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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

America Remembers Ronald Reagan; President Bush Meets With New Iraqi Interim President

Aired June 09, 2004 - 23:00   ET

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

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


ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening from Washington, D.C. I'm Anderson Cooper.
Thousands are filing past the casket of Ronald Reagan after a day of solemn remembrance. A special edition of 360 starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): The eyes of America focus on the nation's capital, a somber ceremony remembering a president.

Nancy Reagan mourns for her husband, a storied love affair nears its end.

He went from Hollywood to the White House to play the role of a lifetime but how did the Gipper get his start in Tinsel Town?

And now that the nation mourns with the Reagans, how does a family deal with the loss of a patriarch?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: A special edition of ANDERSON COOPER 360.

COOPER: Good evening again from Capitol Hill.

Behind me right now thousands are waiting in Washington's darkness, waiting to say their silent so long to Ronald Reagan. At this moment, the 40th president lies in state in the rotunda.

As you see filing past young and old, Republicans and Democrats, citizens and visitors, all tonight Americans. The flag draped over the casket, the same flag that flew over the capitol on that blistering cold day in 1981 when Ronald Reagan was inaugurated.

(AUDIO GAP).

From one coast to the other, people remembered, they waited and they watched as they do right now, as you see from that live picture outside the Capitol. They watched in honor of one man.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): A 21-gun salute by a Marine guard honored Ronald Reagan as his body embarked early this morning on his final journey across the country to Washington, D.C. His beloved wife Nancy, her close family and a few friends accompanied the flag-draped coffin onboard a presidential jet.

Four and a half hours later, the nation's capital welcomed one last time its 40th president with "Hail to the Chief." Then to the strains of "America," eight pallbearers representing all branches of the U.S. military carried Reagan to the waiting hearse.

Ronald Reagan's body traveled solemnly through the capital streets, thousands watching, many waving U.S. flags as the motorcade passed. Following a tightly scripted schedule, the motorcade stopped at 16th and Constitution Avenue where the casket was transferred onto a century old artillery caisson.

Drawn by three pairs of horses, the caisson traveled the one and a half miles to the United States Capitol. Behind it, a riderless black horse, an empty saddle, a pair of boots reversed in the stirrups, the rider never to ride again. The boots were an old pair belonging to the late president. His wife specifically requested them.

The 700-pound casket was then carried by three sets of nine military pallbearers into the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol where Ronald Reagan became the tenth president ever to lay in state there on the same platform used for Abraham Lincoln's state funeral in 1865.

Some 800 foreign dignitaries, Senators and Congressmen surrounded Mrs. Reagan for a final farewell.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Hard to describe the feelings many here felt as the president's casket moved down Constitution Avenue. To see it on TV is one thing. To be here something else entirely. To hear the horse's hooves, to talk with those standing in line, to feel the power of those jets as they streaked overhead a day for many of us beyond words.

Wolf Blitzer covered it all for us today. Wolf, is there any moment, any one particular moment or are there moments that surprised you today that really caught your attention?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Anderson, I kept being riveted by Mrs. Nancy Reagan. This is a woman, a very, very frail-looking woman, yet showing so much strength. When she was in that rotunda, look at this, when she was with the casket touching that American flag, the flag that flew over the capitol the day her husband was inaugurated president on January 20, 1981.

She kept touching it. She kept looking at it. It was so painful though, I suspect, for her because after a little while she just sort of glanced back and asked the major general to go ahead and help her go back. There's the Vice President Dick Cheney who was escorting her away from that casket but she shows -- she has shown so much strength throughout these days since last Saturday when the president passed away.

Another moment was when Michael Reagan came by a little bit later to see his dad's casket. Look at this. He similarly touched the casket. He kissed the American flag and then he saluted his father.

It reminded me a little bit of another son of another president had saluted his father. That would be John, the son of John F. Kennedy in 1963 as a little boy when he saluted his father as that casket was moving up Constitution Avenue as well. Two brief moments, but two powerful moments, Anderson, as we saw throughout this day.

COOPER: And very private moments in a day, a very public grief as well.

Let's talk just politically. I mean how does today's events, what's going to happen here over the next two days, does it have repercussions? Does it have effect coming down in the next weeks, in the next months, in the ongoing presidential race?

BLITZER: I've been speaking with a lot of political experts, all of whom suspect, at least in the short term, it will give a little bit of a boost to President Bush in his battle against the Democratic candidate John Kerry.

They don't suspect it will last all that long. They do anticipate, though, that at the Republican convention in New York at the end of August, early September, there will be a very, very major tribute to Ronald Reagan that they're hoping will galvanize, will energize the base of the Republican Party to get out there and vote in big numbers, so they're hoping it will have some sort of important political spillover effect for the incumbent president.

COOPER: Wolf Blitzer, it's been a long day for you, great coverage. Thank you very much for being with us on 360, Wolf.

BLITZER: Thank you.

COOPER: President Bush, of course, returns to Washington tomorrow to the capitol to pause and pay his respects. Tonight, Mr. Bush is in Georgia meeting with world leaders at the G-8 Summit.

CNN's John King is there. Good evening John. The president tending to business in Georgia while Vice President Cheney, as we saw, came to Washington today.

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: And, Anderson, that decision made after extensive consultations, we are told, with the Reagan family. Nancy Reagan, of course, the first lady for eight years, well aware of the important business that can be conducted at these summits.

The White House says it was assured by Mrs. Reagan that she understood if the president felt he needed to stay here to conduct business. He will, of course, as you noted return to the capital tomorrow. Vice President Cheney filling in tonight.

The most important item of business for the president here at the G-8 Summit was his first one-on-one meeting with the new interim Iraqi president. The new interim Iraqi president coming at a time, of course, many in this country are questioning the war. Many around the world are questioning whether this new Iraqi government can succeed.

The president here, you see him to the president's left, Mr. Bush said he couldn't believe it sitting with the president of a free Iraq and the new interim Iraqi president promised those Americans who shed blood and died in Iraq will not have died in vain.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GHAZI AL-YAWAR, INTERIM IRAQI PRESIDENT: We are determined to have a free, democratic, federal Iraq. A country that is a source of stability to the Middle East, which is very important for the rest of the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Now the leaders also gathering tonight for an

(AUDIO GAP)

KING: ...quite a bit of summit business conducted today but, Anderson, aides do tell us the president has been working on the eulogy he will deliver Friday at the National Cathedral when he gets back to Washington, of course President Reagan's funeral.

Aides say it will run about ten to 12 minutes. And before that eulogy in private, again, the president and the first lady will go immediately to the capitol rotunda when they get back to Washington tomorrow night, pay their respects to President Reagan, then have some private time as well with Nancy Reagan who is staying across the street from the White House at Blair House -- Anderson.

COOPER: All right, John King from Georgia tonight, thanks very much John.

There is other news, of course, happening around the world to tell you about tonight. Good news out of Iraq, also tempered with some bad news today. Let's get you up to date in tonight's "Up Link."

In Iraq, pipeline hit, insurgents are suspected of attacking the main Kirkuk-Turkey oil pipeline starting this fire that burned throughout the afternoon, this of course the fourth attack on oil pipelines in northern Iraq in the past 72 hours, all with improvised explosive devices.

In Italy now, hostages come home: the good news out of Iraq, three Italians who were taken hostage in Iraq arrived in Rome today. A coalition military operation rescued them yesterday. U.S. military officials not saying exactly what group the abductors were affiliated with.

In Cologne, Germany, a bomb attack, a bomb packed with nails explodes in a street in a shopping area injuring 22 people there. So far there are no suspects or motive in the attack.

And that's a quick look at what's happening around the world in tonight's "Up Link." Just ahead on this special edition of 360, Nancy Reagan, Hollywood actress turned politician's wife, how she has shaped history often behind the scenes.

Plus, Americans saying goodbye to Reagan, bearing witness to this moment in history.

We return in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: As we watched the horse-drawn caisson making its way down Constitution Avenue today, we saw a president pass us by but, of course, for Nancy Reagan and her children this day of public mourning is also a day of deeply private grief.

For those who know her, it is hard to imagine Nancy Reagan without her husband. For 52 years they have been together, man and wife, father and mother, president and first lady. Nancy Reagan had lived a life filled with loss and love before she ever met Ronald Reagan but it was that meeting she says when her life truly began.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): She was born Anne Frances Robbins in New York City 1921. Her parents' marriage soon ended and Nancy was left in the care of an aunt in Maryland while her mother supported herself on the stage.

In 1931, her mother remarried a successful Chicago neurosurgeon, Loyal Davis. He adopted Nancy and provided her with a life of comfort. Nancy Davis chose to follow in her mother's footsteps, first the stage, eventually the silver screen, appearing in films like "Shadows on the Wall," "East Side West Side," and one special role opposite Ronald Reagan in "Hellcats of the Navy."

They married in 1952. She says that's when her life really began. After "Hellcats" in 1956, she gave up acting, choosing to stay home with her husband and children. Ten years later, she was first lady of California and caused a stir by moving her family into and rapidly out of the governor's mansion in Sacramento. It was a fire trap, she said. She was concerned for her husband's safety. Some Californians dubbed it snobbery.

In Washington, in the White House, her supporters say Mrs. Reagan brought back style and elegance. Critics called it extravagance. She spent lavishly, redecorating the White House and wore donated designer dresses. Through it all, Nancy and Ronald Reagan stood by each other's side.

Her devotion to her husband was obvious and her influence in the Oval Office was hard to miss. She reportedly had a hand in picking members of her husband's staff, moving hard line conservatives out and moderates in.

Former Reagan Chief of Staff Donald Regan wrote that Nancy Reagan regularly consulted an astrologer before setting the president's schedule.

But over the last ten years, even her harshest critics have come to admire Nancy Reagan: her devotion, her dedication, her love of Ronnie, as she called him, in sickness not just in health has touched America's heart.

Today, as she accompanied her husband on his final journey to the nation's capital, Americans in ways public and private said thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Journalist Kati Marton interviewed Nancy Reagan for her book "Hidden Power: Presidential Marriages that Shaped our History." She joins us tonight from New York. Kati, thanks for being with us tonight.

KATI MARTON, JOURNALIST, AUTHOR: A pleasure.

COOPER: What do you think people don't know about Nancy Reagan? What would they be most surprised by?

MARTON: Well, possibly that she was the most powerful first lady of the 20th Century and I include Hillary Clinton and Eleanor Roosevelt in that. She comes out on top. There was no first lady who was more important to her husband's administration and who had more to do with electing her husband to the presidency than Nancy Reagan.

She was absolutely integrated into that White House. She did not need an office in the West Wing to be absolutely on top of the most minute details of that house. Her weapon of choice was the telephone and she used it masterfully.

COOPER: So, her role really wasn't public in this way, but privately she had an important political role. How did she use that role? How did it play out?

MARTON: I would say, Anderson, that she was the Reagan administration's unofficial chief of personnel, that is to say that she knew the sort of people who President Reagan needed to surround himself with to be maximum effective.

And she also knew what she wanted his legacy to be, which was not as a hardcore right wing evil empire advocate, but as a peacemaker and so she became an unexpected ally to people like Secretary of State George Shultz and Jim Baker and Mike Deaver and Howard Baker, all slightly to the left in the Republican Party and sort of cleaned out the people that she called the wrap yourself in the flag and jump off the cliff Republicans.

And she wanted her Ronnie to be the one who would be remembered for making peace and for ending the Cold War and she was fiercely competitive. And part of that competitiveness played out with the Gorbachevs because she saw that Gorbachev was getting a great deal of adulation for his attempt to bridge the Cold War gap and she wanted...

COOPER: There was a race with Gorbachev too, there was a problem there.

MARTON: Well, there was indeed. I mean, you know, she may look frail, Nancy, but she is extraordinarily tough, very shrewd politically and resilient and she did not want Raisa to steal a march on her, so she choreographed the Reagan's famous trip to Moscow with Ken Duberstein, of course, the famous walk down the Arbat which enabled Reagan to have this wonderful spontaneous interface with Russian people who came up to him.

Reagan was wonderful in crowds. He really knew how to project in a crowd. He was not so good one-on-one. He was a man who was singularly detached. He was emotionally detached and even, in fact, Nancy told me this and she writes about it in her memoir, "My Turn," that even with Nancy there was a point beyond which Reagan would not connect emotionally, that a veil would drop.

And he was essentially a loner but Nancy, if there was a strong emotional connection in Ronald Reagan's life, it was with Nancy. The two of them forged an extraordinary alliance and I think that...

COOPER: A partnership as you say, I mean in many different ways.

MARTON: Yes. Yes. She was indispensable to him. When she was briefly sidelined by his Chief of Staff Don Regan, who just didn't get what this marriage was about, didn't get how much Reagan depended on his wife, you know, that much derided gaze that she would fix on him that gaze was very important to Reagan to getting the best performance out of him.

And when Reagan -- when Don Regan sidelined Mrs. Reagan that's when Iran-Contra happened. That's when Oliver North slipped under the radar and that's when the difficulties began and then Don...

COOPER: And ultimately he paid the price. He left the White House. Thank you Kati Marton.

MARTON: Absolutely. Yes, Mrs. Reagan prevailed.

COOPER: Yes, she certainly did at that and she has earned the respect of a lot of people...

MARTON: Yes, indeed.

COOPER: ...the way she handled the last ten years.

MARTON: Yes.

COOPER: Kati Marton, thank you so much for being with us tonight, appreciate it.

MARTON: Pleasure.

COOPER: The nation, of course, sharing in Mrs. Reagan's grief tonight.

360 next, a love affair that has lasted, as Kati said, for more than 50 years. It has come to an end. The healing process that all ahead.

As we leave, a live picture of the capitol rotunda now where the body of the former president lies in state. We return in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Margaret Thatcher paying her respects to the president.

Big national events, such as today's, are the kind of things that people often remember years later. Where were you when such and such happened? Most of those memories will consist of images we saw on television, big, wide views of the capitol dome and flags and marching troops. But we found one small group who made their memories of the day up close and very personal.

Here's CNN's Jason Bellini.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Angel Rivera (ph) began his above average road trip in Indiana.

ANGEL RIVERA: President Reagan is waiting.

BELLINI: He and his friends recorded a video diary of their trip to Washington. Angel was six years old when President Ronald Reagan left office.

RIVERA: He molded (UNINTELLIGIBLE) as we know it today.

BELLINI: He fell in love with Reagan reading about him.

RIVERA: In my opinion, we probably will not see a president like President Reagan in our lifetime and I don't think I could forgive myself if I didn't come to his funeral. And here we are somewhere in southern Pennsylvania.

BELLINI: Angel grew up in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He studies political science at Indiana University and heads the campus college Republicans. Angel picks up two friends who decide to fly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm a poor college student. The flight attendants were very, very friendly.

RIVERA: Did you get her number?

BELLINI: The group can quote Reagan the way college students more commonly quote music lyrics.

RIVERA: Thou shalt never speak ill of another Republican.

BELLINI: Thursday they go to the Washington Mall, planning to see the new World War II Memorial. They happen upon the caisson that later in the day will carry Reagan's coffin.

RIVERA: Hi, I'm Angel.

How do you feel?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A little nervous.

BELLINI: One of the special moments captured on their video diary is a conversation with a horse rider from the Old Guard. They wait three hours in a position where they can see Nancy Reagan arrive, the loading of the coffin, and the caisson's departure.

When the coffin is gone, Angel does the sign of the cross. Worth the trip?

RIVERA: Yes. (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

BELLINI (on camera): Angel and his group have gotten in line to see President Reagan's casket, even though they may be in this line all night. They're prepared because they say they want to say their goodbyes up close.

(voice-over): Not your average road trip.

RIVERA: I'm making this trip to say thank you.

BELLINI: Jason Bellini, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, the state funeral didn't start off as expected. The massive security was put to the test just before Ronald Reagan's body arrived in Washington. The U.S. Capitol grounds were evacuated because a small plane was in the restricted air space. I was actually there on the capitol when the chaos began. Here's a quick look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: We are being told to evacuate actually this location. This is where the line was for the last 12 hours or so. People here have been lining up but, as you can see, they have now evacuated the entire line. They're actually asking us to move on. We're the last people -- that's all right. No one exactly has been told -- can you tell us at all what's going on?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Keep your distance, not right now please.

COOPER: OK. They're saying they can't tell us what's going on but this line...

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, Capitol Police fearing the worst, ordered everyone around the capitol to run, get out of the area. In the skies over Washington, U.S. Air Force fighters were scrambled to intercept the plane. Within minutes, the all clear. It turns out the small plane in question was carrying the governor of Kentucky and was not a security threat. Well, politics and the great communicator, much better than me as you can tell. Up next, how President Bush and John Kerry are using Reagan's optimism to win over voters in their White House race.

And a little later, the public eye, the private grief of Nancy Reagan and a sorrow many Americans share tonight, as this special edition of 360 continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Welcome back to this special edition of 360.

A lifelong friend of Ronald Reagan shares some of his great stories with us from the days when Hollywood was hopping, Cagney was king and Ronald Reagan was a Democrat.

Also ahead tonight, the raw politics of Reagan. How does he figure into this year's race for the White House? We'll look at that.

First, let's take a look at what's going on in the "Reset."

Well, throughout the night here in Washington and all day tomorrow, tens of thousands of people are expected to pay their respects to Ronald Reagan. Some will say silent goodbyes, some will salute. Some may cross themselves. Others will simply pause and then move on. They'll all wait in line for hours to do it.

Outside the Rotunda for us tonight, CNN congressional correspondent Joe Johns.

Joe, how does it look out there?

JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, hundreds of people still in line. It's 11:30 here in the East, Anderson.

200,000 -- up to 200,000 expected or at least planned for. As many as 5,000 people an hour expected to file past the casket of President Reagan in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda.

Now the security here of course is very tight. Magnetometers, everyone has to pass through those as well. No cameras allowed. No backpacks. Still, it's a fairly orderly procession. No problems seen. No problems anticipated.

Now as you know, this is going to go on until Friday morning, early Friday morning Eastern time. In between, we do expect a number of dignitaries, including President Bush himself, along with Laura Bush, coming back from Georgia where they hosted the G-8, coming here to the Rotunda to pay their respects as well as the father of President George Bush also expected to be here sometime tomorrow and Mikhail Gorbachev, the former premiere, of course, of the Soviet Union.

It will be a long couple of days here in Washington and it will end, of course, with the National Cathedral funeral ceremony -- Anderson. COOPER: And an emotional day that will be. Joe Johns, thanks very much for that tonight.

CNN analyst Dinesh D'Souza is a former Reagan adviser and a Reagan biographer. He wrote "Ronald Reagan: How an Ordinary Man Became an Extraordinary Leader." And like the young people you just saw in Jason Bellini's piece, someone influenced by President Reagan when he himself was a young man.

Welcome back, Dinesh, good to see you tonight.

President Kennedy I think was credited, of course, for inspiring a generation of young people in the 1960's. Reagan really did the same for another generation, yet they had very different methods.

DINESH D'SOUZA, AUTHOR: Yes. I think Kennedy was inspiring young people to go into public service or to go into government. Kennedy said if you're young, you're idealistic, join the Peace Corps. And so the public servant was the embodiment of American idealism for him.

Reagan, on the other hand, celebrated not so much the public servant, whom he considered to be the bureaucrat, but rather the entrepreneur. To Reagan, if you were young and idealistic, you don't join the Peace Corps, you join the Marines, or you start a new company.

So Reagan channeled the idealism of a new generation of young people in a different direction, and in a way one can say that Reaganism, the era of the entrepreneur, has triumphed over the ideal of Kennedy.

COOPER: Of course, his critics would say, you know, there was a lot of greed in the 1980's and they sort of attribute that with the Reagan White House. Of course, those are the people who criticized Ronald Reagan at the time, didn't like the president.

What interested me today, talking to the people on the line, was that there were so many young people on the line, and a lot of them, they were kids, literally, you know, 4 years old when Ronald Reagan was in the White House, and yet many of them say they are still sort of being inspired today by him, by his legacy, what they're learning about him in schools. Does that surprise you?

D'SOUZA: It doesn't, for this reason, that there have been leaders through history in the West and in America, who have had kind of an aristocratic background. You think of Churchill, you think of FDR, you think of Kennedy. These were men of a kind of aristocratic pedigree.

Reagan was an ordinary guy. In fact, to all glances and purposes, it didn't seem like he was even qualified to be president. He only entered politics at the age of 55. He spent most of his career as a movie actor. Before that, he went to a college that no one ever heard of. He got C's. So my point is, he didn't seem to meet the criteria of what it takes to be a great president or a great leader. And yet, as I think we look back on the '80s, we see that enormously important things happened. Not only did the Soviet Union begin to collapse, not only did the economy go into a tremendous juggernaut of economic growth, the technological revolution happened in the '80s.

In 1980, very few Americans had a computer. By the end of the '80s, computers were everywhere. So the big question which historians will debate is, did Reagan have an important hand in these great changes that occurred in the '80s. I would argue that he did have an important role and I think that Reaganism ultimately will be seen as a turning point in American history.

COOPER: We shall see how history describes this years from now. Dinesh D'Souza, thanks very much.

Ronald Reagan's legacy looms large over the 2004 election, of course. It appears both the Bush and Kerry camps want it that way. They're each trying to tap into the Great Communicator's style and his hopeful outlook for the nation, that sense of optimism we've heard so much about over the last week.

National correspondent Kelly Wallace on the raw politics of the Reagan factor.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ronald Reagan's optimism about the country and its future, one of the central themes of his two successful bids for the White House.

RONALD REAGAN, FMR. U.S. PRESIDENT: Four years ago we raised a banner of bold colors, no pale pastels. We proclaimed a dream of an America that would be a shining city on a hill.

WALLACE: Listen to President Bush...

GEORGE W. BUSH, U.S. PRESIDENT: I'm optimistic about America, because I believe in the people of America.

WALLACE: ...and presumptive Democratic nominee John Kerry...

JOHN KERRY, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're a country of optimists. We're the can-do people.

WALLACE: ...and you will hear two men in their own way trying to recapture Reagan's sunny outlook summed up in one of his most famous ads.

ANNOUNCER: It's morning again in America.

WALLACE: The task a major challenge with fears of terrorism in a post-September 11 world, and here is where you see in campaign '04 another Reagan theme.

REAGAN: The American uniform is once again worn with pride.

WALLACE: Keeping the peace by strengthening the U.S. military. President Bush in his war on terror...

BUSH: September 11, 2001 taught a lesson I will never forget.

WALLACE: ...and Kerry, the Vietnam veteran, trying to counter Mr. Bush on national security.

KERRY: Our soldiers are stretched too thin.

WALLACE: While the two men have borrowed themes from the 40th president, they have not often mentioned his name on the stump. When they do, you hear talk of the Reagan tax cuts...

BUSH: With the largest tax relief since Ronald Reagan was the president.

WALLACE: ...and Kerry's role in the Senate investigation of the Iran-Contra affair.

KERRY: Then I stood up as a senator to Ronald Reagan and his illegal war in Central America and to Oliver North and his private aide network.

WALLACE: But following President Reagan's death, Kerry joined President Bush in saluting Mr. Reagan's leadership and his optimism. The question now is how much both men might try to invoke the Reagan legacy in the months ahead.

Kelly Wallace, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Joining me from Mountain View, California to talk about the Reagan effect on the presidential election coming up, CNN political analyst Carlos Watson.

Carlos, good to see you tonight.

CARLOS WATSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good to see you.

COOPER: I guess conventional wisdom says that this Reagan effect, if that's what you want to call it, helps President Bush in the short term, maybe doesn't help Candidate Kerry in the short term. I'm not a big fan of conventional wisdom. I think it's pretty conventional, never much wisdom there. What do you think?

WATSON: This is one time, Anderson, when I think actually conventional wisdom may have it right. I think that as it relates to the issue of taxes and as it relates to the issue of foreign policy, a go it alone foreign policy, I think for independents and I think for Reagan Democrats, they may pause and give the president a second look.

Now significantly, I think part of the reason they will give the president a second look as he wraps himself in the Reagan legacy, is because the economy is starting to improve and because you're not hearing as much about Iraq. I think if either of those two were in a very different place, even this Reagan rally wouldn't help out.

But, yes, I think in the short term, over the next several weeks, the lead that John Kerry has built up over the last six weeks will start to dissipate and we'll hear some different numbers as we go towards July 4.

COOPER: Do you think President Bush is going to wrap himself in this Reagan legacy? Is he going to talk a lot about Reagan? I imagine you're going to hear a lot about Reagan at the convention. But I guess that could backfire. I mean, this sort of what some might call the Paul Wellstone effect, you know, sort of politicizing it too much.

WATSON: I think you're right. I think if he overreaches, that will be a problem.

But look for Ronald Reagan to be symbolized in three significant ways. One, interestingly enough, look at George W. Bush's Web site. Don't forget that every month he's sending out more than 6 million e- mails to his supporters. Don't be surprised if some of those e-mails encourage people to come to the Web site, and if you look at the Web site today, you'll see it's almost a tribute to Ronald Reagan.

Number two, start to look at some of the new ads. Not just the new language, but look for symbols, like former premier of Poland, Lech Walesa, the former Solidarity leader, who will remind people of Ronald Reagan.

And last but not least, in the speeches, not just by George Bush but by others, they'll bring up issues like remember what they said about Ronald Reagan's tax plan, remember about the prosperity it brought. Remember what they said about his military policy and remember what happened at the end of the Cold War. So don't be surprised to hear more.

COOPER: If they're both, then, trying to become, sort of, you know, viewed as the optimistic, how does John Kerry go about criticizing -- I mean, a lot of his policies are, you know, obviously critical of the Bush administration. How does he criticize without being viewed as pessimistic?

WATSON: You don't, because that's a game you can't win. I think if you're John Kerry, you've got to turn the page, and the way that you most likely will end up turning the page over the next several weeks here is announce your vice presidential candidate.

Don't be surprised if you hear that person named. We've heard talk it might be named in mid-July. Don't be surprised to see that come a little bit sooner. It's a way to change the conversation and move towards a new chapter.

But no, he's not going to win this fight by trying to talk down or seeming to run down Ronald Reagan. That's not one he's going to win. He's got to turn to a whole new book, a whole new chapter. COOPER: All right, Carlos Watson, thanks very much, from Mountain View, California tonight.

WATSON: Good to see you.

COOPER: For the Reagan family, of course, hard to imagine the emotions today. Grief, pain that comes with the loss of a patriarch. We'll talk about all of that, loss and coping, coming up.

Also tonight, remarkable stories of Reagan and Nancy Davis and Hollywood when the stars were bigger than life and Reagan was a Democrat. A lifelong friend of the president stops by to reminisce. You will not want to miss his stories.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: I don't know if you could hear that. Someone in the crowd today shouted out "God bless you, Nancy," a voice for many, we think, who seeing the obvious pain on her face wish they could say or do something to comfort her. All of us mourn in our own private ways.

Joining me from Los Angeles, Russell Friedman, executive director of the Grief Recovery Institute. He's also the author of "The Grief Recovery Handbook" and "When Children Grieve."

Russell, thanks for being with us tonight.

You said something to me during the break that was really interesting. You said that while the country is mourning for the president, this death, his death, makes us all think about death that we have experienced in our own lives. I lost a brother and I've lost a dad, and I could not help but think about them today. I kind of thought I was the only one doing that, but you say just about everyone does that.

RUSSELL FRIEDMAN, GRIEF RECOVERY INST.: It's probably close to universal.

Whenever we have an awareness of a death, sometimes a plane crash or natural disasters, anything where there is loss of life, we all have a feeling for the people who may have been effected, and then our brain goes on a search and says, "What do I know about those kinds of sad feelings," and it will automatically go backwards over every sad feeling you've ever had and identify the deaths, romantic breakups, pet losses, everything that evokes those kind of feelings.

So it puts into a reverie for your own...

(CROSSTALK)

COOPER: And there are people sitting at home tonight, then, who saw this on television, or even people who were here, who are then grieving in their own ways, maybe not even so much for Reagan but for people in their own lives or loved ones in their own lives. What do you tell them tonight? FRIEDMAN: I tell them absolutely what you've just said. Grieving in their own way is also true. If I could suggest that grief is the conflicting feelings caused by a change or an end in a familiar pattern of behavior, I would also suggest that everyone grieves in their own way and pace, and there is no universal way for anyone to grieve.

And more importantly, every relationship that has ever existed on this planet is unique. There are no exceptions. So each of us goes back in our memory box and finds our memories for those people that have been important to us.

But with Reagan, we're looking for those who loved Reagan. There's an enormous well of emotion about what he did for them. For those who didn't love him so much, there's a well of emotion about them. And then there's a mixture of feelings, and all of it connects fo our beliefs about grief.

Most of us are taught we shouldn't feel sad and today I'm saying we need to feel sad. It's a normal feeling. Even if you didn't love President Reagan, there's a sadness in the passing of someone with great grace and dignity, someone who was our leader.

COOPER: And he certainly had that.

And, you know, Russell, I believe what you're saying tonight, because you haven't used the word closure, and that's a word so many people on TV use, and I think it's the stupidest word I've ever heard of when dealing with grief.

FRIEDMAN: Couldn't agree with you more. In fact, in our book "The Grief Recovery Handbook" we spend a little essay debunking the word closure, because closure implies the end of a relationship.

When my mom died 11 years ago, the relationship didn't close. The physical portion ended, but my emotional and spiritual relationship with her will go on with her forever, as does everyone's relationship with President Reagan goes on. Whether they loved him or not, the relationship goes on in a different format.

COOPER: That's a really nice way to think about it and a nice way to end with us tonight. Russell Friedman, thank you so much. It was really interesting.

FRIEDMAN: My pleasure.

COOPER: Good to talk with you.

Coming up on this special edition of 360, before he was the commander-in-chief, he was the Gipper. Just ahead, the movies with the Great Communicator. A look at some of the movies and roles he made over his long Hollywood career and a man who knew him way back when. You won't want to miss his stories.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Over the course of his Hollywood career, Ronald Reagan managed to make more than 50 movies. Not bad for a man who called show biz, quote, "a tough racket."

Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): His film career began in 1937. Reagan, a radio sportscaster, played a radio announcer in the film "Love Is On The Air."

What his early movies lacked in quality they made up for in quantity. Reagan appeared in 12 films his first year. He met actress Jane Wyman on the set of "Brother Rat." They married a few years later.

When Reagan appeared in "Knute Rockne, All American" as football legend George Gipp, the role would help define his public image.

REAGAN: Someday when the team's up against it, breaks are beating the boys, ask them to go in there with all they've got, and win just one for the Gipper.

COOPER: During World War II, Reagan served in the Army Motion Picture Unit, where he used his talents to produce and appear in hundreds of military training films.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a zero.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Check.

COOPER: Reagan eventually found a permanent co-star in Nancy Davis. On-screen, they were in "Hellcats of the Navy." Off-screen, they would be married for 52 years.

In between, he tried to teach a chimpanzee in "Bedtime for Bonzo."

R. REAGAN: Watch it Bonzo. Steady.

Hey! Bonzo! Take it easy!

COOPER: Did some commercials for General Electric.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's our idea of the real way to live better electrically.

COOPER: And won his first election, president of the Screen Actors Guild, and served an unprecedented five consecutive terms. Getting reelected would become a habit.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: It's great to see those old film clips.

Legendary Paramount Pictures producer A.C. Lyles was introduced to Ronald Reagan in 1936 by none other than James Cagney. Over the years, they forged a close personal relationship. Earlier, I spoke to Lyles about Reagan's legacy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: A.C., you met Ronald Reagan in 1936 out in Hollywood. Was the man you met then the same man who occupied the White House?

A.C. LYLES, FMR. FILM PRODUCER: Ronald Reagan never changed one bit from the time he hit Hollywood in 1936 until 10 years ago. Same, same person. Same person.

COOPER: Although what he did change was going from a Democrat to Republican. I understand you once asked him -- tell the story. You asked him about what political party you should be a part of.

LYLES: Yes. Well, I met Ronnie when I was making $15 a week as an office boy for Adolph Zucker (ph) at Paramount, and the time came for me to vote. I called Ronnie, of course, my best friend, and said, "Are we Republicans or Democrats?"

He said, "We're Democrats," so I became a Democrat.

Sometime later, Ronnie was making appearance and a lady said, "You sound more like a Republican than a Democrat." And he said, "I feel that way." And another lady said, "Meet me in the lobby and I'll reregister you."

The next day, Ronnie called me and said, "A lady is coming over to reregister you," and I said, "Reregister me about what?" And he said from a Democrat to a Republican."

I said, "Oh, are we Republicans now?" And he said, "yes." I said, "why are we changing?" He said, "We didn't, they did."

COOPER: I'm curious, though. You knew him at a time, really, before he met Nancy Davis, who would become Nancy Reagan. When they met, what was it that drew them so together?

LYLES: Well, I'll tell you, Nancy had a problem and she was making a problem with Mervin LeRoy, and Mervin LeRoy said you should get the Screen Actors Guild to correct this mistake for you. And he called Ronnie and said there's a wonderful lady here that you should talk to because she has a problem. As the president of the Guild, you deserve your time with him.

So they decided to meet that night, but he told her in advance that he had an early call the next day, and she said, well, my call is earlier because I have to go in hair and makeup. And they met and he looked at her and he said, "You know, I lied to you. I don't have to be at the studio tomorrow until 1:00." She said, "I lied to you. I'm off tomorrow."

And it's been that way ever since, where they had that compatibility. And I've watched Ronnie speak, and Nancy just riveted to everything that he says. Because every time he uttered a word, it was the first time she thought she had ever heard that word.

In movies, there have been great love teams: Spencer Tracey and Katharine Hepburn and Jeannette McDonald and Nelson Eddy, and Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart. There's never been a love affair in Hollywood like Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan. I think Nancy is the best thing that ever happened to Ronnie and those of us who know them, we're grieving now because you can tell that she's going through an awful period. She looks fragile and frail, and we're very concerned about her.

COOPER: Well, I think the whole country feels that way. 52 years. They have spent their lives together. And to imagine them separated, it's really hard to image.

A.C. Lyles, it was really enjoyable talking to you. I admire your work.

LYLES: Nice seeing you, thank you.

COOPER: I appreciate (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

(CROSSTALK)

LYLES: Thank you. Thank you for all of your nice words about Ronald Reagan. Thank you, and Nancy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: I think Ronald Reagan was blessed in many ways. One of them was probably by having a friend like A.C. Lyles.

Tonight here on Capitol Hill, Americans pay tribute to Ronald Reagan, filing past his casket, a high honor yet a simple goodbye. We'll take that to the NTH DEGREE, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Tonight, taking simplicity to the "Nth Degree."

One of the things America turned its back on in 1776 was all that European foofaraw. Even at his inauguration, our commander-in-chief wears no uniform, sports no braid or medals, puts on no cocked hat. Suits are the order of that important day and of most other important days as well, even at the highest levels. We have very few state occasions here, which is, I suppose, in part why what we saw today was so moving.

The slow progress down a broad avenue of a coffin on a gun carriage, the riderless horse, the boots reversed. In America, ceremony is rare and a high honor indeed. Today the honor was for Ronald Reagan of course, but -- and we feel he would surely agree, the honor was also for something else, for the country. This country of ours, without brass hats, without bugles, without gilded coaches and sash-wearing hand-me-down leaders.

We are a country of individuals, all on an equal footing, including the president. We think that simple idea and a farewell to one president was what today was all about.

I'm Anderson Cooper. Thanks for watching this special edition of 360. I'll be back tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time, our regular time. Good night.

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


Aired June 9, 2004 - 23:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening from Washington, D.C. I'm Anderson Cooper.
Thousands are filing past the casket of Ronald Reagan after a day of solemn remembrance. A special edition of 360 starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): The eyes of America focus on the nation's capital, a somber ceremony remembering a president.

Nancy Reagan mourns for her husband, a storied love affair nears its end.

He went from Hollywood to the White House to play the role of a lifetime but how did the Gipper get his start in Tinsel Town?

And now that the nation mourns with the Reagans, how does a family deal with the loss of a patriarch?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: A special edition of ANDERSON COOPER 360.

COOPER: Good evening again from Capitol Hill.

Behind me right now thousands are waiting in Washington's darkness, waiting to say their silent so long to Ronald Reagan. At this moment, the 40th president lies in state in the rotunda.

As you see filing past young and old, Republicans and Democrats, citizens and visitors, all tonight Americans. The flag draped over the casket, the same flag that flew over the capitol on that blistering cold day in 1981 when Ronald Reagan was inaugurated.

(AUDIO GAP).

From one coast to the other, people remembered, they waited and they watched as they do right now, as you see from that live picture outside the Capitol. They watched in honor of one man.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): A 21-gun salute by a Marine guard honored Ronald Reagan as his body embarked early this morning on his final journey across the country to Washington, D.C. His beloved wife Nancy, her close family and a few friends accompanied the flag-draped coffin onboard a presidential jet.

Four and a half hours later, the nation's capital welcomed one last time its 40th president with "Hail to the Chief." Then to the strains of "America," eight pallbearers representing all branches of the U.S. military carried Reagan to the waiting hearse.

Ronald Reagan's body traveled solemnly through the capital streets, thousands watching, many waving U.S. flags as the motorcade passed. Following a tightly scripted schedule, the motorcade stopped at 16th and Constitution Avenue where the casket was transferred onto a century old artillery caisson.

Drawn by three pairs of horses, the caisson traveled the one and a half miles to the United States Capitol. Behind it, a riderless black horse, an empty saddle, a pair of boots reversed in the stirrups, the rider never to ride again. The boots were an old pair belonging to the late president. His wife specifically requested them.

The 700-pound casket was then carried by three sets of nine military pallbearers into the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol where Ronald Reagan became the tenth president ever to lay in state there on the same platform used for Abraham Lincoln's state funeral in 1865.

Some 800 foreign dignitaries, Senators and Congressmen surrounded Mrs. Reagan for a final farewell.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Hard to describe the feelings many here felt as the president's casket moved down Constitution Avenue. To see it on TV is one thing. To be here something else entirely. To hear the horse's hooves, to talk with those standing in line, to feel the power of those jets as they streaked overhead a day for many of us beyond words.

Wolf Blitzer covered it all for us today. Wolf, is there any moment, any one particular moment or are there moments that surprised you today that really caught your attention?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Anderson, I kept being riveted by Mrs. Nancy Reagan. This is a woman, a very, very frail-looking woman, yet showing so much strength. When she was in that rotunda, look at this, when she was with the casket touching that American flag, the flag that flew over the capitol the day her husband was inaugurated president on January 20, 1981.

She kept touching it. She kept looking at it. It was so painful though, I suspect, for her because after a little while she just sort of glanced back and asked the major general to go ahead and help her go back. There's the Vice President Dick Cheney who was escorting her away from that casket but she shows -- she has shown so much strength throughout these days since last Saturday when the president passed away.

Another moment was when Michael Reagan came by a little bit later to see his dad's casket. Look at this. He similarly touched the casket. He kissed the American flag and then he saluted his father.

It reminded me a little bit of another son of another president had saluted his father. That would be John, the son of John F. Kennedy in 1963 as a little boy when he saluted his father as that casket was moving up Constitution Avenue as well. Two brief moments, but two powerful moments, Anderson, as we saw throughout this day.

COOPER: And very private moments in a day, a very public grief as well.

Let's talk just politically. I mean how does today's events, what's going to happen here over the next two days, does it have repercussions? Does it have effect coming down in the next weeks, in the next months, in the ongoing presidential race?

BLITZER: I've been speaking with a lot of political experts, all of whom suspect, at least in the short term, it will give a little bit of a boost to President Bush in his battle against the Democratic candidate John Kerry.

They don't suspect it will last all that long. They do anticipate, though, that at the Republican convention in New York at the end of August, early September, there will be a very, very major tribute to Ronald Reagan that they're hoping will galvanize, will energize the base of the Republican Party to get out there and vote in big numbers, so they're hoping it will have some sort of important political spillover effect for the incumbent president.

COOPER: Wolf Blitzer, it's been a long day for you, great coverage. Thank you very much for being with us on 360, Wolf.

BLITZER: Thank you.

COOPER: President Bush, of course, returns to Washington tomorrow to the capitol to pause and pay his respects. Tonight, Mr. Bush is in Georgia meeting with world leaders at the G-8 Summit.

CNN's John King is there. Good evening John. The president tending to business in Georgia while Vice President Cheney, as we saw, came to Washington today.

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: And, Anderson, that decision made after extensive consultations, we are told, with the Reagan family. Nancy Reagan, of course, the first lady for eight years, well aware of the important business that can be conducted at these summits.

The White House says it was assured by Mrs. Reagan that she understood if the president felt he needed to stay here to conduct business. He will, of course, as you noted return to the capital tomorrow. Vice President Cheney filling in tonight.

The most important item of business for the president here at the G-8 Summit was his first one-on-one meeting with the new interim Iraqi president. The new interim Iraqi president coming at a time, of course, many in this country are questioning the war. Many around the world are questioning whether this new Iraqi government can succeed.

The president here, you see him to the president's left, Mr. Bush said he couldn't believe it sitting with the president of a free Iraq and the new interim Iraqi president promised those Americans who shed blood and died in Iraq will not have died in vain.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GHAZI AL-YAWAR, INTERIM IRAQI PRESIDENT: We are determined to have a free, democratic, federal Iraq. A country that is a source of stability to the Middle East, which is very important for the rest of the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Now the leaders also gathering tonight for an

(AUDIO GAP)

KING: ...quite a bit of summit business conducted today but, Anderson, aides do tell us the president has been working on the eulogy he will deliver Friday at the National Cathedral when he gets back to Washington, of course President Reagan's funeral.

Aides say it will run about ten to 12 minutes. And before that eulogy in private, again, the president and the first lady will go immediately to the capitol rotunda when they get back to Washington tomorrow night, pay their respects to President Reagan, then have some private time as well with Nancy Reagan who is staying across the street from the White House at Blair House -- Anderson.

COOPER: All right, John King from Georgia tonight, thanks very much John.

There is other news, of course, happening around the world to tell you about tonight. Good news out of Iraq, also tempered with some bad news today. Let's get you up to date in tonight's "Up Link."

In Iraq, pipeline hit, insurgents are suspected of attacking the main Kirkuk-Turkey oil pipeline starting this fire that burned throughout the afternoon, this of course the fourth attack on oil pipelines in northern Iraq in the past 72 hours, all with improvised explosive devices.

In Italy now, hostages come home: the good news out of Iraq, three Italians who were taken hostage in Iraq arrived in Rome today. A coalition military operation rescued them yesterday. U.S. military officials not saying exactly what group the abductors were affiliated with.

In Cologne, Germany, a bomb attack, a bomb packed with nails explodes in a street in a shopping area injuring 22 people there. So far there are no suspects or motive in the attack.

And that's a quick look at what's happening around the world in tonight's "Up Link." Just ahead on this special edition of 360, Nancy Reagan, Hollywood actress turned politician's wife, how she has shaped history often behind the scenes.

Plus, Americans saying goodbye to Reagan, bearing witness to this moment in history.

We return in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: As we watched the horse-drawn caisson making its way down Constitution Avenue today, we saw a president pass us by but, of course, for Nancy Reagan and her children this day of public mourning is also a day of deeply private grief.

For those who know her, it is hard to imagine Nancy Reagan without her husband. For 52 years they have been together, man and wife, father and mother, president and first lady. Nancy Reagan had lived a life filled with loss and love before she ever met Ronald Reagan but it was that meeting she says when her life truly began.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): She was born Anne Frances Robbins in New York City 1921. Her parents' marriage soon ended and Nancy was left in the care of an aunt in Maryland while her mother supported herself on the stage.

In 1931, her mother remarried a successful Chicago neurosurgeon, Loyal Davis. He adopted Nancy and provided her with a life of comfort. Nancy Davis chose to follow in her mother's footsteps, first the stage, eventually the silver screen, appearing in films like "Shadows on the Wall," "East Side West Side," and one special role opposite Ronald Reagan in "Hellcats of the Navy."

They married in 1952. She says that's when her life really began. After "Hellcats" in 1956, she gave up acting, choosing to stay home with her husband and children. Ten years later, she was first lady of California and caused a stir by moving her family into and rapidly out of the governor's mansion in Sacramento. It was a fire trap, she said. She was concerned for her husband's safety. Some Californians dubbed it snobbery.

In Washington, in the White House, her supporters say Mrs. Reagan brought back style and elegance. Critics called it extravagance. She spent lavishly, redecorating the White House and wore donated designer dresses. Through it all, Nancy and Ronald Reagan stood by each other's side.

Her devotion to her husband was obvious and her influence in the Oval Office was hard to miss. She reportedly had a hand in picking members of her husband's staff, moving hard line conservatives out and moderates in.

Former Reagan Chief of Staff Donald Regan wrote that Nancy Reagan regularly consulted an astrologer before setting the president's schedule.

But over the last ten years, even her harshest critics have come to admire Nancy Reagan: her devotion, her dedication, her love of Ronnie, as she called him, in sickness not just in health has touched America's heart.

Today, as she accompanied her husband on his final journey to the nation's capital, Americans in ways public and private said thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Journalist Kati Marton interviewed Nancy Reagan for her book "Hidden Power: Presidential Marriages that Shaped our History." She joins us tonight from New York. Kati, thanks for being with us tonight.

KATI MARTON, JOURNALIST, AUTHOR: A pleasure.

COOPER: What do you think people don't know about Nancy Reagan? What would they be most surprised by?

MARTON: Well, possibly that she was the most powerful first lady of the 20th Century and I include Hillary Clinton and Eleanor Roosevelt in that. She comes out on top. There was no first lady who was more important to her husband's administration and who had more to do with electing her husband to the presidency than Nancy Reagan.

She was absolutely integrated into that White House. She did not need an office in the West Wing to be absolutely on top of the most minute details of that house. Her weapon of choice was the telephone and she used it masterfully.

COOPER: So, her role really wasn't public in this way, but privately she had an important political role. How did she use that role? How did it play out?

MARTON: I would say, Anderson, that she was the Reagan administration's unofficial chief of personnel, that is to say that she knew the sort of people who President Reagan needed to surround himself with to be maximum effective.

And she also knew what she wanted his legacy to be, which was not as a hardcore right wing evil empire advocate, but as a peacemaker and so she became an unexpected ally to people like Secretary of State George Shultz and Jim Baker and Mike Deaver and Howard Baker, all slightly to the left in the Republican Party and sort of cleaned out the people that she called the wrap yourself in the flag and jump off the cliff Republicans.

And she wanted her Ronnie to be the one who would be remembered for making peace and for ending the Cold War and she was fiercely competitive. And part of that competitiveness played out with the Gorbachevs because she saw that Gorbachev was getting a great deal of adulation for his attempt to bridge the Cold War gap and she wanted...

COOPER: There was a race with Gorbachev too, there was a problem there.

MARTON: Well, there was indeed. I mean, you know, she may look frail, Nancy, but she is extraordinarily tough, very shrewd politically and resilient and she did not want Raisa to steal a march on her, so she choreographed the Reagan's famous trip to Moscow with Ken Duberstein, of course, the famous walk down the Arbat which enabled Reagan to have this wonderful spontaneous interface with Russian people who came up to him.

Reagan was wonderful in crowds. He really knew how to project in a crowd. He was not so good one-on-one. He was a man who was singularly detached. He was emotionally detached and even, in fact, Nancy told me this and she writes about it in her memoir, "My Turn," that even with Nancy there was a point beyond which Reagan would not connect emotionally, that a veil would drop.

And he was essentially a loner but Nancy, if there was a strong emotional connection in Ronald Reagan's life, it was with Nancy. The two of them forged an extraordinary alliance and I think that...

COOPER: A partnership as you say, I mean in many different ways.

MARTON: Yes. Yes. She was indispensable to him. When she was briefly sidelined by his Chief of Staff Don Regan, who just didn't get what this marriage was about, didn't get how much Reagan depended on his wife, you know, that much derided gaze that she would fix on him that gaze was very important to Reagan to getting the best performance out of him.

And when Reagan -- when Don Regan sidelined Mrs. Reagan that's when Iran-Contra happened. That's when Oliver North slipped under the radar and that's when the difficulties began and then Don...

COOPER: And ultimately he paid the price. He left the White House. Thank you Kati Marton.

MARTON: Absolutely. Yes, Mrs. Reagan prevailed.

COOPER: Yes, she certainly did at that and she has earned the respect of a lot of people...

MARTON: Yes, indeed.

COOPER: ...the way she handled the last ten years.

MARTON: Yes.

COOPER: Kati Marton, thank you so much for being with us tonight, appreciate it.

MARTON: Pleasure.

COOPER: The nation, of course, sharing in Mrs. Reagan's grief tonight.

360 next, a love affair that has lasted, as Kati said, for more than 50 years. It has come to an end. The healing process that all ahead.

As we leave, a live picture of the capitol rotunda now where the body of the former president lies in state. We return in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Margaret Thatcher paying her respects to the president.

Big national events, such as today's, are the kind of things that people often remember years later. Where were you when such and such happened? Most of those memories will consist of images we saw on television, big, wide views of the capitol dome and flags and marching troops. But we found one small group who made their memories of the day up close and very personal.

Here's CNN's Jason Bellini.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Angel Rivera (ph) began his above average road trip in Indiana.

ANGEL RIVERA: President Reagan is waiting.

BELLINI: He and his friends recorded a video diary of their trip to Washington. Angel was six years old when President Ronald Reagan left office.

RIVERA: He molded (UNINTELLIGIBLE) as we know it today.

BELLINI: He fell in love with Reagan reading about him.

RIVERA: In my opinion, we probably will not see a president like President Reagan in our lifetime and I don't think I could forgive myself if I didn't come to his funeral. And here we are somewhere in southern Pennsylvania.

BELLINI: Angel grew up in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He studies political science at Indiana University and heads the campus college Republicans. Angel picks up two friends who decide to fly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm a poor college student. The flight attendants were very, very friendly.

RIVERA: Did you get her number?

BELLINI: The group can quote Reagan the way college students more commonly quote music lyrics.

RIVERA: Thou shalt never speak ill of another Republican.

BELLINI: Thursday they go to the Washington Mall, planning to see the new World War II Memorial. They happen upon the caisson that later in the day will carry Reagan's coffin.

RIVERA: Hi, I'm Angel.

How do you feel?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A little nervous.

BELLINI: One of the special moments captured on their video diary is a conversation with a horse rider from the Old Guard. They wait three hours in a position where they can see Nancy Reagan arrive, the loading of the coffin, and the caisson's departure.

When the coffin is gone, Angel does the sign of the cross. Worth the trip?

RIVERA: Yes. (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

BELLINI (on camera): Angel and his group have gotten in line to see President Reagan's casket, even though they may be in this line all night. They're prepared because they say they want to say their goodbyes up close.

(voice-over): Not your average road trip.

RIVERA: I'm making this trip to say thank you.

BELLINI: Jason Bellini, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, the state funeral didn't start off as expected. The massive security was put to the test just before Ronald Reagan's body arrived in Washington. The U.S. Capitol grounds were evacuated because a small plane was in the restricted air space. I was actually there on the capitol when the chaos began. Here's a quick look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: We are being told to evacuate actually this location. This is where the line was for the last 12 hours or so. People here have been lining up but, as you can see, they have now evacuated the entire line. They're actually asking us to move on. We're the last people -- that's all right. No one exactly has been told -- can you tell us at all what's going on?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Keep your distance, not right now please.

COOPER: OK. They're saying they can't tell us what's going on but this line...

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, Capitol Police fearing the worst, ordered everyone around the capitol to run, get out of the area. In the skies over Washington, U.S. Air Force fighters were scrambled to intercept the plane. Within minutes, the all clear. It turns out the small plane in question was carrying the governor of Kentucky and was not a security threat. Well, politics and the great communicator, much better than me as you can tell. Up next, how President Bush and John Kerry are using Reagan's optimism to win over voters in their White House race.

And a little later, the public eye, the private grief of Nancy Reagan and a sorrow many Americans share tonight, as this special edition of 360 continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Welcome back to this special edition of 360.

A lifelong friend of Ronald Reagan shares some of his great stories with us from the days when Hollywood was hopping, Cagney was king and Ronald Reagan was a Democrat.

Also ahead tonight, the raw politics of Reagan. How does he figure into this year's race for the White House? We'll look at that.

First, let's take a look at what's going on in the "Reset."

Well, throughout the night here in Washington and all day tomorrow, tens of thousands of people are expected to pay their respects to Ronald Reagan. Some will say silent goodbyes, some will salute. Some may cross themselves. Others will simply pause and then move on. They'll all wait in line for hours to do it.

Outside the Rotunda for us tonight, CNN congressional correspondent Joe Johns.

Joe, how does it look out there?

JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, hundreds of people still in line. It's 11:30 here in the East, Anderson.

200,000 -- up to 200,000 expected or at least planned for. As many as 5,000 people an hour expected to file past the casket of President Reagan in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda.

Now the security here of course is very tight. Magnetometers, everyone has to pass through those as well. No cameras allowed. No backpacks. Still, it's a fairly orderly procession. No problems seen. No problems anticipated.

Now as you know, this is going to go on until Friday morning, early Friday morning Eastern time. In between, we do expect a number of dignitaries, including President Bush himself, along with Laura Bush, coming back from Georgia where they hosted the G-8, coming here to the Rotunda to pay their respects as well as the father of President George Bush also expected to be here sometime tomorrow and Mikhail Gorbachev, the former premiere, of course, of the Soviet Union.

It will be a long couple of days here in Washington and it will end, of course, with the National Cathedral funeral ceremony -- Anderson. COOPER: And an emotional day that will be. Joe Johns, thanks very much for that tonight.

CNN analyst Dinesh D'Souza is a former Reagan adviser and a Reagan biographer. He wrote "Ronald Reagan: How an Ordinary Man Became an Extraordinary Leader." And like the young people you just saw in Jason Bellini's piece, someone influenced by President Reagan when he himself was a young man.

Welcome back, Dinesh, good to see you tonight.

President Kennedy I think was credited, of course, for inspiring a generation of young people in the 1960's. Reagan really did the same for another generation, yet they had very different methods.

DINESH D'SOUZA, AUTHOR: Yes. I think Kennedy was inspiring young people to go into public service or to go into government. Kennedy said if you're young, you're idealistic, join the Peace Corps. And so the public servant was the embodiment of American idealism for him.

Reagan, on the other hand, celebrated not so much the public servant, whom he considered to be the bureaucrat, but rather the entrepreneur. To Reagan, if you were young and idealistic, you don't join the Peace Corps, you join the Marines, or you start a new company.

So Reagan channeled the idealism of a new generation of young people in a different direction, and in a way one can say that Reaganism, the era of the entrepreneur, has triumphed over the ideal of Kennedy.

COOPER: Of course, his critics would say, you know, there was a lot of greed in the 1980's and they sort of attribute that with the Reagan White House. Of course, those are the people who criticized Ronald Reagan at the time, didn't like the president.

What interested me today, talking to the people on the line, was that there were so many young people on the line, and a lot of them, they were kids, literally, you know, 4 years old when Ronald Reagan was in the White House, and yet many of them say they are still sort of being inspired today by him, by his legacy, what they're learning about him in schools. Does that surprise you?

D'SOUZA: It doesn't, for this reason, that there have been leaders through history in the West and in America, who have had kind of an aristocratic background. You think of Churchill, you think of FDR, you think of Kennedy. These were men of a kind of aristocratic pedigree.

Reagan was an ordinary guy. In fact, to all glances and purposes, it didn't seem like he was even qualified to be president. He only entered politics at the age of 55. He spent most of his career as a movie actor. Before that, he went to a college that no one ever heard of. He got C's. So my point is, he didn't seem to meet the criteria of what it takes to be a great president or a great leader. And yet, as I think we look back on the '80s, we see that enormously important things happened. Not only did the Soviet Union begin to collapse, not only did the economy go into a tremendous juggernaut of economic growth, the technological revolution happened in the '80s.

In 1980, very few Americans had a computer. By the end of the '80s, computers were everywhere. So the big question which historians will debate is, did Reagan have an important hand in these great changes that occurred in the '80s. I would argue that he did have an important role and I think that Reaganism ultimately will be seen as a turning point in American history.

COOPER: We shall see how history describes this years from now. Dinesh D'Souza, thanks very much.

Ronald Reagan's legacy looms large over the 2004 election, of course. It appears both the Bush and Kerry camps want it that way. They're each trying to tap into the Great Communicator's style and his hopeful outlook for the nation, that sense of optimism we've heard so much about over the last week.

National correspondent Kelly Wallace on the raw politics of the Reagan factor.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ronald Reagan's optimism about the country and its future, one of the central themes of his two successful bids for the White House.

RONALD REAGAN, FMR. U.S. PRESIDENT: Four years ago we raised a banner of bold colors, no pale pastels. We proclaimed a dream of an America that would be a shining city on a hill.

WALLACE: Listen to President Bush...

GEORGE W. BUSH, U.S. PRESIDENT: I'm optimistic about America, because I believe in the people of America.

WALLACE: ...and presumptive Democratic nominee John Kerry...

JOHN KERRY, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're a country of optimists. We're the can-do people.

WALLACE: ...and you will hear two men in their own way trying to recapture Reagan's sunny outlook summed up in one of his most famous ads.

ANNOUNCER: It's morning again in America.

WALLACE: The task a major challenge with fears of terrorism in a post-September 11 world, and here is where you see in campaign '04 another Reagan theme.

REAGAN: The American uniform is once again worn with pride.

WALLACE: Keeping the peace by strengthening the U.S. military. President Bush in his war on terror...

BUSH: September 11, 2001 taught a lesson I will never forget.

WALLACE: ...and Kerry, the Vietnam veteran, trying to counter Mr. Bush on national security.

KERRY: Our soldiers are stretched too thin.

WALLACE: While the two men have borrowed themes from the 40th president, they have not often mentioned his name on the stump. When they do, you hear talk of the Reagan tax cuts...

BUSH: With the largest tax relief since Ronald Reagan was the president.

WALLACE: ...and Kerry's role in the Senate investigation of the Iran-Contra affair.

KERRY: Then I stood up as a senator to Ronald Reagan and his illegal war in Central America and to Oliver North and his private aide network.

WALLACE: But following President Reagan's death, Kerry joined President Bush in saluting Mr. Reagan's leadership and his optimism. The question now is how much both men might try to invoke the Reagan legacy in the months ahead.

Kelly Wallace, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Joining me from Mountain View, California to talk about the Reagan effect on the presidential election coming up, CNN political analyst Carlos Watson.

Carlos, good to see you tonight.

CARLOS WATSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good to see you.

COOPER: I guess conventional wisdom says that this Reagan effect, if that's what you want to call it, helps President Bush in the short term, maybe doesn't help Candidate Kerry in the short term. I'm not a big fan of conventional wisdom. I think it's pretty conventional, never much wisdom there. What do you think?

WATSON: This is one time, Anderson, when I think actually conventional wisdom may have it right. I think that as it relates to the issue of taxes and as it relates to the issue of foreign policy, a go it alone foreign policy, I think for independents and I think for Reagan Democrats, they may pause and give the president a second look.

Now significantly, I think part of the reason they will give the president a second look as he wraps himself in the Reagan legacy, is because the economy is starting to improve and because you're not hearing as much about Iraq. I think if either of those two were in a very different place, even this Reagan rally wouldn't help out.

But, yes, I think in the short term, over the next several weeks, the lead that John Kerry has built up over the last six weeks will start to dissipate and we'll hear some different numbers as we go towards July 4.

COOPER: Do you think President Bush is going to wrap himself in this Reagan legacy? Is he going to talk a lot about Reagan? I imagine you're going to hear a lot about Reagan at the convention. But I guess that could backfire. I mean, this sort of what some might call the Paul Wellstone effect, you know, sort of politicizing it too much.

WATSON: I think you're right. I think if he overreaches, that will be a problem.

But look for Ronald Reagan to be symbolized in three significant ways. One, interestingly enough, look at George W. Bush's Web site. Don't forget that every month he's sending out more than 6 million e- mails to his supporters. Don't be surprised if some of those e-mails encourage people to come to the Web site, and if you look at the Web site today, you'll see it's almost a tribute to Ronald Reagan.

Number two, start to look at some of the new ads. Not just the new language, but look for symbols, like former premier of Poland, Lech Walesa, the former Solidarity leader, who will remind people of Ronald Reagan.

And last but not least, in the speeches, not just by George Bush but by others, they'll bring up issues like remember what they said about Ronald Reagan's tax plan, remember about the prosperity it brought. Remember what they said about his military policy and remember what happened at the end of the Cold War. So don't be surprised to hear more.

COOPER: If they're both, then, trying to become, sort of, you know, viewed as the optimistic, how does John Kerry go about criticizing -- I mean, a lot of his policies are, you know, obviously critical of the Bush administration. How does he criticize without being viewed as pessimistic?

WATSON: You don't, because that's a game you can't win. I think if you're John Kerry, you've got to turn the page, and the way that you most likely will end up turning the page over the next several weeks here is announce your vice presidential candidate.

Don't be surprised if you hear that person named. We've heard talk it might be named in mid-July. Don't be surprised to see that come a little bit sooner. It's a way to change the conversation and move towards a new chapter.

But no, he's not going to win this fight by trying to talk down or seeming to run down Ronald Reagan. That's not one he's going to win. He's got to turn to a whole new book, a whole new chapter. COOPER: All right, Carlos Watson, thanks very much, from Mountain View, California tonight.

WATSON: Good to see you.

COOPER: For the Reagan family, of course, hard to imagine the emotions today. Grief, pain that comes with the loss of a patriarch. We'll talk about all of that, loss and coping, coming up.

Also tonight, remarkable stories of Reagan and Nancy Davis and Hollywood when the stars were bigger than life and Reagan was a Democrat. A lifelong friend of the president stops by to reminisce. You will not want to miss his stories.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: I don't know if you could hear that. Someone in the crowd today shouted out "God bless you, Nancy," a voice for many, we think, who seeing the obvious pain on her face wish they could say or do something to comfort her. All of us mourn in our own private ways.

Joining me from Los Angeles, Russell Friedman, executive director of the Grief Recovery Institute. He's also the author of "The Grief Recovery Handbook" and "When Children Grieve."

Russell, thanks for being with us tonight.

You said something to me during the break that was really interesting. You said that while the country is mourning for the president, this death, his death, makes us all think about death that we have experienced in our own lives. I lost a brother and I've lost a dad, and I could not help but think about them today. I kind of thought I was the only one doing that, but you say just about everyone does that.

RUSSELL FRIEDMAN, GRIEF RECOVERY INST.: It's probably close to universal.

Whenever we have an awareness of a death, sometimes a plane crash or natural disasters, anything where there is loss of life, we all have a feeling for the people who may have been effected, and then our brain goes on a search and says, "What do I know about those kinds of sad feelings," and it will automatically go backwards over every sad feeling you've ever had and identify the deaths, romantic breakups, pet losses, everything that evokes those kind of feelings.

So it puts into a reverie for your own...

(CROSSTALK)

COOPER: And there are people sitting at home tonight, then, who saw this on television, or even people who were here, who are then grieving in their own ways, maybe not even so much for Reagan but for people in their own lives or loved ones in their own lives. What do you tell them tonight? FRIEDMAN: I tell them absolutely what you've just said. Grieving in their own way is also true. If I could suggest that grief is the conflicting feelings caused by a change or an end in a familiar pattern of behavior, I would also suggest that everyone grieves in their own way and pace, and there is no universal way for anyone to grieve.

And more importantly, every relationship that has ever existed on this planet is unique. There are no exceptions. So each of us goes back in our memory box and finds our memories for those people that have been important to us.

But with Reagan, we're looking for those who loved Reagan. There's an enormous well of emotion about what he did for them. For those who didn't love him so much, there's a well of emotion about them. And then there's a mixture of feelings, and all of it connects fo our beliefs about grief.

Most of us are taught we shouldn't feel sad and today I'm saying we need to feel sad. It's a normal feeling. Even if you didn't love President Reagan, there's a sadness in the passing of someone with great grace and dignity, someone who was our leader.

COOPER: And he certainly had that.

And, you know, Russell, I believe what you're saying tonight, because you haven't used the word closure, and that's a word so many people on TV use, and I think it's the stupidest word I've ever heard of when dealing with grief.

FRIEDMAN: Couldn't agree with you more. In fact, in our book "The Grief Recovery Handbook" we spend a little essay debunking the word closure, because closure implies the end of a relationship.

When my mom died 11 years ago, the relationship didn't close. The physical portion ended, but my emotional and spiritual relationship with her will go on with her forever, as does everyone's relationship with President Reagan goes on. Whether they loved him or not, the relationship goes on in a different format.

COOPER: That's a really nice way to think about it and a nice way to end with us tonight. Russell Friedman, thank you so much. It was really interesting.

FRIEDMAN: My pleasure.

COOPER: Good to talk with you.

Coming up on this special edition of 360, before he was the commander-in-chief, he was the Gipper. Just ahead, the movies with the Great Communicator. A look at some of the movies and roles he made over his long Hollywood career and a man who knew him way back when. You won't want to miss his stories.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Over the course of his Hollywood career, Ronald Reagan managed to make more than 50 movies. Not bad for a man who called show biz, quote, "a tough racket."

Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): His film career began in 1937. Reagan, a radio sportscaster, played a radio announcer in the film "Love Is On The Air."

What his early movies lacked in quality they made up for in quantity. Reagan appeared in 12 films his first year. He met actress Jane Wyman on the set of "Brother Rat." They married a few years later.

When Reagan appeared in "Knute Rockne, All American" as football legend George Gipp, the role would help define his public image.

REAGAN: Someday when the team's up against it, breaks are beating the boys, ask them to go in there with all they've got, and win just one for the Gipper.

COOPER: During World War II, Reagan served in the Army Motion Picture Unit, where he used his talents to produce and appear in hundreds of military training films.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a zero.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Check.

COOPER: Reagan eventually found a permanent co-star in Nancy Davis. On-screen, they were in "Hellcats of the Navy." Off-screen, they would be married for 52 years.

In between, he tried to teach a chimpanzee in "Bedtime for Bonzo."

R. REAGAN: Watch it Bonzo. Steady.

Hey! Bonzo! Take it easy!

COOPER: Did some commercials for General Electric.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's our idea of the real way to live better electrically.

COOPER: And won his first election, president of the Screen Actors Guild, and served an unprecedented five consecutive terms. Getting reelected would become a habit.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: It's great to see those old film clips.

Legendary Paramount Pictures producer A.C. Lyles was introduced to Ronald Reagan in 1936 by none other than James Cagney. Over the years, they forged a close personal relationship. Earlier, I spoke to Lyles about Reagan's legacy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: A.C., you met Ronald Reagan in 1936 out in Hollywood. Was the man you met then the same man who occupied the White House?

A.C. LYLES, FMR. FILM PRODUCER: Ronald Reagan never changed one bit from the time he hit Hollywood in 1936 until 10 years ago. Same, same person. Same person.

COOPER: Although what he did change was going from a Democrat to Republican. I understand you once asked him -- tell the story. You asked him about what political party you should be a part of.

LYLES: Yes. Well, I met Ronnie when I was making $15 a week as an office boy for Adolph Zucker (ph) at Paramount, and the time came for me to vote. I called Ronnie, of course, my best friend, and said, "Are we Republicans or Democrats?"

He said, "We're Democrats," so I became a Democrat.

Sometime later, Ronnie was making appearance and a lady said, "You sound more like a Republican than a Democrat." And he said, "I feel that way." And another lady said, "Meet me in the lobby and I'll reregister you."

The next day, Ronnie called me and said, "A lady is coming over to reregister you," and I said, "Reregister me about what?" And he said from a Democrat to a Republican."

I said, "Oh, are we Republicans now?" And he said, "yes." I said, "why are we changing?" He said, "We didn't, they did."

COOPER: I'm curious, though. You knew him at a time, really, before he met Nancy Davis, who would become Nancy Reagan. When they met, what was it that drew them so together?

LYLES: Well, I'll tell you, Nancy had a problem and she was making a problem with Mervin LeRoy, and Mervin LeRoy said you should get the Screen Actors Guild to correct this mistake for you. And he called Ronnie and said there's a wonderful lady here that you should talk to because she has a problem. As the president of the Guild, you deserve your time with him.

So they decided to meet that night, but he told her in advance that he had an early call the next day, and she said, well, my call is earlier because I have to go in hair and makeup. And they met and he looked at her and he said, "You know, I lied to you. I don't have to be at the studio tomorrow until 1:00." She said, "I lied to you. I'm off tomorrow."

And it's been that way ever since, where they had that compatibility. And I've watched Ronnie speak, and Nancy just riveted to everything that he says. Because every time he uttered a word, it was the first time she thought she had ever heard that word.

In movies, there have been great love teams: Spencer Tracey and Katharine Hepburn and Jeannette McDonald and Nelson Eddy, and Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart. There's never been a love affair in Hollywood like Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan. I think Nancy is the best thing that ever happened to Ronnie and those of us who know them, we're grieving now because you can tell that she's going through an awful period. She looks fragile and frail, and we're very concerned about her.

COOPER: Well, I think the whole country feels that way. 52 years. They have spent their lives together. And to imagine them separated, it's really hard to image.

A.C. Lyles, it was really enjoyable talking to you. I admire your work.

LYLES: Nice seeing you, thank you.

COOPER: I appreciate (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

(CROSSTALK)

LYLES: Thank you. Thank you for all of your nice words about Ronald Reagan. Thank you, and Nancy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: I think Ronald Reagan was blessed in many ways. One of them was probably by having a friend like A.C. Lyles.

Tonight here on Capitol Hill, Americans pay tribute to Ronald Reagan, filing past his casket, a high honor yet a simple goodbye. We'll take that to the NTH DEGREE, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Tonight, taking simplicity to the "Nth Degree."

One of the things America turned its back on in 1776 was all that European foofaraw. Even at his inauguration, our commander-in-chief wears no uniform, sports no braid or medals, puts on no cocked hat. Suits are the order of that important day and of most other important days as well, even at the highest levels. We have very few state occasions here, which is, I suppose, in part why what we saw today was so moving.

The slow progress down a broad avenue of a coffin on a gun carriage, the riderless horse, the boots reversed. In America, ceremony is rare and a high honor indeed. Today the honor was for Ronald Reagan of course, but -- and we feel he would surely agree, the honor was also for something else, for the country. This country of ours, without brass hats, without bugles, without gilded coaches and sash-wearing hand-me-down leaders.

We are a country of individuals, all on an equal footing, including the president. We think that simple idea and a farewell to one president was what today was all about.

I'm Anderson Cooper. Thanks for watching this special edition of 360. I'll be back tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time, our regular time. Good night.

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