinton stumping with the presumed Democratic nominee John Kerry. Bill Clinton wasn't there, he's putting the finishing touches on his new memoir. The book should come out in June which has some Democrats worried that it might steal the spotlight from Kerry and the Democratic National Convention. Timing is everything when it comes to raw politics.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER (voice-over): He's as popular as he is polarizing and there's the conundrum. When the Kerry campaign asked former president Bill Clinton to stump for their candidate, he delivered.
BILL CLINTON (D), FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I ask you to look at John Kerry tonight and say to him what he has said to us his entire adult life. Send me.
COOPER: But according to a report in the "New York Times," the delivery date of Clinton's new book has some Democrats worried that the larger than life celebrity status of the former president could outshine the current candidate, and worry that a book which will undoubtedly drag up memories of the Monica Lewinsky affair could provide Republicans with a chance to raise again the specter of old White House sex scandals.
A spokesman for Mr. Clinton's publisher told CNN, "there is no hard and fast, or agreed upon date for publication. It's safe to say the book will be a rainmaker at retail." That means a blazing book tour befitting the reported $10 million advance the former president reportedly received.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's get ready to rumble!
COOPER: Which poses another problem. If the book is published mid campaign, a book tour could keep the former president, who has been described as a money magnate, off the Kerry fundraising trail. Of course, if the book is written on Clinton time it may not be ready until after the election, better timing perhaps, for the Kerry campaign and a solution to literary raw politics.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Well, today's "Buzz" is this, "what impact to you think Bill Clinton has on the Kerry campaign? Positive or Negative?" Log on to CNN.com/360. Cast your vote. We'll have results at the end of the show in just a few moments.
Time to check on some lighter news in tonight's pop culture "Current." Let's take a look. Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne, is inviting Beyonce Knowles and Jay-Z to dinner at Buckingham palace, or as Charles more commonly refers to it, his crib. Good to see the prince is representing.
Richard Gere met with three Tibetan protesters outside the United Nations yesterday. The actor was in New York to help their cause, promote human rights and plug "Shall We Dance" his upcoming film costarring Jennifer Lopez.
Donald Trump is getting a raise for work on "The Apprentice." The Donald will now be paid $100,000 an episode, giving him enough money to finally have himself cast in gold.
And reportedly Britney Spears is shopping on a reality show that would take fans back stage on the European leg of her tour. Word is everything she says will be tape just like her singing.
Took a little while.
A lucky baseball fan is sharing in not one, but two historic achievements from Barry Bonds. A day after catching the sluggers 660th home run, this man, Larry Ellison, and his kayak returned to McCovey's Cove yesterday and snagged bonds' 661st homer. The blast that gives Bonds sole position of third place on the all-time list.
For you statistics freaks, that puts Ellison on the top the list of historic home run ball catchers. Larry Ellison joins us now from San Francisco Bay. Larry, congratulations. Did you have any idea -- I mean, did go back actually thinking you had a chance of getting this ball the second time around?
LARRY ELLISON, CAUGHT 2 BONDS HR'S: I didn't think I had much of a chance. The odds of that were probably astronomical. And I've been inside the stadium before, and never got my hands on even a foul ball. So, it was a long shot.
COOPER: And from what I understand, there are ten to 50 kayaks in McCovey's Cove. Does it get tough? Do people push each other around do ores and kayaks go flying?
ELLISON: Well, I actually got a mark on the top of my head from a paddle last night. That can happen when somebody doesn't get the ball right away. Monday night when the ball landed five feet in front of my kayak, I was able to stroke twice with my paddle and grab it. There was no contest. That happens occasionally. And a lot of times people get it with a net, and there's no dispute about that.
COOPER: In 1999 Mark McGwire's 70th home run, I think, sold for $3 million. Now, the 660th ball that you caught, you actually gave it back to Barry Bonds, why did you do that?
ELLISON: Well, once I got inside the Giant's management asked me to come inside talk to them, and they indicated that Barry really wanted to have that ball, because of the meaning between him and Willie, and so I realized in my heart that it didn't belong to me, and I couldn't leave with it. I knew it was going to stay there that night.
COOPER: And you knew were passing up on potentially huge money?
ELLISON: I did, and I talked to my son Jeremy who was with me in another kayak and there for the whole event. And we conferred for 15 minutes and talked about the possibilities, and he agreed with me, that's what we should do.
COOPER: What are you going to do with 661? You're going to keep that one, right?
ELLISON: Going to keep. That we're looking at the possibilities of that, it's exciting.
COOPER: Well, it's got to be an exciting couple days for you. Larry Ellison, I would say one in a million but it's a two in a million chance. Thanks for being on the program.
ELLISON: Thanks for having me.
COOPER: The cast of the Simpson's is demanding an enormous pay raise. But what if they don't get it? Just ahead on "Nth Degree" would a new voice for Homer work? We'll take that to the "Nth Degree."
And tomorrow, a wild interview with Don King. You won't believe who he is putting his support behind. Don King talks about politics. That's tomorrow.
First today's "Buzz," "What impact do you think Clinton has on the Kerry campaign? Positive or Negative." Log onto CNN.com/360. Cast your vote. We're going to have results when we come back from this commercial break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Time for the "Buzz." We asked you earlier, "what impact do you think Clinton has on the Kerry campaign?" 75 percent of you said positive, 25 percent negative. Not a scientific poll, just your "Buzz." We appreciate you voting.
Tonight, taking "The Simpson's" to the "Nth Degree." There's trouble in Springfield, the actors who supply the voices for Homer, Marge, Bart and Lisa are seeking a huge pay raise from about $125,000 a year to $8 million plus a share in the profits. That's a lot of dough!
The actors believe their contributions are just as important as the characters. They're banding together hoping Fox will meet their demands. It worked for the cast of "Friends." But what if the strategy backfires? Will "The Simpson's" be through? Maybe not, a lot of folks working here at 360 want their chance to fill in for Lisa.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want a pony.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want a pony.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want a pony.
COOPER: And Bart.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't have a cow, man.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't have a cow, man.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't have a cow, man.
COOPER: And as far as Homer goes, the supply at least from our crew members seems endless.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Doh!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Doh!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Doh!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Doh!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Doh!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Doh!
COOPER: I don't think the real Simpson's have anything to worry about.
Thanks for watching. I'm Anderson Cooper. Coming up next, "PAULA ZAHN NOW."
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired April 14, 2004 - 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, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): A disturbing videotape falls into the hands of Al-Jazeera said to show the killing of one Italian hostage in Iraq.
The Pentagon moves to extend the stay of 20,000 troops. Where will they come from? How long will they stay?
Tough testimony before the 9/11 commission. CIA and FBI directors speak out on what went wrong.
John Ashcroft cracks down on porn. Is your idea of obscenity the same as his?
Bill Clinton's new memoir, will it give the Kerry campaign something to worry about?
And, batting the odds, meet the man who caught San Francisco slugger Barry Bonds' two latest home run balls.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: Live from the CNN Broadcast Center in New York this is ANDERSON COOPER 360.
(VIDEO GAP)
COOPER: I apologize for that video problem. Good evening. Welcome to 360.
We're following several developing stories tonight. CNN has confirmed one of the four Italians being held hostage has been killed.
Jim Clancy is in Baghdad with that. At the White House John King. In New York Kelly Wallace with John Kerry's sharp comments on Iraq. And, in Washington, Kelli Arena on the 9/11 Commission, the leaders of the FBI and CIA in the hot seat today.
We begin in Iraq. Jim, what can you tell us about the Italian hostages?
(BREAKING NEWS)
JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, there's about 40 hostages here that are being held from 12 different countries, some of them with death threats hanging over their heads this the first time that the terrorist kidnappers have made good on one of those threats.
The Foreign Minister of Italy, Franco Frattini, saying just a short time ago that he can confirm one Italian hostage was killed. The four were shown on videotape earlier this week. They are believed to have come to Iraq as security guards working for a U.S. company.
The tape was received by Al-Jazeera, the Arabic news channel. The tape was accompanied by a message saying that the hostage was being killed because the prime minister of Italy refused to pull his troops out of Iraq and warning the others would also be executed one at a time. Al-Jazeera said it wouldn't even air the video. It was too gruesome.
Meantime, some good news for one family in France certainly. A French cameraman was released by his kidnappers. He said he was carried around for days, four days and during that entire ordeal constantly threatened with death.
Meantime, here on the ground in Iraq around Fallujah deceptively peaceful looking scenes during the day in that city. The mediator sent in by the Iraqi Governing Council says this week he has escaped two assassination bids at the hands of some of those inside the city this raising the specter that there are gunmen in that city who do not want a negotiated settlement.
Marines are sandbagging their positions. There is reported to be fierce night fighting. Now this has been a regular occurrence. Some of the scenes that we have already witnessed coming out of Fallujah indicate that the insurgents they are fighting in larger numbers, better tactics, challenging the Marines, and really raising the question of just how long this truce can last.
Now there are many Iraqis, Anderson, who were saying that they want the Marines to keep up the pressure there. They say all of this is evidence that there are foreign fighters inside there in alliance with former loyalists to Saddam Hussein and they believe unless the problem is addressed now it will only come back later to create more instability and insecurity in their country -- back to you.
COOPER: All right, Jim Clancy live from Baghdad, thanks Jim.
A quick news note for you on troop levels. The Pentagon is backing off a promise to draw down troops in Iraq. Today, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld approved extending combat tours for roughly 20,000 troops. The forces will spend an extra three months in Iraq.
Coming up, we'll talk with former Defense Secretary William Cohen about the change. That's ahead.
Right now the other volatile situation in the Middle East, peace efforts between the Israelis and Palestinians. Today at the White House, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon got President Bush's blessing for his plan to get out of Gaza but stay in parts of the West Bank. Senior White House Correspondent John King has been covering it all. John, how long has this been in the works at the White House?
JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: This plan has been in the works for several weeks. The Bush administration three times has sent teams to Israel to negotiate this endorsement deal, Anderson, significant because it is a reflection not only of the president's close friendship with Prime Minister Sharon but the simple fact that the peace process as we have known it, direct negotiations, are dead.
The president today essentially conceding that point and saying Prime Minister Sharon is now taking unilateral steps to try to revive a peace process now in shambles.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Israel plans to remove certain military installations and all settlements from Gaza and certain military installations and settlements from the West Bank. These are historic and courageous actions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: But angry reaction from the Palestinian side. Mr. Bush said that he believed any Palestinian refugee should ultimately return to a Palestinian state, not Israel. That is taking the Israeli position.
Mr. Bush also said that the realities on the ground in his view mandate that any final peace agreement should allow Israel to keep some territory outside of its 1949 borders.
The Palestinians again say that is taking sides on an issue that is supposed to be resolved directly between the parties. So, Anderson, the president says he hopes this is a step that gets peace talks going again. The Palestinians say it is a step in exactly the wrong direction.
COOPER: John, from the White House perspective let's talk about the press conference last night. Does the White House think President Bush achieved his goals, what he needed to do?
KING: The White House says yes that the president's main goal was to convince the American people he would not cut and run that there is a plan to have a political transition in Iraq despite the violence of recent days and that if the generals need more troops they will get them. The White House says the president delivered that message.
The president's critics though are saying that the president said the political plan was up to the United Nations. The troop levels are up to the generals. They say, the critics say, this president did not demonstrate the leadership that presidents must demonstrate at times of crisis like this.
COOPER: All right, John King thanks very much for that. Not just Israel but Iraq, of course, the focus of politics today. Senator John Kerry with sharp words for President Bush saying there is "a smarter way to accomplish the mission in Iraq."
Covering the comments Kelly Wallace who is with Kerry tonight at a gala fund-raiser in New York.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLY WALLACE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): John Kerry teaming up on the campaign trail for the first time with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton but that photo op overshadowed by events overseas.
WALTER DAUM, ANTIWAR ACTIVIST: We say stay the course of this imperialist war and you say you are a stark difference from President Bush. People hate George Bush. By the end of your presidency people will hate you for the same things.
WALLACE: In the audience a semi-retired math teacher passionately against the war.
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't subscribe to the same course that George Bush is pursing but we are where we are sir and it would be unwise beyond belief for the United States of America to leave a failed Iraq in its wake.
WALLACE: And then in a session with reporters, Kerry offered some of the sharpest criticism yet of the president's approach.
KERRY: And we're in a more difficult place because of the stubbornness of this administration to acknowledge what a lot of people know, which is we could make this less risky for our troops and we could make this less costly to Americans.
WALLACE: The Senator says he would partner with the United Nations and use the power of persuasion to convince more U.S. allies to help.
KERRY: Listen, if I were the president of the United States, I can tell you right now I would be personally, deeply involved with the leaders of those countries.
WALLACE: A spokesman for the Bush-Cheney campaign accused Kerry of "playing politics offering political attacks and pessimism, not a real policy."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALLACE: And the Senator rejected the charge saying he is not playing politics with this issue at all. Aides say he will continue to talk about Iraq on the stump because he does not believe the president has a plan to bring peace to Iraq.
Right now though John Kerry turning his attention to fund- raising, expected to bring in what Democrats say will be a record more than $6.5 million at two different events in Manhattan tonight -- Anderson.
COOPER: $6.5 million in one night that's pretty good. All right, Kelly Wallace thanks very much for that.
On Capitol Hill today, both the CIA and FBI chiefs under oath before the 9/11 Commission. The constant theme changes. Some that have already been made, others that are still needed. There's also the question should a domestic intelligence agency be put on a to-do list?
Here's CNN Justice Correspondent Kelli Arena.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): FBI Director Robert Mueller did his best to convince commissioners that the creation of a new domestic intelligence agency is not the way to go.
ROBERT MUELLER, FBI DIRECTOR: I do believe that creating a separate agency to collect intelligence in the United States would be a grave mistake. Splitting the law enforcement and the intelligence functions would leave both agencies fighting the war on terrorism with one hand tied behind their backs.
ARENA: While applauding some of the FBI's reforms, the commission says problems persist, among them shortages of linguists and personnel to surveil terrorists, in adequate training for recruiting and handling sources, and no national strategy for sharing information.
THOMAS KEAN (R), 9/11 COMMISSION CHAIRMAN: What I've learned has not reassured me. It's frightened me a bit frankly.
ARENA: The director did his best to reassure. The FBI trotted out a new report touting its post-9/11 reforms and the popular director of its new Office of Intelligence Maureen Baginski.
Mueller has been courting the commission and clearly has won the confidence of its members. So, too, has CIA Director George Tenet but still the panel warned him of changes to come.
JOHN E. LEHMAN (R), 9/11 COMMISSION MEMBER: There is a train coming down the track. There are going to be very real changes made.
ARENA: With the overall goal of preventing another major attack by al Qaeda, some commissioners were not thrilled to hear this assessment.
GEORGE TENET, CIA DIRECTOR: It will take us another five years to have the kind of clandestine service our country needs.
KEAN: I wonder whether we have five years.
(END VIDEOTAPE) ARENA: Several commissioners privately said they haven't settled on which recommendations to embrace but they all say the intelligence community is not working the way that it should. Their final report, which is due by the end of July, is expected to call for major structural change -- Anderson.
COOPER: All right, Kelli Arena thanks from Washington.
Right now we are following a number of developing stories "Cross Country." Let's take a look.
In New York City, new disclosures. According to Martha Stewart's attorneys juror Chappell Hartridge once embezzled from a Little League organization and admitted a cocaine habit but they say he disclosed neither on his juror questionnaire. Stewart's lawyers are asking for a new trial.
Madison, Wisconsin, consequences, college student Audrey Seiler charged today with faking her own kidnapping and leading police on a wild goose chase that cost the department $96,000. Her motive they say getting her boyfriend's attention.
New York again, rapper facing a serious wrap, hip hop artist Lil' Kim pleads not guilty at her arraignment on perjury charges. She's accused of lying about a shooting she witnesses outside a local radio station three years ago.
Newark, New Jersey, the defendant's new baby, Jayson Williams' wife gave birth to the couple's second daughter yesterday and named her Wisdom. Williams' manslaughter trial has been suspended since the beginning of April.
In Washington, D.C., sobering study, researchers say heavy social drinkers risk the same sort of brain damage seen in hospitalized alcoholics. They looked at people who had more than 100 drinks a month and found a noticeable impairment when it came to things like balance, memory and spatial functioning. That's a quick look at stories "Cross Country" for you tonight.
Coming up, a little girl survives ten days in the wilderness after plunging off a cliff, her amazing story of survival is ahead.
Plus, "Indecent Crackdown," the government cracked down on what it calls obscenity but is their definition the same as yours? That's ahead.
And, a CNN exclusive, Randall Terry, leader in anti-abortion, anti-gay rights groups faces a personal crisis. His son is gay and publicly coming out, all that ahead.
Let's take a look "Inside the box," for the top stories on tonight's network newscasts.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Well, from California now, a remarkable story of survival, a young girl and her mother had been missing for more than a week until a highway crew spotted something unusual at the bottom of a ravine.
National Correspondent Frank Buckley picks up the story from there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Workers repairing guardrail found the wreckage first then the girl. Five- year-old Ruby Bustamante had survived a plunge down a hillside and ten days in the elements.
BOB CLARK, CALIFORNIA HIGHWAY PATROL: It's amazing she was able to live that long.
BUCKLEY: Ruby's mother was nearby. Authorities believe Norma Bustamante survived the initial collision. Family members say Ruby lived on dry noodles and Gatorade that were in the car. Ruby and Norma were reported missing on April 4. At a news conference, some family members said police didn't do enough to find the mother and child.
ROSE LOPEZ, RUBY BUSTAMANTE'S AUNT: This is an outrage. Someone needs to be held accountable for this. There is no excuse for this young mother to have been left out there to die and the child had to go through such a horrific ordeal.
BUCKLEY: CHP officers say they received a call of a possible car over the side in this area but found nothing. Indio Police officers who were handling the missing person's case say they understand the family's anguish but they were actively investigating. Ruby, meanwhile survived the ordeal with only cuts and bruises. She's expected to make a full recovery.
DR. WEBSTER WONG, RIVERSIDE COUNTY HOSPITAL: Suffice it to say she's smiling, watching TV. She is happy to be surrounded by her family again and happy to be here at Riverside County.
BUCKLEY (on camera): In short, she is physically fine but hospital officials say they're keeping a close watch on the little girl because Ruby also understands that her mother died.
Frank Buckley, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Terrible.
We're tracking a number of developing stories around the globe right now. Let's take a look at the "Up Link."
In Beijing, China, focusing on North Korea, Vice President Dick Cheney wants China to push North Korea in negotiations to dismantle its nuclear program. Cheney met top Chinese leaders today and visits South Korea tomorrow. In Seoul, South Korea, antiwar protests. Parliamentary elections tomorrow and Cheney's upcoming visit set off antiwar demonstrations in the streets protesting the promise of 3,000 more troops for Iraq. South Korea already has 600 engineers and medics in Iraq.
Madrid, Spain, terror cells neutralized. Spain's interior minister says the central nucleus of the terrorist cell responsible for the March 11 train bombing is out of action. Investigators say the terrorists traded drugs for the explosives used in the bombing.
South Africa, election day. South Africans lined up to cast ballots today, the third all race national election since apartheid ended ten years ago. The ruling African National Congress Party is expected to remain in power by a large majority.
Milan, Italy, now ear this, a British performance artist dragged a TV set tied to his ear through the city to protest what he calls excessive political control over the media in Italy and other nations, a unique form of protest certainly. That is a look at tonight's "Up Link."
Obscenity and the Justice Department crackdown, some say it's long overdue, others say it has already gone too far. What do you think? We're going to hear from all sides coming up.
Also tonight, homecoming delayed, 20,000 troops and an extended stay in Iraq, how families and soldiers are handling the news.
And the Clinton factor, Hillary is campaigning and Bill's publishing his memoirs. Will the Clintons overshadow John Kerry's quest for the White House? We'll go on the trail for that all ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Well, tonight we continue our look at the Justice Department's war on obscenity. In a moment you'll hear from those who support it and condemn it but first let's look at the exact criteria the government is using to define what is obscene.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER (voice-over): In 1973, in the landmark case Miller v. California, the Supreme Court came up with a three part test for obscenity that still applies today.
Does the average person applying community standards find that the work appeals to the prurient interest? Does the work depict or describe in a patently offensive way sexual conduct? Does the work taken as a whole lack serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value?
Community standards may differ from place to place and change over time but the Supreme Court's three part test is still used today, though administrations have differed in how vigilantly they've enforced obscenity laws. During the 1980s the Attorney General Ed Meese began the National Obscenity Enforcement Unit. Adult magazines like "Playboy" and "Penthouse" were removed from thousands of convenience store shelves.
In the Clinton era, obscenity prosecutions decreased 86 percent according to a Syracuse University report but today the crackdown on porn is very real. The Justice Department has prosecuted 25 obscenity cases in mostly conservative communities. They won them all.
They targeted small hardcore porn producers. One company, currently facing prosecution, makes movies with extraordinarily graphic portrayals of sex, rape, and murder. Its founder Rob Zicari could face up to 50 years in jail.
ROB ZICARI, CO-FOUNDER, EXTREME ASSOCIATES: I think without a shadow of a doubt we're going to win. I have a lot of faith in the people out there that this is not necessarily an adult entertainment issue. It's not a pornography issue. It's an issue of this administration telling you what you can and cannot see.
COOPER: Obscenity, however, is not protected by the First Amendment. The Justice Department has some 50 cases currently under investigation. That means juries across the country may soon be asked to determine what porn does and does not violate their community standards.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: So, is the porn crackdown on the right course or going too far? Joining me here is Robert W. Peters, President of Morality in Media. Thanks for being on the program and it's an organization, of course, working to combat obscenity.
And, in Buffalo, New York, Paul Cambria, a lawyer for the adult entertainment industry. Among his clients, "Hustler" magazine publisher Larry Flynt. Paul thanks for being on as well.
Let me start off with you, Paul. Why shouldn't a community be able to determine that they don't want someone like Mr. Zicari selling his extraordinarily extreme and disturbing pornography in their community?
PAUL CAMBRIA, LAWYER FOR ADULT ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY: Well, I think the community can determine that. That's not a problem at all. The people who are fueling the fire, if you will, with Attorney General Ashcroft want to wipe out all adult material and not just the material that the average adult would find to be unacceptable in the community and that's really the problem.
They're trying to reach in and eradicate anything and everything that would be adult, as opposed to just that which exceeds the community standard and that really is the problem.
COOPER: Robert, is that what they're trying to do?
ROBERT W. PETERS, PRESIDENT, MORALITY IN MEDIA: Well, you begin with the law of obscenity, which the Supreme Court has set down and the obscenity definition is limited to hardcore pornography, not "whatever the heck adult material is."
COOPER: But it does seem the Justice Department may widen their scope or it's unclear at this point whether they may go after more soft core pornographers.
PETERS: If they follow the law they're limited to obscenity and ultimately it's up to the community. If Mr. Cambria is right that the American people love most hardcore pornography, then Mr. Ashcroft is going to lose all the cases. Personally, I think Mr. Cambria is wrong.
CAMBRIA: Well, that's what the juries are determining as well.
PETERS: I think most people support enforcement of obscenity laws. Now does that mean we won't lose a case, no. We will but so will Mr. Cambria. We'll both win and lose cases.
CAMBRIA: Yes. I've tried many cases to juries in the heartland of American and very graphic adult material but I'm talking about adults, made for adults the juries have no problem with. And this gentleman, if he had his way, and if Mr. Ashcroft had his way, there would be no erotic material whatsoever and, if he's honest, he'll admit that.
PETERS: Well, I'll tell you it isn't true because I really in my own personal life I distinguish between my personal morality, which happens to be based on my religion and what I consider a social morality, which has to depend in large measure on what the people of this country and of this city determine. It's not up to me.
And, by the way, this is not Mr. Ashcroft's war. He was appointed certainly in part by President Bush to carry out the president's policies and, I would add, in the 2000 year election both Gore and Bush came out in favor of obscenity laws. So did Bill Clinton when he ran for president in 1992. Ashcroft will probably never see any of this material. He is not going to be making the decisions here.
COOPER: Paul, you have the final word, a few seconds.
CAMBRIA: Yes. The determination is whether or not the federal government should be spending FBI agents and prosecutors on something like this which billions of dollars are being spent on, meaning people want it and acquire it and think it's acceptable or whether or not they should be protecting our country and really siphoning off this talent for something that the adult, average adult does not find to be offensive unless it's at the extreme fringe.
PETERS: If you're right you'll win all the cases, Mr. Cambria.
CAMBRIA: And I have so far.
PETERS: And you know you're not going to.
CAMBRIA: And I have so far.
PETERS: You have not won all your cases.
CAMBRIA: Well, yes, well you don't think so but you'll find out.
PETERS: OK, we'll find out.
COOPER: Gentlemen, appreciate you being on the program. Paul Cambria thanks very much and Robert Peters thank you very much.
Well, a quick news note on unwanted, some say obscene, spam in your e-mail. Soon it will be easier to filter out. Starting May 19th, the FTC says unsolicited e-mails that contain pornographic material must have the warning "sexually explicit" in the subject line, plus pictures won't be allowed in the e-mail, sexual pictures, but links will be permitted. Each violation could cost as much as $250 or $2 million total. Jail time is also possible.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER (voice-over): The Pentagon moves to keep up to 20,000 troops in place in Iraq. We'll talk with former Secretary of Defense William Cohen.
Bill Clinton's new memoir, will it give the Kerry campaign something to worry about?
And, batting the odds, meet the man who caught San Francisco slugger Barry Bonds' two latest home run balls. 360 continues.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: In the next half hour here on 360.
Combat tours extended. Roughly 20,000 troops in Iraq will stay an extra three months. Troops's families react just ahead.
But first lets check our top stories in the "Reset."
Somewhere in Iraq's an Italian hostage is killed. Italy's foreign minister confirms one of these four Italian hostages has been executed. Al-Jazeera received a videotape of the killing, but they won't broadcast it because they say it's too gory. The group take responsibility says it will kill the other three if Italy doesn't pull troops out of Iraq.
In Washington, CIA Director George Tenet predicts it will take five years to develop the kind of spy network needed to help uncover terrorist attack plots. Tenet testified before the 9/11 Commission today. He challenged the panel's charge that his agency was slow to recognize the al Qaeda threat.
Chicago and Los Angeles, liberal radio net dropped. Air America is off the air in second and third largest markets. Multicultural Radio dropped the two week old liberal talk network from it's Chicago and L.A. stations today in a dispute over payment for air time.
New York, JFK Jr. mementos stolen. A suspended warehouse worker at Sotheby's Auction House stands charged with stealing 35 items including, several belongings to the late JFK Jr. Among them is a father's day card Kennedy made as a small boy for his father, President Kennedy, in 1963.
In Boston, multiple births decline. A new study says women are not unintentionally having multi-birth test tube babies. New advances permit doctors to implant fewer embryo's during each attempt to make a women pregnant.
That's a quick look at stories in the "Reset" tonight.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld approved the plan to extend combat duty for 20,000 troops currently in Iraq. The official announcement could come as early as tomorrow.
Senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre, has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: The last time the Pentagon extended combat tours in Iraq back in November, it promised to limit service in the war zone to one year.
LT. GEN. NORTON SCHWARTZ, JOINT STAFF OPERATIONS DIRECTOR: The principle that we are working to here is alert early to provide predictability and make sure that families, employers and others have a sense of ground truth.
MCINTYRE: With counterinsurgency operation raging in Fallujah and perhaps soon in Najaf, the Pentagon can't afford to keep its promise. Some 20,000 U.S. troops, including the 1st Armored Division based in Germany and the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment in Fort Polk, Louisiana will have to stay three more months. That will keep 135,000 American troops in Iraq, instead of drawing down to 115,000 as the Pentagon planned. It's tough on the troops, tougher on their families.
LAVONDA WOODRING, WIFE OF KENNETH WOODRING: He called and said, Lavonda, I didn't want to call you yesterday, because I know it was Easter, and I wanted to wait until today but what they've told us, we have been extended.
MCINTYRE: Lavonda Woodring's husband is a military policeman, a national guard volunteer. When another soldier from the same North Carolina unit, Staff Sergeant Steve Lillard gave his wife the news, she started a petition drive to get them home.
LEE LILLARD, WIFE OF STAFF SGT. STEVE LILLARD: This came as a blow, my husband has been gone since March of 2003, and he is national guard. And I consider that as everyone else does our weekend warriors, our part-time soldiers.
(END VIDEOTAPE) MCINTRE: Asked about last year's promise to limit tours to one year, one Pentagon official said we meant it with we said it. Another official added but, this is war -- Anderson.
COOPER: All right, Jamie McIntyre, thanks.
With troop strength going up instead of down, I talked a short time ago today with former secretary of defense William Cohen about the strategy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: 20,000 troops, is that enough?
WILLIAM COHEN, FORMER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: It may not be enough. And I think General Abizaid has to make a decision almost day by day to see what is needed. But clearly, more will have to be inserted whether it's a reduction as they're talking about now, reduction on those who were scheduled to come home to freeze that, so there's no real increase that the point.
COOPER: But you think it's inevitable there are going to have to be more troops sent?
COHEN: I think we should plan on mow, plan on a worst-case scenario so that if it's a better case, you're so much better off than if you start with a lower estimate what you need and then have to increase it.
COOPER: Three months does, that sound long enough to you?
COHEN: I think we're going to be there a long time. And how the numbers will ultimately shake out depends what support or lack thereof we'll have from the allied forces.
COOPER: That brings me to the next point, John Kerry today criticized that the president yet again for not bringing the U.N. more in for not seek the help of allies more. At this point, though, that seems talking about the past. In terms of going to the future, is that a done deal -- seems like a done deal.
It's going to be very difficult to bring in allies at this point?
COHEN: I think there are three names that we have to take into account. One is Brahimi, the second is Sistani, there are two countries Iraq, the Iraqis and the Israelis. Those four factors very much determine the outcome.
COOPER: Lakhdar Brahimi from the United Nations.
COHEN: Brahimi has to play a key role in terms of shaping what that governing council is going to look like. The interim government as such. And his recommendation how to shape that will be critical. Sistani will play a much more aggressive role in dealing with the radical elements in the Shia community that we have seen with Al Sadr.
COOPER: Do you think we know where Sistani's mind is, where he's going?
COHEN: I don't think we know at that time. He has not been talking to the coalition authority. He is talking to Brahimi, and that's very important. That's why I think Brahimi, Sistani will play important roles and then we get on to the Iraqi people. We have to persuade the governing council and the factions that they represent that this is in their interest that they come together and stop any warring within, internal dissent. Because, their future is very much at stake and in balance in this. So, we've got to develop and hold onto that coalition of the willing right now and to expand its solidity.
COOPER: Obviously disturbing news about the performance of some Iraqi forces in battles in Fallujah and elsewhere. Training police, training the military, the U.S. has done in a number of countries. It's a very difficult thing to do and a very time consuming thing to do. It takes a long time.
COHEN: It's a difficult thing to do, and also there's a good deal of fear. And I think the fear comes about on the part of Iraqis who are being trained as to whether or not we're going to have the strength to stay on, whether we're going to be committed, because they certainly don't want to be in a position of having the United States and the coalition of forces falter. And then have them left...
COOPER: Lack of political will. Is there also a danger now -- Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon was reporting, that they're talking about bringing back Saddam's military officers to sort of fill in these roles, because they were strong leaders?
COHEN: They'd have to be very well vetted. There's a lot at stake here, there's going to be a lot reconsideration, and we certainly have our hands full. We have to have one national security policy. And I believe Democrats as well as Republicans have to come together and support this effort to go forward.
COOPER: Former secretary of defense, William Cohen, thank you.
COHEN: Thank you.
COOPER: There's some what of controversy brewing between the U.S. military and some Arab news channel in Iraq that covers the war. But some of the news channels has become a source of controversy. Let's see what they're talking about.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER (voice-over): These are the picture of the war in Iraq. They are beamed around the Arab world every night. Fierce fighting in Fallujah last week, dead civilian, hundreds of them claims the Arabic network, Al Jazeera, many they say killed by U.S. firepower. Reports vehemently denied by the U.S. military. What viewers routinely see by Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya is well very different from what you've seen on CNN. The two Arab networks are the only TV channels that have access to the insurgents and exclusive footage of civilian hostages. Both, in frequently show dead bodies, chard U.S. tanks. UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Get out of Fallujah in peace.
COOPER: And outpourings of anti-U.S. sentiment on. Al Jazeera, the U.S.-led coalition is called occupation forces. Recently this kind of coverage has infuriated the U.S. military which accused both Arab networks of anti-U.S. bias.
BRIG. GENERAL MARK KIMMITT, U.S. ARMY: It is interesting how Al Jazeera manages to be at scene of a crime whenever a hostage shows up.
COOPER: Last week Kimmitt had a heated exchange with an Al Jazeera anchor.
KIMMITT: What your correspondents have been doing for the last few days, repeating and confirming lies.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can indulge in a conversation with you which might turn ugly, because the pictures confirm what our correspondents are reporting.
COOPER: Both Arab networks reject the U.S. accusation are bias, saying they are objective and continue to stand by their reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Just ahead, a CNN exclusive, Randall Terry, leader in anti-abortion anti-gay rights forces faces a personal crisis, his son is gay and publicly coming out.
Plus a Clinton memoir, why are some John Kerry supporters worried.
And major league luck, meet the man who got his hands on both of Barry Bonds' historic home run balls.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: For decades, Randall Terry has been a vocal foe of abortion rights and same-sex marriage. But as Maria Hinojosa reports now we're learning a great deal about his kids and the very different lifestyles they live. A family at cross purposes. It's tonight's midweek crisis.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He became famous being dragged from the doorways of abortion clinics. Randall Terry, founder of Operation Rescue.
This is what choice is all about.
HINOJOSA: He was in prison for sending Bill Clinton an aborted fetus. Then Randall Terry found other causes, preaching against infidelity, birth control, divorce. His moral enemies, gays and unwed mothers. The homosexual agenda is to normalize what is a tragic lifestyle of bondage.
HINOJOSA: But today it's his own children who are speaking out, saying that the very people his father condemns are just like them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, there it is.
HINOJOSA: Jamiel, the adopted son who once accompanied his father to Vermont to fight gay marriage now says he is gay in an essay in May's "Out Magazine."
JAMIEL TERRY, SON OF RANDALL TERRY: In my family it was you start having sex outside of marriage, you get AIDS, you're a whore, you're a slut. Those are exact words. Yesterday he said to me, I'm going to be at your funeral. You're going to die at 42.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HINOJOSA: Harsh words from a father to a son. Tonight on "NEWSNIGHT" you can hear the rest of this story and hear from Randall Terry himself who says his son has betrayed the family's privacy and took money from "Out" Magazine. Jamiel Terry says the reason why he's talking publicly now about being the gay son of a Christian anti- abortionist and anti-gay activist is that he wants others to know that if he can accept his homosexuality so can others. Now one other point, Randall Terry has said that unwed mothers are his moral enemies. Tonight, Anderson, we'll hear from two of his daughters both of whom have had pregnancies outside of marriage.
COOPER: All right. Maria Hinojosa. It's going to be on "NEWSNIGHT" later on tonight with Aaron Brown at 10:00.
Coming up later on, you can hear his side of the story on "NEWSNIGHT," 10:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN. Including an exclusive interview with Randall Terry. He'll join Aaron on "NEWSNIGHT" at 10:00.
Justice served, the Los Angeles police department is being asked to looked into a new child abuse claim against Michael Jackson. The question is are they taking it seriously and should they? CNN's Miguel Marquez explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Los Angeles police department acting at the request of a Los Angeles district attorney's office is investigating new child abuse charges leveled against pop star Michael Jackson. But sources close to the investigation say there are doubts about this latest claim. And L.A.P.D. is trying to determine if the accuser was ever with Jackson at any time. In a statement, L.A.P.D. says the alleged victim claims the acts took place in Los Angeles during the 1980s. It's not clear how the alleged victim came to the attention of the L.A. county district attorney's office. Jackson's lawyer Benjamin Brafman in a statement said, quote, "this story, like so many others, will eventually prove to be false and in all likelihood promoted by people who have their own selfish agendas." Unquote.
A grand jury already hearing testimony on earlier charges against Jackson meets again on Thursday. If it indicts the pop star, he could be back in court for arraignment Friday, April 30. Miguel Marquez, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Coming up tonight, Bill Clinton's memoirs still in the works. Why is his book causing some Democrats to be worried about when it might come out and how it might influence John Kerry. That is ahead.
Also tonight. Lightning strikes twice for one baseball fan who fished out two historic home run balls. Tonight you will meet him. And a little later, Prince Charles gets jiggy with it, see who's joining him for dinner. That's ahead in "The Current."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Today in New York, Senator Hillary Clinton stumping with the presumed Democratic nominee John Kerry. Bill Clinton wasn't there, he's putting the finishing touches on his new memoir. The book should come out in June which has some Democrats worried that it might steal the spotlight from Kerry and the Democratic National Convention. Timing is everything when it comes to raw politics.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER (voice-over): He's as popular as he is polarizing and there's the conundrum. When the Kerry campaign asked former president Bill Clinton to stump for their candidate, he delivered.
BILL CLINTON (D), FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I ask you to look at John Kerry tonight and say to him what he has said to us his entire adult life. Send me.
COOPER: But according to a report in the "New York Times," the delivery date of Clinton's new book has some Democrats worried that the larger than life celebrity status of the former president could outshine the current candidate, and worry that a book which will undoubtedly drag up memories of the Monica Lewinsky affair could provide Republicans with a chance to raise again the specter of old White House sex scandals.
A spokesman for Mr. Clinton's publisher told CNN, "there is no hard and fast, or agreed upon date for publication. It's safe to say the book will be a rainmaker at retail." That means a blazing book tour befitting the reported $10 million advance the former president reportedly received.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's get ready to rumble!
COOPER: Which poses another problem. If the book is published mid campaign, a book tour could keep the former president, who has been described as a money magnate, off the Kerry fundraising trail. Of course, if the book is written on Clinton time it may not be ready until after the election, better timing perhaps, for the Kerry campaign and a solution to literary raw politics.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Well, today's "Buzz" is this, "what impact to you think Bill Clinton has on the Kerry campaign? Positive or Negative?" Log on to CNN.com/360. Cast your vote. We'll have results at the end of the show in just a few moments.
Time to check on some lighter news in tonight's pop culture "Current." Let's take a look. Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne, is inviting Beyonce Knowles and Jay-Z to dinner at Buckingham palace, or as Charles more commonly refers to it, his crib. Good to see the prince is representing.
Richard Gere met with three Tibetan protesters outside the United Nations yesterday. The actor was in New York to help their cause, promote human rights and plug "Shall We Dance" his upcoming film costarring Jennifer Lopez.
Donald Trump is getting a raise for work on "The Apprentice." The Donald will now be paid $100,000 an episode, giving him enough money to finally have himself cast in gold.
And reportedly Britney Spears is shopping on a reality show that would take fans back stage on the European leg of her tour. Word is everything she says will be tape just like her singing.
Took a little while.
A lucky baseball fan is sharing in not one, but two historic achievements from Barry Bonds. A day after catching the sluggers 660th home run, this man, Larry Ellison, and his kayak returned to McCovey's Cove yesterday and snagged bonds' 661st homer. The blast that gives Bonds sole position of third place on the all-time list.
For you statistics freaks, that puts Ellison on the top the list of historic home run ball catchers. Larry Ellison joins us now from San Francisco Bay. Larry, congratulations. Did you have any idea -- I mean, did go back actually thinking you had a chance of getting this ball the second time around?
LARRY ELLISON, CAUGHT 2 BONDS HR'S: I didn't think I had much of a chance. The odds of that were probably astronomical. And I've been inside the stadium before, and never got my hands on even a foul ball. So, it was a long shot.
COOPER: And from what I understand, there are ten to 50 kayaks in McCovey's Cove. Does it get tough? Do people push each other around do ores and kayaks go flying?
ELLISON: Well, I actually got a mark on the top of my head from a paddle last night. That can happen when somebody doesn't get the ball right away. Monday night when the ball landed five feet in front of my kayak, I was able to stroke twice with my paddle and grab it. There was no contest. That happens occasionally. And a lot of times people get it with a net, and there's no dispute about that.
COOPER: In 1999 Mark McGwire's 70th home run, I think, sold for $3 million. Now, the 660th ball that you caught, you actually gave it back to Barry Bonds, why did you do that?
ELLISON: Well, once I got inside the Giant's management asked me to come inside talk to them, and they indicated that Barry really wanted to have that ball, because of the meaning between him and Willie, and so I realized in my heart that it didn't belong to me, and I couldn't leave with it. I knew it was going to stay there that night.
COOPER: And you knew were passing up on potentially huge money?
ELLISON: I did, and I talked to my son Jeremy who was with me in another kayak and there for the whole event. And we conferred for 15 minutes and talked about the possibilities, and he agreed with me, that's what we should do.
COOPER: What are you going to do with 661? You're going to keep that one, right?
ELLISON: Going to keep. That we're looking at the possibilities of that, it's exciting.
COOPER: Well, it's got to be an exciting couple days for you. Larry Ellison, I would say one in a million but it's a two in a million chance. Thanks for being on the program.
ELLISON: Thanks for having me.
COOPER: The cast of the Simpson's is demanding an enormous pay raise. But what if they don't get it? Just ahead on "Nth Degree" would a new voice for Homer work? We'll take that to the "Nth Degree."
And tomorrow, a wild interview with Don King. You won't believe who he is putting his support behind. Don King talks about politics. That's tomorrow.
First today's "Buzz," "What impact do you think Clinton has on the Kerry campaign? Positive or Negative." Log onto CNN.com/360. Cast your vote. We're going to have results when we come back from this commercial break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Time for the "Buzz." We asked you earlier, "what impact do you think Clinton has on the Kerry campaign?" 75 percent of you said positive, 25 percent negative. Not a scientific poll, just your "Buzz." We appreciate you voting.
Tonight, taking "The Simpson's" to the "Nth Degree." There's trouble in Springfield, the actors who supply the voices for Homer, Marge, Bart and Lisa are seeking a huge pay raise from about $125,000 a year to $8 million plus a share in the profits. That's a lot of dough!
The actors believe their contributions are just as important as the characters. They're banding together hoping Fox will meet their demands. It worked for the cast of "Friends." But what if the strategy backfires? Will "The Simpson's" be through? Maybe not, a lot of folks working here at 360 want their chance to fill in for Lisa.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want a pony.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want a pony.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want a pony.
COOPER: And Bart.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't have a cow, man.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't have a cow, man.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't have a cow, man.
COOPER: And as far as Homer goes, the supply at least from our crew members seems endless.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Doh!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Doh!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Doh!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Doh!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Doh!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Doh!
COOPER: I don't think the real Simpson's have anything to worry about.
Thanks for watching. I'm Anderson Cooper. Coming up next, "PAULA ZAHN NOW."
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