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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

Mass Murder In Fla.; Violence In Najaf Fighting Muqtada al- Sadr's Army; Democrats and Republicans Clash Over Spin About Economic/Employment Numbers; Letourneau Can Reunite With Former Student/Lover; "Fahrenheit 9/11" Helping Or Hurting America's Image Abroad?

Aired August 06, 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.
A scene of horror at a home in Florida.

360 starts now.

Six found brutally murdered in a home north of Orlando. Police search for clues to the bloodbath.

Violence flares in Najaf as U.S. and Iraqi forces fight a radical cleric's ragtag army. What's Muqtada al-Sadr's secret strategy?

Anemic job numbers enter the spin cycle. Disappointing, say Democrats. Good news, say republicans. Who's telling the truth?

A judge rules Mary Kay Letourneau can be reunited with her former student, the boy she raped, now a man she can love.

He promised safe and cheap abortions. Desperate women trusted him. But they never got what they wanted. Did an anti-abortionist purposely mislead pregnant women into delaying abortion?

And Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" a hit in the Arab world. Banned in Kuwait, embraced in Lebanon. But is the movie helping or hurting America's image abroad?

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

COOPER: Good evening.

It started with a phone call from a worried co-worker. Then a friend went by the house to see if anything was wrong. Soon the police arrived. And by the time the victims were being counted one by one by one, everyone in a Florida community knew something unspeakable had happened.

CNN's John Zarrella reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Behind the yellow crime scene tape in a three-bedroom house, police found the bodies of four men and two women. Police said they had all been brutally murdered.

SHERIFF BEN JOHNSON, VOLUSIA COUNTY, FLORIDA: A lot of trauma was involved. I'm not going to say what kind of trauma. But there was a lot of trauma done to the bodes and itself. The house is a mess. It's just a very, very brutal crime scene.

ZARRELLA: Late into the afternoon, the bodies had still not been moved. The victims, police say, were between the ages of 18 and the mid-30s. They had been found in various parts of the house. There appeared, authorities said, to have been a struggle.

JOHNSON: I strongly believe that these people knew who their assailant was. That's my feeling about it. I've seen nothing to change my mind from that.

ZARRELLA: Some of the victims, the number is unclear, were employees of a Burger King not too far from the crime scene. Police are not sure if there is any connection. But in a statement, the company said in part, quote, "The Burger King Corporation and the franchisee are deeply saddened by these events."

Residents in the neighborhood describe the area as peaceful.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It makes me feel, you know, uncomfortable, because I'm a single parent with three girls, and I go home and, you know, they're teenagers. And I leave them here home alone sometimes. And it's, like, you know, that's got me a little bit worried now.

ZARRELLA: At this point in their investigation, police say they have no idea what the motive was.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZARRELLA: Authorities say they are looking at subjects of interest, but at this point they have no formal suspects. And because of the brutality of the murders involved, it may be a while before they can identify all of the bodies, Anderson.

COOPER: John, thanks very much. John Zarrella from Florida tonight.

A little later on I'll talk live with the Florida sheriff leading the investigation into the murders, try to get the latest update.

There's a glass-half-full, glass-half-empty quality to our next story. New numbers from the government show there was some job growth in the month of July, but the 32,000 new jobs were a fraction of the 200,000 economists expected. But the unemployment rate fell 0.1 percent to 5.5. And the meaning of those two facts was interpreted very differently by the president and Senator Kerry today.

Here's CNN's Dana Bash.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Against a backdrop of hay bales and cornstalks on a Missouri farm, John Kerry used the lackluster jobs report to mock the president's new campaign slogan.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In the last few days, you've heard people in positions of leadership on the other side saying America has turned the corner. Well, it must have been a U- turn.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're not turning back.

BASH: On the stump in New Hampshire, an undeterred president talked up the economy, with a concession.

BUSH: We've got more to do. I'm not going to be satisfied until everybody who wants to work can find a job.

BASH: July's numbers show just 32,000 jobs added, a fraction of what was expected. The political reality, the bad jobs news is good news for Senator Kerry. The Democratic National Committee already had an ad cut.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: ... millions of good jobs lost to plant closures and outsourcing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Bush aides note support for the president's handling of the economy has improved. That may be true, but a recent CNN-"USA Today"-Gallup poll shows Americans think John Kerry is a better leader on the issue by 10 points.

Bush campaign officials privately admit they're frustrated by several months of stellar job numbers that had major competition for air time. April's report showed a long-awaited sign of growth, 308,000 new jobs. But that week, U.S. civilians were brutally killed in Fallujah. May's report, 288,000 jobs added. That day, Donald Rumsfeld testified before Congress at the height of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal.

Bush campaign aides point to considerable job growth where it matters, contested states like New Hampshire, where the president campaigned, and Missouri, where his opponent farmed for votes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: But some political veterans say if voters don't feel the economic turnaround by now, it may be too late to break into their psyche. That's something that happened to the first President Bush, and something his son is trying to avoid, Anderson.

COOPER: Perception's so important right now, the campaign. Dana Bash, thanks very much.

We're going to talk more about the economic numbers a little bit later in the program.

Due to today's economic report, it was a brutal day on Wall Street, with record lows. Here's a quick news note. The Dow dropped 147 points, closing at its lowest point since November 28 of last year. And the Nasdaq composite fell 44 points, also closing at its lowest level of the year.

There's an ominous note tonight in the war on terror. The government reports that intelligence chatter has dropped off. Now, that is worrisome, say some, because government sources tell CNN the same thing happened right before the September 11 attacks. Officials say they do not know what to make of it, but they say it is a cause of concern.

Well, that gets us to tonight's buzz question. Which is the most important issue, or the more important issue, for you in the upcoming presidential election, terrorism or the economy? Vote now at CNN.com/360. We'll have results at the end of program tonight.

If handing authority in Iraq back to Iraqis was supposed to make the problem go away, clearly has not. So far, 12 American troops have died there this month. Forty-two American troops died in the month of June, 56 were killed in July, the month after the handover.

Iraq's interim government now faces perhaps its most serious challenge. For a second day in a row now, residents in Najaf have stayed at their homes with their doors bolted tight shut while a rebel militia battles U.S. Marines outside in the streets.

Here's CNN's Matthew Chance.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The holy city of Najaf, another scene of pitched battles and bloodshed. Fighters of the Mahdi Army, loyal to the firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, have taken positions in the heart of the ancient city.

U.S. Marines are fighting street to street near the shrine of Imam Ali, one of the holiest sites in Shi'a Islam.

And casualties are high. The Marines say they've killed 300 of the militia so far.

LT. GARY JOHNSTON, U.S. MARINES: There is no end state or end, really, end time that we'll place on this one. I think at this point in time, it will be a effects-based, when, in fact, we believe that those attacking Iraqis and Iraqi civilians are no longer capable of doing that.

BASH: Now Muqtada al-Sadr is again at the center of Shi'a unrest. U.S. officials say his militia violated a ceasefire agreed in June. His own spokesmen says they're ready for a truce. "Najaf has strong relations with other cities," he warns. "The tension in Najaf will be reflected there."

It is what the Iraqi government and the U.S.-led coalition fear most, a general uprising among Iraq's majority Shi'a that could spell disaster.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: And the fighting continues.

Back here in the U.S., new developments in the anthrax investigation. FBI agents have searched three properties, all with ties to a doctor with a background in bioterror.

Here's CNN's Deborah Feyerick.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): FBI officials will not say why they searched Dr. Kenneth Barry's home in Wellsville, New York. They're also not saying why they searched a house nearby, where Barry lived until June of 2001, or why they carted off boxes and bags from the beach house at the Jersey shore owned by Barry's parents.

All the FBI will say is the search is something to do with finding the origins of the deadly 2001 anthrax mailings.

New York Governor George Pataki telling CNN...

GOV. GEORGE PATAKI (R), NEW YORK: Well, what they're doing is, they're simply checking every possible lead to see -- to try to eliminate those who might be in any way considered a suspect in the anthrax attacks.

FEYERICK: Everyone in the small Wellsville community seemed to be talking about it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm sure for Wellsville, it will be a day that goes down in our history.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They have a, you know, a very loving family. And this is just a complete shock, and it's very sad to hear.

FEYERICK (on camera): Barry is founder of Preempt Systems. The counterterrorism company trains first responders how to react if there's a biological or chemical attack.

Barry was head of emergency medicine at Jones Memorial Hospital in Wellsville, resigning in October 2001, around the time of the anthrax attacks. A hospital spokeswoman did not know why Barry stepped down. But before he did he filed a patent application for a system to identify chemical and biological agents. That was 10 days before the first two anthrax letters were postmarked from New Jersey. Barry's Web site says he's a weapons of mass destruction consultant for the Defense Department. CNN could not confirm that with the Pentagon. Repeated attempts to reach Barry or his representative were unsuccessful.

Barry was arrested Thursday, not because of anything to do with anthrax, but because of an alleged domestic disturbance.

Deborah Feyerick, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Mary Kay Letourneau is free to resume the relationship that sent her to prison. That story tops our look at what's happening cross-country tonight.

A Seattle judge has lifted the no-contact order between Letourneau and her former student lover, with whom she had two children. The victim, which is now 21, says he's anxious to see her and decide if they can have a life together. Letourneau was released from prison Wednesday after completing a seven-year sentence for child rape.

We'll talk with one of Letourneau's friends about today's court decision later on 360.

Near Jackson, Tennessee, a Greyhound bus and truck collision kills three people. At least 17 others were injured. Police say the bus rammed into the tractor-trailer as it pulled back onto Interstate 40 from the emergency lane.

Los Angeles now, Grammy Award-winning singer Rick James found dead in his home. James was best known for the 1981 hit "Super Freak." One of James's producers tells CNN he died of a heart attack. Rick James was 56 years old.

That's a quick look at what's happening cross-country tonight.

360 next, an abortion scam. A man faces a lawsuit, accused of tricking women into having their babies.

Plus, "Fahrenheit 9/11" in the Arab world. It is playing on the big screen over there too. That is, where it's not banned. In some countries it is. We've got the reaction from the Arab street.

And hard work pays off. A U.S. gymnast finally getting his chance to go for the gold.

But first, let's look at the most popular stories on CNN.com right now, and listen to some of the music of Rick James.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Women searching for a safe place to have an abortion in New Orleans say they were tricked and deceived. Now they're suing the man they say is responsible for an abortion scam. Here's CNN's Sara Dorsey.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILLIAM GRAHAM, DEFENDANT: I have nothing to say. I don't want to be in your cameras.

SARA DORSEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's little wonder William Graham had nothing to say on his way out of federal court. A judge had just ordered him to disconnect his phone and stop tricking women seeking an abortion. The women say Graham would promise to put them in touch with private doctors who would perform abortions at bargain prices. He warned them that clinics often botched procedures and left women sterile.

For over 10 years, Graham ran an ad in the phone book under Abortion Services, using a name strikingly similar to the Causeway Medical Clinic, a genuine abortion provider also suing Graham.

SUZANNE NOVACK, CENTER FOR REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS: There is no actual facility, there's no address given. It's simply a name that looks and sounds a lot like Causeway Medical Clinic, and has done so intentionally.

DORSEY: The women charged he would promise to set up appoints, then cancel them, over and over again, until it was too late or too expensive to terminate their pregnancies.

ELIZABETH NETTE, PLAINTIFF: think he intentionally postpones it so she could have this baby.

DORSEY: In an exclusive phone interview, Graham told CNN he only promised to try to contact doctors, and he never followed up on his referrals.

GRAHAM (on phone): Now, we try to schedule on a weekend, a Friday or a Saturday, and we have to wait until a physician will tell us where they would want her to go. Now, if they don't tell us that, then we have to let them know, We couldn't get you in.

DORSEY: And he said he made his opinion of abortion clinics abundantly clear.

GRAHAM: We're not going to send you to clinics that advertise they do terminations, and that's because of the ongoing history they all have of injuring women.

DORSEY: Now, if a woman calls Graham's number, she hears this.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (recorded message): We're sorry, you have reached a number that has been disconnected or is no longer in service.

DORSEY: But this is little comfort to the women who say their lives will permanently change, their right to choose taken away.

Sara Dorsey, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: We should point out Graham has been representing himself. Now he says he's looking for a lawyer, and the plaintiffs' attorneys say they have already been contacted by 10 more women. The case goes back into court in 90 days.

A monsoon kills nearly 2,000 people. That story tops our look at what's happening around the world in the uplink.

South Asia, 17 people, including six children, were killed in heavy rains today, and more than 1,900 people have died from drowning, disease, mud slides, and other storm-related disasters since the monsoon began in June.

The Gaza Strip crossing to Egypt reopens. Israel will allow at least 1,500 Palestinians stranded at the crossing to return home. Israel closed the site nearly three weeks ago out of concerns that Palestinian militants were planning to attack it.

Belfast, Northern Ireland, a lucky day indeed. A 58-year-old cancer patient has won the equivalent of $36 million in Britain's national lottery. It is the biggest jackpot won by a single person in the lottery's history. The winner says she almost missed the prize because she had put the winning ticket away and had forgotten about it.

In Amsterdam, the Netherlands, fighting unsolicited toe-licking. Yes, the Dutch Labor Party has proposed a measure that would ban the foot fetish. This comes after police failed to prosecute a man who had allegedly snuck up on sunbathing women and licked their toes. Police say while the activity is certainly unusual, it is not criminal.

And that's tonight's uplink for you.

Michael Moore's film "Fahrenheit 9/11" has stirred political tempers, raked in more than $110 million dollars, but it apparently hasn't changed many minds. A recent study out of the University of Pennsylvania found that those who think less of President Bush after seeing the film are mostly Democrats and left-leaning independents, not exactly fans of the president to begin with.

But that, of course, is just in the U.S. In the Middle East, the central front in the war on terror, many Arabs are just now seeing "Fahrenheit 9/11" for the first time.

CNN's Tim Lister gauges their reaction.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TIM LISTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At the Empire Theater in downtown Beirut, all the summer blockbusters are showing, "Shrek 2," "Harry Potter 3," and "Fahrenheit 9/11." Michael Moore's documentary is proving a surprise hit in the Arab world from Lebanon to Qatar. And now a familiar face peers down at moviegoers.

In Beirut, "Fahrenheit 9/11" is subtitled in both French and Arabic. But whatever the language, its message is not lost on the audience.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I liked it because there are things that we don't know about President Bush that I guess we learned after this movie.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The movie portrayed at president as not truthful.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I came out of the movie feeling really sorry for the American people, because they are being cheated and lied to.

LISTER: Audiences in Beirut are famous for chatting through movies or taking calls on their cell phones. But Moore's film has brought rapt attention. Lebanon is unusual in the Arab world for showing American films uncensored. The people of Kuwait won't be seeing "Fahrenheit 9/11" at all. It's been banned there because of Moore's allegations about links between the Bush administration and the Saudi royal family.

That relationship intrigued some of the audience emerging from the Empire in Beirut.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Before viewing the film, I did not know that the Saudi Arabians and President Bush had such close ties.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I came out with the idea that war is really more economical than anything else. I mean, they're using economics to have control over the world, and they're using war for it.

LISTER: In a region already suspicious of Washington's motives, "Fahrenheit 9/11" seems unlikely to smooth the cause of American diplomacy.

Tim Lister, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, 360 next, from DJ and break dancer to Olympic gymnast, how hard work and family support helped this athlete go after his Olympic dreams.

Plus, the raw politics of unemployment, both sides with their own take on economic numbers, and voters are paying attention.

Also a little later, four men and two women found murdered in a Florida home. We'll have the latest on the investigation in a live interview with the sheriff.

That's all ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COOPER: Well, one week from today, the Olympic cauldron will be lit, and the 2004 Summer Games will officially begin. Among this year's Olympic newcomers is a young man whose break-dancing moves in high school earned him the nickname The White Magic. In Athens, gymnast Brett McClure will try to use his magic to win a gold medal.

CNN's Jason Bellini reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the thrill of performance.

BRETT MCCLURE, U.S. OLYMPIC GYMNAST: I always, you know, just nitpick it and work on it and try and perfect it, really.

BELLINI: Matching the beat, landing the jump, from DJ to gymnast, Brett McClure.

As a child...

MCCLURE: I took the pillows off the couches, threw them at the bottom of the stairs, and just started flipping myself, you know, off the stairs and onto these pillows. And we ended up taking it to the front yard, you know, and I'm teaching myself back flips. I just begged my father if I could go to a gymnastics class.

BELLINI: In high school...

MCCLURE: I was the only white kid that could actually do well at break dancing. You know, I did some moves that they'd never seen before.

BELLINI: They dubbed him White Magic. For all his love of performance, McClure says he'd get butterflies. They gave him exhilaration, but as he got older and the stakes got higher, they gave him problems.

MCCLURE: I remember my first world championship in 2001, I was dry-heaving in the corner before I had to up on pommel horse, because you're so nervous.

BELLINI (on camera): In 2000, Brett McClure fumbled his chances to go to the Sydney Games. He faltered badly in the Olympic trials and didn't make the team.

MCCLURE: I didn't believe I was good enough. I had no confidence. I fell on my best event like, three times at the Olympic trial.

BELLINI (voice-over): He took time off. He questioned his Olympic dreams. Then he decided to question his questions.

MCCLURE: And I always thought, you know, well, what does this person think about me, and what does that person think about me?

BELLINI: Millions will be thinking about him in Athens.

MCCLURE: All the ingredients are there. We just got to put together.

BELLINI (on camera): You got to mix it together.

MCCLURE: Yes, exactly.

BELLINI (voice-over): Perhaps he'll get the answer to a lifelong question, can he perform as an Olympian?

Jason Bellini, CNN, Colorado Springs.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: And we wish him well.

Coming up on 360, a judge says Mary Kay Letourneau and the boy she raped can meet again. He's now a young man. We'll talk to her friends about when the reunion will happen.

And the raw politics of spin. What kind of shape is the economy really in? Stay tuned.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: In the next half hour on 360, she served prison time for child rape. Her victim says it's love. And a judge is now allowing them to reunite. We'll talk with a friend of Mary Kay Letourneau.

And beware the angry viewer. We'll look inside the box at the complaints we got about one political segment and see if they're justified.

First, let's take a look at our top stories in tonight's reset.

The U.S. military says two Marines were killed in fighting in Najaf, Iraq, today. It also says at least 300 militants have died in the two days of violence there. But a spokesman for radical Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr says his army has lost only 36 fighters.

In Washington, a disappointing jobs report. The Labor Department says businesses added only 32,000 jobs last month, much less than the 200,000 economists were expecting. It was the weakest job growth so far this year. We'll talk about it in just a few moments.

In Tokyo, Japan, former world chess champion Bobby Fischer is renouncing his U.S. citizenship. Fischer's lawyer says he phoned the U.S. embassy to express his intent, though it won't take effect until he meets personally with a U.S. consular official. Fischer is wanted for defying U.S. sanctions on Yugoslavia by playing chess there in 1992.

In Orlando, Florida, Walt Disney World has reinstated an employee who had been acquitted of molesting a 13-year-old girl while wearing a Tigger costume. A union representative says Michael Chartrand will once again wear character costumes, though Disney had given him the choice to take another job at the park.

That's a quick look at top stories in "The Reset."

In Deltona, Florida, police have a horrific murder mystery on their hands: The bodies of four men and two women were found in a house. Officials say they appear to have been murdered and are now searching for clues and the killer.

Joining us from Deltona is Volusia County Sheriff Ben Johnson. Sheriff, thanks very much for being with us.

Do you believe there's a killer on the loose right now?

JOHNSON" Well, we're certain there's somebody that is on the loose. We feel like there was somebody that did have knowledge of them.

COOPER: What makes you think that?

JOHNSON: Well, all of the clues we have so far. We've done some investigation on it, and we have some things that have occurred. And it fits in with different scenarios that did happen at the house.

It's not like it's a random deal. We're certain -- are quite certain that whoever did this had knowledge of the individuals in the house.

COOPER: In terms of crimes you've seen, how does this compare? I mean, what was the scene like inside?

JOHNSON: This is one of the worst -- well, it is the worst scene I've ever seen and including all of our investigators here -- and collectively, we have hundred of years of experience. And we've never seen anything quite like this before.

It's a very, very grizzly scene. There's a lot of trauma. Whoever did this was intent on making sure they had accomplished what they came for.

COOPER: So, there were six people inside the house killed. I understand also the dog was killed. Do you know what the relationship between the people is? I understand some of them worked at the local Burger King, or perhaps all?

JOHNSON: There's -- they seemed to all be friends. We don't find any family relationships, but all of them are friends. And that's as far as we've been able to determine that the time.

COOPER: And I mean, I guess no idea of a motive at this time?

JOHNSON: At this time, we don't have motive. We won't have motive until we find someone to interview, a suspect. And that's what it's going to take -- or maybe someone who they had mentioned it to. But at this time, we don't have a motive.

COOPER: What do you tell local people? I mean, there have go to be a lot of nervous people out in your community tonight.

JOHNSON: Well, there's a lot of nervous people. There's no doubt. There's a lot of concerned people, but my belief is that this was not a random act. This was somebody who was targeted, and I strongly feel that the citizens of Deltona don't have to worry about that.

Although we have a murderer, maybe more, on the loose, we still feel totally -- we just are secure that the fact that these people were targeted and it was not random.

COOPER: All right. Sheriff Johnson, I know you've had a long day and have a long night ahead of you. We appreciate you taking time to talk to us. Thanks very much, Sheriff Ben Johnson.

JOHNSON: Well, thank you very much. We appreciate it.

COOPER: Good luck to you.

It seems nothing can keep Mary Kay Letourneau and the young man she raped as a child apart. Not prison -- she's already done her time; not the law, though for years had tried; and finally not his age, because this time he's old enough to decide for himself.

CNN's Kimberly Osias reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KIMBERLY OSIAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She's done her time -- more than seven years in prison. Convicted of raping then sixth grader Vili Fualaau. Now, the same judge who sentenced former teacher Mary Kay Letourneau says the two can be together again without violating the law.

GREGG OLSEN , AUTHOR, "IF LOVING YOU IS WRONG": He's never said he was a victim. He's always said that he was a willing participant in this. But what he doesn't really know and what he doesn't really say is that this has had a huge effect on his life.

OSIAS: At 21, Vili Fualaau is working on his GED and was treated for deep depression while Letourneau was behind bars, but he says his feelings about her haven't changed.

VILI FUALAAU, LETOURNEAU'S FMR. STUDENT LOVER: I don't know what my feelings are right now, but I know I do love her.

OSIAS: The court ruling today from King County Superior Judge Linda Lau lifted the lifetime no contact ban between the former teacher and her former student at Fualaau's request.

The district attorney did not challenge his motion since, at 21, Fualaau is now a consenting adult. The corrections department also declined to object.

Both fellow inmate and her biographer believe Letourneau is interested in a future with Fualaau and may seek custody of their two daughters, Alexis and Audrey, now five and seven. No word yet as to when the couple will get together.

Kimberly Osias, CNN Seattle.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Joining us now is Anne Bremner, friend of Mary Kay Letourneau, and from Seattle, Gregg Olsen, who has interviewed Vili Fualaau and is author of the book, "If Loving You Is Wrong." Appreciate both of you being on the program tonight.

OLSEN: Thank you.

ANNE BREMNER, FRIEND OF LETOURNEAU: Thanks.

COOPER: Anne, let me start off with you. You saw Mary Kay Letourneau last week. Was she optimistic that she would see Fualaau again?

BREMNER: Yes. And I have to say, you meet the most interesting people at work. I defended the civil case that Vili and his mother brought against the city and the school district -- and they were represented by a different (ph) lawyer.

COOPER: They -- they had brought a case against the city saying that the city hadn't protected Vili Fualaau from Mary Kay Letourneau.

BREMNER: Absolutely, and...

COOPER: ... looking for money, they didn't get it.

BREMNER: Multimillion dollars, didn't get it.

COOPER: OK. So, how did she seem to you last week?

BREMNER: She was optimistic, you know, a little apprehensive -- seven years in prison. Of course, you're worried about going into the big world, especially where the media -- the media glares everywhere. And the uncertainty was there with respect to whether she would have a future with Vili and what would happen with all six of her children.

COOPER: Gregg, you have interviewed Vili. What kind of guy is he now, and how does he look at all of this.

OLSEN: Well, you know, Vili Fualaau is a young man that has been really just biding time for the last seven years, waiting for Mary Letourneau to be free to see what kind of future they might have.

So, you know, he's really done very little in his life all these years. He didn't graduate from high school. He did suffer from depression. He hasn't really held down a job. So, you know, right now I can imagine he's thinking, you know, my life is about to start, but I don't know which way it's going to go.

COOPER: You know, you mentioned, Anne, that there were six kids involved in this.

BREMNER: Right.

COOPER: And she had four children of her own -- I mean, their lives have been turned upside down and destroyed in many ways.

BREMNER: Absolutely. And when I saw her -- it's what we want to see when someone's been in prison, that they'd thought about things and they're ready to change.

COOPER: Does she seem remorseful to you?

BREMNER: Absolutely. The pain that she expressed to me for the pain of her four children.

COOPER: So, she has talked about her own four kids. She has acknowledged and acknowledged the pain that she's caused them.

BREMNER: Absolutely, you know, it's something -- it'll be such a long road, I think, to ever get to where she ever was with them. I mean, one of the youngest was three when she went into prison.

COOPER: And Gregg, she has two children with Vili Fualaau. Tell us about them. They're being raised by Vili Fualaau's mother.

OLSEN: Yes. I want to say something about what Anne just said. I understand she -- you know, Mary's remorseful now, but this is very new. This has come out only in the last year or so that she's actually expressed any sorrow for anything that she's done.

So, this is good news that we're hearing, and I appreciate Anne for sharing it.

As far as Vili and his mother, they've done a very good job raising these two little girls. And I do expect them to continue being raised by Soona, and Mary will not get custody. I just don't think that will happen.

COOPER: You know, Anne, you say she's remorseful. Is she remorseful -- does she say that she committed rape? Or -- I mean I heard -- someone else was telling me that she thought her biggest crime was adultery.

BREMNER: There was a book that was written in France by all of the principles, and it was called "Our Only Crime Is Love." That's the translation. Some see it as a crime story, as a love story.

Gregg's book, which is called "If Loving You Is Wrong," is sold as true crime in the U.S. and true romance in Europe. She sees it as the latter -- that this is the love story. She is the Joan of Arc of forbidden love. It's like Romeo and Juliet.

COOPER: Wait, wait, she thinks she's the Joan of Arc of forbidden love?

BREMNER: That kind of the phrase that was used during the case, but she does say -- compare herself and Vili to Romeo and Juliet, and she has in the past. COOPER: Gregg, how much of think, you think, is about money at this point for them? I mean, obviously she needs some way to make a living from now on.

Are they going to get together in some sort of a book deal, Vili Fualaau and her?

OLSEN: Oh, yes, absolutely. We can expect -- I mean, that's happening right now. There are probably offers coming in, really, from all over the world. We know that, for a fact, there'll be a movie. There'll be a book. There'll be some big thing that'll coming out of this.

It'll be a lot of money, but like I've said before, I wonder if it'll last. Because last time around, the family -- Vili's family, you know, netted about $250,000, and that's all gone.

COOPER: Netted from tabloids, from people wanting to pay for the story?

OLSEN: Right, tabloids, and the French book brought in a lot of money.

COOPER: And Anne, you think it's guaranteed there's going to be some sort of TV movie, some sort of book deal.

OLSEN: There's no question. You watch.

BREMNER: Yes, I agree with Gregg. But I'm hoping -- you know, we're in the here and now right now. He's an adult. I'm hoping it's done with dignity and that we're not in the tabloids anymore, we're not in the courts anymore with this case, and that -- the welfare of those children are upper and foremost in their minds.

COOPER: Yes, not only the children she has now, but the children she had before.

BREMNER: Absolutely.

COOPER: Fascinating case.

BREMNER: Isn't it?

COOPER: Anne Bremner, appreciate you joining us.

BREMNER: My pleasure, thanks.

COOPER: Gregg Olsen, it's good to talk to you again.

OLSEN: Thank you. Take care.

COOPER: Well, the country is polarized, and so it seems are our viewers. Next on 360, how one political segment we did touched off a flurry of angry e-mail. We'll go inside the box to find out why.

Also tonight, bring your own bells: England is looking for a new court jester, its first in almost 300 years. We'll show some auditions.

And a little later, Tom Cruise like you've never seen him before: bad, cold blooded -- in his new film "Collateral." We check it out in "The Weekender."

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Low job growth numbers suggest the economy's in bad shape -- or is it? The spin's the thing. That's next on 360.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: "Rashomon" is the classic film by Akira Kurosawa where each person in the film sees the same facts completely differently. Welcome to the presidential campaign, where facts like jobs created and unemployment numbers become a sort of "Rashomon" of raw politics.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): In New Hampshire, amid bales of hay, President Bush used the latest labor stats to paint a rosy picture of the U.S. economy.

BUSH: The economy this last summer has grown at a rate as fast as any in nearly 20 years. In the last year we've added about 1.5 million new jobs, the unemployment rate is down to 5.5 percent.

COOPER: And he is right. The unemployment rate dipped by 1/10 of 1 percent as the economy added 32,000 jobs, the 11 straight months of job growth. Yet a few state away, in the cornfields of Missouri, Senator John Kerry used the same labor stats to build a bleak picture of the U.S. economy.

KERRY: Basically over the last few of years, we've had a net negative loss of jobs in the United States of America. And the jobs that are being created pay $9,000 less on average than the jobs that we're losing overseas.

COOPER: And he is right. The July figures are the weakest showing so far this year, far less than the 200,000 jobs expected by economists. So you may ask, are these stats good or bad news for the economy? Who's right, President Bush or Senator Kerry? Well, neither and both.

Why? Because when you drop statistics into the spin cycle of raw politics, they'll come out stretched and shrunken.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (on camera): Joining us now to help us wade through the numbers and the politics in San Diego, John Fund, a columnist for the "Wall Street Journal" and in Washington, Ryan Lizza, senior editor at "The New Republic." John, let me start off with you. I want to show you this latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll showing that voters believe Kerry would better handle the economy: 43 percent say Bush would better handle the economy, 53 percent say Kerry. Barring a dramatic turn of events in the next few months, how does Bush beat Kerry on this issue?

JOHN FUND, "WALL STREET JOURNAL": Well, there's a perception gap, the economy is doing better than most Americans believe it is and that's happened before. In 1996 when Bill Clinton ran for reelection the unemployment rate was the same, but there was a different perception. The perception was the economy was on the up.

Look, you asked for a dramatic event. I think a 75-day campaign which is with about what we'll have right now, in which we're going to have 3 debates and the American people are finally going to focus on this is the kind of dramatic event that will get the American people to focus on whether or not they think the economy is doing well or not.

COOPER: Ryan, how does Kerry use this to his advantage without seeming pessimistic.

RYAN LIZZA, SENIOR EDITOR, "THE NEW REPUBLIC": Well, I don't think he -- the way he uses it to his advantage is just say what the facts are. John talked about in 1992 the economy getting better through that year.

FUND: Actually, it's '96 I said.

LIZZA: Oh, excuse me -- well, the point is since March of this year, job growth has gone down every single month. I don't think Kerry needs to do much more than state the facts. Even if job growth improved, even if the unemployment rate comes down more, people out in the country don't seem to be feeling it.

I just spent a week with Kerry on the campaign trail and I was sort of surprised about -- the reaction from crowds when you talked about the economy. They don't really want to hear statistics. They don't feel like the economy's getting better and that's the most important thing.

COOPER: John, some of the Bush administration kind of blaming the media that better economic numbers that came out in months past didn't get as much play, because they coincided with major events happening in Iraq. Do you think that's fair?

FUND: Oh, sure, but Iraq obviously wiped out a lot of that coverage. I don't think you can necessarily say please report on what we want you to report on what we want you to report on, not something else.

The bottom line, though, is the president has a chance to make his case that we've had 11 months straight of job growth, things are trending in the right direction. People tend to go with an incumbent if they see the signals pointing in the right direction, even if they're not completely happy where they are at this moment. And remember, we have got two or three more months of job growth to report.

COOPER: Ryan -- go ahead.

LIZZA: What I was going to say is the numbers aren't going in the right direction, consumer spending is down, gas prices are up and job growth has dropped every month since March. So, they're not going in the right direction.

FUND: Ryan, a lot of this is undue to the unprecedented 20-year high in gasoline and oil prices.

LIZZA: Right.

FUND: People understand that is related to foreign policy and to terrorism fears. Now, they understand also that a president can do a lot about that, but not everything. I think that when you tie the issue of high gas prices, high oil prices to the foreign policy threat and the threat of terrorism, people can understand the President Bush can't control all those events.

LIZZA: Maybe. It doesn't sound like a good bumper stick to me, though.

COOPER: Sounds like a mighty long bumper sticker.

FUND: How about terrorists are increasing your gas prices not George Bush or Dick Cheney.

LIZZA: Sure. But my point was, the numbers are trending in the right direction. I was just pointing out that's not actually the case, they're pointing in the wrong direction. Consumer spending is down. Gas prices are up and the fed is going to raise interest rates on Tuesday.

FUND: Ryan, Ryan, listen carefully, a slow down in job growth, is not a decrease in jobs. We are still going in the right direction. We are still going up.

COOPER: Final thoughts.

LIZZA: The job growth is not keeping up the increasing population, John, so it's not going in the right direction.

FUND: If you want to look at a single month fine. Let's wait until next month.

LIZZA: No, we've looked at the months since March.

FUND: It's march.

COOPER: Ryan Lizza appreciate you joining us. John Fund as well. Thanks very much.

FUND: I didn't know March was a trend.

LIZZA: Five months. COOPER: We'll leave it there with the raised eyebrows.

Today's "Buzz" is this, which is the most important issue, or the more important issue, I should say, for you in the upcoming election? Terrorism or the economy? Log on to CNN.com/360. Cast your vote. Results at the end of program.

And we love hearing from the viewers, no doubt about it. And every day we look over the e-mails that you send us. But what we've been noticing more and more that the way some people see things seem to be dictated by what side of the political aisle they're standing on.

Case in point, Wednesday's edition of 360. Some of the e-mails you all sent us, yikes!

So, we thought we'd look at reality and perception inside the box.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): Wednesday on 360, we interviewed former Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean.

DR. HOWARD DEAN (D), FMR. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They're playing politics with their timing of the release of these documents.

COOPER: Immediately after, Bush/Cheney campaign spokesman Terry Holt responded live on our show.

TERRY HOLT, BUSH/CHENEY CAMPAIGN SPOKESMAN: What he's saying is shameful and irresponsible.

COOPER: Dean's interview lasted 4 minutes and 40 seconds, Holt's 4 minutes and 37 seconds.

I asked a question or interrupted Dean eight times.

COOPER: Your fellow Democrats, John Kerry, governor of Michigan among others have distanced themselves and not sort of, have distanced themselves from your comments.

I did the same with Holt 7 times.

John Kerry on CNN in an interview with Bill Hemmer the other day said he does not agree with what Howard Dean said, in fact, has distanced himself.

HOLT: However...

COOPER: Yet, amongst the hundreds of e-mails we received from viewers, a few accused us of being biased.

Rob from Joliet, Illinois, wrote, "Anderson, you really need to start being a little more balanced. You hammered Holt with hardball questions." But Margie from Doylestown, Pennsylvania, disagreed, "While watching Anderson Cooper, I hear very little questioning of Mr. Bush's political tactics."

Karen from Mill Valley, California, wrote, "Your journalists are transparently pro-Bush."

But Mitzy from Little Rock, Arkansas, thinks, "Your show is blatantly biased toward Kerry-Edwards."

In this close election, experts say voters are becoming more polarized, but the truth is so are viewers.

HOWARD KURTZ, "THE WASHINGTON POST": It's getting impossible in this polarized atmosphere to please everybody. Republican viewers are convinced that Democratic guests are getting an easy time and Democratic viewers are increasingly thinking that Republican guests are getting a free pass.

COOPER: Clearly, the country is profoundly split and following these elections closely. A recent CBS/"New York Times" poll found that 82 percent of registered voters say it does matter who's elected president compared to 68 four years ago. 74 percent say there are important differences between Republicans and Democrats against 64 percent in 2000.

KURTZ: I've never seen attitudes toward the media on both sides, liberal and conservative, as polarized and as passionate as they are now.

COOPER: These days, when you're working inside the box, it's hard not to be caught in this political crossfire.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: But we do appreciate your e-mails, and keep them coming.

Renaming the war on terror. Today the president came up with a whole new idea. Just ahead, we'll take his new name to the "Nth Degree." Also tonight, 300 years later the job of court jester returns to England. I'm not kidding. Some additions ahead in "The Current."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Time to check on some pop news in tonight's "Current." A small news flash caught our attention today. It turns out England is looking for an official court jester, its first since 1649. Exactly what the duties and the pay of this new court jester is not entirely clear, but ads call for someone who must be mirthful and work weekends. Despite those last two requirements, the intrepid members of the 360 crew jumped at the chance to try out. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I shall never be aware of my own wit until I break my shins against it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Boy, I just flew in from the Coventry, and boy, are my arms tired, I tell you!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Boo! Boo!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) just walk around the orb like the sun, shines everywhere.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Man, it's amazing what a hat with bells can make people do.

So wondering what to do this weekend? Well, you can spend time with a graying Tom Cruise, take a 3,000 mile race across the desert, or catch a summer concert, all options in tonight's "Weekender."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM CRUISE, ACTOR, "COLLATERAL": What, I should only kill people after I get to know them?

COOPER (voice-over): In movies, Tom Cruise plays a killer chasing his quarry in a L.A. cab in a new thriller, "Collateral." Jamie Foxx keeps the meter running as the cabby Cruise presses into service. It's a Michael Mann film, so expect to see some blood.

It's not so much a little black book as a little gray PDA, but the effect is the same.

BRITTANY MURPHY, ACTRESS, "LITTLE BLACK BOOK": I can't. It's like going through someone's drawers.

COOPER: Brittany Murphy is a woman who delves a little too deeply into her boyfriend's PalmPilot and his past.

BLANCHARD RYAN, ACTRESS, "OPEN WATER": Daniel, where's the boat?

COOPER: In "Open Water," a vacationing couple is stranded, scared and maybe supper for circling sharks. Just to prove it's a low-budget film, the circling sharks -- they are real. It opens in major cities tonight.

On DVD, Viggo Mortensen thunders onto the small screen in "Hidalgo," about a man, his horse and a long race across the Arabian desert.

Jennifer Garner's racing too, past 17 years of her life in "13 Going on 30."

She's an unhappy teen who, with the help of a little magic dust, turns into her 30-year-old self. Think "Big" for girls.

And in music, 23-year-old Josh Groban takes his summer concert tour to the Midwest. The classical singer plays Clarkston, Michigan, on Saturday night, and on Sunday it's the Tweeter Center in Tinley, Illinois.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: 360 next, President Bush's new name for the war on terror. Do you know it? Have you heard it? We take that to "The Nth Degree."

First, today's "Buzz." Which is the more important issue for you in the upcoming presidential election, terrorism or the economy? Log on to cnn.com/360. Cast your vote now. Results when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Time now for "The Buzz." Earlier, we asked you, which is the more important issue for you in the upcoming presidential election, terrorism or the economy? Sixty-nine percent of you said the economy; 31 percent terrorism. Not a scientific poll, but it is your buzz, and we appreciate you voting.

Tonight, taking the naming of wars to "The Nth Degree."

Oh, for the days when it was easy to name the war you were in, like Korea or Vietnam. Even further back, you could use numbers, like World Wars I and II. There was the Hundred Years War, of course, or the war of the Spanish Secession all of them pretty descriptive of time or place or opponent. But the war on terror is a bit different. The time, the place, the enemy less easy to define, a point President Bush made today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: We actually misnamed the war on terror. It ought to be the -- the struggle against ideological extremists who do not believe in free societies, who happen to use terror as a weapon, to try to shake the conscious (sic) of the free world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Not quite as catchy or easy to remember, but the biggest problem we see with it is our banner. You see below this war on terror? It fits, it fits really nicely. But the struggle against ideological extremists who happen to use terror as a weapon to try to shake the conscience of the free world, see, takes up a bit more room. And it's bad enough for us, what the heck will Fox do?

Thanks for watching 360. Coming up next, "PAULA ZAHN NOW."

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


Aired August 6, 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.
A scene of horror at a home in Florida.

360 starts now.

Six found brutally murdered in a home north of Orlando. Police search for clues to the bloodbath.

Violence flares in Najaf as U.S. and Iraqi forces fight a radical cleric's ragtag army. What's Muqtada al-Sadr's secret strategy?

Anemic job numbers enter the spin cycle. Disappointing, say Democrats. Good news, say republicans. Who's telling the truth?

A judge rules Mary Kay Letourneau can be reunited with her former student, the boy she raped, now a man she can love.

He promised safe and cheap abortions. Desperate women trusted him. But they never got what they wanted. Did an anti-abortionist purposely mislead pregnant women into delaying abortion?

And Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" a hit in the Arab world. Banned in Kuwait, embraced in Lebanon. But is the movie helping or hurting America's image abroad?

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

COOPER: Good evening.

It started with a phone call from a worried co-worker. Then a friend went by the house to see if anything was wrong. Soon the police arrived. And by the time the victims were being counted one by one by one, everyone in a Florida community knew something unspeakable had happened.

CNN's John Zarrella reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Behind the yellow crime scene tape in a three-bedroom house, police found the bodies of four men and two women. Police said they had all been brutally murdered.

SHERIFF BEN JOHNSON, VOLUSIA COUNTY, FLORIDA: A lot of trauma was involved. I'm not going to say what kind of trauma. But there was a lot of trauma done to the bodes and itself. The house is a mess. It's just a very, very brutal crime scene.

ZARRELLA: Late into the afternoon, the bodies had still not been moved. The victims, police say, were between the ages of 18 and the mid-30s. They had been found in various parts of the house. There appeared, authorities said, to have been a struggle.

JOHNSON: I strongly believe that these people knew who their assailant was. That's my feeling about it. I've seen nothing to change my mind from that.

ZARRELLA: Some of the victims, the number is unclear, were employees of a Burger King not too far from the crime scene. Police are not sure if there is any connection. But in a statement, the company said in part, quote, "The Burger King Corporation and the franchisee are deeply saddened by these events."

Residents in the neighborhood describe the area as peaceful.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It makes me feel, you know, uncomfortable, because I'm a single parent with three girls, and I go home and, you know, they're teenagers. And I leave them here home alone sometimes. And it's, like, you know, that's got me a little bit worried now.

ZARRELLA: At this point in their investigation, police say they have no idea what the motive was.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZARRELLA: Authorities say they are looking at subjects of interest, but at this point they have no formal suspects. And because of the brutality of the murders involved, it may be a while before they can identify all of the bodies, Anderson.

COOPER: John, thanks very much. John Zarrella from Florida tonight.

A little later on I'll talk live with the Florida sheriff leading the investigation into the murders, try to get the latest update.

There's a glass-half-full, glass-half-empty quality to our next story. New numbers from the government show there was some job growth in the month of July, but the 32,000 new jobs were a fraction of the 200,000 economists expected. But the unemployment rate fell 0.1 percent to 5.5. And the meaning of those two facts was interpreted very differently by the president and Senator Kerry today.

Here's CNN's Dana Bash.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Against a backdrop of hay bales and cornstalks on a Missouri farm, John Kerry used the lackluster jobs report to mock the president's new campaign slogan.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In the last few days, you've heard people in positions of leadership on the other side saying America has turned the corner. Well, it must have been a U- turn.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're not turning back.

BASH: On the stump in New Hampshire, an undeterred president talked up the economy, with a concession.

BUSH: We've got more to do. I'm not going to be satisfied until everybody who wants to work can find a job.

BASH: July's numbers show just 32,000 jobs added, a fraction of what was expected. The political reality, the bad jobs news is good news for Senator Kerry. The Democratic National Committee already had an ad cut.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: ... millions of good jobs lost to plant closures and outsourcing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Bush aides note support for the president's handling of the economy has improved. That may be true, but a recent CNN-"USA Today"-Gallup poll shows Americans think John Kerry is a better leader on the issue by 10 points.

Bush campaign officials privately admit they're frustrated by several months of stellar job numbers that had major competition for air time. April's report showed a long-awaited sign of growth, 308,000 new jobs. But that week, U.S. civilians were brutally killed in Fallujah. May's report, 288,000 jobs added. That day, Donald Rumsfeld testified before Congress at the height of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal.

Bush campaign aides point to considerable job growth where it matters, contested states like New Hampshire, where the president campaigned, and Missouri, where his opponent farmed for votes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: But some political veterans say if voters don't feel the economic turnaround by now, it may be too late to break into their psyche. That's something that happened to the first President Bush, and something his son is trying to avoid, Anderson.

COOPER: Perception's so important right now, the campaign. Dana Bash, thanks very much.

We're going to talk more about the economic numbers a little bit later in the program.

Due to today's economic report, it was a brutal day on Wall Street, with record lows. Here's a quick news note. The Dow dropped 147 points, closing at its lowest point since November 28 of last year. And the Nasdaq composite fell 44 points, also closing at its lowest level of the year.

There's an ominous note tonight in the war on terror. The government reports that intelligence chatter has dropped off. Now, that is worrisome, say some, because government sources tell CNN the same thing happened right before the September 11 attacks. Officials say they do not know what to make of it, but they say it is a cause of concern.

Well, that gets us to tonight's buzz question. Which is the most important issue, or the more important issue, for you in the upcoming presidential election, terrorism or the economy? Vote now at CNN.com/360. We'll have results at the end of program tonight.

If handing authority in Iraq back to Iraqis was supposed to make the problem go away, clearly has not. So far, 12 American troops have died there this month. Forty-two American troops died in the month of June, 56 were killed in July, the month after the handover.

Iraq's interim government now faces perhaps its most serious challenge. For a second day in a row now, residents in Najaf have stayed at their homes with their doors bolted tight shut while a rebel militia battles U.S. Marines outside in the streets.

Here's CNN's Matthew Chance.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The holy city of Najaf, another scene of pitched battles and bloodshed. Fighters of the Mahdi Army, loyal to the firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, have taken positions in the heart of the ancient city.

U.S. Marines are fighting street to street near the shrine of Imam Ali, one of the holiest sites in Shi'a Islam.

And casualties are high. The Marines say they've killed 300 of the militia so far.

LT. GARY JOHNSTON, U.S. MARINES: There is no end state or end, really, end time that we'll place on this one. I think at this point in time, it will be a effects-based, when, in fact, we believe that those attacking Iraqis and Iraqi civilians are no longer capable of doing that.

BASH: Now Muqtada al-Sadr is again at the center of Shi'a unrest. U.S. officials say his militia violated a ceasefire agreed in June. His own spokesmen says they're ready for a truce. "Najaf has strong relations with other cities," he warns. "The tension in Najaf will be reflected there."

It is what the Iraqi government and the U.S.-led coalition fear most, a general uprising among Iraq's majority Shi'a that could spell disaster.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: And the fighting continues.

Back here in the U.S., new developments in the anthrax investigation. FBI agents have searched three properties, all with ties to a doctor with a background in bioterror.

Here's CNN's Deborah Feyerick.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): FBI officials will not say why they searched Dr. Kenneth Barry's home in Wellsville, New York. They're also not saying why they searched a house nearby, where Barry lived until June of 2001, or why they carted off boxes and bags from the beach house at the Jersey shore owned by Barry's parents.

All the FBI will say is the search is something to do with finding the origins of the deadly 2001 anthrax mailings.

New York Governor George Pataki telling CNN...

GOV. GEORGE PATAKI (R), NEW YORK: Well, what they're doing is, they're simply checking every possible lead to see -- to try to eliminate those who might be in any way considered a suspect in the anthrax attacks.

FEYERICK: Everyone in the small Wellsville community seemed to be talking about it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm sure for Wellsville, it will be a day that goes down in our history.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They have a, you know, a very loving family. And this is just a complete shock, and it's very sad to hear.

FEYERICK (on camera): Barry is founder of Preempt Systems. The counterterrorism company trains first responders how to react if there's a biological or chemical attack.

Barry was head of emergency medicine at Jones Memorial Hospital in Wellsville, resigning in October 2001, around the time of the anthrax attacks. A hospital spokeswoman did not know why Barry stepped down. But before he did he filed a patent application for a system to identify chemical and biological agents. That was 10 days before the first two anthrax letters were postmarked from New Jersey. Barry's Web site says he's a weapons of mass destruction consultant for the Defense Department. CNN could not confirm that with the Pentagon. Repeated attempts to reach Barry or his representative were unsuccessful.

Barry was arrested Thursday, not because of anything to do with anthrax, but because of an alleged domestic disturbance.

Deborah Feyerick, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Mary Kay Letourneau is free to resume the relationship that sent her to prison. That story tops our look at what's happening cross-country tonight.

A Seattle judge has lifted the no-contact order between Letourneau and her former student lover, with whom she had two children. The victim, which is now 21, says he's anxious to see her and decide if they can have a life together. Letourneau was released from prison Wednesday after completing a seven-year sentence for child rape.

We'll talk with one of Letourneau's friends about today's court decision later on 360.

Near Jackson, Tennessee, a Greyhound bus and truck collision kills three people. At least 17 others were injured. Police say the bus rammed into the tractor-trailer as it pulled back onto Interstate 40 from the emergency lane.

Los Angeles now, Grammy Award-winning singer Rick James found dead in his home. James was best known for the 1981 hit "Super Freak." One of James's producers tells CNN he died of a heart attack. Rick James was 56 years old.

That's a quick look at what's happening cross-country tonight.

360 next, an abortion scam. A man faces a lawsuit, accused of tricking women into having their babies.

Plus, "Fahrenheit 9/11" in the Arab world. It is playing on the big screen over there too. That is, where it's not banned. In some countries it is. We've got the reaction from the Arab street.

And hard work pays off. A U.S. gymnast finally getting his chance to go for the gold.

But first, let's look at the most popular stories on CNN.com right now, and listen to some of the music of Rick James.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Women searching for a safe place to have an abortion in New Orleans say they were tricked and deceived. Now they're suing the man they say is responsible for an abortion scam. Here's CNN's Sara Dorsey.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILLIAM GRAHAM, DEFENDANT: I have nothing to say. I don't want to be in your cameras.

SARA DORSEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's little wonder William Graham had nothing to say on his way out of federal court. A judge had just ordered him to disconnect his phone and stop tricking women seeking an abortion. The women say Graham would promise to put them in touch with private doctors who would perform abortions at bargain prices. He warned them that clinics often botched procedures and left women sterile.

For over 10 years, Graham ran an ad in the phone book under Abortion Services, using a name strikingly similar to the Causeway Medical Clinic, a genuine abortion provider also suing Graham.

SUZANNE NOVACK, CENTER FOR REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS: There is no actual facility, there's no address given. It's simply a name that looks and sounds a lot like Causeway Medical Clinic, and has done so intentionally.

DORSEY: The women charged he would promise to set up appoints, then cancel them, over and over again, until it was too late or too expensive to terminate their pregnancies.

ELIZABETH NETTE, PLAINTIFF: think he intentionally postpones it so she could have this baby.

DORSEY: In an exclusive phone interview, Graham told CNN he only promised to try to contact doctors, and he never followed up on his referrals.

GRAHAM (on phone): Now, we try to schedule on a weekend, a Friday or a Saturday, and we have to wait until a physician will tell us where they would want her to go. Now, if they don't tell us that, then we have to let them know, We couldn't get you in.

DORSEY: And he said he made his opinion of abortion clinics abundantly clear.

GRAHAM: We're not going to send you to clinics that advertise they do terminations, and that's because of the ongoing history they all have of injuring women.

DORSEY: Now, if a woman calls Graham's number, she hears this.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (recorded message): We're sorry, you have reached a number that has been disconnected or is no longer in service.

DORSEY: But this is little comfort to the women who say their lives will permanently change, their right to choose taken away.

Sara Dorsey, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: We should point out Graham has been representing himself. Now he says he's looking for a lawyer, and the plaintiffs' attorneys say they have already been contacted by 10 more women. The case goes back into court in 90 days.

A monsoon kills nearly 2,000 people. That story tops our look at what's happening around the world in the uplink.

South Asia, 17 people, including six children, were killed in heavy rains today, and more than 1,900 people have died from drowning, disease, mud slides, and other storm-related disasters since the monsoon began in June.

The Gaza Strip crossing to Egypt reopens. Israel will allow at least 1,500 Palestinians stranded at the crossing to return home. Israel closed the site nearly three weeks ago out of concerns that Palestinian militants were planning to attack it.

Belfast, Northern Ireland, a lucky day indeed. A 58-year-old cancer patient has won the equivalent of $36 million in Britain's national lottery. It is the biggest jackpot won by a single person in the lottery's history. The winner says she almost missed the prize because she had put the winning ticket away and had forgotten about it.

In Amsterdam, the Netherlands, fighting unsolicited toe-licking. Yes, the Dutch Labor Party has proposed a measure that would ban the foot fetish. This comes after police failed to prosecute a man who had allegedly snuck up on sunbathing women and licked their toes. Police say while the activity is certainly unusual, it is not criminal.

And that's tonight's uplink for you.

Michael Moore's film "Fahrenheit 9/11" has stirred political tempers, raked in more than $110 million dollars, but it apparently hasn't changed many minds. A recent study out of the University of Pennsylvania found that those who think less of President Bush after seeing the film are mostly Democrats and left-leaning independents, not exactly fans of the president to begin with.

But that, of course, is just in the U.S. In the Middle East, the central front in the war on terror, many Arabs are just now seeing "Fahrenheit 9/11" for the first time.

CNN's Tim Lister gauges their reaction.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TIM LISTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At the Empire Theater in downtown Beirut, all the summer blockbusters are showing, "Shrek 2," "Harry Potter 3," and "Fahrenheit 9/11." Michael Moore's documentary is proving a surprise hit in the Arab world from Lebanon to Qatar. And now a familiar face peers down at moviegoers.

In Beirut, "Fahrenheit 9/11" is subtitled in both French and Arabic. But whatever the language, its message is not lost on the audience.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I liked it because there are things that we don't know about President Bush that I guess we learned after this movie.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The movie portrayed at president as not truthful.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I came out of the movie feeling really sorry for the American people, because they are being cheated and lied to.

LISTER: Audiences in Beirut are famous for chatting through movies or taking calls on their cell phones. But Moore's film has brought rapt attention. Lebanon is unusual in the Arab world for showing American films uncensored. The people of Kuwait won't be seeing "Fahrenheit 9/11" at all. It's been banned there because of Moore's allegations about links between the Bush administration and the Saudi royal family.

That relationship intrigued some of the audience emerging from the Empire in Beirut.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Before viewing the film, I did not know that the Saudi Arabians and President Bush had such close ties.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I came out with the idea that war is really more economical than anything else. I mean, they're using economics to have control over the world, and they're using war for it.

LISTER: In a region already suspicious of Washington's motives, "Fahrenheit 9/11" seems unlikely to smooth the cause of American diplomacy.

Tim Lister, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, 360 next, from DJ and break dancer to Olympic gymnast, how hard work and family support helped this athlete go after his Olympic dreams.

Plus, the raw politics of unemployment, both sides with their own take on economic numbers, and voters are paying attention.

Also a little later, four men and two women found murdered in a Florida home. We'll have the latest on the investigation in a live interview with the sheriff.

That's all ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COOPER: Well, one week from today, the Olympic cauldron will be lit, and the 2004 Summer Games will officially begin. Among this year's Olympic newcomers is a young man whose break-dancing moves in high school earned him the nickname The White Magic. In Athens, gymnast Brett McClure will try to use his magic to win a gold medal.

CNN's Jason Bellini reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the thrill of performance.

BRETT MCCLURE, U.S. OLYMPIC GYMNAST: I always, you know, just nitpick it and work on it and try and perfect it, really.

BELLINI: Matching the beat, landing the jump, from DJ to gymnast, Brett McClure.

As a child...

MCCLURE: I took the pillows off the couches, threw them at the bottom of the stairs, and just started flipping myself, you know, off the stairs and onto these pillows. And we ended up taking it to the front yard, you know, and I'm teaching myself back flips. I just begged my father if I could go to a gymnastics class.

BELLINI: In high school...

MCCLURE: I was the only white kid that could actually do well at break dancing. You know, I did some moves that they'd never seen before.

BELLINI: They dubbed him White Magic. For all his love of performance, McClure says he'd get butterflies. They gave him exhilaration, but as he got older and the stakes got higher, they gave him problems.

MCCLURE: I remember my first world championship in 2001, I was dry-heaving in the corner before I had to up on pommel horse, because you're so nervous.

BELLINI (on camera): In 2000, Brett McClure fumbled his chances to go to the Sydney Games. He faltered badly in the Olympic trials and didn't make the team.

MCCLURE: I didn't believe I was good enough. I had no confidence. I fell on my best event like, three times at the Olympic trial.

BELLINI (voice-over): He took time off. He questioned his Olympic dreams. Then he decided to question his questions.

MCCLURE: And I always thought, you know, well, what does this person think about me, and what does that person think about me?

BELLINI: Millions will be thinking about him in Athens.

MCCLURE: All the ingredients are there. We just got to put together.

BELLINI (on camera): You got to mix it together.

MCCLURE: Yes, exactly.

BELLINI (voice-over): Perhaps he'll get the answer to a lifelong question, can he perform as an Olympian?

Jason Bellini, CNN, Colorado Springs.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: And we wish him well.

Coming up on 360, a judge says Mary Kay Letourneau and the boy she raped can meet again. He's now a young man. We'll talk to her friends about when the reunion will happen.

And the raw politics of spin. What kind of shape is the economy really in? Stay tuned.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: In the next half hour on 360, she served prison time for child rape. Her victim says it's love. And a judge is now allowing them to reunite. We'll talk with a friend of Mary Kay Letourneau.

And beware the angry viewer. We'll look inside the box at the complaints we got about one political segment and see if they're justified.

First, let's take a look at our top stories in tonight's reset.

The U.S. military says two Marines were killed in fighting in Najaf, Iraq, today. It also says at least 300 militants have died in the two days of violence there. But a spokesman for radical Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr says his army has lost only 36 fighters.

In Washington, a disappointing jobs report. The Labor Department says businesses added only 32,000 jobs last month, much less than the 200,000 economists were expecting. It was the weakest job growth so far this year. We'll talk about it in just a few moments.

In Tokyo, Japan, former world chess champion Bobby Fischer is renouncing his U.S. citizenship. Fischer's lawyer says he phoned the U.S. embassy to express his intent, though it won't take effect until he meets personally with a U.S. consular official. Fischer is wanted for defying U.S. sanctions on Yugoslavia by playing chess there in 1992.

In Orlando, Florida, Walt Disney World has reinstated an employee who had been acquitted of molesting a 13-year-old girl while wearing a Tigger costume. A union representative says Michael Chartrand will once again wear character costumes, though Disney had given him the choice to take another job at the park.

That's a quick look at top stories in "The Reset."

In Deltona, Florida, police have a horrific murder mystery on their hands: The bodies of four men and two women were found in a house. Officials say they appear to have been murdered and are now searching for clues and the killer.

Joining us from Deltona is Volusia County Sheriff Ben Johnson. Sheriff, thanks very much for being with us.

Do you believe there's a killer on the loose right now?

JOHNSON" Well, we're certain there's somebody that is on the loose. We feel like there was somebody that did have knowledge of them.

COOPER: What makes you think that?

JOHNSON: Well, all of the clues we have so far. We've done some investigation on it, and we have some things that have occurred. And it fits in with different scenarios that did happen at the house.

It's not like it's a random deal. We're certain -- are quite certain that whoever did this had knowledge of the individuals in the house.

COOPER: In terms of crimes you've seen, how does this compare? I mean, what was the scene like inside?

JOHNSON: This is one of the worst -- well, it is the worst scene I've ever seen and including all of our investigators here -- and collectively, we have hundred of years of experience. And we've never seen anything quite like this before.

It's a very, very grizzly scene. There's a lot of trauma. Whoever did this was intent on making sure they had accomplished what they came for.

COOPER: So, there were six people inside the house killed. I understand also the dog was killed. Do you know what the relationship between the people is? I understand some of them worked at the local Burger King, or perhaps all?

JOHNSON: There's -- they seemed to all be friends. We don't find any family relationships, but all of them are friends. And that's as far as we've been able to determine that the time.

COOPER: And I mean, I guess no idea of a motive at this time?

JOHNSON: At this time, we don't have motive. We won't have motive until we find someone to interview, a suspect. And that's what it's going to take -- or maybe someone who they had mentioned it to. But at this time, we don't have a motive.

COOPER: What do you tell local people? I mean, there have go to be a lot of nervous people out in your community tonight.

JOHNSON: Well, there's a lot of nervous people. There's no doubt. There's a lot of concerned people, but my belief is that this was not a random act. This was somebody who was targeted, and I strongly feel that the citizens of Deltona don't have to worry about that.

Although we have a murderer, maybe more, on the loose, we still feel totally -- we just are secure that the fact that these people were targeted and it was not random.

COOPER: All right. Sheriff Johnson, I know you've had a long day and have a long night ahead of you. We appreciate you taking time to talk to us. Thanks very much, Sheriff Ben Johnson.

JOHNSON: Well, thank you very much. We appreciate it.

COOPER: Good luck to you.

It seems nothing can keep Mary Kay Letourneau and the young man she raped as a child apart. Not prison -- she's already done her time; not the law, though for years had tried; and finally not his age, because this time he's old enough to decide for himself.

CNN's Kimberly Osias reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KIMBERLY OSIAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She's done her time -- more than seven years in prison. Convicted of raping then sixth grader Vili Fualaau. Now, the same judge who sentenced former teacher Mary Kay Letourneau says the two can be together again without violating the law.

GREGG OLSEN , AUTHOR, "IF LOVING YOU IS WRONG": He's never said he was a victim. He's always said that he was a willing participant in this. But what he doesn't really know and what he doesn't really say is that this has had a huge effect on his life.

OSIAS: At 21, Vili Fualaau is working on his GED and was treated for deep depression while Letourneau was behind bars, but he says his feelings about her haven't changed.

VILI FUALAAU, LETOURNEAU'S FMR. STUDENT LOVER: I don't know what my feelings are right now, but I know I do love her.

OSIAS: The court ruling today from King County Superior Judge Linda Lau lifted the lifetime no contact ban between the former teacher and her former student at Fualaau's request.

The district attorney did not challenge his motion since, at 21, Fualaau is now a consenting adult. The corrections department also declined to object.

Both fellow inmate and her biographer believe Letourneau is interested in a future with Fualaau and may seek custody of their two daughters, Alexis and Audrey, now five and seven. No word yet as to when the couple will get together.

Kimberly Osias, CNN Seattle.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Joining us now is Anne Bremner, friend of Mary Kay Letourneau, and from Seattle, Gregg Olsen, who has interviewed Vili Fualaau and is author of the book, "If Loving You Is Wrong." Appreciate both of you being on the program tonight.

OLSEN: Thank you.

ANNE BREMNER, FRIEND OF LETOURNEAU: Thanks.

COOPER: Anne, let me start off with you. You saw Mary Kay Letourneau last week. Was she optimistic that she would see Fualaau again?

BREMNER: Yes. And I have to say, you meet the most interesting people at work. I defended the civil case that Vili and his mother brought against the city and the school district -- and they were represented by a different (ph) lawyer.

COOPER: They -- they had brought a case against the city saying that the city hadn't protected Vili Fualaau from Mary Kay Letourneau.

BREMNER: Absolutely, and...

COOPER: ... looking for money, they didn't get it.

BREMNER: Multimillion dollars, didn't get it.

COOPER: OK. So, how did she seem to you last week?

BREMNER: She was optimistic, you know, a little apprehensive -- seven years in prison. Of course, you're worried about going into the big world, especially where the media -- the media glares everywhere. And the uncertainty was there with respect to whether she would have a future with Vili and what would happen with all six of her children.

COOPER: Gregg, you have interviewed Vili. What kind of guy is he now, and how does he look at all of this.

OLSEN: Well, you know, Vili Fualaau is a young man that has been really just biding time for the last seven years, waiting for Mary Letourneau to be free to see what kind of future they might have.

So, you know, he's really done very little in his life all these years. He didn't graduate from high school. He did suffer from depression. He hasn't really held down a job. So, you know, right now I can imagine he's thinking, you know, my life is about to start, but I don't know which way it's going to go.

COOPER: You know, you mentioned, Anne, that there were six kids involved in this.

BREMNER: Right.

COOPER: And she had four children of her own -- I mean, their lives have been turned upside down and destroyed in many ways.

BREMNER: Absolutely. And when I saw her -- it's what we want to see when someone's been in prison, that they'd thought about things and they're ready to change.

COOPER: Does she seem remorseful to you?

BREMNER: Absolutely. The pain that she expressed to me for the pain of her four children.

COOPER: So, she has talked about her own four kids. She has acknowledged and acknowledged the pain that she's caused them.

BREMNER: Absolutely, you know, it's something -- it'll be such a long road, I think, to ever get to where she ever was with them. I mean, one of the youngest was three when she went into prison.

COOPER: And Gregg, she has two children with Vili Fualaau. Tell us about them. They're being raised by Vili Fualaau's mother.

OLSEN: Yes. I want to say something about what Anne just said. I understand she -- you know, Mary's remorseful now, but this is very new. This has come out only in the last year or so that she's actually expressed any sorrow for anything that she's done.

So, this is good news that we're hearing, and I appreciate Anne for sharing it.

As far as Vili and his mother, they've done a very good job raising these two little girls. And I do expect them to continue being raised by Soona, and Mary will not get custody. I just don't think that will happen.

COOPER: You know, Anne, you say she's remorseful. Is she remorseful -- does she say that she committed rape? Or -- I mean I heard -- someone else was telling me that she thought her biggest crime was adultery.

BREMNER: There was a book that was written in France by all of the principles, and it was called "Our Only Crime Is Love." That's the translation. Some see it as a crime story, as a love story.

Gregg's book, which is called "If Loving You Is Wrong," is sold as true crime in the U.S. and true romance in Europe. She sees it as the latter -- that this is the love story. She is the Joan of Arc of forbidden love. It's like Romeo and Juliet.

COOPER: Wait, wait, she thinks she's the Joan of Arc of forbidden love?

BREMNER: That kind of the phrase that was used during the case, but she does say -- compare herself and Vili to Romeo and Juliet, and she has in the past. COOPER: Gregg, how much of think, you think, is about money at this point for them? I mean, obviously she needs some way to make a living from now on.

Are they going to get together in some sort of a book deal, Vili Fualaau and her?

OLSEN: Oh, yes, absolutely. We can expect -- I mean, that's happening right now. There are probably offers coming in, really, from all over the world. We know that, for a fact, there'll be a movie. There'll be a book. There'll be some big thing that'll coming out of this.

It'll be a lot of money, but like I've said before, I wonder if it'll last. Because last time around, the family -- Vili's family, you know, netted about $250,000, and that's all gone.

COOPER: Netted from tabloids, from people wanting to pay for the story?

OLSEN: Right, tabloids, and the French book brought in a lot of money.

COOPER: And Anne, you think it's guaranteed there's going to be some sort of TV movie, some sort of book deal.

OLSEN: There's no question. You watch.

BREMNER: Yes, I agree with Gregg. But I'm hoping -- you know, we're in the here and now right now. He's an adult. I'm hoping it's done with dignity and that we're not in the tabloids anymore, we're not in the courts anymore with this case, and that -- the welfare of those children are upper and foremost in their minds.

COOPER: Yes, not only the children she has now, but the children she had before.

BREMNER: Absolutely.

COOPER: Fascinating case.

BREMNER: Isn't it?

COOPER: Anne Bremner, appreciate you joining us.

BREMNER: My pleasure, thanks.

COOPER: Gregg Olsen, it's good to talk to you again.

OLSEN: Thank you. Take care.

COOPER: Well, the country is polarized, and so it seems are our viewers. Next on 360, how one political segment we did touched off a flurry of angry e-mail. We'll go inside the box to find out why.

Also tonight, bring your own bells: England is looking for a new court jester, its first in almost 300 years. We'll show some auditions.

And a little later, Tom Cruise like you've never seen him before: bad, cold blooded -- in his new film "Collateral." We check it out in "The Weekender."

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Low job growth numbers suggest the economy's in bad shape -- or is it? The spin's the thing. That's next on 360.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: "Rashomon" is the classic film by Akira Kurosawa where each person in the film sees the same facts completely differently. Welcome to the presidential campaign, where facts like jobs created and unemployment numbers become a sort of "Rashomon" of raw politics.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): In New Hampshire, amid bales of hay, President Bush used the latest labor stats to paint a rosy picture of the U.S. economy.

BUSH: The economy this last summer has grown at a rate as fast as any in nearly 20 years. In the last year we've added about 1.5 million new jobs, the unemployment rate is down to 5.5 percent.

COOPER: And he is right. The unemployment rate dipped by 1/10 of 1 percent as the economy added 32,000 jobs, the 11 straight months of job growth. Yet a few state away, in the cornfields of Missouri, Senator John Kerry used the same labor stats to build a bleak picture of the U.S. economy.

KERRY: Basically over the last few of years, we've had a net negative loss of jobs in the United States of America. And the jobs that are being created pay $9,000 less on average than the jobs that we're losing overseas.

COOPER: And he is right. The July figures are the weakest showing so far this year, far less than the 200,000 jobs expected by economists. So you may ask, are these stats good or bad news for the economy? Who's right, President Bush or Senator Kerry? Well, neither and both.

Why? Because when you drop statistics into the spin cycle of raw politics, they'll come out stretched and shrunken.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (on camera): Joining us now to help us wade through the numbers and the politics in San Diego, John Fund, a columnist for the "Wall Street Journal" and in Washington, Ryan Lizza, senior editor at "The New Republic." John, let me start off with you. I want to show you this latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll showing that voters believe Kerry would better handle the economy: 43 percent say Bush would better handle the economy, 53 percent say Kerry. Barring a dramatic turn of events in the next few months, how does Bush beat Kerry on this issue?

JOHN FUND, "WALL STREET JOURNAL": Well, there's a perception gap, the economy is doing better than most Americans believe it is and that's happened before. In 1996 when Bill Clinton ran for reelection the unemployment rate was the same, but there was a different perception. The perception was the economy was on the up.

Look, you asked for a dramatic event. I think a 75-day campaign which is with about what we'll have right now, in which we're going to have 3 debates and the American people are finally going to focus on this is the kind of dramatic event that will get the American people to focus on whether or not they think the economy is doing well or not.

COOPER: Ryan, how does Kerry use this to his advantage without seeming pessimistic.

RYAN LIZZA, SENIOR EDITOR, "THE NEW REPUBLIC": Well, I don't think he -- the way he uses it to his advantage is just say what the facts are. John talked about in 1992 the economy getting better through that year.

FUND: Actually, it's '96 I said.

LIZZA: Oh, excuse me -- well, the point is since March of this year, job growth has gone down every single month. I don't think Kerry needs to do much more than state the facts. Even if job growth improved, even if the unemployment rate comes down more, people out in the country don't seem to be feeling it.

I just spent a week with Kerry on the campaign trail and I was sort of surprised about -- the reaction from crowds when you talked about the economy. They don't really want to hear statistics. They don't feel like the economy's getting better and that's the most important thing.

COOPER: John, some of the Bush administration kind of blaming the media that better economic numbers that came out in months past didn't get as much play, because they coincided with major events happening in Iraq. Do you think that's fair?

FUND: Oh, sure, but Iraq obviously wiped out a lot of that coverage. I don't think you can necessarily say please report on what we want you to report on what we want you to report on, not something else.

The bottom line, though, is the president has a chance to make his case that we've had 11 months straight of job growth, things are trending in the right direction. People tend to go with an incumbent if they see the signals pointing in the right direction, even if they're not completely happy where they are at this moment. And remember, we have got two or three more months of job growth to report.

COOPER: Ryan -- go ahead.

LIZZA: What I was going to say is the numbers aren't going in the right direction, consumer spending is down, gas prices are up and job growth has dropped every month since March. So, they're not going in the right direction.

FUND: Ryan, a lot of this is undue to the unprecedented 20-year high in gasoline and oil prices.

LIZZA: Right.

FUND: People understand that is related to foreign policy and to terrorism fears. Now, they understand also that a president can do a lot about that, but not everything. I think that when you tie the issue of high gas prices, high oil prices to the foreign policy threat and the threat of terrorism, people can understand the President Bush can't control all those events.

LIZZA: Maybe. It doesn't sound like a good bumper stick to me, though.

COOPER: Sounds like a mighty long bumper sticker.

FUND: How about terrorists are increasing your gas prices not George Bush or Dick Cheney.

LIZZA: Sure. But my point was, the numbers are trending in the right direction. I was just pointing out that's not actually the case, they're pointing in the wrong direction. Consumer spending is down. Gas prices are up and the fed is going to raise interest rates on Tuesday.

FUND: Ryan, Ryan, listen carefully, a slow down in job growth, is not a decrease in jobs. We are still going in the right direction. We are still going up.

COOPER: Final thoughts.

LIZZA: The job growth is not keeping up the increasing population, John, so it's not going in the right direction.

FUND: If you want to look at a single month fine. Let's wait until next month.

LIZZA: No, we've looked at the months since March.

FUND: It's march.

COOPER: Ryan Lizza appreciate you joining us. John Fund as well. Thanks very much.

FUND: I didn't know March was a trend.

LIZZA: Five months. COOPER: We'll leave it there with the raised eyebrows.

Today's "Buzz" is this, which is the most important issue, or the more important issue, I should say, for you in the upcoming election? Terrorism or the economy? Log on to CNN.com/360. Cast your vote. Results at the end of program.

And we love hearing from the viewers, no doubt about it. And every day we look over the e-mails that you send us. But what we've been noticing more and more that the way some people see things seem to be dictated by what side of the political aisle they're standing on.

Case in point, Wednesday's edition of 360. Some of the e-mails you all sent us, yikes!

So, we thought we'd look at reality and perception inside the box.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): Wednesday on 360, we interviewed former Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean.

DR. HOWARD DEAN (D), FMR. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They're playing politics with their timing of the release of these documents.

COOPER: Immediately after, Bush/Cheney campaign spokesman Terry Holt responded live on our show.

TERRY HOLT, BUSH/CHENEY CAMPAIGN SPOKESMAN: What he's saying is shameful and irresponsible.

COOPER: Dean's interview lasted 4 minutes and 40 seconds, Holt's 4 minutes and 37 seconds.

I asked a question or interrupted Dean eight times.

COOPER: Your fellow Democrats, John Kerry, governor of Michigan among others have distanced themselves and not sort of, have distanced themselves from your comments.

I did the same with Holt 7 times.

John Kerry on CNN in an interview with Bill Hemmer the other day said he does not agree with what Howard Dean said, in fact, has distanced himself.

HOLT: However...

COOPER: Yet, amongst the hundreds of e-mails we received from viewers, a few accused us of being biased.

Rob from Joliet, Illinois, wrote, "Anderson, you really need to start being a little more balanced. You hammered Holt with hardball questions." But Margie from Doylestown, Pennsylvania, disagreed, "While watching Anderson Cooper, I hear very little questioning of Mr. Bush's political tactics."

Karen from Mill Valley, California, wrote, "Your journalists are transparently pro-Bush."

But Mitzy from Little Rock, Arkansas, thinks, "Your show is blatantly biased toward Kerry-Edwards."

In this close election, experts say voters are becoming more polarized, but the truth is so are viewers.

HOWARD KURTZ, "THE WASHINGTON POST": It's getting impossible in this polarized atmosphere to please everybody. Republican viewers are convinced that Democratic guests are getting an easy time and Democratic viewers are increasingly thinking that Republican guests are getting a free pass.

COOPER: Clearly, the country is profoundly split and following these elections closely. A recent CBS/"New York Times" poll found that 82 percent of registered voters say it does matter who's elected president compared to 68 four years ago. 74 percent say there are important differences between Republicans and Democrats against 64 percent in 2000.

KURTZ: I've never seen attitudes toward the media on both sides, liberal and conservative, as polarized and as passionate as they are now.

COOPER: These days, when you're working inside the box, it's hard not to be caught in this political crossfire.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: But we do appreciate your e-mails, and keep them coming.

Renaming the war on terror. Today the president came up with a whole new idea. Just ahead, we'll take his new name to the "Nth Degree." Also tonight, 300 years later the job of court jester returns to England. I'm not kidding. Some additions ahead in "The Current."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Time to check on some pop news in tonight's "Current." A small news flash caught our attention today. It turns out England is looking for an official court jester, its first since 1649. Exactly what the duties and the pay of this new court jester is not entirely clear, but ads call for someone who must be mirthful and work weekends. Despite those last two requirements, the intrepid members of the 360 crew jumped at the chance to try out. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I shall never be aware of my own wit until I break my shins against it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Boy, I just flew in from the Coventry, and boy, are my arms tired, I tell you!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Boo! Boo!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) just walk around the orb like the sun, shines everywhere.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Man, it's amazing what a hat with bells can make people do.

So wondering what to do this weekend? Well, you can spend time with a graying Tom Cruise, take a 3,000 mile race across the desert, or catch a summer concert, all options in tonight's "Weekender."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM CRUISE, ACTOR, "COLLATERAL": What, I should only kill people after I get to know them?

COOPER (voice-over): In movies, Tom Cruise plays a killer chasing his quarry in a L.A. cab in a new thriller, "Collateral." Jamie Foxx keeps the meter running as the cabby Cruise presses into service. It's a Michael Mann film, so expect to see some blood.

It's not so much a little black book as a little gray PDA, but the effect is the same.

BRITTANY MURPHY, ACTRESS, "LITTLE BLACK BOOK": I can't. It's like going through someone's drawers.

COOPER: Brittany Murphy is a woman who delves a little too deeply into her boyfriend's PalmPilot and his past.

BLANCHARD RYAN, ACTRESS, "OPEN WATER": Daniel, where's the boat?

COOPER: In "Open Water," a vacationing couple is stranded, scared and maybe supper for circling sharks. Just to prove it's a low-budget film, the circling sharks -- they are real. It opens in major cities tonight.

On DVD, Viggo Mortensen thunders onto the small screen in "Hidalgo," about a man, his horse and a long race across the Arabian desert.

Jennifer Garner's racing too, past 17 years of her life in "13 Going on 30."

She's an unhappy teen who, with the help of a little magic dust, turns into her 30-year-old self. Think "Big" for girls.

And in music, 23-year-old Josh Groban takes his summer concert tour to the Midwest. The classical singer plays Clarkston, Michigan, on Saturday night, and on Sunday it's the Tweeter Center in Tinley, Illinois.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: 360 next, President Bush's new name for the war on terror. Do you know it? Have you heard it? We take that to "The Nth Degree."

First, today's "Buzz." Which is the more important issue for you in the upcoming presidential election, terrorism or the economy? Log on to cnn.com/360. Cast your vote now. Results when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Time now for "The Buzz." Earlier, we asked you, which is the more important issue for you in the upcoming presidential election, terrorism or the economy? Sixty-nine percent of you said the economy; 31 percent terrorism. Not a scientific poll, but it is your buzz, and we appreciate you voting.

Tonight, taking the naming of wars to "The Nth Degree."

Oh, for the days when it was easy to name the war you were in, like Korea or Vietnam. Even further back, you could use numbers, like World Wars I and II. There was the Hundred Years War, of course, or the war of the Spanish Secession all of them pretty descriptive of time or place or opponent. But the war on terror is a bit different. The time, the place, the enemy less easy to define, a point President Bush made today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: We actually misnamed the war on terror. It ought to be the -- the struggle against ideological extremists who do not believe in free societies, who happen to use terror as a weapon, to try to shake the conscious (sic) of the free world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Not quite as catchy or easy to remember, but the biggest problem we see with it is our banner. You see below this war on terror? It fits, it fits really nicely. But the struggle against ideological extremists who happen to use terror as a weapon to try to shake the conscience of the free world, see, takes up a bit more room. And it's bad enough for us, what the heck will Fox do?

Thanks for watching 360. Coming up next, "PAULA ZAHN NOW."

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