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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Kerry Speak At NAACP Convention; Education Secretary Defends Bush's Civil Rights Record; Martha Stewart To Be Sentenced Tomorrow
Aired July 15, 2004 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, HOST: Good evening from New York. I'm Anderson Cooper.
The mystery of Corporal Wassef Hassoun, back on U.S. soil, facing tough questions about what he says happened.
360 starts now.
A U.S. marine who says he was held hostage returns home, but the fate of other hostages in Iraq remains uncertain.
Tough talk from the new Iraqi prime minister, but can Allawi actually stop the terrorists?
Elizabeth Edwards hits the campaign trail. Her message? She's one of you. Just ahead, her struggle to have kids in her late 40s.
Martha Stewart faces sentencing tomorrow. How she's preparing today.
And this week's overkill, Britney bashing. When will the tabloids leave this pop tartlet alone?
ANNOUNCER: Live from New York, this is ANDERSON COOPER 360.
COOPER: Good evening again.
The hostage business in Iraq, and it is clearly a business, a money-making enterprise and a political one as well, and some days it's hard to tell exactly where the truth is on any particular case.
Today, for example, Corporal Wassef Hassoun returned home, surrounded by questions. Did he go AWOL, or was he captured, kidnapped as -- by insurgents as he says? And if he was, how did he manage to walk away when others have been savagely murdered?
Still in Iraq, still held hostage, an Egyptian man today threatened with death if his Saudi employers don't pull their workers out of Iraq. And a new tape surfaces of a Philippine captive that gives his family new hope, and his government says it is pulling its troops out of the country.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER (voice-over): The new video of Angelo de la Cruz shows him in street clothes for the first time since his kidnapping on July 7. In the video, he points out that he's not wearing the orange jumpsuit that many captives have been forced to wear, and he asks his family to wait for him.
Cruz also appeals to Philippine President Arroyo to keep her promise to pull her country's troops out of Iraq. An hour later, Al Jazeera, which aired the video, also received a statement from Cruz's apparent captors, saying he would be held until all 51 Filipino troops in Iraq had left. And they extended the deadline for that to happen to the end of this month.
Nevertheless, in Cruz's hometown in the Philippines, there is cautious optimism from his family.
FELICIANO DE LA CRUZ, BROTHER OF FILIPINO HOSTAGE (through translator): We are fairly happy. We'll be a lot happier when we are finally reunited with him, when he finally returns to the Philippines.
COOPER: At the White House, however, there continues to be criticism of the Philippines' decision to pull out.
SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I think it is disappointing to see a decision to withdraw these 51 troops from Iraq ahead of schedule, because it does send the wrong signal to the terrorists. There is no negotiation with terrorists. There is no separate peace with terrorists.
COOPER: Meanwhile, in the northern Iraq city of Mosul, police have pulled a headless body from the Tigris River, which may be one of the two Bulgarian truck drivers who'd been taken hostage. Al Jazeera reported earlier in the week that it had received a videotape showing one of the men being beheaded. DNA tests are being conducted to determine the man's identity.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, there was potential progress in Iraq today, but as always, it comes a cost. In the last 24 hours, 17 people have died in a series of attacks. The deadliest, another car bombing, this time in the northwest. The target, police station. At least 10 Iraqis killed, including four police officers.
And yet another oil pipeline is badly damaged south of Kirkuk. The government, trying to show it can crack down, today announced a new approach to, in their words, "annihilate the terrorists," a new intelligence apparatus.
The latest from CNN's Michael Holmes.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Taking the fight to the insurgents, that was the message from Iraq's interim government Thursday.
AYAD ALLAWI, IRAQI INTERIM PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We are determined to bring down all of the hurdles that lay in the way of our democratic march and our freedom.
HOLMES: Part of the plan, the formation of an internal intelligence agency, the General Security Directorate. Its job, to infiltrate the insurgency, gather information, help wipe it out.
(on camera): Mention an intelligence service in this country, and many people think back to the bad old days of Saddam Hussein, when his domestic spies would show up in the dead of night and take away husbands, brothers, and sons, never to be seen again.
But on the streets of Baghdad today, we found some optimism for the new service.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I wish they'd taken this step from the beginning, because our people have been hit hard by looting and kidnapping.
HOLMES: The interim government is going out of its way to say there will be strict oversight, and those accepted into the agency would have to have, in the words of the interior minister, "clean hands."
Allawi also said he'd be trying to seal his country's porous borders from foreign fighters, adding that security in Iraq had improved, despite another day of violence and death. Prime Minister Allawi said he will visit a number of Mideast neighbors, including Kuwait and, later, Iran. He also plans to go to Europe and Pakistan.
All looking for training assistance, money, and troops from some countries to help tackle the insurgency he says is doomed to fail.
Michael Holmes, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, a quick news note for you on one of Iraq's most wanted terrorists. A review of British intelligence shows that it received reports ahead of the Iraq war saying this man, Abu Musab al- Zarqawi, a name you have heard a lot in the last several months, seeded Baghdad with sleeper cells to attack U.S.-led forces and that he may have received chemical and biological weapons from northern Iraq.
And just today, Zarqawi's terrorist group reportedly claimed responsibility on an Islamic Web site for this attack, the aftermath of which you see, the assassination of the governor of Mosul, which happened just yesterday. Insurgents tossed hand grenades and fired machine guns on the governor's convoy as it headed for Baghdad.
Well, Corporal Wassef Hassoun finally arrived back on U.S. soil today, as we mentioned. A hostage returning would normally be a happy event, but with questions still swirling about exactly what happened to Hassoun, at today's homecoming there was little sign of celebration. Hassoun, of course, claims he was abducted in Iraq, but the Pentagon says they want proof.
Here's senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Smiling and looking relaxed, Corporal Wassef Ali Hassoun arrived at the Quantico Marine Base, giving no hint of someone facing serious questions about whether he's a deserter.
The Marines suspect Hassoun left his post in Iraq voluntarily last month with the intention of deserting and joining relatives in Lebanon. But publicly, the Marine Corps is playing it by the book, insisting that Corporal Hassoun is simply going through the normal repatriation process for any former hostage.
LT. COL. DAVID LAPAN, U.S. MARINE CORPS SPOKESMAN: Repatriation is the process of decompression, debriefing, and integration of individuals who have been captured or detained. The length of this process can vary from weeks to months, depending on the circumstances of the individual case.
MCINTYRE: The spokesman said Hassoun arrived tired but healthy and in good spirits. Otherwise, the Marines are saying little publicly about what explanation Hassoun has offered for his disappearance from Iraq June 19, and his reappearance in Lebanon July 7, when he turned himself over to U.S. embassy officials.
Sources say Hassoun insists he was abducted, but in a brief statement issued in Germany, he made no mention of that, simply thanking the hospital staff and saying he was excited about going home.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCINTYRE: So far, Hassoun has not been formally accused of any wrongdoing. He hasn't asked for nor been assigned a military attorney, something that would be a necessary first step if any charges are contemplated, Anderson.
COOPER: Jamie McIntyre, thanks, from the Pentagon.
The Kerry camp OKs the presidential debate schedule. That story tops our look at what's happening right now cross-country. John Kerry's campaign says it has accepted the proposed schedule of three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate this fall. The schedule calls for presidential debates in Miami, Saint, Louis, and Tempe, Arizona, and the vice presidential debate in Cleveland.
In Washington, President Bush tapped his father to lead the U.S. delegation to the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, next month. In addition to former president Bush, Barbara Bush and the president's two daughters, Jenna and Barbara, will represent the U.S. as well.
In Miami, quite a melting pot. A survey has found that 59 percent of the Florida city's residents are foreign born. The number of migrants internationally has soared over the last decade. Rounding out the top five cities for people not born here are Toronto, Los Angeles, Vancouver, and New York.
And in Atlanta, the CDC says you can hunt and shoot the bear, but if you're going to eat it, you better cook it all the way through. A handful of trichinosis cases have shown up recently in Tennessee and New York from people who ate their bear, and -- I'm not making this up -- medium rare. Folks, if you're planning to put Smoky on the grill this summer, make sure he's well done. Mmm, bear.
That's a quick look at the stories cross-country tonight.
360 next, a multimillion-dollar bet. The L.A. Lakers putting their money on this man, Kobe Bryant, despite a looming court case and two rulings against him. We'll have the very latest.
Plus, a car crash mixup. The tragic accident that turned to devastation when the family finds the body of another boy in their son's casket.
And on the campaign trail, defying fertility odds, John Edwards' wife, how she became a new mom at 50. A closer look at her incredible story.
First, let's take a look at your picks, the most popular stories on CNN.com right now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: One hundred and thirty-six million dollars, that's how much the Los Angeles Lakers agreed today to pay Kobe Bryant over seven years. That amount of money is enough to put almost anyone in a carefree mood, but probably not Bryant. The new contract comes a day after the court ruled against his defense team on two key motions.
Here's Miguel Marquez.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One question answered, Kobe Bryant remains an L.A. Laker.
KOBE BRYANT, LOS ANGELES LAKERS: Game on.
MARQUEZ: Another question looms larger than ever. Will Kobe Bryant go to prison?
BRIAN COOK, LOS ANGELES LAKERS: I have no idea, and that's not any of my concern. My concern is to be the best athlete and the best basketball player that I can be, and let the organization take care of that.
MARQUEZ: Of concern to Bryant's defense, the judge overseeing his rape case ruled an audiotape secretly made of Kobe Bryant could be used in court. Bryant's lawyers objected to the tape, because it was made without Bryant's knowledge or consent, shortly after he was accused of rape. The judge allowed it, he said, because Bryant was not under arrest when it was made, and it appeared he freely offered up the information.
On the tape, the judge indicated that the Lakers star was occasionally crying and very emotional as he was interviewed by investigators. The judge also says significant portions of the tape are inaudible.
The judge also ruled on evidence taken from Bryant's room. The evidence, two T-shirts, blue Nike track pants, boxer shorts, and stationery from the hotel can now be seen by a jury.
(on camera): Another major ruling on evidence is yet to come, whether the sexual history of Bryant's accuser will be allowed in court.
The trial is slated to begin August 27, and the NBA season starting in October, the question only grows, will Kobe Bryant remain a star in a city of stars?
Miguel Marquez, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: In Michigan, a tragedy of really unimaginable proportions. A car wreck which killed one boy, severely injured another, but the tragedy was compounded by a mix-up over just who was alive and who was dead.
CNN's Sara Dorsey explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARA DORSEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This car accident killed one Michigan boy and left another with the fight of his life. The Atrim County sheriff's office originally said 17-year-old Patrick Bement was killed, identified by the location of his wallet, and his friend, 16-year-old Nathaniel Smith, was in the hospital.
But that turned out to be a horrible mistake.
SHERIFF TERRY JOHNSON, ANTRIM COUNTY: This error has caused added stress and grief to the family and friends of the two young men. We will continue to investigate this incident and how this error may have occurred, and find ways to prevent it from occurring in the future.
DORSEY: The Bement family feared that the police had made a mistake immediately after seeing the boy in the casket, but those were downplayed by the funeral home, because the boy's injuries were so massive.
After two visitations and only days before the funeral, the Bements urged the Smiths to check a few scars in the toes of the boy in the hospital. That's when the mistake was discovered. Patrick Bement was alive, and Nathaniel Smith was dead.
STEVE HARVEY, TEACHER: On the one hand, you're somewhat relieved for Patrick's family, that he still has hope, and then that also means that another student has passed away, and so there's tremendous sadness on that part.
DORSEY: The sheriff's office took fingerprints and dental records from both boys. Now they are trying to figure out just what happened.
JOHNSON: Our complete, complete apologies to the family and the family members of all who are involved in this unfortunate circumstance.
DORSEY (on camera): I talked to Patrick Bement's stepmother today. She said her family has mixed emotions about all of this. On the one hand, they're happy to have Patrick back, but she said their hearts break for the Smith family. Only days ago, they were in the same position, planning a funeral. She said the Smiths are now just being strong and trying to get through all of this.
Sara Dorsey, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Hard to believe.
An American accused of defecting to North Korea may soon be in the U.S. custody again. That tops our look at what's happening right now around the world in the uplink.
U.S. Army Sergeant Charles Jenkins, who reportedly defected 39 years ago -- that's him there with the gray hair -- needs abdominal surgery now. He may head to Japan for medical treatment. Now, if he does, the U.S. will try to take him into custody and question him about communist North Korea, which the U.S. believes has nuclear weapons.
Czech Republic, a horrifying practice comes to an end. The government says it will stop putting children who need psychiatric care in caged beds like that one, a practice long condemned by the E.U. and United Nations.
In Madrid, a huge fire is under control after authorities shut down the center of Spain's capital city. The fire, as you can see, it started in a power station near the spot where trains were bombed on March 11. No one was killed in today's fire.
Off Nova Scotia, Canada, divers found a U-boat that came awfully close to Canada's coastline. This particular German submarine from World War II had been ordered to put mines in Boston Harbor, but it never got that far, thankfully. It went down with all its mines intact. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) history.
That's tonight's uplink.
360 next, on the campaign trail, and defying medical odds. John Edwards' wife challenges the limits of fertility and gives birth at age 50. Find out if maybe this is an option for you. A medical- political report you won't want to miss.
Also tonight, Martha Stewart's farewell tour. She's selling her digs. She's out on the town. Find out how she's spending what may be her last days of freedom.
And a little later, star wars, celebrities and the politicians who love them, but is all that love really worth the cost? That's raw politics.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Well, she turned 55 the week her husband was tapped to be number two on the Kerry-Edwards ticket. At the Democrats' first joint appearance, her two young children. Well, they really almost stole the show. Elizabeth Edwards, like her husband, is an accomplished attorney, but she stopped practicing law following a family tragedy.
We've been profiling all the candidates' wives. Tonight, the woman who seems to be practicing something on the campaign trail that comes naturally, just being herself.
Here's Judy Woodruff.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A beaming face, with a compelling message -- I am one of you.
ELIZABETH EDWARDS, WIFE OF JOHN EDWARDS: If you try to pretend you're something else, you will be uncomfortable with that, and voters will sense it.
WOODRUFF: Elizabeth Edwards speaks through her life's experiences. Unlike the other wives on this year's presidential circuit, she's a relative political newcomer whose life is in a very different place.
TERESA HEINZ KERRY, JOHN KERRY'S WIFE: She's suffered loss. And she didn't drown with it.
WOODRUFF: The loss came when their 16-year-old son, Wade, died in a car accident eight years ago.
ELIZABETH EDWARDS: People come up to me all the time and say that they're sadly a member of the same sorority that I'm a member of. And so you make connections with people in that way.
WOODRUFF: The tragedy marked a turning point for Elizabeth Edwards. She folded her law practice, and, in her late 40s, underwent fertility treatments and became pregnant again with Emma Claire at 48, and again at 50 with another son, Jack.
Her two young children adding sparkle to standard stumping.
SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, with the love of my life for 26 years married, and even before that, the love of my life, Elizabeth.
WOODRUFF: They met in law school, both students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Thirty years later, she's thrown herself into this campaign.
ELIZABETH EDWARDS: We want to have the votes of every person in this room.
WOODRUFF: Bringing a soft touch to the hard sell back in the primaries.
ELIZABETH EDWARDS: It's really important that his voice be part of the process, not just for him, but, frankly, for the people who are really responding to him.
WOODRUFF: And sharp advice and a new warmth to the Kerry ticket now.
Judy Woodruff, CNN, reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, we often hear about celebrities who get pregnant late in life. Geena Davis was 48 years old, Susan Sarandon 46. But in the real world, how many women are joining the ranks of Elizabeth Edwards, becoming midlife moms?
We thought we'd look tonight at the challenges and risks these women face, and there are many of them.
Joining us from Los Angeles, Dr. Lisa Masterson, a fertility specialist.
Dr. Masterson, thanks for being with us tonight.
DR. LISA MASTERSON, FERTILITY SPECIALIST: Thank you.
COOPER: Elizabeth Edwards gave birth at age 48 and 50. How difficult is it for women now to get pregnant at this age?
MASTERSON: It can be very difficult, except if a woman's in good shape and doesn't have any medical problems. The fertility rate really decreases after 40 to about 25 percent. So this can be difficult for women. Excuse me. Forty percent after 40, and 25 percent after 45. So your fertility rate goes down, you have increased risk of miscarriage, you can have a higher rate of C- sections.
But as long as a woman is in good, healthy shape and doesn't have any medical problems, this can be a very rewarding experience.
COOPER: Well, say you're in your late 40s, I mean, how common is it for women to use fertility treatments? Of women in their late 40s, how many have to resort to that?
MASTERSON: About 50 percent of women over 40 use fertility treatments, really because, at 40, our eggs are 40 years old. When we're born, we have that same eggs that we had when we were born. And so our eggs are 40 years old, where a man makes his sperm every 90 to 100 days, so that's being renewed. So the problems for women after 40 is that their eggs are older, and they have a decreased number.
COOPER: So there's a lot -- a high likelihood they will have to use egg donors?
MASTERSON: Very much. After 45, most women use egg donors, because it increases the success rate for things like in vitro fertilization. Without a donor egg, a woman over 45 has about an 8 to 10 percent success rate with in vitro fertilization, whereas if she has donor eggs, then that increases to about 40 percent or 50 percent. So it really increases the chances. And in vitro fertilization is not very cheap.
COOPER: And are there sort of medical advances that are, you know, sort of in the pipeline that's going to make it easier for women in this age? I mean, will the age continue to, to, to raise up?
MASTERSON: Absolutely. Things like egg freezing, but then you have to think ahead of time about egg freezing, because the better the eggs, or the younger the eggs, I should say, then the better the in vitro fertilization.
Also things like nuclear transfer. Instead of using an egg donor, what a woman can do is have her genetics injected into the donor egg, so basically you have the young egg surrounding, and you have the mother's genetics inside, so that now, with the donor egg, that child doesn't have the mother's genetics, but with that future possibility, maybe it can be more genetically resemble the parent.
COOPER: It's a fascinating topic. Dr. Lisa Masterson, thanks very much.
MASTERSON: Thank you.
COOPER: We have heard plenty about the health risks associated with having a baby late in life, but a new study also suggests there could be a benefit as well. Women who have a child after the age of 35 will have a 58 percent lower risk of ovarian cancer than women who do not.
Martha Stewart faces sentencing tomorrow. How she's preparing today.
And this week's overkill, Britney bashing. When will the tabloids leave this pop tartlet alone?
360 continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: 360 next, black conservatives take on the NAACP. Find out from education secretary Rod Paige why.
And Martha Stewart's farewell time. Find out how she's getting ready for the possibility of prison.
Before that, let's take a look at our top stories in the reset.
Turns out Hillary Clinton will speak in prime time at the Democratic convention. CNN confirms the senator from New York will introduce her husband, Bill Clinton, on the first night at the convention in Boston later this month. Some press reports said Senator Clinton was furious at not being invited earlier. The senator's office said it wasn't true, that she's delighted to now have the opportunity.
In Los Alamos, New Mexico, all classified work is shut down as security officers investigate missing data from one of the lab's research areas. The data storage devices were discovered missing last week during a regular inventory.
In Washington, lawyers have filed writs of habeas corpus to try and gain the release of 15 Yemeni citizens currently locked up at the detention camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Just under 600 foreign nationals detained for what President Bush calls a global war on terrorism are at the camp. Most were caught in Afghanistan.
President Bush signed legislation today that toughens the penalties on persons convicted of identity theft. Federal officials estimate that identity theft cost consumers and businesses over $50 billion last year.
Also in Washington, the nation's blood supply is running critically short this summer, and the American Red Cross wants your help. People with type O-negative blood are particularly needed. But if you can donate blood, the agency says it doesn't matter what type you have, come on in.
That's tonight's "Reset."
Democrat John Kerry took the stage today in Philadelphia. That was the stage that President Bush avoided. Kerry spoke to the NAACP at its annual convention.
For Kerry, it was an important opportunity to speak to a group whose support he is counting on in November.
Senior political correspondent Candy Crowley was there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He had them at the hello, but President Bush made John Kerry's appearance before the NAACP all the louder.
JOHN KERRY (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The president may be too busy to speak to you now, but I've got news for you. He's going to have plenty of time after November 2.
CROWLEY: Nine of 10 African-American voters in 2000 voted for Al Gore, meaning that John Kerry's task is not winning the black vote, but getting out more of them. For that, few words work better than Florida, 2000.
KERRY: Don't tell us the strongest democracy on earth that a million disenfranchised African-Americans and the most tainted election in American history is the best that we can do.
CROWLEY: Kerry's courtship of minorities also includes a $2 million ad campaign.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can he really make a difference for me and my family?
ANNOUNCER: Learn about John Kerry's plan to expand access to health care to nearly all Americans especially our children.
CROWLEY: The giant yawn you hear is the Congressional Black Caucus greatly underwhelmed by the ad.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To reach the very heart, to reach the very soul and gut of the African-American voter, you've got to inspire not just those who want to go out and vote, but we got to get more of them to go out and vote.
CROWLEY: Black leaders think it would have been nice to be consulted about the ad before it aired but they give Camp Kerry high marks for listening now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kerry cannot win without the African-American vote. We know that and he knows that.
CROWLEY: Yes, he does. Candy Crowley, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: The Congressional Black Caucus and the Kerry campaign say new ads are under development. The criticism of President Bush for skipping the NAACP convention has struck a nerve with a member of his cabinet. Rod Paige, the nation's first black education secretary, a member of the NAACP, blasted the leadership of the civil rights group in an op ed in today's "Wall Street Journal" writing, quote, the current NAACP leadership has managed to take a proud, effective organization in a totally different direction, naked partisan politics, sure and simple with their hateful and untruthful rhetoric about Republicans and President Bush.
Earlier today I spoke with Secretary Paige.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Secretary Paige, do you think the NAACP can still claim to be a nonpartisan organization?
ROD PAIGE, SECRETARY OF EDUCATION: Well, NAACP is a proud organization with a distinguished history. Very few of us would be where we are now without the hard work of the NAACP, but the contemporary leadership of the NAACP brings this point into doubt. COOPER: You wrote in this op ed in the "Wall Street Journal," the corrosive rhetoric espoused by the NAACP may make headlines and get out the vote in some quarters, but it is counterproductive, damaging and a betrayal of the organization's own origins. Do you think, are you saying that the current leadership of the NAACP is intentionally using this to try to get out the vote among African-American communities for the Democrats?
PAIGE: Well, I think the record speaks for itself and I believe that to be judged by the people who witness it. But I think that the issue is pretty clear. Any objective person who looks at this and listens at the rhetoric could draw the right conclusion.
COOPER: Are you concerned at all that this will have any long- term lasting ramifications for the president, particularly in trying to reach out to the African-American community, whose vote -- I mean, I talked to Ed Gillespie a while back. They said they are trying to reach out to African-Americans. Don King is going around trying to pump up support among African-Americans for President Bush. Does this help?
PAIGE: The president has a long and distinguished record of involvement with African-Americans. Look at the appointments. Look at the important decisions the important positions that people -- that African-Americans hold in the Bush administration. Look at the support for the AIDS program in Africa. Look at the development of housing for low income people. The president has a distinguished record and is constantly reaching out and that record should be clear with anyone who is objective about it.
COOPER: Secretary Rob Paige, I appreciate your viewpoints tonight. Thank you.
PAIGE: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Earlier I talked about the NAACP controversy and other political flash points with CNN's Crossfire gang Paul Begala and Tucker Carlson. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Paul, let's start talking about the NAACP. Rod Paige says that the hateful and untruthful rhetoric proves that they're non partisan (ph). Can they really claim to be nonpartisan at this point?
PAUL BEGALA, "CROSSFIRE" CO-HOST: Of course, they are. They back some Republicans and some Democrats, I'm sure. They're the nation's oldest and largest civil rights group. Three and a half years ago, they ran an ad that the president didn't like. Tough luck, he still has an obligation to serve all of us, even those who criticize him, he is our president.
You know, he takes the taxes from the NAACP and they pay for his salary and that nice house and the plane that he gets. He should be the president for all Americans.
Plus politically it's a no-brainer. Bush is actually a very gracious guy, President Bush let me not call him by his last name. He's a very gracious guy, he would have done very well there. When he went to the NAACP and he campaigned, he did very well. So it was a political mistake and a substantive mistake.
COOPER: Tucker, was it a political mistake to not talk to a group that calls you a fascist.
TUCKER CARLSON, "CROSSFIRE" CO-HOST: It's hard to imagine anything more patronizing than the suggestion that the NAACP represents all black people in America, that's ludicrous. It does have an honorable history that goes without saying, but it is no longer an honorable organization.
The ad that Paul referred to four years ago wasn't simply an ad that the president didn't like, it was objectively outrageous and offensive. It suggested, I'm sure you remember, it was the James Byrd ad. It suggested the president approved of the murder of James Byrd in Texas. That's beyond the pale. That's beyond political debate. That is hateful.
And in fact it's a purely partisan organization. I don't think they support any Republicans. It would be as if people are outraged that somehow John Kerry didn't want to talk to the RNC. This whole argument, this whole phony controversy is ridiculous.
BEGALA: In point of fact, the NAACP did not say that at all. It had one of James Byrd's children, a man in Texas who was dragged to death say that when they came to Governor Bush and asked him to support a hate crimes bill he turned them down and then the James Byrd child says how that made that person feel.
It is a point and also a fact, it wasn't in the ad, but the fact that Bush was governor when that happened and he wouldn't go to the funeral just like he doesn't go to funerals for soldiers. I guess he doesn't do funerals, but I think that's part of a public leader's job.
COOPER: Paul, is this issue of Whoopi Goldberg and Slim-Fast, is this thing going away or are we going to keep hearing this talk on the campaign trail as we have the last couple of days?
BEGALA: Well, I think it's an interesting example of the double standard in the media. Whoopi Goldberg apparently told some jokes people didn't like. I didn't hear them, don't even know what they are and everybody got their panties in a wad and here's this big corporation fires her.
Meanwhile yesterday, Dennis Miller at a Bush rally basically implies that John Edwards and John Kerry are gay, then attacks my pal James Carville for the way that he looks and nobody says anything. I doubt CNN has even covered that story today at all.
So why is it that a liberal comedian can make fun of President Bush, but she gets fired from her job? A conservative comedian makes really nasty sexual innuendoes about Kerry and Edwards and nobody says anything. So it's a double standard.
CARLSON: This is the kind of outrageous bias and prejudice stand up comedians face in this country.
COOPER: All right. One more topic, Vice President Bush, Vice President Cheney, these consistent rumors that he may not be on the ticket. He has a low approval rating, categorically denied by the vice president. Tucker is there anything to this?
CARLSON: I don't think there is. In fact I would be shocked. In fact I would bet my car that they're not going to dump Cheney barring something..
COOPER: Should they?
CARLSON: ...health event. I don't think they should. I mean he's not that popular with the public, but I don't see any evidence people vote on the basis of vice president. Bush is right when he says he could run the country. He could. I don't think he hurts the ticket. People going to vote - If they don't like Bush, they're not going to vote for him. If they like him they'll vote for him. I don't think Cheney enters into the equation.
COOPER: Paul?
BEGALA: They can't dump him and they won't because he does hurt the ticket, actually. There's a new poll out today from Democracy Corps (ph) that shows if he costs him about four points himself on the ticket. Bu they can't dump him because it would just destroy any shred of credibility that George W. Bush has left. He's told us again and again what a great guy Vice President Cheney is, how he can't do without him. I don't doubt it. He couldn't even testify before the 9/11 commission without Dick Cheney holding his hand. So no, he's not going to dump him.
COOPER: Paul Begala, Tucker Carlson, we got a lot in. Thanks guys.
CARLSON: Thanks.
BEGALA: Thanks.
COOPER: Can those guys ever agree on anything?
Ozzy Osbourne has never really been known for being particularly politically astute, but apparently he's decided to try to spice up his act. Last night he opened a concert with a song called "War Pigs" during which he showed a video apparently comparing President Bush to Adolph Hitler. This of course the same day Whoopi Goldberg was dropped from doing Slim-Fast commercials. Celebrities speaking out and the outcry it often evokes. That has definitely become part of raw politics.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: It didn't take long for Republicans to strike back at last week's Kerry fundraiser, which they dubbed a star-studded hate fest.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This was a Kerry-Edwards event. This was sponsored by the campaign and the fact is that, what Whoopi Goldberg said was so true it couldn't even be reprinted in the newspaper or you couldn't run it here.
COOPER: Of the many celebrities she bore the brunt of Republicans ire and paid the price yesterday. Slim-fast pulled its Whoopi ad.
WHOOPI GOLDBERG, COMEDIAN: So come here, Slim Fast has some really big news for you, honey.
COOPER: Whoopi Goldberg is not the first star to pay a price for her political comments. After the Dixie Chicks publicly criticized President Bush over the Iraq war, a number of country music radio stations banned their music and record sales fell off the charts. For their 2003 concert tour was a sellout and actor Tom Selleck came under fire from liberals after he taped an ad for the NRA.
TOM SELLECK, ACTOR: If I can't speak for the NRA...
ROSIE O'DONNELL, COMEDIAN: But you're their spokesperson Tom. You have to be responsible for what they say.
COOPER: But long-term, it seems, celebrities rarely pay a price for speaking out. Sean Penn's pre-war trip to Iraq angered conservatives and led some to suggest he should be blacklisted. Instead he received his first academy award a year later.
Some conservative groups tried to prevent the release of Michael Moore's Bush-bashing film "Fahrenheit 9/11" in the United States, but this simply created more publicity for the movie which has so far grossed more than $80 million.
MICHAEL MOORE, FILM MAKER: ...Republicans and right-wingers to prohibit the American public from seeing this film. They've only helped the movie. And they're all getting a Christmas card from me this year.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: In the world of raw politics, star wars can go both ways.
"360" next, Martha Stewart out and about before meeting the judge. What might she face tomorrow in court? That in justice served ahead.
Also tonight, pop princess Britney Spears facing headlines again and again and again, but to us it's overkill.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Martha Stewart said only two words really during her trial. Not guilty, but tomorrow the celebrity homemaker may have something more to say. She'll be sentenced tomorrow and she could use the opportunity if she shows up in court to make a statement, maybe even plead for leniency. Stewart faces up to 16 months in jail for lying to investigators about a stock sale. Adora Udoji (ph) looks now at how Stewart is spending her possible last remaining moments of freedom.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARTHA STEWART: We'll see what happens, but I'm a believer in American justice.
ADORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If pictures told the whole story, one might think Martha Stewart doesn't have a worry in the world, not a woman potentially facing prison. This summer she's been hitting the New York City social scene, the Emmy awards, the "Fahrenheit 9/11" movie premiere, glamming it up at the Council of Fashion Designers of America awards, rooting for the Yankees. Famed celebrity photographer Patrick McMullen, a friend, says Stewart's keeping her head up.
PATRICK McMULLAN, CELEBRITY PHOTOGRAPHER: I have seen Martha out a few places enjoying her freedom and enjoying being with friends.
UDOJI: She's also been tending to business at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia though she's given up roles as an officer as director.
RICHARD FEIGEN, STEWART'S FRIEND: She's a very strong, determined person.
UDOJI: Her friend of 17 years, art dealer Richard Feigen says meeting with lawyers takes up much of her time.
FEIGEN: She's essentially optimistic. I think she's sort of apprehensive like anybody would be here, but I don't think -- it's certainly not getting her down.
UDOJI: Her freedom is at risk. The homemaker mogul convicted of four felonies in connection with her sale of ImClone stock. Prison could follow. She'll be sentenced Friday.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: The worst thing that Martha could be doing right now is some kind of phony charity work that would obviously be an attempt to appeal to the judge. She's living her life the way she always has and there's nothing wrong with that.
UDOJI: Legal experts predict a possible 10 to 16 month sentence but probation is not out of the question. They also expect she'll remain free on bond as she appeals her conviction. Adora Udoji, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Covering the case for us tonight, celebrity justice correspondent, Carolina Buia. Good to see you again. CAROLINA BUIA, CELEBRITY JUSTICE: Thanks.
COOPER: Let's talk about what may happen tomorrow in court. What do you think?
BUIA: Well, Martha Stewart's going to find out exactly whether or not she's going to go to prison. Chances are that she's probably going to face a prison term anywhere as you said, between 10 and 16 months. I've spoken to a number of experts and it seems that she's going to be going to prison on the lower end of the spectrum, although she may do something like five months in prison and then five months in home detention or a halfway home.
COOPER: A halfway home or even her own home.
BUIA: Correct. I mean that is a possibility. It's all up to the judge and we'll find out tomorrow.
COOPER: How do you think the judge is likely to react or will he even care about what Martha Stewart has been doing, going out publicly, being sort of seen socially?
BUIA: Well, the alternative is that Martha Stewart could stay home, hide under the covers, feed her chickens. I think it takes a lot of strength on Martha's behalf, the fact that she's gone outside and continued to lead the life that she's always led. She hasn't been partying like a rock star. She hasn't pulled a Courtney Love. She's just been doing the usual things. She's also been working. I mean she's been going to movie premieres. She's been hanging out in the Hamptons but she's also been very involved with her company, with her magazine and with a new book project, a baking book.
COOPER: Also trying to put a lot of her financial house in order, selling off one of her apartments here in New York. I guess that's pretty common for people sort of facing this sort of sentencing.
BUIA: She may need a cash infusion. She also sold a number of stocks in June. She sold about $4.6 million worth of shares in her company, but as to the apartment that she recently -- well, there are rumors that she's sold that it's not certain that the sale has actually gone through, but that apartment has been on the market since 2002. She removed it off the market for a little bit and then she put it back on the market.
COOPER: It's a sort of controversial building I guess.
BUIA: It is a controversial building. They've had leaks. They've had heating problems so maybe Martha just wanted to be rid of it.
COOPER: What do you think is going to happen tomorrow in terms of how much time she's actually going to get?
BUIA: I think she is going to get on the lower side of the spectrum, somewhere between 10 and 12 months in prison, around a year.
COOPER: But she won't have to start serving it immediately. She's not going to be spending Friday night in prison.
BUIA: Probably not. Most likely her lawyers are going to ask the judge to give her some time to continue to put her affairs in order, but knowing Martha, most of her affair both from the very mundane to her large financial affairs are probably already in order.
COOPER: One can only imagine the stress she is under and she's really been handling herself very well publicly. Carolina Buia, thanks very much.
BUIA: Thank you for having me.
COOPER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) what do you think? Does Martha Stewart deserve to go to prison? Log on to cnn.com/360. Cast your vote, results at the end of program tonight.
"360" next. Excuse me, Britney Spears back in the headlines. See how excited I get? And once again not for her music, be mean to Britney, we call that overkill.
Plus the new "Jeopardy" millionaire. I can take him on. I'll show you (INAUDIBLE).
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Time to check on some pop news, some lighter stuff in tonight's current. Let's take a look. Pat Boone has been turning heads on Capitol Hill this week, not so much for his public support of a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, rather for his truly bold fashion, showing the Senate you don't have to have a queer eye to look fabulous.
The Olympic flame, once simply a symbol of world peace/oversized lighter is now the latest weapon in the war on drugs. A police helicopter accompanying the flame on the island of Crete spotted a hidden marijuana farm. Local police investigated and discovered 7,000 cannabis plants. Upon hearing the bust, Vermont is said to be reconsidering its bid for the 2012 Olympic games.
India's flamboyant and prolific film industry known as Ballywood (ph) is making inroads into the U.S. market. Time Warner cable, the German (ph) CNN has announced a trial run or Time Warner does, has announced a trial run of Ballywood on demand, featuring a line up of Hindi musicals, Hindi romantic comedies and of course Hindi romantic comedies musicals. Competition for cable viewers is intense and Ballywood of course has been criticized in the past for recycling stories and flooding the market with cookie cutter products, but honestly that hasn't seemed to hurt 24-hour cable news very much.
And "Jeopardy" is reaping the rewards of contestant Ken Jennings' winning streak, that as I'm sure you heard by now has passed the $1 million mark. Nielsen says the show's ratings are up 36 percent from the same time last year. Just imagine what the show's ratings would be if Mr. Jennings accepted the challenge that I issued him as a former "Jeopardy" champion two nights ago. Here's what a match up between us might look like. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEX TREBEK: Anderson?
COOPER: What is the Washington Redskins?
TREBEK: That's right.
TREBEK: Ken?
KEN JENNINGS: What is illiteracy?
TREBEK: No. Anderson?
COOPER: Who is Maria Calas?
TREBEK: Correct. Ken.
JENNINGS: What's kitty's (ph) blood pressure.
TREBEK: Nope. Canada's right. That's right.
COOPER: Nope.
TREBEK: That's right.
COOPER: No. No. No.
TREBEK: That's right.
COOPER: I would win. That's all I'm going to say. "360" next, politicians and the skeletons in their family's closet. We're going to take that to the "Nth" degree. Plus tomorrow what is a spy's most powerful weapon? Some say sexpionage. What's that all about? Hear all about the oldest trick of the trade.
First today's buzz. Does Martha Stewart deserve to go to prison? What do you think? Log on to cnn.com/360. Cast your vote. Results when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: So does it seem like a hour since you picked up a tabloid and found Britney Spears bracing the gossip page? Aren't you kind of tired of it? To us, being mean to Britney just fees like overkill.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Yes, she did. Britney Spears is again or still fodder for the tabloids and for so many reasons, where to begin? The latest photo shows Britney strolling with her fiance, Kevin Fetterline (ph) drinking from what the tabs say could be a mini bottle of booze in Santa Monica where it's illegal to swig your scotch from an open container in public. But that's not all. The singer was also snapped dumping her ashtray off the balcony off a hotel, dressed in a well, kind of a mumu. If that's not enough, the soon to be second time bride is being haunted by her past mistakes. Remember her starter marriage, the one that last 55 hours? Turns out hubby number one did kiss and now he's telling, to the British tabloid "News of the World." Jason Alexander says Britney proposed to him in Vegas after a night of sex he describes as mind blowing and rough.
JASON ALEXANDER, EX-HUSBAND OF BRITNEY SPEARS: It's like, you want to pinch yourself in moments like this.
COOPER: Ouch! But, hey, credit where credit is due. The tabloids do report on the happy times like the pop tart's impending nuptials.
She's got a knockout rock which OK, she reportedly paid for and her fiance is gainfully employed, OK, by her, buy hey, you can't ask for everything.
Sure, his ex-girlfriend is still pregnant with his second child and the tabloids say Britney doesn't want him to sign a prenup. We're not ones to give advice, but Brit, come on, follow your head, not your heart on this one. Truth is TV is as fascinated by Britney as the print press. We talked about her...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Britney got engaged to her boyfriend of three months.
COOPER: We talked to her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know you haven't seen this, but in here there's a picture of you coming out of a restaurant.
COOPER: But now, we think it's time to take a Britney break or at least give her a break. The steady pop tart diet is starting to feel a bit like sugar shock. Oops! I mean, overkill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: And we spoke to Britney Spears' representatives tonight, they said the singer is not commenting on any of the tabloid tales we mentioned, not at this time. Thank goodness.
Time now for the buzz. Earlier we ask you, does Martha Stewart deserve to go to prison? 48 percent of you said yes, 52 percent of you voted no. Not a scientific poll, but it is your buzz. Thanks for voting.
Tonight taking the political relative to the Nth degree. They say you can choose your friends but not your relatives and nowhere is that better demonstrated than in the rough-and-tumble world of politics. Every election year it seems along with the details of where candidates stand on free trade and flat taxes, we also find out the sordid details of their nearest and greatest. Remember Billy carter, lobbying for Libya, brandishing Billy Beer. Then came Neil Bush and Roger Clinton.
This week the next installment of oh, brother. The press has swarmed over details about John Edwards' brother Wesley Blake. The "New York Daily News" reports that WBE has numerous arrests for driving under the influence. But in this day and age does anyone really care? Republicans and Democrats, who doesn't have some skeletons in their family's closet? In fact, a few familiar mess ups make today's plastic politicians at least seem a little bit more human. That's "360" for tonight. Thanks for watching.
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 July 15, 2004 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, HOST: Good evening from New York. I'm Anderson Cooper.
The mystery of Corporal Wassef Hassoun, back on U.S. soil, facing tough questions about what he says happened.
360 starts now.
A U.S. marine who says he was held hostage returns home, but the fate of other hostages in Iraq remains uncertain.
Tough talk from the new Iraqi prime minister, but can Allawi actually stop the terrorists?
Elizabeth Edwards hits the campaign trail. Her message? She's one of you. Just ahead, her struggle to have kids in her late 40s.
Martha Stewart faces sentencing tomorrow. How she's preparing today.
And this week's overkill, Britney bashing. When will the tabloids leave this pop tartlet alone?
ANNOUNCER: Live from New York, this is ANDERSON COOPER 360.
COOPER: Good evening again.
The hostage business in Iraq, and it is clearly a business, a money-making enterprise and a political one as well, and some days it's hard to tell exactly where the truth is on any particular case.
Today, for example, Corporal Wassef Hassoun returned home, surrounded by questions. Did he go AWOL, or was he captured, kidnapped as -- by insurgents as he says? And if he was, how did he manage to walk away when others have been savagely murdered?
Still in Iraq, still held hostage, an Egyptian man today threatened with death if his Saudi employers don't pull their workers out of Iraq. And a new tape surfaces of a Philippine captive that gives his family new hope, and his government says it is pulling its troops out of the country.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER (voice-over): The new video of Angelo de la Cruz shows him in street clothes for the first time since his kidnapping on July 7. In the video, he points out that he's not wearing the orange jumpsuit that many captives have been forced to wear, and he asks his family to wait for him.
Cruz also appeals to Philippine President Arroyo to keep her promise to pull her country's troops out of Iraq. An hour later, Al Jazeera, which aired the video, also received a statement from Cruz's apparent captors, saying he would be held until all 51 Filipino troops in Iraq had left. And they extended the deadline for that to happen to the end of this month.
Nevertheless, in Cruz's hometown in the Philippines, there is cautious optimism from his family.
FELICIANO DE LA CRUZ, BROTHER OF FILIPINO HOSTAGE (through translator): We are fairly happy. We'll be a lot happier when we are finally reunited with him, when he finally returns to the Philippines.
COOPER: At the White House, however, there continues to be criticism of the Philippines' decision to pull out.
SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I think it is disappointing to see a decision to withdraw these 51 troops from Iraq ahead of schedule, because it does send the wrong signal to the terrorists. There is no negotiation with terrorists. There is no separate peace with terrorists.
COOPER: Meanwhile, in the northern Iraq city of Mosul, police have pulled a headless body from the Tigris River, which may be one of the two Bulgarian truck drivers who'd been taken hostage. Al Jazeera reported earlier in the week that it had received a videotape showing one of the men being beheaded. DNA tests are being conducted to determine the man's identity.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, there was potential progress in Iraq today, but as always, it comes a cost. In the last 24 hours, 17 people have died in a series of attacks. The deadliest, another car bombing, this time in the northwest. The target, police station. At least 10 Iraqis killed, including four police officers.
And yet another oil pipeline is badly damaged south of Kirkuk. The government, trying to show it can crack down, today announced a new approach to, in their words, "annihilate the terrorists," a new intelligence apparatus.
The latest from CNN's Michael Holmes.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Taking the fight to the insurgents, that was the message from Iraq's interim government Thursday.
AYAD ALLAWI, IRAQI INTERIM PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We are determined to bring down all of the hurdles that lay in the way of our democratic march and our freedom.
HOLMES: Part of the plan, the formation of an internal intelligence agency, the General Security Directorate. Its job, to infiltrate the insurgency, gather information, help wipe it out.
(on camera): Mention an intelligence service in this country, and many people think back to the bad old days of Saddam Hussein, when his domestic spies would show up in the dead of night and take away husbands, brothers, and sons, never to be seen again.
But on the streets of Baghdad today, we found some optimism for the new service.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I wish they'd taken this step from the beginning, because our people have been hit hard by looting and kidnapping.
HOLMES: The interim government is going out of its way to say there will be strict oversight, and those accepted into the agency would have to have, in the words of the interior minister, "clean hands."
Allawi also said he'd be trying to seal his country's porous borders from foreign fighters, adding that security in Iraq had improved, despite another day of violence and death. Prime Minister Allawi said he will visit a number of Mideast neighbors, including Kuwait and, later, Iran. He also plans to go to Europe and Pakistan.
All looking for training assistance, money, and troops from some countries to help tackle the insurgency he says is doomed to fail.
Michael Holmes, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, a quick news note for you on one of Iraq's most wanted terrorists. A review of British intelligence shows that it received reports ahead of the Iraq war saying this man, Abu Musab al- Zarqawi, a name you have heard a lot in the last several months, seeded Baghdad with sleeper cells to attack U.S.-led forces and that he may have received chemical and biological weapons from northern Iraq.
And just today, Zarqawi's terrorist group reportedly claimed responsibility on an Islamic Web site for this attack, the aftermath of which you see, the assassination of the governor of Mosul, which happened just yesterday. Insurgents tossed hand grenades and fired machine guns on the governor's convoy as it headed for Baghdad.
Well, Corporal Wassef Hassoun finally arrived back on U.S. soil today, as we mentioned. A hostage returning would normally be a happy event, but with questions still swirling about exactly what happened to Hassoun, at today's homecoming there was little sign of celebration. Hassoun, of course, claims he was abducted in Iraq, but the Pentagon says they want proof.
Here's senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Smiling and looking relaxed, Corporal Wassef Ali Hassoun arrived at the Quantico Marine Base, giving no hint of someone facing serious questions about whether he's a deserter.
The Marines suspect Hassoun left his post in Iraq voluntarily last month with the intention of deserting and joining relatives in Lebanon. But publicly, the Marine Corps is playing it by the book, insisting that Corporal Hassoun is simply going through the normal repatriation process for any former hostage.
LT. COL. DAVID LAPAN, U.S. MARINE CORPS SPOKESMAN: Repatriation is the process of decompression, debriefing, and integration of individuals who have been captured or detained. The length of this process can vary from weeks to months, depending on the circumstances of the individual case.
MCINTYRE: The spokesman said Hassoun arrived tired but healthy and in good spirits. Otherwise, the Marines are saying little publicly about what explanation Hassoun has offered for his disappearance from Iraq June 19, and his reappearance in Lebanon July 7, when he turned himself over to U.S. embassy officials.
Sources say Hassoun insists he was abducted, but in a brief statement issued in Germany, he made no mention of that, simply thanking the hospital staff and saying he was excited about going home.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCINTYRE: So far, Hassoun has not been formally accused of any wrongdoing. He hasn't asked for nor been assigned a military attorney, something that would be a necessary first step if any charges are contemplated, Anderson.
COOPER: Jamie McIntyre, thanks, from the Pentagon.
The Kerry camp OKs the presidential debate schedule. That story tops our look at what's happening right now cross-country. John Kerry's campaign says it has accepted the proposed schedule of three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate this fall. The schedule calls for presidential debates in Miami, Saint, Louis, and Tempe, Arizona, and the vice presidential debate in Cleveland.
In Washington, President Bush tapped his father to lead the U.S. delegation to the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, next month. In addition to former president Bush, Barbara Bush and the president's two daughters, Jenna and Barbara, will represent the U.S. as well.
In Miami, quite a melting pot. A survey has found that 59 percent of the Florida city's residents are foreign born. The number of migrants internationally has soared over the last decade. Rounding out the top five cities for people not born here are Toronto, Los Angeles, Vancouver, and New York.
And in Atlanta, the CDC says you can hunt and shoot the bear, but if you're going to eat it, you better cook it all the way through. A handful of trichinosis cases have shown up recently in Tennessee and New York from people who ate their bear, and -- I'm not making this up -- medium rare. Folks, if you're planning to put Smoky on the grill this summer, make sure he's well done. Mmm, bear.
That's a quick look at the stories cross-country tonight.
360 next, a multimillion-dollar bet. The L.A. Lakers putting their money on this man, Kobe Bryant, despite a looming court case and two rulings against him. We'll have the very latest.
Plus, a car crash mixup. The tragic accident that turned to devastation when the family finds the body of another boy in their son's casket.
And on the campaign trail, defying fertility odds, John Edwards' wife, how she became a new mom at 50. A closer look at her incredible story.
First, let's take a look at your picks, the most popular stories on CNN.com right now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: One hundred and thirty-six million dollars, that's how much the Los Angeles Lakers agreed today to pay Kobe Bryant over seven years. That amount of money is enough to put almost anyone in a carefree mood, but probably not Bryant. The new contract comes a day after the court ruled against his defense team on two key motions.
Here's Miguel Marquez.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One question answered, Kobe Bryant remains an L.A. Laker.
KOBE BRYANT, LOS ANGELES LAKERS: Game on.
MARQUEZ: Another question looms larger than ever. Will Kobe Bryant go to prison?
BRIAN COOK, LOS ANGELES LAKERS: I have no idea, and that's not any of my concern. My concern is to be the best athlete and the best basketball player that I can be, and let the organization take care of that.
MARQUEZ: Of concern to Bryant's defense, the judge overseeing his rape case ruled an audiotape secretly made of Kobe Bryant could be used in court. Bryant's lawyers objected to the tape, because it was made without Bryant's knowledge or consent, shortly after he was accused of rape. The judge allowed it, he said, because Bryant was not under arrest when it was made, and it appeared he freely offered up the information.
On the tape, the judge indicated that the Lakers star was occasionally crying and very emotional as he was interviewed by investigators. The judge also says significant portions of the tape are inaudible.
The judge also ruled on evidence taken from Bryant's room. The evidence, two T-shirts, blue Nike track pants, boxer shorts, and stationery from the hotel can now be seen by a jury.
(on camera): Another major ruling on evidence is yet to come, whether the sexual history of Bryant's accuser will be allowed in court.
The trial is slated to begin August 27, and the NBA season starting in October, the question only grows, will Kobe Bryant remain a star in a city of stars?
Miguel Marquez, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: In Michigan, a tragedy of really unimaginable proportions. A car wreck which killed one boy, severely injured another, but the tragedy was compounded by a mix-up over just who was alive and who was dead.
CNN's Sara Dorsey explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARA DORSEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This car accident killed one Michigan boy and left another with the fight of his life. The Atrim County sheriff's office originally said 17-year-old Patrick Bement was killed, identified by the location of his wallet, and his friend, 16-year-old Nathaniel Smith, was in the hospital.
But that turned out to be a horrible mistake.
SHERIFF TERRY JOHNSON, ANTRIM COUNTY: This error has caused added stress and grief to the family and friends of the two young men. We will continue to investigate this incident and how this error may have occurred, and find ways to prevent it from occurring in the future.
DORSEY: The Bement family feared that the police had made a mistake immediately after seeing the boy in the casket, but those were downplayed by the funeral home, because the boy's injuries were so massive.
After two visitations and only days before the funeral, the Bements urged the Smiths to check a few scars in the toes of the boy in the hospital. That's when the mistake was discovered. Patrick Bement was alive, and Nathaniel Smith was dead.
STEVE HARVEY, TEACHER: On the one hand, you're somewhat relieved for Patrick's family, that he still has hope, and then that also means that another student has passed away, and so there's tremendous sadness on that part.
DORSEY: The sheriff's office took fingerprints and dental records from both boys. Now they are trying to figure out just what happened.
JOHNSON: Our complete, complete apologies to the family and the family members of all who are involved in this unfortunate circumstance.
DORSEY (on camera): I talked to Patrick Bement's stepmother today. She said her family has mixed emotions about all of this. On the one hand, they're happy to have Patrick back, but she said their hearts break for the Smith family. Only days ago, they were in the same position, planning a funeral. She said the Smiths are now just being strong and trying to get through all of this.
Sara Dorsey, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Hard to believe.
An American accused of defecting to North Korea may soon be in the U.S. custody again. That tops our look at what's happening right now around the world in the uplink.
U.S. Army Sergeant Charles Jenkins, who reportedly defected 39 years ago -- that's him there with the gray hair -- needs abdominal surgery now. He may head to Japan for medical treatment. Now, if he does, the U.S. will try to take him into custody and question him about communist North Korea, which the U.S. believes has nuclear weapons.
Czech Republic, a horrifying practice comes to an end. The government says it will stop putting children who need psychiatric care in caged beds like that one, a practice long condemned by the E.U. and United Nations.
In Madrid, a huge fire is under control after authorities shut down the center of Spain's capital city. The fire, as you can see, it started in a power station near the spot where trains were bombed on March 11. No one was killed in today's fire.
Off Nova Scotia, Canada, divers found a U-boat that came awfully close to Canada's coastline. This particular German submarine from World War II had been ordered to put mines in Boston Harbor, but it never got that far, thankfully. It went down with all its mines intact. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) history.
That's tonight's uplink.
360 next, on the campaign trail, and defying medical odds. John Edwards' wife challenges the limits of fertility and gives birth at age 50. Find out if maybe this is an option for you. A medical- political report you won't want to miss.
Also tonight, Martha Stewart's farewell tour. She's selling her digs. She's out on the town. Find out how she's spending what may be her last days of freedom.
And a little later, star wars, celebrities and the politicians who love them, but is all that love really worth the cost? That's raw politics.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Well, she turned 55 the week her husband was tapped to be number two on the Kerry-Edwards ticket. At the Democrats' first joint appearance, her two young children. Well, they really almost stole the show. Elizabeth Edwards, like her husband, is an accomplished attorney, but she stopped practicing law following a family tragedy.
We've been profiling all the candidates' wives. Tonight, the woman who seems to be practicing something on the campaign trail that comes naturally, just being herself.
Here's Judy Woodruff.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A beaming face, with a compelling message -- I am one of you.
ELIZABETH EDWARDS, WIFE OF JOHN EDWARDS: If you try to pretend you're something else, you will be uncomfortable with that, and voters will sense it.
WOODRUFF: Elizabeth Edwards speaks through her life's experiences. Unlike the other wives on this year's presidential circuit, she's a relative political newcomer whose life is in a very different place.
TERESA HEINZ KERRY, JOHN KERRY'S WIFE: She's suffered loss. And she didn't drown with it.
WOODRUFF: The loss came when their 16-year-old son, Wade, died in a car accident eight years ago.
ELIZABETH EDWARDS: People come up to me all the time and say that they're sadly a member of the same sorority that I'm a member of. And so you make connections with people in that way.
WOODRUFF: The tragedy marked a turning point for Elizabeth Edwards. She folded her law practice, and, in her late 40s, underwent fertility treatments and became pregnant again with Emma Claire at 48, and again at 50 with another son, Jack.
Her two young children adding sparkle to standard stumping.
SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, with the love of my life for 26 years married, and even before that, the love of my life, Elizabeth.
WOODRUFF: They met in law school, both students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Thirty years later, she's thrown herself into this campaign.
ELIZABETH EDWARDS: We want to have the votes of every person in this room.
WOODRUFF: Bringing a soft touch to the hard sell back in the primaries.
ELIZABETH EDWARDS: It's really important that his voice be part of the process, not just for him, but, frankly, for the people who are really responding to him.
WOODRUFF: And sharp advice and a new warmth to the Kerry ticket now.
Judy Woodruff, CNN, reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, we often hear about celebrities who get pregnant late in life. Geena Davis was 48 years old, Susan Sarandon 46. But in the real world, how many women are joining the ranks of Elizabeth Edwards, becoming midlife moms?
We thought we'd look tonight at the challenges and risks these women face, and there are many of them.
Joining us from Los Angeles, Dr. Lisa Masterson, a fertility specialist.
Dr. Masterson, thanks for being with us tonight.
DR. LISA MASTERSON, FERTILITY SPECIALIST: Thank you.
COOPER: Elizabeth Edwards gave birth at age 48 and 50. How difficult is it for women now to get pregnant at this age?
MASTERSON: It can be very difficult, except if a woman's in good shape and doesn't have any medical problems. The fertility rate really decreases after 40 to about 25 percent. So this can be difficult for women. Excuse me. Forty percent after 40, and 25 percent after 45. So your fertility rate goes down, you have increased risk of miscarriage, you can have a higher rate of C- sections.
But as long as a woman is in good, healthy shape and doesn't have any medical problems, this can be a very rewarding experience.
COOPER: Well, say you're in your late 40s, I mean, how common is it for women to use fertility treatments? Of women in their late 40s, how many have to resort to that?
MASTERSON: About 50 percent of women over 40 use fertility treatments, really because, at 40, our eggs are 40 years old. When we're born, we have that same eggs that we had when we were born. And so our eggs are 40 years old, where a man makes his sperm every 90 to 100 days, so that's being renewed. So the problems for women after 40 is that their eggs are older, and they have a decreased number.
COOPER: So there's a lot -- a high likelihood they will have to use egg donors?
MASTERSON: Very much. After 45, most women use egg donors, because it increases the success rate for things like in vitro fertilization. Without a donor egg, a woman over 45 has about an 8 to 10 percent success rate with in vitro fertilization, whereas if she has donor eggs, then that increases to about 40 percent or 50 percent. So it really increases the chances. And in vitro fertilization is not very cheap.
COOPER: And are there sort of medical advances that are, you know, sort of in the pipeline that's going to make it easier for women in this age? I mean, will the age continue to, to, to raise up?
MASTERSON: Absolutely. Things like egg freezing, but then you have to think ahead of time about egg freezing, because the better the eggs, or the younger the eggs, I should say, then the better the in vitro fertilization.
Also things like nuclear transfer. Instead of using an egg donor, what a woman can do is have her genetics injected into the donor egg, so basically you have the young egg surrounding, and you have the mother's genetics inside, so that now, with the donor egg, that child doesn't have the mother's genetics, but with that future possibility, maybe it can be more genetically resemble the parent.
COOPER: It's a fascinating topic. Dr. Lisa Masterson, thanks very much.
MASTERSON: Thank you.
COOPER: We have heard plenty about the health risks associated with having a baby late in life, but a new study also suggests there could be a benefit as well. Women who have a child after the age of 35 will have a 58 percent lower risk of ovarian cancer than women who do not.
Martha Stewart faces sentencing tomorrow. How she's preparing today.
And this week's overkill, Britney bashing. When will the tabloids leave this pop tartlet alone?
360 continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: 360 next, black conservatives take on the NAACP. Find out from education secretary Rod Paige why.
And Martha Stewart's farewell time. Find out how she's getting ready for the possibility of prison.
Before that, let's take a look at our top stories in the reset.
Turns out Hillary Clinton will speak in prime time at the Democratic convention. CNN confirms the senator from New York will introduce her husband, Bill Clinton, on the first night at the convention in Boston later this month. Some press reports said Senator Clinton was furious at not being invited earlier. The senator's office said it wasn't true, that she's delighted to now have the opportunity.
In Los Alamos, New Mexico, all classified work is shut down as security officers investigate missing data from one of the lab's research areas. The data storage devices were discovered missing last week during a regular inventory.
In Washington, lawyers have filed writs of habeas corpus to try and gain the release of 15 Yemeni citizens currently locked up at the detention camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Just under 600 foreign nationals detained for what President Bush calls a global war on terrorism are at the camp. Most were caught in Afghanistan.
President Bush signed legislation today that toughens the penalties on persons convicted of identity theft. Federal officials estimate that identity theft cost consumers and businesses over $50 billion last year.
Also in Washington, the nation's blood supply is running critically short this summer, and the American Red Cross wants your help. People with type O-negative blood are particularly needed. But if you can donate blood, the agency says it doesn't matter what type you have, come on in.
That's tonight's "Reset."
Democrat John Kerry took the stage today in Philadelphia. That was the stage that President Bush avoided. Kerry spoke to the NAACP at its annual convention.
For Kerry, it was an important opportunity to speak to a group whose support he is counting on in November.
Senior political correspondent Candy Crowley was there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He had them at the hello, but President Bush made John Kerry's appearance before the NAACP all the louder.
JOHN KERRY (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The president may be too busy to speak to you now, but I've got news for you. He's going to have plenty of time after November 2.
CROWLEY: Nine of 10 African-American voters in 2000 voted for Al Gore, meaning that John Kerry's task is not winning the black vote, but getting out more of them. For that, few words work better than Florida, 2000.
KERRY: Don't tell us the strongest democracy on earth that a million disenfranchised African-Americans and the most tainted election in American history is the best that we can do.
CROWLEY: Kerry's courtship of minorities also includes a $2 million ad campaign.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can he really make a difference for me and my family?
ANNOUNCER: Learn about John Kerry's plan to expand access to health care to nearly all Americans especially our children.
CROWLEY: The giant yawn you hear is the Congressional Black Caucus greatly underwhelmed by the ad.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To reach the very heart, to reach the very soul and gut of the African-American voter, you've got to inspire not just those who want to go out and vote, but we got to get more of them to go out and vote.
CROWLEY: Black leaders think it would have been nice to be consulted about the ad before it aired but they give Camp Kerry high marks for listening now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kerry cannot win without the African-American vote. We know that and he knows that.
CROWLEY: Yes, he does. Candy Crowley, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: The Congressional Black Caucus and the Kerry campaign say new ads are under development. The criticism of President Bush for skipping the NAACP convention has struck a nerve with a member of his cabinet. Rod Paige, the nation's first black education secretary, a member of the NAACP, blasted the leadership of the civil rights group in an op ed in today's "Wall Street Journal" writing, quote, the current NAACP leadership has managed to take a proud, effective organization in a totally different direction, naked partisan politics, sure and simple with their hateful and untruthful rhetoric about Republicans and President Bush.
Earlier today I spoke with Secretary Paige.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Secretary Paige, do you think the NAACP can still claim to be a nonpartisan organization?
ROD PAIGE, SECRETARY OF EDUCATION: Well, NAACP is a proud organization with a distinguished history. Very few of us would be where we are now without the hard work of the NAACP, but the contemporary leadership of the NAACP brings this point into doubt. COOPER: You wrote in this op ed in the "Wall Street Journal," the corrosive rhetoric espoused by the NAACP may make headlines and get out the vote in some quarters, but it is counterproductive, damaging and a betrayal of the organization's own origins. Do you think, are you saying that the current leadership of the NAACP is intentionally using this to try to get out the vote among African-American communities for the Democrats?
PAIGE: Well, I think the record speaks for itself and I believe that to be judged by the people who witness it. But I think that the issue is pretty clear. Any objective person who looks at this and listens at the rhetoric could draw the right conclusion.
COOPER: Are you concerned at all that this will have any long- term lasting ramifications for the president, particularly in trying to reach out to the African-American community, whose vote -- I mean, I talked to Ed Gillespie a while back. They said they are trying to reach out to African-Americans. Don King is going around trying to pump up support among African-Americans for President Bush. Does this help?
PAIGE: The president has a long and distinguished record of involvement with African-Americans. Look at the appointments. Look at the important decisions the important positions that people -- that African-Americans hold in the Bush administration. Look at the support for the AIDS program in Africa. Look at the development of housing for low income people. The president has a distinguished record and is constantly reaching out and that record should be clear with anyone who is objective about it.
COOPER: Secretary Rob Paige, I appreciate your viewpoints tonight. Thank you.
PAIGE: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Earlier I talked about the NAACP controversy and other political flash points with CNN's Crossfire gang Paul Begala and Tucker Carlson. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Paul, let's start talking about the NAACP. Rod Paige says that the hateful and untruthful rhetoric proves that they're non partisan (ph). Can they really claim to be nonpartisan at this point?
PAUL BEGALA, "CROSSFIRE" CO-HOST: Of course, they are. They back some Republicans and some Democrats, I'm sure. They're the nation's oldest and largest civil rights group. Three and a half years ago, they ran an ad that the president didn't like. Tough luck, he still has an obligation to serve all of us, even those who criticize him, he is our president.
You know, he takes the taxes from the NAACP and they pay for his salary and that nice house and the plane that he gets. He should be the president for all Americans.
Plus politically it's a no-brainer. Bush is actually a very gracious guy, President Bush let me not call him by his last name. He's a very gracious guy, he would have done very well there. When he went to the NAACP and he campaigned, he did very well. So it was a political mistake and a substantive mistake.
COOPER: Tucker, was it a political mistake to not talk to a group that calls you a fascist.
TUCKER CARLSON, "CROSSFIRE" CO-HOST: It's hard to imagine anything more patronizing than the suggestion that the NAACP represents all black people in America, that's ludicrous. It does have an honorable history that goes without saying, but it is no longer an honorable organization.
The ad that Paul referred to four years ago wasn't simply an ad that the president didn't like, it was objectively outrageous and offensive. It suggested, I'm sure you remember, it was the James Byrd ad. It suggested the president approved of the murder of James Byrd in Texas. That's beyond the pale. That's beyond political debate. That is hateful.
And in fact it's a purely partisan organization. I don't think they support any Republicans. It would be as if people are outraged that somehow John Kerry didn't want to talk to the RNC. This whole argument, this whole phony controversy is ridiculous.
BEGALA: In point of fact, the NAACP did not say that at all. It had one of James Byrd's children, a man in Texas who was dragged to death say that when they came to Governor Bush and asked him to support a hate crimes bill he turned them down and then the James Byrd child says how that made that person feel.
It is a point and also a fact, it wasn't in the ad, but the fact that Bush was governor when that happened and he wouldn't go to the funeral just like he doesn't go to funerals for soldiers. I guess he doesn't do funerals, but I think that's part of a public leader's job.
COOPER: Paul, is this issue of Whoopi Goldberg and Slim-Fast, is this thing going away or are we going to keep hearing this talk on the campaign trail as we have the last couple of days?
BEGALA: Well, I think it's an interesting example of the double standard in the media. Whoopi Goldberg apparently told some jokes people didn't like. I didn't hear them, don't even know what they are and everybody got their panties in a wad and here's this big corporation fires her.
Meanwhile yesterday, Dennis Miller at a Bush rally basically implies that John Edwards and John Kerry are gay, then attacks my pal James Carville for the way that he looks and nobody says anything. I doubt CNN has even covered that story today at all.
So why is it that a liberal comedian can make fun of President Bush, but she gets fired from her job? A conservative comedian makes really nasty sexual innuendoes about Kerry and Edwards and nobody says anything. So it's a double standard.
CARLSON: This is the kind of outrageous bias and prejudice stand up comedians face in this country.
COOPER: All right. One more topic, Vice President Bush, Vice President Cheney, these consistent rumors that he may not be on the ticket. He has a low approval rating, categorically denied by the vice president. Tucker is there anything to this?
CARLSON: I don't think there is. In fact I would be shocked. In fact I would bet my car that they're not going to dump Cheney barring something..
COOPER: Should they?
CARLSON: ...health event. I don't think they should. I mean he's not that popular with the public, but I don't see any evidence people vote on the basis of vice president. Bush is right when he says he could run the country. He could. I don't think he hurts the ticket. People going to vote - If they don't like Bush, they're not going to vote for him. If they like him they'll vote for him. I don't think Cheney enters into the equation.
COOPER: Paul?
BEGALA: They can't dump him and they won't because he does hurt the ticket, actually. There's a new poll out today from Democracy Corps (ph) that shows if he costs him about four points himself on the ticket. Bu they can't dump him because it would just destroy any shred of credibility that George W. Bush has left. He's told us again and again what a great guy Vice President Cheney is, how he can't do without him. I don't doubt it. He couldn't even testify before the 9/11 commission without Dick Cheney holding his hand. So no, he's not going to dump him.
COOPER: Paul Begala, Tucker Carlson, we got a lot in. Thanks guys.
CARLSON: Thanks.
BEGALA: Thanks.
COOPER: Can those guys ever agree on anything?
Ozzy Osbourne has never really been known for being particularly politically astute, but apparently he's decided to try to spice up his act. Last night he opened a concert with a song called "War Pigs" during which he showed a video apparently comparing President Bush to Adolph Hitler. This of course the same day Whoopi Goldberg was dropped from doing Slim-Fast commercials. Celebrities speaking out and the outcry it often evokes. That has definitely become part of raw politics.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: It didn't take long for Republicans to strike back at last week's Kerry fundraiser, which they dubbed a star-studded hate fest.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This was a Kerry-Edwards event. This was sponsored by the campaign and the fact is that, what Whoopi Goldberg said was so true it couldn't even be reprinted in the newspaper or you couldn't run it here.
COOPER: Of the many celebrities she bore the brunt of Republicans ire and paid the price yesterday. Slim-fast pulled its Whoopi ad.
WHOOPI GOLDBERG, COMEDIAN: So come here, Slim Fast has some really big news for you, honey.
COOPER: Whoopi Goldberg is not the first star to pay a price for her political comments. After the Dixie Chicks publicly criticized President Bush over the Iraq war, a number of country music radio stations banned their music and record sales fell off the charts. For their 2003 concert tour was a sellout and actor Tom Selleck came under fire from liberals after he taped an ad for the NRA.
TOM SELLECK, ACTOR: If I can't speak for the NRA...
ROSIE O'DONNELL, COMEDIAN: But you're their spokesperson Tom. You have to be responsible for what they say.
COOPER: But long-term, it seems, celebrities rarely pay a price for speaking out. Sean Penn's pre-war trip to Iraq angered conservatives and led some to suggest he should be blacklisted. Instead he received his first academy award a year later.
Some conservative groups tried to prevent the release of Michael Moore's Bush-bashing film "Fahrenheit 9/11" in the United States, but this simply created more publicity for the movie which has so far grossed more than $80 million.
MICHAEL MOORE, FILM MAKER: ...Republicans and right-wingers to prohibit the American public from seeing this film. They've only helped the movie. And they're all getting a Christmas card from me this year.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: In the world of raw politics, star wars can go both ways.
"360" next, Martha Stewart out and about before meeting the judge. What might she face tomorrow in court? That in justice served ahead.
Also tonight, pop princess Britney Spears facing headlines again and again and again, but to us it's overkill.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Martha Stewart said only two words really during her trial. Not guilty, but tomorrow the celebrity homemaker may have something more to say. She'll be sentenced tomorrow and she could use the opportunity if she shows up in court to make a statement, maybe even plead for leniency. Stewart faces up to 16 months in jail for lying to investigators about a stock sale. Adora Udoji (ph) looks now at how Stewart is spending her possible last remaining moments of freedom.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARTHA STEWART: We'll see what happens, but I'm a believer in American justice.
ADORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If pictures told the whole story, one might think Martha Stewart doesn't have a worry in the world, not a woman potentially facing prison. This summer she's been hitting the New York City social scene, the Emmy awards, the "Fahrenheit 9/11" movie premiere, glamming it up at the Council of Fashion Designers of America awards, rooting for the Yankees. Famed celebrity photographer Patrick McMullen, a friend, says Stewart's keeping her head up.
PATRICK McMULLAN, CELEBRITY PHOTOGRAPHER: I have seen Martha out a few places enjoying her freedom and enjoying being with friends.
UDOJI: She's also been tending to business at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia though she's given up roles as an officer as director.
RICHARD FEIGEN, STEWART'S FRIEND: She's a very strong, determined person.
UDOJI: Her friend of 17 years, art dealer Richard Feigen says meeting with lawyers takes up much of her time.
FEIGEN: She's essentially optimistic. I think she's sort of apprehensive like anybody would be here, but I don't think -- it's certainly not getting her down.
UDOJI: Her freedom is at risk. The homemaker mogul convicted of four felonies in connection with her sale of ImClone stock. Prison could follow. She'll be sentenced Friday.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: The worst thing that Martha could be doing right now is some kind of phony charity work that would obviously be an attempt to appeal to the judge. She's living her life the way she always has and there's nothing wrong with that.
UDOJI: Legal experts predict a possible 10 to 16 month sentence but probation is not out of the question. They also expect she'll remain free on bond as she appeals her conviction. Adora Udoji, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Covering the case for us tonight, celebrity justice correspondent, Carolina Buia. Good to see you again. CAROLINA BUIA, CELEBRITY JUSTICE: Thanks.
COOPER: Let's talk about what may happen tomorrow in court. What do you think?
BUIA: Well, Martha Stewart's going to find out exactly whether or not she's going to go to prison. Chances are that she's probably going to face a prison term anywhere as you said, between 10 and 16 months. I've spoken to a number of experts and it seems that she's going to be going to prison on the lower end of the spectrum, although she may do something like five months in prison and then five months in home detention or a halfway home.
COOPER: A halfway home or even her own home.
BUIA: Correct. I mean that is a possibility. It's all up to the judge and we'll find out tomorrow.
COOPER: How do you think the judge is likely to react or will he even care about what Martha Stewart has been doing, going out publicly, being sort of seen socially?
BUIA: Well, the alternative is that Martha Stewart could stay home, hide under the covers, feed her chickens. I think it takes a lot of strength on Martha's behalf, the fact that she's gone outside and continued to lead the life that she's always led. She hasn't been partying like a rock star. She hasn't pulled a Courtney Love. She's just been doing the usual things. She's also been working. I mean she's been going to movie premieres. She's been hanging out in the Hamptons but she's also been very involved with her company, with her magazine and with a new book project, a baking book.
COOPER: Also trying to put a lot of her financial house in order, selling off one of her apartments here in New York. I guess that's pretty common for people sort of facing this sort of sentencing.
BUIA: She may need a cash infusion. She also sold a number of stocks in June. She sold about $4.6 million worth of shares in her company, but as to the apartment that she recently -- well, there are rumors that she's sold that it's not certain that the sale has actually gone through, but that apartment has been on the market since 2002. She removed it off the market for a little bit and then she put it back on the market.
COOPER: It's a sort of controversial building I guess.
BUIA: It is a controversial building. They've had leaks. They've had heating problems so maybe Martha just wanted to be rid of it.
COOPER: What do you think is going to happen tomorrow in terms of how much time she's actually going to get?
BUIA: I think she is going to get on the lower side of the spectrum, somewhere between 10 and 12 months in prison, around a year.
COOPER: But she won't have to start serving it immediately. She's not going to be spending Friday night in prison.
BUIA: Probably not. Most likely her lawyers are going to ask the judge to give her some time to continue to put her affairs in order, but knowing Martha, most of her affair both from the very mundane to her large financial affairs are probably already in order.
COOPER: One can only imagine the stress she is under and she's really been handling herself very well publicly. Carolina Buia, thanks very much.
BUIA: Thank you for having me.
COOPER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) what do you think? Does Martha Stewart deserve to go to prison? Log on to cnn.com/360. Cast your vote, results at the end of program tonight.
"360" next. Excuse me, Britney Spears back in the headlines. See how excited I get? And once again not for her music, be mean to Britney, we call that overkill.
Plus the new "Jeopardy" millionaire. I can take him on. I'll show you (INAUDIBLE).
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Time to check on some pop news, some lighter stuff in tonight's current. Let's take a look. Pat Boone has been turning heads on Capitol Hill this week, not so much for his public support of a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, rather for his truly bold fashion, showing the Senate you don't have to have a queer eye to look fabulous.
The Olympic flame, once simply a symbol of world peace/oversized lighter is now the latest weapon in the war on drugs. A police helicopter accompanying the flame on the island of Crete spotted a hidden marijuana farm. Local police investigated and discovered 7,000 cannabis plants. Upon hearing the bust, Vermont is said to be reconsidering its bid for the 2012 Olympic games.
India's flamboyant and prolific film industry known as Ballywood (ph) is making inroads into the U.S. market. Time Warner cable, the German (ph) CNN has announced a trial run or Time Warner does, has announced a trial run of Ballywood on demand, featuring a line up of Hindi musicals, Hindi romantic comedies and of course Hindi romantic comedies musicals. Competition for cable viewers is intense and Ballywood of course has been criticized in the past for recycling stories and flooding the market with cookie cutter products, but honestly that hasn't seemed to hurt 24-hour cable news very much.
And "Jeopardy" is reaping the rewards of contestant Ken Jennings' winning streak, that as I'm sure you heard by now has passed the $1 million mark. Nielsen says the show's ratings are up 36 percent from the same time last year. Just imagine what the show's ratings would be if Mr. Jennings accepted the challenge that I issued him as a former "Jeopardy" champion two nights ago. Here's what a match up between us might look like. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEX TREBEK: Anderson?
COOPER: What is the Washington Redskins?
TREBEK: That's right.
TREBEK: Ken?
KEN JENNINGS: What is illiteracy?
TREBEK: No. Anderson?
COOPER: Who is Maria Calas?
TREBEK: Correct. Ken.
JENNINGS: What's kitty's (ph) blood pressure.
TREBEK: Nope. Canada's right. That's right.
COOPER: Nope.
TREBEK: That's right.
COOPER: No. No. No.
TREBEK: That's right.
COOPER: I would win. That's all I'm going to say. "360" next, politicians and the skeletons in their family's closet. We're going to take that to the "Nth" degree. Plus tomorrow what is a spy's most powerful weapon? Some say sexpionage. What's that all about? Hear all about the oldest trick of the trade.
First today's buzz. Does Martha Stewart deserve to go to prison? What do you think? Log on to cnn.com/360. Cast your vote. Results when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: So does it seem like a hour since you picked up a tabloid and found Britney Spears bracing the gossip page? Aren't you kind of tired of it? To us, being mean to Britney just fees like overkill.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Yes, she did. Britney Spears is again or still fodder for the tabloids and for so many reasons, where to begin? The latest photo shows Britney strolling with her fiance, Kevin Fetterline (ph) drinking from what the tabs say could be a mini bottle of booze in Santa Monica where it's illegal to swig your scotch from an open container in public. But that's not all. The singer was also snapped dumping her ashtray off the balcony off a hotel, dressed in a well, kind of a mumu. If that's not enough, the soon to be second time bride is being haunted by her past mistakes. Remember her starter marriage, the one that last 55 hours? Turns out hubby number one did kiss and now he's telling, to the British tabloid "News of the World." Jason Alexander says Britney proposed to him in Vegas after a night of sex he describes as mind blowing and rough.
JASON ALEXANDER, EX-HUSBAND OF BRITNEY SPEARS: It's like, you want to pinch yourself in moments like this.
COOPER: Ouch! But, hey, credit where credit is due. The tabloids do report on the happy times like the pop tart's impending nuptials.
She's got a knockout rock which OK, she reportedly paid for and her fiance is gainfully employed, OK, by her, buy hey, you can't ask for everything.
Sure, his ex-girlfriend is still pregnant with his second child and the tabloids say Britney doesn't want him to sign a prenup. We're not ones to give advice, but Brit, come on, follow your head, not your heart on this one. Truth is TV is as fascinated by Britney as the print press. We talked about her...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Britney got engaged to her boyfriend of three months.
COOPER: We talked to her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know you haven't seen this, but in here there's a picture of you coming out of a restaurant.
COOPER: But now, we think it's time to take a Britney break or at least give her a break. The steady pop tart diet is starting to feel a bit like sugar shock. Oops! I mean, overkill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: And we spoke to Britney Spears' representatives tonight, they said the singer is not commenting on any of the tabloid tales we mentioned, not at this time. Thank goodness.
Time now for the buzz. Earlier we ask you, does Martha Stewart deserve to go to prison? 48 percent of you said yes, 52 percent of you voted no. Not a scientific poll, but it is your buzz. Thanks for voting.
Tonight taking the political relative to the Nth degree. They say you can choose your friends but not your relatives and nowhere is that better demonstrated than in the rough-and-tumble world of politics. Every election year it seems along with the details of where candidates stand on free trade and flat taxes, we also find out the sordid details of their nearest and greatest. Remember Billy carter, lobbying for Libya, brandishing Billy Beer. Then came Neil Bush and Roger Clinton.
This week the next installment of oh, brother. The press has swarmed over details about John Edwards' brother Wesley Blake. The "New York Daily News" reports that WBE has numerous arrests for driving under the influence. But in this day and age does anyone really care? Republicans and Democrats, who doesn't have some skeletons in their family's closet? In fact, a few familiar mess ups make today's plastic politicians at least seem a little bit more human. That's "360" for tonight. Thanks for watching.
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