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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

Johnson's Family Pleads With Terrorists; New Video Shows al Qaeda Training Camps; Who Will Try Saddam Hussein?

Aired June 16, 2004 - 19:00   ET

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

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


ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening, I'm Anderson Cooper.
Can a son's message keep terrorists from killing his father, 360 starts now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): A family's desperate plea to spare the life of hostage Paul Johnson. The terrorist deadline is approaching.

Al Qaeda live, well, and recruiting, new video shows al Qaeda training camps along the Afghan-Pakistan border.

The U.S. has him. The Iraqis want him. New details on where Saddam Hussein may end up.

A ten-year campaign to take down Bill Clinton fact or political fiction, a controversial documentary opens. I'll talk to the director and the woman who wouldn't talk Susan McDougal.

Sex therapy over the phone, a controversial way of helping those in need but can phone therapy really work?

And, our special series "Keeping the Faith," tonight the power of prayer, a look behind the health benefits of believing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Live from the CNN Broadcast Center in New York this is ANDERSON COOPER 360.

COOPER: Good evening. With their words and with their tears, the family of an American held hostage in Saudi Arabia tonight hopes to save the life of Paul Johnson. With just two days and counting on a death threat against him, his son and sister have spoken publicly for the first time.

Johnson's family decided to speak after seeing this video of him with one of his captors released just yesterday on a Web site. The family hopes their message broadcast internationally on CNN might save his life.

They spoke to CNN's Deborah Feyerick this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For Paul Johnson's family, the wait is excruciating.

PAUL JOHNSON III, FATHER KIDNAPPED: I just want him brought home safely.

FEYERICK: Johnson's son and sister hoping the captors might be watching.

DONNA MEYEUX, BROTHER KIDNAPPED: Killing him is not going to solve anything.

FEYERICK: Hoping that maybe they can appeal to what they called the kidnapper's sense of dignity.

JOHNSON: I know that the group of men that got my father, you guys are probably fathers and just please let him come home and be a grandfather.

FEYERICK: Johnson, an engineer with Lockheed Martin, was abducted Saturday. He was working in Saudi Arabia for more than a decade and had plans to meet his 3-year-old grandson for the first time this Christmas gathering together at a home he was building in Thailand.

JOHNSON: We were just all going to get together for the holidays and all be together as a family and that's the last I've heard from my father.

FEYERICK: In a videotape they released Tuesday, the kidnappers say they will kill Johnson Friday unless their demands are met and the Saudi government releases all al Qaeda prisoners.

JOHNSON: I plead with the Saudi government and the group of men that are holding my father to please let him return home safely.

FEYERICK: A plea to the government, which says it does not negotiate with terrorists, and a plea to the terrorists themselves.

MEYEUX: We just -- we just ask that they treat him with the dignity and respect that he's often talked about that they have in their culture. Just please -- please don't murder them -- murder him.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: The two Senators from New Jersey met with a top Saudi official today about Paul Johnson. The official told them that U.S. rescue workers -- I'm sorry, U.S. hostage rescuers have been called in to try to help out in the situation. A Saudi official said that he was pessimistic about Johnson's ultimate fate. Johnson's family say they choose to remain optimistic -- Anderson.

COOPER: That is just so sad. Deborah Feyerick, thank you very much.

Later on 360, we're going to play more of Deborah's exclusive interview with the Johnson family.

The 9/11 Commission is holding its last public hearings this week in Washington. After months of Q&A, it has released a 20-page report on the plot to strike and kill thousands of Americans. Bad as 9/11 was, the commission now says, it could have been a whole lot worse.

CNN's National Security Correspondent David Ensor has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In chilling new detail, the 9/11 Commission staff laid out what it called a highly competent, flexible plot to attack the United States. Commissioners were dismayed.

JAMES THOMPSON, 9/11 COMMISSION MEMBER: How in the world do we ever expect to win this war?

ENSOR: Among the revelations that mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed originally proposed hijacking ten planes in the U.S. to hit targets on the West Coast too and that he would personally land the tenth after just the men onboard had been killed in order to address the world's media.

That the plotters argued about whether Flight 93 that crashed in Pennsylvania should target the U.S. Capitol or the White House. Osama bin Laden wanted to hit the White House. The pilots thought the Capitol would be an easier target.

That one of the plotters says Zacarias Moussaoui was to have been the fourth pilot if Ziad Jarrah dropped out, as he was threatening to do, that original plans called for attacks in Asia and the U.S. simultaneously, that bin Laden wanted to attack back in 2000 but was told the hijackers weren't yet ready, that all 19 of the hijackers attended al Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan.

DOUGLAS MACEACHIN, 9/11 COMMISSION STAFF: The camps create a climate in which trainees and other personnel were free to think creatively about ways to commit mass murder.

ENSOR: The commission made public a photo of Mohamed Atta withdrawing money in Virginia April 4th and spoke of him using his cell phone in Florida April 6th through 11th, 2001, so he couldn't have been in Prague meeting an Iraqi intelligence officer on April 9th, as administration officials have in the past suggested and, in fact, the commission staff said Iraq was not involved in 9/11 -- Anderson.

COOPER: Interesting, David. Did I hear your report correct when you said that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed had basically figured out a way for despite all his talk of martyrdom and despite his encouraging other people to commit suicide in his plan he was actually going to survive?

ENSOR: Well, he would have survived to the tarmac of an American airport where he would have given a news conference. Whether he would have survived after that, I suppose, is open to question but that's right.

COOPER: Interesting.

ENSOR: That was the plan at one point.

COOPER: All right, David Ensor thanks for that.

The Pentagon says there are almost 20,000 U.S. troops right now searching for Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan and Pakistan but today troubling new evidence emerging about al Qaeda's operations there, ongoing operations.

Video first shown last night on the Arab channel Al-Jazeera shows what appears to be recent al Qaeda training exercises taking place in broad daylight on the border region of the two countries.

Here's CNN's Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): According to Gulf broadcaster Al-Jazeera, the first to receive these pictures, this is al Qaeda training inside Afghanistan or the nearby tribal region of Pakistan, tests of physical fitness, including leapfrogging, reminiscent of pre-September the 11th al Qaeda training videos.

PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: This material appears to be new material. We haven't seen it before. It also strongly suggests it was shot in the tribal areas along the Afghan-Pakistan border.

ROBERTSON: On the tape, two grainy nighttime pictures of what Al-Jazeera says is a nighttime attack on a government building in Afghanistan showing dead combatants and, glowing under the camera's infrared illumination, a man Al-Jazeera identifies as al Qaeda field commander Abu-Leith al-Libi.

If authentic, and we have no independent verification of that, the pictures raise the possibility U.S. aims to deny al Qaeda the time and space to train in and around Afghanistan are failing. Intelligence experts believe al Qaeda is still actively recruiting.

BERGEN: The significance of this material is that the al Qaeda in the Afghan-Pakistan tribal areas feel sufficiently confident, as it were, to actually film some of their operations and film some of their training.

ROBERTSON (on camera): According to recently deployed U.S. Marines, they've been involved in firefights with up to 100 anti- coalition forces at one time and, although U.S. forces are bringing limited stability to the small areas where they operate, security experts inside Afghanistan say the countryside is far from secure.

Nic Robertson, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE) COOPER: In Iraq, they said attacks would increase ahead of the June 30th handover and it seems they were right. Insurgents continue to strike at the heart of Iraq's economy, its oil industry. There is no oil flowing right now through a key pipeline in the north.

It has been bombed, as you see, and the southern pipelines are also damaged, pumping only at 50 percent. At least ten people were killed today including two U.S. soldiers and an oil ministry official.

And with the pending transfer of power and the stress over constant attacks there is another growing concern. What will the Iraqis do about Saddam Hussein?

Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour has picked up new details tonight about the status of the former Iraqi leader and about how he might be prosecuted.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Saddam Hussein is being held in U.S. custody at the Baghdad Airport, according to Iraqi officials. Will he still be there after June 30th?

(on camera): The Iraqi official in charge of setting up the special tribunal here tells CNN that he expects arrest warrants to be issued against Saddam Hussein and 62 of his cohorts in the next week or so. Formal charges will not be filed. Rather, the warrants would be based on suspicions that they have committed the kinds of crimes that fall under the tribunal's jurisdiction.

(voice-over): Some officials say Iraq could get legal custody while the U.S. keeps physical security over him. The U.S. Justice Department official helping the tribunal says building a case, even against Saddam, will be a painstaking job.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You still have to build a chain of command and a command responsibility leading up to Saddam Hussein or whomever might be responsible for giving those orders.

AMANPOUR: Saddam was captured last December but slowing down the legal process has been the issue of the death penalty. Iraq and the U.S. support it but the European coalition members do not.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They can't, I mean, be here and accept that under their auspices, under their control people are executed.

AMANPOUR: Even though many Iraqis would like that for Saddam, he's not expected to be in (UNINTELLIGIBLE) as others have tried to build the case against him.

Christiane Amanpour, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Here's a quick news note for you about Iraq. The Coalition Provisional Authority took a poll last month. The Associated Press just obtained a copy yesterday. Iraqis were asked how they thought things were going in their country.

The results are fascinating. Fifty-five percent of Iraqis say they would feel safer if U.S. troops left immediately but 62 percent believe it is very likely Iraqi forces will maintain the country's security without U.S. troops and 45 percent say U.S. forces should leave when the new Iraqi government is in place.

The meaning of sacrifice tops our look at news "Cross Country" tonight.

In Florida, boosting morale against the backdrop of extended tours, rising U.S. casualties, President Bush spoke to U.S. troops today. At MacDill Air Force Base, the president said the country needs a soldier's sacrifice and stands behind them. The speech was beamed via satellite to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In Washington, dropping names and guessing games in the V.P. hunt, after campaigning in Ohio, Senator Kerry flew in and out of the capital today to hold private meetings, that's what they called them.

After the meetings, Kerry wouldn't say if he made any progress toward finding a running mate. But the straight-talking John McCain had one answer. When asked if he'll run with Kerry, "no" he said.

In San Francisco, harsh words, Olympic sprinter Marion Jones blasts the U.S. agency investigating whether she used performance enhancing drugs comparing the U.S. anti-doping agency investigation to a "secret kangaroo court." Jones says she has never failed a drug test and that her name should be cleared. There was no immediate reaction from the agency.

And a deadly voyage in the Mona Passage between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republican, disturbing video images here, migrants fighting and jumping for their lives after their boat capsized over the weekend. Three people died. The U.S. Coast Guard rescued 91 others. Officials said they were trying to get to the U.S.

That is a look at what is going on "Cross Country" tonight.

360 next, a 35-year-old murder mystery, tonight finally solved. With luck and science and hard work, police track down a child's killer on a case that long ago was considered cold.

Plus, the power of prayer, can it heal the body? Find out why more and more doctors may be changing their minds, part of our special series.

Also, Bill Clinton and a political witch hunt, was there really a vast right-wing conspiracy? We'll talk with Susan McDougal and find out what she plans to say to Bill Clinton tonight when she sees him for the first time in 15 years, all that ahead.

But first your picks, the most popular stories on cnn.com right now. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: On the last day of her life, teenager Jane Durrua attended a football game and then went to visit her sister. She never made it. Her body was found in a field the next day and for more than 35 years her murder case remained cold, that is until tonight.

CNN's Adaora Udoji reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ADAORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Thirteen-year-old Jane Durrua was beaten, raped and killed along railroad tracks in New Jersey's Middletown Township. She had walked to her sister's house countless times until November 4, 1968.

Now, 35 years later, prosecutors have charged convicted rapist Jerry Lee Bellamy of murdering her. He has not responded to the charges yet, for Jane's family a bittersweet day.

JOAN CONWAY, SISTER OF VICTIM: Every birthday you just think another year went by and you just question, you know.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's walking around.

CONWAY: Right.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And she's not.

UDOJI (on camera): Police say preserved DNA samples taken from Jane's underwear linked Bellamy through testing not available back then.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is amazing. I mean it's like a miracle.

UDOJI (voice-over): The progress came only after her family insisted detectives reopen the case four years ago. Jane's murder was a tragic twist for the Durrua family. Their mother had just died of cancer. Their father died years before. The six children were orphans.

Bellamy is in a New Jersey maximum security facility for sex offenders after two separate convictions, one for rape and one for sexual assault. He's been in prison for the better part of nine years.

The state labeled him a sexual predator ordering him held indefinitely but the state Supreme Court recently overturned that decision. Bellamy was days away from release. Prosecutors moved fast acknowledging their case right now is based only on DNA.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And that's all we have.

UDOJI: But it's a big start for a family who's waiting three and a half decades to find the road toward justice. They pray this is it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

UDOJI: I spoke to one of the sisters today and one of their great fears is that something will go wrong and the case will fall apart. She said it never gets easier, Anderson, the loss of Jane but the family hopes that their story will inspire other family members of victims in that the message that justice just simply moves slowly sometimes.

COOPER: It's remarkable. You know you hear so many stories. We report so many stories about evidence being lost over the years. It's amazing that 35 years later they still had this evidence. They were able to hold onto it and actually help solve this case. Adaora Udoji thanks.

Well, the hunt for rebels who massacred 34 people in Eastern Colombia tops our look at global stories in tonight's "Up Link."

The dead, along with seven wounded, worked in the cocoa fields. Survivors say rebels attacked the men at night while they were sleeping. The Colombian Army is hunting for the killers.

Raigarh, India, a passenger train derails crossing a river, that's the train there, sending the engine and ten cars crashing 65 feet into the gorge below. At least 20 people died, over 100 injured. Officials say heavy rains caused boulders to actually roll onto the tracks which caused the crash.

In Avo Avo, Bolivia, act of vigilante justice, residents attacked the town's mayor dragging him from his house, killing him and then setting his body on fire. The attackers reportedly believe the mayor was corrupt.

In Moscow, an appeals court upholds a ban on the Jehovah's Witnesses. There are only 10,000 Jehovah's Witnesses in Moscow but critics see the ban as representing a growing threat against religious minorities in Russia, according to them.

And, in Italy, the nation's star soccer player spits in the face of an opponent on the Danish team and probably sank his own team's chance of the European championship by doing so. It is one of soccer's deadliest insults and Italy's Francesco Totti could be bounced from the playoffs because of it.

That is tonight's "Up Link."

360 next, an American held hostage and a desperate appeal from his family. Hear what they're saying to his captors as a life or death deadline approaches.

Plus, the power of prayer, can it be stronger than pills when it comes to healing the body? Dr. Tim Johnson joins us live, part of our special series, "Keeping the Faith," 360 continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Well, faith and healing, as that new research shows millions of Americans are believers in a prescription of prayer. Tonight, as we continue our special series, "Keeping the Faith," you're going to hear from well-known medical journalist Dr. Timothy Johnson about his own life-changing spiritual journey.

But first, our own Senior Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta introduces us to a cancer patient who is hopeful for a cure boosted by her own belief in a higher power.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It had been 50 years since 61-year-old Kate Williams had been to church or even knelt down to pray. Then she was diagnosed with cancer.

KATE WILLIAMS, CANCER PATIENT: I felt so empty. I needed something to grab onto, something to hold onto that would take me through this.

GUPTA: Now, after all these years, Kate trusts faith to ward off her cancer as ardently as she does her treatments and they could be working for her.

WILLIAMS: God is in me. God is taking care of me.

GUPTA: Studies show religious involvement appears to have health benefits, including reducing anxiety, depression and substance abuse and increasing longevity. Still, those associations are admittedly vague.

For patients like Kate, a more important question remains. Can something as intangible as faith help treat the ravages of cancer? Studies show prayer, meditation and other calming practices like yoga ward off stress which can exacerbate conditions like cancer. They also activate a measurable relaxation response in the brain.

DR. HERBERT BENSON, MIND BODY MEDICAL INSTITUTE: There's decreased blood pressure, heart rate, grade of breathing.

GUPTA: And so many doctors agree that faith is essential to healing. Still others believe that raising patients' expectations could do more harm than good.

BENSON: To say what we can do for ourselves and what medicine can do for us are separate and can work alone is a mistake. They must be balanced.

GUPTA: Kate Williams says her faith gives her solace and a strength she wouldn't possess on her own.

WILLIAMS: I still don't know if I'm cancer free. I feel that I am but I also feel that whatever happens I'm going to be fine.

GUPTA: Old-fashioned faith could be a new elixir.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, joining me from Boston, Dr. Timothy Johnson, Medical Editor of "ABC News," and founding editor of "The Harvard Medical School Health Letter." He's also an ordained minister who writes about his own spiritual quest in his new book, "Finding God in the Questions: A Spiritual Journey." Dr. Johnson thanks for being with us.

DR. TIMOTHY JOHNSON, AUTHOR, "FINDING GOD IN THE QUESTIONS: A PERSONAL JOURNEY": My pleasure.

COOPER: You just heard from that woman who believes that faith may be helping her in dealing with cancer. You're a man of science but you're also a man of faith. Could she be right?

JOHNSON: She could be right. I think it's very important to make a distinction between healing and curing. I have little doubt that religious practice in general and prayer in particular can contribute to healing for a person, healing their psyche and their spirit. Whether or not it will actually cure the physical problem I think is very much open to debate.

COOPER: The studies show and we showed a full screen of it before that interview began that Americans want their doctors to address spiritual issues, to address their spiritual needs. Do you hear that as a doctor and why is it the doctors seem at times reluctant to do that?

JOHNSON: I think there's been a sea change in attitude from the time I was in medical school 40 years ago to the present. At that time, 40 years ago, there was a reluctance to talk about these issues but today most physicians are very open to talking about faith issues if their patients are interested in it. That's a big if.

They should never foist such on their patients but if their patients are open or request such issues, they will bring in chaplains or bring in ministers or rabbis as appropriate. So, I think there's an openness, even if the doctor himself or herself is not a person of faith.

COOPER: We've often heard about patients wrestling with matters of faith, rarely about doctors. You write about this in your book and it's really fascinating because, I mean, as a doctor you see things that you shouldn't see. I mean you see children dying of cancer. You see parents dying and leaving their children. I mean in your own personal journey were there times where you questioned your own faith?

JOHNSON: Absolutely. I think this is the single biggest issue for most people when it comes to religious faith. How could a good God allow such suffering? And, I use the word allow rather than cause or will.

I don't have an easy answer to that and most people who have wrestled with this question don't have easy answers but I think faith does bring about an attitude where you sense the presence of God or a higher power, even if there are no answers to the immediate problem. It's a huge issue.

COOPER: So, your advice to patients or doctors wrestling with questions of faith?

JOHNSON: Well, my advice is to understand that science really deals with issues of how the world works, whereas faith and religion try to wrestle with questions of why the world works the way it is. They're not separate. They're complementary. I think both are important in a person's life and they both contribute.

COOPER: The book is "Finding God in the Questions: A Personal Journey." Dr. Timothy Johnson thanks very much.

JOHNSON: Thank you.

COOPER: Today's "Buzz" question is this. What do you think? Which is a more powerful healer, prayer or pills? Log onto cnn.com/360, cast your vote. We'll have results at the end of the program tonight.

Tomorrow night, as our series "Keeping the Faith" continues, spreading the word, the unprecedented phenomenon of Christian books topping the best-seller list. I'll talk with the authors of the apocalyptically popular "Left Behind" series.

Then Friday, interfaith families, they come together in good faith. Sometimes it is that faith that also tears them apart, a look at the hurdles faced by one family.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): A family's desperate plea to spare the life of hostage Paul Johnson. The terrorist deadline is approaching.

A ten-year campaign to take down Bill Clinton, fact or political fiction, a controversial documentary opens. I'll talk to the director and the woman who wouldn't talk Susan McDougal.

Sex therapy over the phone, a controversial way of helping those in need but can phone therapy really work, 360 continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Let's get you caught up on our top stories tonight in "The Reset." In Washington, as it concludes its public hearings, the 9/11 commission says Iraq played no part, saying, there is quote, "no credible evidence to support the claim of an Iraq, al Qaeda link." One of the Bush administration's arguments for the war in Iraq was that Saddam Hussein helped al Qaeda.

Columbus, Ohio: psychiatric evaluation for alleged mall bombing plotter. The federal magistrate ordered this man examined. His appearance in court today left his family saying he was a broken man. Authorities say Abdi was planning to sabotage a local shopping mall.

Washington: new regulations attacking Fidel Castro's Cuba. The U.S. government further tightened the embargo on the Communist island and its leader. They are trying to make it harder to travel there and more difficult to spend U.S. dollars. That's a quick look at the top stories tonight.

We also have a report just in. The Associated Press is reporting that Saudi security forces and police have surrounded a house in the capital city of Riyadh. The Associated Press says that gunfire has been heard at times and a special anti-terrorism unit is also on the scene.

This operation, of course, comes as Saudi Arabia has stepped up the search for the kidnappers of Paul Johnson, an American who was taken hostage on Saturday. We must point out, at this point, there is no indication that Johnson is inside this house. We are, of course, going to monitor this developing story, bring you any updates when we get new information.

Today Paul Johnson's family spoke out publicly and exclusively to CNN. One of the remarkable things about this network is its global reach. We are literally seen around the world, even in Saudi Arabia. Johnson's family hopes their words, their tears might help save Paul Johnson's life. We don't know if the terrorists holding Johnson have TV or if they have compassion for his sake and his family's. We hope they have both.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You see the kidnappers. One is behind him clearly, one is there shooting the video. What goes through your mind?

MEYEUX: For me it's disbelief. My brother always felt safe in Saudi Arabia. He never feared living there.

FEYERICK: Did he ever consider listening to the embassy warnings for Americans to leave Riyadh, to leave Saudi Arabia?

JOHNSON: He's been there for over ten years and he likes working with the Saudis, he respects their culture and there was never a problem. He respected everything they believed in.

FEYERICK: So you were going to spend Christmas there, that was the plan.

He has a wife in Riyadh, have you spoken with her?

P. JOHNSON: Yes. And she's waiting for my father to come through the front door. And it's hard for her being so far and we're here and I'm thinking about her constantly. I know what she's going through and we're trying to get through this.

FEYERICK: The kidnappers who are holding him, what do you want them to know about your dad and about his family?

P. JOHNSON: My father's a loving father. He's a grandfather. He would give his shirt off the back to them if he knew them. And he respected -- he respected the Saudis.

FEYERICK: The U.S. government, the Saudi government says that their policy is not to negotiate with terrorists. What do you say to the governments?

P. JOHNSON: I just plead with the Saudis to, please, do whatever you take. If you've got to -- I'm -- we're all human, just, please. He's done a lot for your country. I respect your country. I respect -- I respect everything that everybody's done and I just want to see my father brought home safely.

And the Saudis, you can make it happen. I'm just asking you, please make this happen. He was just doing his job. Just please just bring him home and the group of people holding him, just please -- he don't deserve this.

FEYERICK: Your son is here. He seems a little bit upset. I know that you want to show him to your father, if in fact your father is watching, or perhaps the men who are holding him are watching, but -- I don't know if he wants to.

P. JOHNSON: Yes.

Paul, come here.

FEYERICK: And, Paul, this is your wife?

P. JOHNSON: This is my wife, Jody.

FEYERICK: What do you want to say to your father?

P. JOHNSON: I want to say, I know that the group of men that got my father, you guys are probably fathers and just please let him come home and be a grandfather.

And this is Paul Marshal Johnson IV. My father gave me his name and I honored my father so much I gave my son his name. I just want his safe return and I'm optimistic with the Saudis can get him home safely.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: The Saudi government says they will not negotiate with terrorists. They say they are doing all they can. As we just mentioned, we are get something word of an operation under way right now, though we do not know that it's linked to the search for Johnson. The terrorists say if their demands are not met they will kill Johnson on Friday.

Coming up on 360, was Bill Clinton the victim of a right wing witch-hunt? Or is that just revisionist history. Susan McDougal and Harry Thomason join me coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Hillary Clinton called it a vast right wing conspiracy, of course, the attacks on her husband, the president and on herself that persisted throughout their time in the White House. Of course, there's little doubt the president was both object of intense dislike on the part of some and the center of a great deal of controversy. And despite being out of office for more than three years, the arguments still rage. Tonight a new film by an FOB, or Friend of Bill's, makes its debut.

"The Hunting of the President" claims there was a 10-year campaign to destroy Bill Clinton. Earlier I spoke with the film's director, Harry Thomason, a long-time Clinton friend and former Clinton associate Susan McDougal.

But first, here's a quick clip of the film.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do we really want a country where right wing millionaires and you know, unethical lawyer can put together an attempt to have a coup d'etat against a twice-elected president over nothing, over what turned out to be nothing, really except a sex lie and a phony financial scandal?

I don't think so. I think people don't want that anymore.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Strong words. An attempted coup d'etat. Your critics, the critics of this film will say look you're a friend of Bill Clinton and in fact, they suggest that it is history. That Bill Clinton lied and that he attempted to influence a witness, that he associated with felons in Arkansas, Ms. McDougal was convicted.

To those critics you say what?

HARRY THOMASON, DIRECTOR: I'd say that yes, I'm a friend of President Clinton's and I knew I would be charged with that when the movie came out. And so we let everybody else come into the movie and express their opinions but we try not to introduce any bias into the narrative of the film.

COOPER: But you blame anybody for Bill Clinton's problems, but Bill Clinton.

THOMASON: Oh, no, that's not so. In the film we don't. When I started out to make this film, I told my friend Bill Clinton two things. Number one, I'm going to make this found. And number two, I'm not going to ever talk to you about this film. I don't want the press to be able to say, did you influence him or anything.

COOPER: So, you haven't talked to Bill Clinton about this?

THOMASON: No. And number three, I cannot dismiss your transgressions, and he said I understand. You're doing the same thing I would do, if I were in your place. COOPER: What do you think, Susan, that brings out so much loyalty in some cases to the president in your case, and such hatred in some other quarters.

SUSAN MCDOUGAL, FORMER CLINTON ASSOCIATE: It's interesting that you ask that, because it was not about loyalty for me. I hadn't spoken to Bill Clinton since 1985 when I was indicted in 1996 with crimes having to do with Bill Clinton. I barely knew him at that point. It had to do with the fact that Ken Starr asked me to lie. He had a story made up about Bill Clinton and if I would tell that story and say that it was true then I would get a pass. I wouldn't be indicted. I wouldn't be convicted of anything and I could just have a free life.

COOPER: This film is very tough on the media, basically the way the media works, the way the media followed this story. And think we are going to get to that in a moment. But wasn't it fair that the media was pursuing this story, because there certainly, if there wasn't fire all the time, there certainly was an awful lot of smoke.

THOMASON: Well, it was absolutely fair that the media was pursuing this story, but as John (UNINTELLIGIBLE), who won six Peabodys while he was at CNN said, but we shouldn't -- we should try to pursue the truth, not the story for the sake of boosting news ratings.

COOPER: I want to play a quick clip again from the film, this is Paul Begala talking about just this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL BEGALA, CO-HOST, "CROSSFIRE": From the highest courts in America to the most elite newspapers in America, they were all wrong and they were swept up in an era of madness and they were used as tools of hatred.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Your critique is basically that the media, reputable organizations were too influenced by sort of bottom feeders, by Web gossip and by unsubstantiated rumor.

THOMASON: That's exactly right. Once we saw the explosion of media outlets and tabloids and everything else, there were a lot of people reporting that didn't have the talent to be a reporter, but if they would go with an unfounded rumor or something, pretty soon, guys like you felt that pressure from your corporate head. Well, wait a minute, now they got this story and people were watching and can't you prove this story?

COOPER: Bill Clinton was not a wallflower in all this. He was not an innocent victim as he -- some have portrayed him. I mean, you know, he perfected the art of attack. He had the war room. I mean, he played tough.

THOMASON: Oh, well, right, because I think by the time he ran everybody agreed you had to play tough to win. And, no, he was not an innocent victim and we don't treat him that way in the film, but what he was guilty of were perhaps personal things and it was just the first time the press and the right wing had ever made it possible to try to impeach a president over a personal matter, and it's that simple.

MCDOUGAL: He was absolutely an innocent victim of Whitewater. He never had anything to do with that company. He never set foot on the land even one time. He had absolutely no understanding of what was going on with it. He had nothing to do with the loan. I told the independent counsel, that at the very first meeting that Clinton never got one penny of that money and he was an innocent victim.

COOPER: You've not spoken to President Clinton, I understand, in some 15 years.

MCDOUGAL: No.

COOPER: You're actually going to see him tonight for the first time at the premiere of this movie.

What are you going to say to him?

THOMASON: That's quite possible.

MCDOUGAL: I don't think I'll have to say anything. I was thinking about it on the plane. I think he'll do all of the talking. I was thinking, what will I say and then I thought, you know, this is not going to be hard, Susan, Bill will take it over. You'll be fine.

COOPER: But, I mean, is there anything you want to say to him?

There's so much water under the bridge. There's so much history there.

MCDOUGAL: You know, I don't think there's enough time in the world. I really don't. I think that's why I wrote the book that I wrote, because I was so full of it and so angry and bitter and I really hated everyone that said, you know, she went to prison to cover for Clinton, because I hadn't even talked to the guy, you know, in so long and had nothing to do with him. And really, I think I had a lot of that come, you know, just out of me. And I've lost a lot of that need to tell him every detail of what happened because I wrote the book.

COOPER: And I've got to ask you.

THOMASON: It's a great book.

MCDOUGAL: Thanks.

COOPER: And -- well, speaking of books, Harry, have you read the president's new book?

THOMASON: I have read sections of it and he has read sections of it. And here is what you'll find about the new book, this guy can write.

COOPER: Really?

THOMASON: He's like Mark Twain.

COOPER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Mark Twain?

THOMASON: Yes, but I mean, well, OK. So maybe not (UNINTELLIGIBLE). But...

COOPER: You are a friend of Bill Clinton's (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

THOMASON: Well, no, I'm not because he's read the material to me and the best stuff in the book is before he ever becomes president. It's just about the people he met along the way.

COOPER: Harry Thomason, thanks very much for being with us.

Susan McDougal as well. Thank you. Good luck tonight.

MCDOUGAL: Thank you. Thanks.

COOPER: Coming up on 360 next, sex therapy at a distance. People uncomfortable discussing sexual problems face to face are now getting advice on the phones from therapists they've never even met.

Does it actually work?

Find out.

Also tonight, terror's down, no wait, terror's up.

Colin Powell, admits the administration made a big mistake. We'll take that to "The Nth Degree." 360 continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Well, in an age where you can drive in for just about anything and you can do absolutely anything online, we suppose it had to come to this: sex therapy over the phone or online.

A recent "Washington Post" article says more and more people, too embarrassed to see counseling in person for their sexual problems or addictions, are talking with therapists they've never actually even met, distance sex therapy, they call it.

Being New Yorkers, always interested in any form of therapy, we couldn't help but wonder does distance therapy actually work. Joining me live, not on the phone, Dr. Drew Pinsky, an addiction expert and a co-host of the radio "Love Line." He is in Los Angeles.

Dr. Pinsky, thanks for being on the program with us. So, what do you think? Does this thing work?

DR. DREW PINSKY: I really doubt it. It's been well studied. But the fact is, one of the things, and I really don't think I'm giving you a minority opinion here, one of the things that all forms of therapy share in common is the therapist's body, the therapist neurobiological systems is being offered as a regulatory body, a regulatory system, an alternative to the patient's system, a way of building regulatory systems within themselves based on the therapist. And without the therapist being present it's very difficult for these subtle kinds of corporeal communications to occur.

In fact, online you can get information and that's fine and people can get encouragement and can be encouraged to develop motivation to do the things they ultimately need to get over some of these serious problems, but to think that it's an ultimate therapy or that treatment can be rendered definitively online, or over the phone I think is a big mistake.

COOPER: But the proponents say, look, if there are clients out there, or patients out there who are too embarrassed to actually come in and meet face-to-face with someone, isn't it better that they seek help some way, whether it be online or on the phone, than not getting help at all?

PINSKY: In terms of initiating the process, I completely agree with that. But the thought that you can get all of the way through in some sort of conclusive endpoint with this, I think is anathema, I don't think it's absolutely possible.

And the reality is, that the shame associated with some of these behaviors is one of the biggest issues and being accepted in spite of that shame by an intimate relationship, a therapist, or by a group, as in 12 step, is the core issue in getting over these things.

COOPER: There is an organization which accredits sex therapists. They actually, I guess, don't even support this online or this phone sex therapy, but you're not actually -- you don't even believe there is such a thing as sex therapy or a sex therapist.

PINSKY: Well, it's confusing to me, people say sex therapist. I never know if they're talking about an educator, if they're talking about a therapist who has specialization in sex issues. The fact is, most people who are actively involved in research on sex issues are proponents of an organization called the National Council of Sexual Addiction and Compulsivity. And they are looking at sexual behaviors as compulsive or addictive. And the treatment of those kinds of behaviors, of which obviously there's a great array, but the primary treatment modality, is really a 12-step model and some face-to-face individual therapy.

COOPER: It's interesting, because online, there are thousands of people listed as sex therapists, yet there's really only one organization, actually Florida, I guess, is the only state that actually accredits sex therapists, or licenses them and there's one organization. They say they've accredited between 650 and 700 sex therapists, but there are thousands of them out there online. How do you tell who's real and who's not?

PINSKY: Well that's part of the problem here. And there's further legal issues, for instance, HIPAA laws won't allow us to transmit medical information across a fax machine, across a phone line. Are we violating HIPAA laws?

And what about licensing issues? If I'm in California talking to somebody in New York, am I licensed to treat that person in New York? I don't think so. So there's a very, very serious issue, and it really is caveat emptor. Bottom line, I think people need to find a good therapist, well-trained, well-referred who understands the issues and work face to face.

COOPER: Face-to-face. All right, Dr. Drew Pinsky, good to see you face-to-face. Thanks very much.

COOPER: Time to check on some lighter stuff, some pop news in tonight's "Current," let's take a look.

Tom Cruise went undercover for his role in the new movie "Collateral." Seems Cruise took a job as a FedEx delivery man. But we suspect some grew suspicious when the FedEx guy showed up in a Humvee surrounded by bodyguards, a press agent and a manager.

We knew it would happen, a reality show about porn. It called "Porn Idol" and features contestants competing for a spot in an X- rated film. Honest. We think the winner should get to star alongside Ron Jeremy and the loser should get to star alongside Ron Jeremy.

Marc Anthony gave his new wife Jennifer Lopez quite a gift. The singer reportedly bought her a pair of $20,000 flip-flops that are 18 karat and gold feathered. He could have gotten her diamond encrusted sandals, but hey, that would have been tacky.

And Halle Berry say she uses this bikini that she wore in "Die Another Day" to see if she's in shape. The actress reportedly says the bikini is a good barometer to tell if she needs to lose weight. Good for her.

And that's a look at tonight's "Current." All right guys, let's move on to the next story. Take the picture off. Hello? Anyone in the control room? Anyone? Anyone? What's going on in there?

Guys, come on, all right, come on, move along.

All right. Let's take a look at tonight's "Buzz" question. Earlier we asked you, "which is the more powerful healer, prayer or pills?" 38 percent of you said prayer, 62 percent of you said pills. Not a scientific poll, certainly, but it's your "Buzz." Be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Here's a quick update on a story we reported earlier, police and security forces in Saudi Arabia have withdrawn from the Riyadh neighborhood after surrounding and searching a home and a mosque, according to witnesses. Saudi security officials will not comment on the operation. Officials there continue their search, they say, for captured American Paul Johnson.

Tonight taking gradations to the "Nth Degree." We got a scale for how scared we're supposed to be, the terrorism color chart. So, we're thinking, maybe we ought to also have some kind of scale for slip-ups.

The idea came to us after we heard Secretary of State Colin Powell say that the administration had made, and I quote, a big mistake when it reported that incidents of terrorism were down last year. It seems they weren't down exactly, they were more, like, um, well, up. Something to do with the numbers being wrong. Up, down, you know how hard it can be to keep those two straight.

Anyway, now we know what constitutes a big mistake. So, let's make a mistake scale working backwards. "Silly Little" is first, you know, just an oversight, something we can all laugh and laugh about after it comes to light.

Next is "Just A," then "Kinda Big," and then "Big" which is where we are at the moment, then, gee, what "hunking huge", "inexplicable," "mortifying," "whoa momma?"

We can give the steps on the scale colors if we want, or even better, patterns, as in the mistake condition has been upgraded from tattersall to plaid.

I'm Anderson Cooper. Thanks for watching 360. 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 June 16, 2004 - 19:00   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, I'm Anderson Cooper.
Can a son's message keep terrorists from killing his father, 360 starts now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): A family's desperate plea to spare the life of hostage Paul Johnson. The terrorist deadline is approaching.

Al Qaeda live, well, and recruiting, new video shows al Qaeda training camps along the Afghan-Pakistan border.

The U.S. has him. The Iraqis want him. New details on where Saddam Hussein may end up.

A ten-year campaign to take down Bill Clinton fact or political fiction, a controversial documentary opens. I'll talk to the director and the woman who wouldn't talk Susan McDougal.

Sex therapy over the phone, a controversial way of helping those in need but can phone therapy really work?

And, our special series "Keeping the Faith," tonight the power of prayer, a look behind the health benefits of believing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Live from the CNN Broadcast Center in New York this is ANDERSON COOPER 360.

COOPER: Good evening. With their words and with their tears, the family of an American held hostage in Saudi Arabia tonight hopes to save the life of Paul Johnson. With just two days and counting on a death threat against him, his son and sister have spoken publicly for the first time.

Johnson's family decided to speak after seeing this video of him with one of his captors released just yesterday on a Web site. The family hopes their message broadcast internationally on CNN might save his life.

They spoke to CNN's Deborah Feyerick this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For Paul Johnson's family, the wait is excruciating.

PAUL JOHNSON III, FATHER KIDNAPPED: I just want him brought home safely.

FEYERICK: Johnson's son and sister hoping the captors might be watching.

DONNA MEYEUX, BROTHER KIDNAPPED: Killing him is not going to solve anything.

FEYERICK: Hoping that maybe they can appeal to what they called the kidnapper's sense of dignity.

JOHNSON: I know that the group of men that got my father, you guys are probably fathers and just please let him come home and be a grandfather.

FEYERICK: Johnson, an engineer with Lockheed Martin, was abducted Saturday. He was working in Saudi Arabia for more than a decade and had plans to meet his 3-year-old grandson for the first time this Christmas gathering together at a home he was building in Thailand.

JOHNSON: We were just all going to get together for the holidays and all be together as a family and that's the last I've heard from my father.

FEYERICK: In a videotape they released Tuesday, the kidnappers say they will kill Johnson Friday unless their demands are met and the Saudi government releases all al Qaeda prisoners.

JOHNSON: I plead with the Saudi government and the group of men that are holding my father to please let him return home safely.

FEYERICK: A plea to the government, which says it does not negotiate with terrorists, and a plea to the terrorists themselves.

MEYEUX: We just -- we just ask that they treat him with the dignity and respect that he's often talked about that they have in their culture. Just please -- please don't murder them -- murder him.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: The two Senators from New Jersey met with a top Saudi official today about Paul Johnson. The official told them that U.S. rescue workers -- I'm sorry, U.S. hostage rescuers have been called in to try to help out in the situation. A Saudi official said that he was pessimistic about Johnson's ultimate fate. Johnson's family say they choose to remain optimistic -- Anderson.

COOPER: That is just so sad. Deborah Feyerick, thank you very much.

Later on 360, we're going to play more of Deborah's exclusive interview with the Johnson family.

The 9/11 Commission is holding its last public hearings this week in Washington. After months of Q&A, it has released a 20-page report on the plot to strike and kill thousands of Americans. Bad as 9/11 was, the commission now says, it could have been a whole lot worse.

CNN's National Security Correspondent David Ensor has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In chilling new detail, the 9/11 Commission staff laid out what it called a highly competent, flexible plot to attack the United States. Commissioners were dismayed.

JAMES THOMPSON, 9/11 COMMISSION MEMBER: How in the world do we ever expect to win this war?

ENSOR: Among the revelations that mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed originally proposed hijacking ten planes in the U.S. to hit targets on the West Coast too and that he would personally land the tenth after just the men onboard had been killed in order to address the world's media.

That the plotters argued about whether Flight 93 that crashed in Pennsylvania should target the U.S. Capitol or the White House. Osama bin Laden wanted to hit the White House. The pilots thought the Capitol would be an easier target.

That one of the plotters says Zacarias Moussaoui was to have been the fourth pilot if Ziad Jarrah dropped out, as he was threatening to do, that original plans called for attacks in Asia and the U.S. simultaneously, that bin Laden wanted to attack back in 2000 but was told the hijackers weren't yet ready, that all 19 of the hijackers attended al Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan.

DOUGLAS MACEACHIN, 9/11 COMMISSION STAFF: The camps create a climate in which trainees and other personnel were free to think creatively about ways to commit mass murder.

ENSOR: The commission made public a photo of Mohamed Atta withdrawing money in Virginia April 4th and spoke of him using his cell phone in Florida April 6th through 11th, 2001, so he couldn't have been in Prague meeting an Iraqi intelligence officer on April 9th, as administration officials have in the past suggested and, in fact, the commission staff said Iraq was not involved in 9/11 -- Anderson.

COOPER: Interesting, David. Did I hear your report correct when you said that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed had basically figured out a way for despite all his talk of martyrdom and despite his encouraging other people to commit suicide in his plan he was actually going to survive?

ENSOR: Well, he would have survived to the tarmac of an American airport where he would have given a news conference. Whether he would have survived after that, I suppose, is open to question but that's right.

COOPER: Interesting.

ENSOR: That was the plan at one point.

COOPER: All right, David Ensor thanks for that.

The Pentagon says there are almost 20,000 U.S. troops right now searching for Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan and Pakistan but today troubling new evidence emerging about al Qaeda's operations there, ongoing operations.

Video first shown last night on the Arab channel Al-Jazeera shows what appears to be recent al Qaeda training exercises taking place in broad daylight on the border region of the two countries.

Here's CNN's Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): According to Gulf broadcaster Al-Jazeera, the first to receive these pictures, this is al Qaeda training inside Afghanistan or the nearby tribal region of Pakistan, tests of physical fitness, including leapfrogging, reminiscent of pre-September the 11th al Qaeda training videos.

PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: This material appears to be new material. We haven't seen it before. It also strongly suggests it was shot in the tribal areas along the Afghan-Pakistan border.

ROBERTSON: On the tape, two grainy nighttime pictures of what Al-Jazeera says is a nighttime attack on a government building in Afghanistan showing dead combatants and, glowing under the camera's infrared illumination, a man Al-Jazeera identifies as al Qaeda field commander Abu-Leith al-Libi.

If authentic, and we have no independent verification of that, the pictures raise the possibility U.S. aims to deny al Qaeda the time and space to train in and around Afghanistan are failing. Intelligence experts believe al Qaeda is still actively recruiting.

BERGEN: The significance of this material is that the al Qaeda in the Afghan-Pakistan tribal areas feel sufficiently confident, as it were, to actually film some of their operations and film some of their training.

ROBERTSON (on camera): According to recently deployed U.S. Marines, they've been involved in firefights with up to 100 anti- coalition forces at one time and, although U.S. forces are bringing limited stability to the small areas where they operate, security experts inside Afghanistan say the countryside is far from secure.

Nic Robertson, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE) COOPER: In Iraq, they said attacks would increase ahead of the June 30th handover and it seems they were right. Insurgents continue to strike at the heart of Iraq's economy, its oil industry. There is no oil flowing right now through a key pipeline in the north.

It has been bombed, as you see, and the southern pipelines are also damaged, pumping only at 50 percent. At least ten people were killed today including two U.S. soldiers and an oil ministry official.

And with the pending transfer of power and the stress over constant attacks there is another growing concern. What will the Iraqis do about Saddam Hussein?

Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour has picked up new details tonight about the status of the former Iraqi leader and about how he might be prosecuted.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Saddam Hussein is being held in U.S. custody at the Baghdad Airport, according to Iraqi officials. Will he still be there after June 30th?

(on camera): The Iraqi official in charge of setting up the special tribunal here tells CNN that he expects arrest warrants to be issued against Saddam Hussein and 62 of his cohorts in the next week or so. Formal charges will not be filed. Rather, the warrants would be based on suspicions that they have committed the kinds of crimes that fall under the tribunal's jurisdiction.

(voice-over): Some officials say Iraq could get legal custody while the U.S. keeps physical security over him. The U.S. Justice Department official helping the tribunal says building a case, even against Saddam, will be a painstaking job.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You still have to build a chain of command and a command responsibility leading up to Saddam Hussein or whomever might be responsible for giving those orders.

AMANPOUR: Saddam was captured last December but slowing down the legal process has been the issue of the death penalty. Iraq and the U.S. support it but the European coalition members do not.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They can't, I mean, be here and accept that under their auspices, under their control people are executed.

AMANPOUR: Even though many Iraqis would like that for Saddam, he's not expected to be in (UNINTELLIGIBLE) as others have tried to build the case against him.

Christiane Amanpour, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Here's a quick news note for you about Iraq. The Coalition Provisional Authority took a poll last month. The Associated Press just obtained a copy yesterday. Iraqis were asked how they thought things were going in their country.

The results are fascinating. Fifty-five percent of Iraqis say they would feel safer if U.S. troops left immediately but 62 percent believe it is very likely Iraqi forces will maintain the country's security without U.S. troops and 45 percent say U.S. forces should leave when the new Iraqi government is in place.

The meaning of sacrifice tops our look at news "Cross Country" tonight.

In Florida, boosting morale against the backdrop of extended tours, rising U.S. casualties, President Bush spoke to U.S. troops today. At MacDill Air Force Base, the president said the country needs a soldier's sacrifice and stands behind them. The speech was beamed via satellite to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In Washington, dropping names and guessing games in the V.P. hunt, after campaigning in Ohio, Senator Kerry flew in and out of the capital today to hold private meetings, that's what they called them.

After the meetings, Kerry wouldn't say if he made any progress toward finding a running mate. But the straight-talking John McCain had one answer. When asked if he'll run with Kerry, "no" he said.

In San Francisco, harsh words, Olympic sprinter Marion Jones blasts the U.S. agency investigating whether she used performance enhancing drugs comparing the U.S. anti-doping agency investigation to a "secret kangaroo court." Jones says she has never failed a drug test and that her name should be cleared. There was no immediate reaction from the agency.

And a deadly voyage in the Mona Passage between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republican, disturbing video images here, migrants fighting and jumping for their lives after their boat capsized over the weekend. Three people died. The U.S. Coast Guard rescued 91 others. Officials said they were trying to get to the U.S.

That is a look at what is going on "Cross Country" tonight.

360 next, a 35-year-old murder mystery, tonight finally solved. With luck and science and hard work, police track down a child's killer on a case that long ago was considered cold.

Plus, the power of prayer, can it heal the body? Find out why more and more doctors may be changing their minds, part of our special series.

Also, Bill Clinton and a political witch hunt, was there really a vast right-wing conspiracy? We'll talk with Susan McDougal and find out what she plans to say to Bill Clinton tonight when she sees him for the first time in 15 years, all that ahead.

But first your picks, the most popular stories on cnn.com right now. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: On the last day of her life, teenager Jane Durrua attended a football game and then went to visit her sister. She never made it. Her body was found in a field the next day and for more than 35 years her murder case remained cold, that is until tonight.

CNN's Adaora Udoji reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ADAORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Thirteen-year-old Jane Durrua was beaten, raped and killed along railroad tracks in New Jersey's Middletown Township. She had walked to her sister's house countless times until November 4, 1968.

Now, 35 years later, prosecutors have charged convicted rapist Jerry Lee Bellamy of murdering her. He has not responded to the charges yet, for Jane's family a bittersweet day.

JOAN CONWAY, SISTER OF VICTIM: Every birthday you just think another year went by and you just question, you know.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's walking around.

CONWAY: Right.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And she's not.

UDOJI (on camera): Police say preserved DNA samples taken from Jane's underwear linked Bellamy through testing not available back then.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is amazing. I mean it's like a miracle.

UDOJI (voice-over): The progress came only after her family insisted detectives reopen the case four years ago. Jane's murder was a tragic twist for the Durrua family. Their mother had just died of cancer. Their father died years before. The six children were orphans.

Bellamy is in a New Jersey maximum security facility for sex offenders after two separate convictions, one for rape and one for sexual assault. He's been in prison for the better part of nine years.

The state labeled him a sexual predator ordering him held indefinitely but the state Supreme Court recently overturned that decision. Bellamy was days away from release. Prosecutors moved fast acknowledging their case right now is based only on DNA.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And that's all we have.

UDOJI: But it's a big start for a family who's waiting three and a half decades to find the road toward justice. They pray this is it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

UDOJI: I spoke to one of the sisters today and one of their great fears is that something will go wrong and the case will fall apart. She said it never gets easier, Anderson, the loss of Jane but the family hopes that their story will inspire other family members of victims in that the message that justice just simply moves slowly sometimes.

COOPER: It's remarkable. You know you hear so many stories. We report so many stories about evidence being lost over the years. It's amazing that 35 years later they still had this evidence. They were able to hold onto it and actually help solve this case. Adaora Udoji thanks.

Well, the hunt for rebels who massacred 34 people in Eastern Colombia tops our look at global stories in tonight's "Up Link."

The dead, along with seven wounded, worked in the cocoa fields. Survivors say rebels attacked the men at night while they were sleeping. The Colombian Army is hunting for the killers.

Raigarh, India, a passenger train derails crossing a river, that's the train there, sending the engine and ten cars crashing 65 feet into the gorge below. At least 20 people died, over 100 injured. Officials say heavy rains caused boulders to actually roll onto the tracks which caused the crash.

In Avo Avo, Bolivia, act of vigilante justice, residents attacked the town's mayor dragging him from his house, killing him and then setting his body on fire. The attackers reportedly believe the mayor was corrupt.

In Moscow, an appeals court upholds a ban on the Jehovah's Witnesses. There are only 10,000 Jehovah's Witnesses in Moscow but critics see the ban as representing a growing threat against religious minorities in Russia, according to them.

And, in Italy, the nation's star soccer player spits in the face of an opponent on the Danish team and probably sank his own team's chance of the European championship by doing so. It is one of soccer's deadliest insults and Italy's Francesco Totti could be bounced from the playoffs because of it.

That is tonight's "Up Link."

360 next, an American held hostage and a desperate appeal from his family. Hear what they're saying to his captors as a life or death deadline approaches.

Plus, the power of prayer, can it be stronger than pills when it comes to healing the body? Dr. Tim Johnson joins us live, part of our special series, "Keeping the Faith," 360 continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Well, faith and healing, as that new research shows millions of Americans are believers in a prescription of prayer. Tonight, as we continue our special series, "Keeping the Faith," you're going to hear from well-known medical journalist Dr. Timothy Johnson about his own life-changing spiritual journey.

But first, our own Senior Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta introduces us to a cancer patient who is hopeful for a cure boosted by her own belief in a higher power.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It had been 50 years since 61-year-old Kate Williams had been to church or even knelt down to pray. Then she was diagnosed with cancer.

KATE WILLIAMS, CANCER PATIENT: I felt so empty. I needed something to grab onto, something to hold onto that would take me through this.

GUPTA: Now, after all these years, Kate trusts faith to ward off her cancer as ardently as she does her treatments and they could be working for her.

WILLIAMS: God is in me. God is taking care of me.

GUPTA: Studies show religious involvement appears to have health benefits, including reducing anxiety, depression and substance abuse and increasing longevity. Still, those associations are admittedly vague.

For patients like Kate, a more important question remains. Can something as intangible as faith help treat the ravages of cancer? Studies show prayer, meditation and other calming practices like yoga ward off stress which can exacerbate conditions like cancer. They also activate a measurable relaxation response in the brain.

DR. HERBERT BENSON, MIND BODY MEDICAL INSTITUTE: There's decreased blood pressure, heart rate, grade of breathing.

GUPTA: And so many doctors agree that faith is essential to healing. Still others believe that raising patients' expectations could do more harm than good.

BENSON: To say what we can do for ourselves and what medicine can do for us are separate and can work alone is a mistake. They must be balanced.

GUPTA: Kate Williams says her faith gives her solace and a strength she wouldn't possess on her own.

WILLIAMS: I still don't know if I'm cancer free. I feel that I am but I also feel that whatever happens I'm going to be fine.

GUPTA: Old-fashioned faith could be a new elixir.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, joining me from Boston, Dr. Timothy Johnson, Medical Editor of "ABC News," and founding editor of "The Harvard Medical School Health Letter." He's also an ordained minister who writes about his own spiritual quest in his new book, "Finding God in the Questions: A Spiritual Journey." Dr. Johnson thanks for being with us.

DR. TIMOTHY JOHNSON, AUTHOR, "FINDING GOD IN THE QUESTIONS: A PERSONAL JOURNEY": My pleasure.

COOPER: You just heard from that woman who believes that faith may be helping her in dealing with cancer. You're a man of science but you're also a man of faith. Could she be right?

JOHNSON: She could be right. I think it's very important to make a distinction between healing and curing. I have little doubt that religious practice in general and prayer in particular can contribute to healing for a person, healing their psyche and their spirit. Whether or not it will actually cure the physical problem I think is very much open to debate.

COOPER: The studies show and we showed a full screen of it before that interview began that Americans want their doctors to address spiritual issues, to address their spiritual needs. Do you hear that as a doctor and why is it the doctors seem at times reluctant to do that?

JOHNSON: I think there's been a sea change in attitude from the time I was in medical school 40 years ago to the present. At that time, 40 years ago, there was a reluctance to talk about these issues but today most physicians are very open to talking about faith issues if their patients are interested in it. That's a big if.

They should never foist such on their patients but if their patients are open or request such issues, they will bring in chaplains or bring in ministers or rabbis as appropriate. So, I think there's an openness, even if the doctor himself or herself is not a person of faith.

COOPER: We've often heard about patients wrestling with matters of faith, rarely about doctors. You write about this in your book and it's really fascinating because, I mean, as a doctor you see things that you shouldn't see. I mean you see children dying of cancer. You see parents dying and leaving their children. I mean in your own personal journey were there times where you questioned your own faith?

JOHNSON: Absolutely. I think this is the single biggest issue for most people when it comes to religious faith. How could a good God allow such suffering? And, I use the word allow rather than cause or will.

I don't have an easy answer to that and most people who have wrestled with this question don't have easy answers but I think faith does bring about an attitude where you sense the presence of God or a higher power, even if there are no answers to the immediate problem. It's a huge issue.

COOPER: So, your advice to patients or doctors wrestling with questions of faith?

JOHNSON: Well, my advice is to understand that science really deals with issues of how the world works, whereas faith and religion try to wrestle with questions of why the world works the way it is. They're not separate. They're complementary. I think both are important in a person's life and they both contribute.

COOPER: The book is "Finding God in the Questions: A Personal Journey." Dr. Timothy Johnson thanks very much.

JOHNSON: Thank you.

COOPER: Today's "Buzz" question is this. What do you think? Which is a more powerful healer, prayer or pills? Log onto cnn.com/360, cast your vote. We'll have results at the end of the program tonight.

Tomorrow night, as our series "Keeping the Faith" continues, spreading the word, the unprecedented phenomenon of Christian books topping the best-seller list. I'll talk with the authors of the apocalyptically popular "Left Behind" series.

Then Friday, interfaith families, they come together in good faith. Sometimes it is that faith that also tears them apart, a look at the hurdles faced by one family.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): A family's desperate plea to spare the life of hostage Paul Johnson. The terrorist deadline is approaching.

A ten-year campaign to take down Bill Clinton, fact or political fiction, a controversial documentary opens. I'll talk to the director and the woman who wouldn't talk Susan McDougal.

Sex therapy over the phone, a controversial way of helping those in need but can phone therapy really work, 360 continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Let's get you caught up on our top stories tonight in "The Reset." In Washington, as it concludes its public hearings, the 9/11 commission says Iraq played no part, saying, there is quote, "no credible evidence to support the claim of an Iraq, al Qaeda link." One of the Bush administration's arguments for the war in Iraq was that Saddam Hussein helped al Qaeda.

Columbus, Ohio: psychiatric evaluation for alleged mall bombing plotter. The federal magistrate ordered this man examined. His appearance in court today left his family saying he was a broken man. Authorities say Abdi was planning to sabotage a local shopping mall.

Washington: new regulations attacking Fidel Castro's Cuba. The U.S. government further tightened the embargo on the Communist island and its leader. They are trying to make it harder to travel there and more difficult to spend U.S. dollars. That's a quick look at the top stories tonight.

We also have a report just in. The Associated Press is reporting that Saudi security forces and police have surrounded a house in the capital city of Riyadh. The Associated Press says that gunfire has been heard at times and a special anti-terrorism unit is also on the scene.

This operation, of course, comes as Saudi Arabia has stepped up the search for the kidnappers of Paul Johnson, an American who was taken hostage on Saturday. We must point out, at this point, there is no indication that Johnson is inside this house. We are, of course, going to monitor this developing story, bring you any updates when we get new information.

Today Paul Johnson's family spoke out publicly and exclusively to CNN. One of the remarkable things about this network is its global reach. We are literally seen around the world, even in Saudi Arabia. Johnson's family hopes their words, their tears might help save Paul Johnson's life. We don't know if the terrorists holding Johnson have TV or if they have compassion for his sake and his family's. We hope they have both.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You see the kidnappers. One is behind him clearly, one is there shooting the video. What goes through your mind?

MEYEUX: For me it's disbelief. My brother always felt safe in Saudi Arabia. He never feared living there.

FEYERICK: Did he ever consider listening to the embassy warnings for Americans to leave Riyadh, to leave Saudi Arabia?

JOHNSON: He's been there for over ten years and he likes working with the Saudis, he respects their culture and there was never a problem. He respected everything they believed in.

FEYERICK: So you were going to spend Christmas there, that was the plan.

He has a wife in Riyadh, have you spoken with her?

P. JOHNSON: Yes. And she's waiting for my father to come through the front door. And it's hard for her being so far and we're here and I'm thinking about her constantly. I know what she's going through and we're trying to get through this.

FEYERICK: The kidnappers who are holding him, what do you want them to know about your dad and about his family?

P. JOHNSON: My father's a loving father. He's a grandfather. He would give his shirt off the back to them if he knew them. And he respected -- he respected the Saudis.

FEYERICK: The U.S. government, the Saudi government says that their policy is not to negotiate with terrorists. What do you say to the governments?

P. JOHNSON: I just plead with the Saudis to, please, do whatever you take. If you've got to -- I'm -- we're all human, just, please. He's done a lot for your country. I respect your country. I respect -- I respect everything that everybody's done and I just want to see my father brought home safely.

And the Saudis, you can make it happen. I'm just asking you, please make this happen. He was just doing his job. Just please just bring him home and the group of people holding him, just please -- he don't deserve this.

FEYERICK: Your son is here. He seems a little bit upset. I know that you want to show him to your father, if in fact your father is watching, or perhaps the men who are holding him are watching, but -- I don't know if he wants to.

P. JOHNSON: Yes.

Paul, come here.

FEYERICK: And, Paul, this is your wife?

P. JOHNSON: This is my wife, Jody.

FEYERICK: What do you want to say to your father?

P. JOHNSON: I want to say, I know that the group of men that got my father, you guys are probably fathers and just please let him come home and be a grandfather.

And this is Paul Marshal Johnson IV. My father gave me his name and I honored my father so much I gave my son his name. I just want his safe return and I'm optimistic with the Saudis can get him home safely.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: The Saudi government says they will not negotiate with terrorists. They say they are doing all they can. As we just mentioned, we are get something word of an operation under way right now, though we do not know that it's linked to the search for Johnson. The terrorists say if their demands are not met they will kill Johnson on Friday.

Coming up on 360, was Bill Clinton the victim of a right wing witch-hunt? Or is that just revisionist history. Susan McDougal and Harry Thomason join me coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Hillary Clinton called it a vast right wing conspiracy, of course, the attacks on her husband, the president and on herself that persisted throughout their time in the White House. Of course, there's little doubt the president was both object of intense dislike on the part of some and the center of a great deal of controversy. And despite being out of office for more than three years, the arguments still rage. Tonight a new film by an FOB, or Friend of Bill's, makes its debut.

"The Hunting of the President" claims there was a 10-year campaign to destroy Bill Clinton. Earlier I spoke with the film's director, Harry Thomason, a long-time Clinton friend and former Clinton associate Susan McDougal.

But first, here's a quick clip of the film.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do we really want a country where right wing millionaires and you know, unethical lawyer can put together an attempt to have a coup d'etat against a twice-elected president over nothing, over what turned out to be nothing, really except a sex lie and a phony financial scandal?

I don't think so. I think people don't want that anymore.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Strong words. An attempted coup d'etat. Your critics, the critics of this film will say look you're a friend of Bill Clinton and in fact, they suggest that it is history. That Bill Clinton lied and that he attempted to influence a witness, that he associated with felons in Arkansas, Ms. McDougal was convicted.

To those critics you say what?

HARRY THOMASON, DIRECTOR: I'd say that yes, I'm a friend of President Clinton's and I knew I would be charged with that when the movie came out. And so we let everybody else come into the movie and express their opinions but we try not to introduce any bias into the narrative of the film.

COOPER: But you blame anybody for Bill Clinton's problems, but Bill Clinton.

THOMASON: Oh, no, that's not so. In the film we don't. When I started out to make this film, I told my friend Bill Clinton two things. Number one, I'm going to make this found. And number two, I'm not going to ever talk to you about this film. I don't want the press to be able to say, did you influence him or anything.

COOPER: So, you haven't talked to Bill Clinton about this?

THOMASON: No. And number three, I cannot dismiss your transgressions, and he said I understand. You're doing the same thing I would do, if I were in your place. COOPER: What do you think, Susan, that brings out so much loyalty in some cases to the president in your case, and such hatred in some other quarters.

SUSAN MCDOUGAL, FORMER CLINTON ASSOCIATE: It's interesting that you ask that, because it was not about loyalty for me. I hadn't spoken to Bill Clinton since 1985 when I was indicted in 1996 with crimes having to do with Bill Clinton. I barely knew him at that point. It had to do with the fact that Ken Starr asked me to lie. He had a story made up about Bill Clinton and if I would tell that story and say that it was true then I would get a pass. I wouldn't be indicted. I wouldn't be convicted of anything and I could just have a free life.

COOPER: This film is very tough on the media, basically the way the media works, the way the media followed this story. And think we are going to get to that in a moment. But wasn't it fair that the media was pursuing this story, because there certainly, if there wasn't fire all the time, there certainly was an awful lot of smoke.

THOMASON: Well, it was absolutely fair that the media was pursuing this story, but as John (UNINTELLIGIBLE), who won six Peabodys while he was at CNN said, but we shouldn't -- we should try to pursue the truth, not the story for the sake of boosting news ratings.

COOPER: I want to play a quick clip again from the film, this is Paul Begala talking about just this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL BEGALA, CO-HOST, "CROSSFIRE": From the highest courts in America to the most elite newspapers in America, they were all wrong and they were swept up in an era of madness and they were used as tools of hatred.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Your critique is basically that the media, reputable organizations were too influenced by sort of bottom feeders, by Web gossip and by unsubstantiated rumor.

THOMASON: That's exactly right. Once we saw the explosion of media outlets and tabloids and everything else, there were a lot of people reporting that didn't have the talent to be a reporter, but if they would go with an unfounded rumor or something, pretty soon, guys like you felt that pressure from your corporate head. Well, wait a minute, now they got this story and people were watching and can't you prove this story?

COOPER: Bill Clinton was not a wallflower in all this. He was not an innocent victim as he -- some have portrayed him. I mean, you know, he perfected the art of attack. He had the war room. I mean, he played tough.

THOMASON: Oh, well, right, because I think by the time he ran everybody agreed you had to play tough to win. And, no, he was not an innocent victim and we don't treat him that way in the film, but what he was guilty of were perhaps personal things and it was just the first time the press and the right wing had ever made it possible to try to impeach a president over a personal matter, and it's that simple.

MCDOUGAL: He was absolutely an innocent victim of Whitewater. He never had anything to do with that company. He never set foot on the land even one time. He had absolutely no understanding of what was going on with it. He had nothing to do with the loan. I told the independent counsel, that at the very first meeting that Clinton never got one penny of that money and he was an innocent victim.

COOPER: You've not spoken to President Clinton, I understand, in some 15 years.

MCDOUGAL: No.

COOPER: You're actually going to see him tonight for the first time at the premiere of this movie.

What are you going to say to him?

THOMASON: That's quite possible.

MCDOUGAL: I don't think I'll have to say anything. I was thinking about it on the plane. I think he'll do all of the talking. I was thinking, what will I say and then I thought, you know, this is not going to be hard, Susan, Bill will take it over. You'll be fine.

COOPER: But, I mean, is there anything you want to say to him?

There's so much water under the bridge. There's so much history there.

MCDOUGAL: You know, I don't think there's enough time in the world. I really don't. I think that's why I wrote the book that I wrote, because I was so full of it and so angry and bitter and I really hated everyone that said, you know, she went to prison to cover for Clinton, because I hadn't even talked to the guy, you know, in so long and had nothing to do with him. And really, I think I had a lot of that come, you know, just out of me. And I've lost a lot of that need to tell him every detail of what happened because I wrote the book.

COOPER: And I've got to ask you.

THOMASON: It's a great book.

MCDOUGAL: Thanks.

COOPER: And -- well, speaking of books, Harry, have you read the president's new book?

THOMASON: I have read sections of it and he has read sections of it. And here is what you'll find about the new book, this guy can write.

COOPER: Really?

THOMASON: He's like Mark Twain.

COOPER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Mark Twain?

THOMASON: Yes, but I mean, well, OK. So maybe not (UNINTELLIGIBLE). But...

COOPER: You are a friend of Bill Clinton's (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

THOMASON: Well, no, I'm not because he's read the material to me and the best stuff in the book is before he ever becomes president. It's just about the people he met along the way.

COOPER: Harry Thomason, thanks very much for being with us.

Susan McDougal as well. Thank you. Good luck tonight.

MCDOUGAL: Thank you. Thanks.

COOPER: Coming up on 360 next, sex therapy at a distance. People uncomfortable discussing sexual problems face to face are now getting advice on the phones from therapists they've never even met.

Does it actually work?

Find out.

Also tonight, terror's down, no wait, terror's up.

Colin Powell, admits the administration made a big mistake. We'll take that to "The Nth Degree." 360 continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Well, in an age where you can drive in for just about anything and you can do absolutely anything online, we suppose it had to come to this: sex therapy over the phone or online.

A recent "Washington Post" article says more and more people, too embarrassed to see counseling in person for their sexual problems or addictions, are talking with therapists they've never actually even met, distance sex therapy, they call it.

Being New Yorkers, always interested in any form of therapy, we couldn't help but wonder does distance therapy actually work. Joining me live, not on the phone, Dr. Drew Pinsky, an addiction expert and a co-host of the radio "Love Line." He is in Los Angeles.

Dr. Pinsky, thanks for being on the program with us. So, what do you think? Does this thing work?

DR. DREW PINSKY: I really doubt it. It's been well studied. But the fact is, one of the things, and I really don't think I'm giving you a minority opinion here, one of the things that all forms of therapy share in common is the therapist's body, the therapist neurobiological systems is being offered as a regulatory body, a regulatory system, an alternative to the patient's system, a way of building regulatory systems within themselves based on the therapist. And without the therapist being present it's very difficult for these subtle kinds of corporeal communications to occur.

In fact, online you can get information and that's fine and people can get encouragement and can be encouraged to develop motivation to do the things they ultimately need to get over some of these serious problems, but to think that it's an ultimate therapy or that treatment can be rendered definitively online, or over the phone I think is a big mistake.

COOPER: But the proponents say, look, if there are clients out there, or patients out there who are too embarrassed to actually come in and meet face-to-face with someone, isn't it better that they seek help some way, whether it be online or on the phone, than not getting help at all?

PINSKY: In terms of initiating the process, I completely agree with that. But the thought that you can get all of the way through in some sort of conclusive endpoint with this, I think is anathema, I don't think it's absolutely possible.

And the reality is, that the shame associated with some of these behaviors is one of the biggest issues and being accepted in spite of that shame by an intimate relationship, a therapist, or by a group, as in 12 step, is the core issue in getting over these things.

COOPER: There is an organization which accredits sex therapists. They actually, I guess, don't even support this online or this phone sex therapy, but you're not actually -- you don't even believe there is such a thing as sex therapy or a sex therapist.

PINSKY: Well, it's confusing to me, people say sex therapist. I never know if they're talking about an educator, if they're talking about a therapist who has specialization in sex issues. The fact is, most people who are actively involved in research on sex issues are proponents of an organization called the National Council of Sexual Addiction and Compulsivity. And they are looking at sexual behaviors as compulsive or addictive. And the treatment of those kinds of behaviors, of which obviously there's a great array, but the primary treatment modality, is really a 12-step model and some face-to-face individual therapy.

COOPER: It's interesting, because online, there are thousands of people listed as sex therapists, yet there's really only one organization, actually Florida, I guess, is the only state that actually accredits sex therapists, or licenses them and there's one organization. They say they've accredited between 650 and 700 sex therapists, but there are thousands of them out there online. How do you tell who's real and who's not?

PINSKY: Well that's part of the problem here. And there's further legal issues, for instance, HIPAA laws won't allow us to transmit medical information across a fax machine, across a phone line. Are we violating HIPAA laws?

And what about licensing issues? If I'm in California talking to somebody in New York, am I licensed to treat that person in New York? I don't think so. So there's a very, very serious issue, and it really is caveat emptor. Bottom line, I think people need to find a good therapist, well-trained, well-referred who understands the issues and work face to face.

COOPER: Face-to-face. All right, Dr. Drew Pinsky, good to see you face-to-face. Thanks very much.

COOPER: Time to check on some lighter stuff, some pop news in tonight's "Current," let's take a look.

Tom Cruise went undercover for his role in the new movie "Collateral." Seems Cruise took a job as a FedEx delivery man. But we suspect some grew suspicious when the FedEx guy showed up in a Humvee surrounded by bodyguards, a press agent and a manager.

We knew it would happen, a reality show about porn. It called "Porn Idol" and features contestants competing for a spot in an X- rated film. Honest. We think the winner should get to star alongside Ron Jeremy and the loser should get to star alongside Ron Jeremy.

Marc Anthony gave his new wife Jennifer Lopez quite a gift. The singer reportedly bought her a pair of $20,000 flip-flops that are 18 karat and gold feathered. He could have gotten her diamond encrusted sandals, but hey, that would have been tacky.

And Halle Berry say she uses this bikini that she wore in "Die Another Day" to see if she's in shape. The actress reportedly says the bikini is a good barometer to tell if she needs to lose weight. Good for her.

And that's a look at tonight's "Current." All right guys, let's move on to the next story. Take the picture off. Hello? Anyone in the control room? Anyone? Anyone? What's going on in there?

Guys, come on, all right, come on, move along.

All right. Let's take a look at tonight's "Buzz" question. Earlier we asked you, "which is the more powerful healer, prayer or pills?" 38 percent of you said prayer, 62 percent of you said pills. Not a scientific poll, certainly, but it's your "Buzz." Be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Here's a quick update on a story we reported earlier, police and security forces in Saudi Arabia have withdrawn from the Riyadh neighborhood after surrounding and searching a home and a mosque, according to witnesses. Saudi security officials will not comment on the operation. Officials there continue their search, they say, for captured American Paul Johnson.

Tonight taking gradations to the "Nth Degree." We got a scale for how scared we're supposed to be, the terrorism color chart. So, we're thinking, maybe we ought to also have some kind of scale for slip-ups.

The idea came to us after we heard Secretary of State Colin Powell say that the administration had made, and I quote, a big mistake when it reported that incidents of terrorism were down last year. It seems they weren't down exactly, they were more, like, um, well, up. Something to do with the numbers being wrong. Up, down, you know how hard it can be to keep those two straight.

Anyway, now we know what constitutes a big mistake. So, let's make a mistake scale working backwards. "Silly Little" is first, you know, just an oversight, something we can all laugh and laugh about after it comes to light.

Next is "Just A," then "Kinda Big," and then "Big" which is where we are at the moment, then, gee, what "hunking huge", "inexplicable," "mortifying," "whoa momma?"

We can give the steps on the scale colors if we want, or even better, patterns, as in the mistake condition has been upgraded from tattersall to plaid.

I'm Anderson Cooper. Thanks for watching 360. Coming up next, "PAULA ZAHN NOW."

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