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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Thousands Flee Gulf Coast; U.S. Troops Under Fire in Sadr City
Aired September 14, 2004 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, HOST: Good evening from New York. I'm Anderson Cooper.
Thousands flee as Ivan draws a bead on the Gulf Coast.
360 starts now.
Waiting for a killer. Hurricane Ivan barrels down. Evacuations under way. Tonight, the latest on where it is going, and how hard it is going to hit.
Facing attack. U.S. troops under fire in Sadr City. We'll take you there, up close, on patrol in one of the most dangerous places in Iraq.
Bush talks to National Guard vets about Kerry and Iraq. But why no mention of the controversy over his own Guard service?
A mother's impossible choice, forced by terrorists to decide. She can save her infant, but has to sacrifice her daughter. Tonight, meet the mother forced to make that horrible choice.
And a 360 special, in depth with Aaron Ralston. Hear his stunning story of survival, how he cut off his hand to save his life. What would you have done?
ANNOUNCER: Live from the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is ANDERSON COOPER 360.
COOPER: And good evening.
We begin tonight with an all-too-familiar anxiety in the South. A powerful hurricane is looming, and tens of thousands have been forced to board up, pack up, and head for higher ground.
From space, let's take a look. You can see the massive shape of Ivan, though it doesn't look so dangerous from space. But beneath those white puffy clouds is a strong category four storm, winds extending as far as 105 miles from its center. This is massive. Some of the fiercest winds reaching 140 miles per hour.
Hurricane has already killed more than 60 people as it traveled through the Caribbean. That's the path there. Tonight, as it steadily heads north, a 420-mile-long stretch of U.S. land is in the crosshairs. Ivan could strike anywhere from Florida's panhandle to New Orleans, where the a mass exodus is under way before the storm strikes somewhere, sometime Thursday morning.
That's a live shot. The traffic has slowed a little bit. But it was bumper to bumper earlier today.
CNN national correspondent Susan Candiotti is in Ivan's projected path.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With a state of emergency in effect, Mobile gallery owner Yolanda Avery is boxing up what she can, and moving everything else off the floor.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm getting some of my larger pictures, some of my better artists, a lot of my limited edition pieces, and I'm trying to protect them, take them out of town.
CANDIOTTI: With Mobile Bay just around the corner, flooding is a sure bet if Ivan pounds ashore.
Boats line the Mobile River, coming up from the bay, from freighters and cargo ships, to sport fishing boats, all trying to move out of harm's way.
With Ivan inching closer and closer, there is little time to spare. A downtown office building sandbagging its ground floor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So everything is pulled away from the windows. We have all the interior doors locked and shut.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Landfall is expected early Thursday. The weather will start to go downhill beginning tomorrow...
CANDIOTTI: Interstate 10 heading east and west, busy throughout the day. New Orleans, below sea level, also a potential target, a voluntary evacuation urging residents to move to higher ground.
MAYOR RAY NAGIN, NEW ORLEANS: If we get a storm like Ivan to hit us directly, or to become -- come really close to us, then we could have a situation where we have 12 to 18 feet of water throughout the city.
CANDIOTTI: In Biloxi, Mississippi, a dozen Gulf Coast hotel casinos were ordered closed at noon, guests ushered out two hours later. Treasure Bay was hit hard by George in 1998, ripped off its moorings. Four years later, Isidore and Lily struck.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've had just over $30 million of damage in that time, so it's been a tough 10 years. But we always bounce back, and as I'm sure we will this time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI: Now here on Biloxi Beach, you see that dock over my shoulder at this particular casino. Back during Hurricane George in 1998, the water came up over that railing, which is at least eight feet high.
Now, disaster planners here say they're fairly happy with the way the evacuation is going. Here in Biloxi, everyone living south of Interstate 10 has been ordered out. However, deputies are now handing out forms, we understand, to those who refuse to leave, asking for identifying body marks, Anderson.
COOPER: Yes, always hate to hear that. All right, Susan Candiotti, thanks very much, the calm before the storm.
Let's check in with CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras in Atlanta to see where the storm is, where it's going. Jacqui?
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, Anderson, after some slight weakening this morning, Hurricane Ivan is now holding its own, and it is steady with winds of 140 miles per hour, making it a strong category four hurricane.
It is moving on a west-northwesterly track at nine miles per hour and is expected to stay along that track, about that speed, we think, for the next 24 to 48 hours. There is still time for this to strengthen.
Now the forecast track, we are getting more confidence in this, and I want to show you the projected wind fields now on Ivan. This is the Vipercast (ph) model, and it is showing that the tropical storm- force winds should be arriving by midday tomorrow. And then the hurricane-force winds, as it moves in onto the Gulf Coast, should be moving in, we think, into the late evening hours.
And landfall, at best estimate at this time, will likely be in the early morning hours of Thursday, maybe between the hours of 4:00 and 7:00 a.m.
Warnings were issued at 5:00 this evening Eastern time. And those warnings are now in place, which does include many big cities like New Orleans. There you see the warnings from Grand Isle, extending all the way over to Apalachicola.
And you may ask why there is such a big spread here for the warnings. Well, this hurricane, Anderson, is about 500 miles wide. The hurricane-force winds extend out about 100 miles from the center of this storm.
And also, Anderson, we have to look out for Mean Jean. That's on the way too. We'll tell you more about that at the bottom of the hour.
COOPER: All right, Jacqui Jeras, we'll check in with you a little bit later on. Thanks very much. Heading down to Mobile in just a couple hours. I'll see you down there from tomorrow night.
Help may soon be on the way to the victims of the last hurricane, Hurricane Frances. Here's a quick 360 news note. Today President Bush asked Congress to send Florida $3.1 billion to help with relief efforts. That is in addition to the $2 billion that Congress approved last week to help Florida recover from Hurricane Charley.
In Iraq, insurgents continue to strike at anyone, anything they can. Today's targets mostly young Iraqi men whose only offense was to look for work.
A car bomb exploded outside a police station in Baghdad. Forty- seven people killed in the carnage as they stood in line trying to apply for jobs.
And we've seen this kind of attack before in Baghdad.
North of the capital, also, in Baquba, gunmen shot dead a dozen Iraqi police.
One of the most troubling aspects of the situation in Iraq is that the insurgency seems to be spreading. On 360, we strive to bring you all sides to a story. Tonight we want to show you what it is like for American soldiers on patrol and under fire in Baghdad's Sadr City. We can't bring you the heat and the fear or the danger, but CNN's Diana Muriel gets as close as we can.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Make a hole, make a hole, make a hole.
DIANA MURIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When the sun goes down, the shooting starts. For the soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry, it's a daily part of their routine at this base, an abandoned school building in the north of Sadr City.
(on camera): What you've been hearing is like a warmup for what is to come, rocket-propelled grenades, small arms fire, and mortars have been landing around this forward operating base here in Sadr City. It happens every night. And it will probably only get worse.
(voice-over): Waiting to go out on a mission, the tension building. A few try to snatch some sleep. Most are alert, watchful.
Finally, the night operation is under way, 20 armored vehicles on patrol, with air support.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE), are you ready?
MURIEL: The tactic, drawing out the Mahdi Militia, who have been attacking with rockets and AK-47s. The helicopter is the bait.
Tonight, the patrol has been successful. Two fighters killed in action. In all, the day's tally, 18 militiamen killed, an unknown number wounded. The commander considers it a quiet night.
LT. COL. GARY VOLESKY, 5th CAVALRY, U.S. ARMY: Maybe they just didn't want to come out and fight us tonight.
MURIEL: But these soldiers rarely get much of a break.
(on camera): This base, to the northeast of Sadr City, is where U.S. forces come back to regroup and reform. But even here, they're vulnerable to attack. The black smoke is rising from a mortar attack on a fuel truck within the walls of this compound.
(voice-over): Despite the problems, U.S. forces have been trying to improve the desperate living conditions for the people of this sprawling slum district. But work on most of the projects has had to stop. We found out why.
At a sewage pumping station the U.S. military had helped to refurbish, we came under attack from militiamen firing AK-47s. We made a run for it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go, go, go, go, go.
MURIEL: The cavalry will be back, but only once they've finished fighting.
Diana Muriel, CNN, Sadr City, Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: American soldiers, doing their job.
Confirmation hearings in Washington for President Bush's pick to head the CIA. That story tops our look at what is going on cross- country tonight.
Republican Congressman Porter Goss told the Senate Intelligence Committee that he'd give up political partisanship if he gets the job. As late as May of this year, Democrats accused Goss of playing politics with intelligence matters.
In Washington, antidepressants need stronger warnings. That is the conclusion of an FDA advisory panel looking into suicidal tendencies in some children and teenagers who take the drug. The FDA has the final decision as to whether the warning labels will be mandatory. We'll see about that.
Green Bay, Wisconsin, now, a baby thrown out of a car. Hard to believe. You see it right there. A man accused of domestic violence dumped his girlfriend's baby out of a moving car while being chased by police. Now, the 8-month-old girl is doing just fine, but the man died after he crashed his car into a police cruiser. Unbelievable.
Oakland, California, now take me out to the brawl game. Texas Rangers relief pitcher Frank Francisco is free on $15,000 bond. He was arrested -- I don't think that's a baseball card shot, I think that's a mug shot. He was arrested for assault after throwing a chair into the stands during a game in Oakland last night. The chair broke a woman's nose, as you saw. He also faces a possible suspension from major league baseball.
That's a quick look at stories around the country tonight.
360 next, Bush talks to National Guard vets. The first lady talks about forgeries. And John Kerry, he says it's all about character. We'll take you on the campaign trail for the latest as the fight for your vote comes down to just 49 days away.
Plus, a mother forced to do the unthinkable, choose between two daughters. Only one could live, the other to face a certain death. Terrorists make the mother decide. You'll meet her, and hear her choice.
And overcoming fear. Meet the man who cut off part of his own arm to save his life. He is remarkable. A special part of 360 tonight.
First, let's take a look at your picks, the most popular stories on CNN.com right now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: So you know the ad campaign, What happens in Las Vegas stays in Vegas? Well, in this case, it is the presidential campaign, and it is supposed to get out. President Bush certainly expected his appearance in Las Vegas today before the National Guard Association to be noticed, and it was.
Senior CNN White House correspondent John King has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladies and gentlemen, the president of the United States.
JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A rousing welcome for the commander in chief, and a brief mention of his National Guard service as a piece of political history, not as a campaign controversy.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Nineteen individuals have served both in the Guard and as president of the United States, and I'm proud to be one of them.
KING: Not a word about new allegations he skirted the rules and received special treatment back when he was Lieutenant Bush in the Texas Air National Guard 30 years ago. But First Lady Laura Bush, in a Radio Iowa interview, questioned the authenticity of memos CBS News says are from Mr. Bush's commanding officer. The memos mention pressure to sugarcoat operations and speculate Mr. Bush was using political connections to help arrange a transfer.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
LAURA BUSH: You know, they probably are altered, and they probably are forgeries, and I think that is terrible, really, I think...
(END AUDIO CLIP)
KING: The brother of a Guardsman killed in Iraq was among those on hand in Las Vegas to criticize the president. DANTE ZAPPALA, BROTHER KILLED IN IRAQ: He has not supported our troops. But he has used their service and sacrifice to satisfy a very reckless agenda.
KING: But his reception was overwhelmingly positive. Most on hand said performance in office mattered more to them than his Guard record 30 years ago.
CAPT. JIM FLOWERS, MICHIGAN NATIONAL GUARD: I think President Bush has got us on the right path to combat terrorism, and he made the right decision. And that's coming from a commanding officer that spent 12 months in combat in Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: Now, the president recently reviewed those contested documents, and he told aides they do not, in his view, reflect the tenor of the relationship he had with his commanding officer. And Anderson, White House officials say in saying today that she thought those documents were a forgery, the first lady was expressing a personal opinion, not any new official White House position, Anderson.
COOPER: All right, John King, thanks for that from Vegas.
Meantime, the Democrats seem to have worked out a kind of good cop, bad cop routine. The candidate sticks to the issues, while the party isn't afraid to, well, roll up their sleeves and maybe get down to some dirt.
CNN senior political correspondent Candy Crowley is with the Kerry campaign.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): National Guard story, the Kitty Kelley book, what story? What book?
SEN. JOHN KERRY, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And the reason they're hiding the truth from the American people is because the out-of-pocket expenses of Medicare have now gone up to 37.2 percent by 2006.
CROWLEY: Wooing seniors in Milwaukee and Toledo, John Kerry was a man on message.
KERRY: I'm focused like a laser beam, folks.
CROWLEY: Tuesday, it was Medicare and prescription drugs, a change in subject from Monday's focus on the assault weapons ban for the same target, the character of George W. Bush.
KERRY: It is not just that the administration is making the wrong choice by feeding the insurance companies and the drug companies and depriving you of more available, lower-cost drugs. It is that they're being dishonest with you about it. CROWLEY: The Kerry campaign has outsourced the National Guard issue, giving the Democratic National Committee carte blanche to open up on George Bush on any subject too flammable for the candidate to touch.
TERRY MCAULIFFE, CHAIRMAN, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE: His lack of commitment 30 years ago is an insult to those who fulfilled their National Guard duty. His lies only make the matter worse.
CROWLEY: The DNC has cobbled together a two-minute film titled "Fortunate Son," its version of George Bush's National Guard career. The RNC called the film as creative and accurate as the memos Democrats gave CBS. Just a game of hardball the candidate would rather not play.
KERRY: I really want to sort of lower my voice, I want independents and undecided voters and Republicans to think about this.
CROWLEY (on camera): The campaign is so intent on keeping Kerry away from issues that are not helpful, the candidate is into his seventh week without a full-blown news conference. Very soon, Kerry promised. An aide later explained that means when the senator is ready to make news.
Candy Crowley, CNN, Toledo, Ohio.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, 360 next, a mother forced to choose between her two daughters, who will live and who will die. Forced by terrorists, a family's heartache from the Beslan school massacre.
Also tonight, a survivor story. A hiker pinned down by a boulder cut off his hand, part of his arm, to save his life. Could you do what it takes to stay alive? An inspirational story. Aaron Ralston joins us for that, 360 next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: The wave of terrorism in Russia has shaken that country to its core. But now Russian President Vladimir Putin is proposing sweeping new political changes, and we do mean sweeping. Putin is calling for governors to be nominated by the president, not by popular vote, and instead of electing individuals of parliament, Russians will actually then only vote for political parties.
Now, Putin says all this is needed to win the war on terror. Critics say it allows him to consolidate power and crush opposition.
All of this is probably little comfort for the parents of the hundreds of children killed by terrorists during that siege in a school in Beslan earlier this month. Schools across Beslan were supposed to reopen today, but security concerns kept them closed.
Now, there are so many heartbreaking stories from the survivors from Middle School Number One, but there is one that will haunt you. It is from a mother who, to save one child, was told she had to sacrifice another.
CNN's Ryan Chilcote reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After more than 24 hours in captivity with her two daughters, Anetta Adila (ph) had to make the choice.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Terrorists came and said, Only one woman and one baby come out.
CHILCOTE: The hostage takers had struck a deal with a Russian negotiator to let a small group of mothers leave the school with their infants. But any older children would have to stay.
Anetta pleaded with the terrorists to leave her behind, and let her 9-year-old take 1-year-old Milena (ph) out instead.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I say, It is my other daughter. Maybe she take my baby, and she come out.
CHILCOTE: There was to be no compromise. Either she went with the infant, or no one would be released.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My bigger daughter look me, and I -- every time, every time I see her eyes.
CHILCOTE: Her elder daughter, Alana, started to cry.
(on camera): This is your daughter.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
CHILCOTE: And she -- how old is she here?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nine and a half.
CHILCOTE (voice-over): The last time she saw Alana alive was as she left the school with a group of other mothers, many of whom had to make the same choice.
Twenty-four hours later, Alana was still a hostage, sleeping, a survivor said, when one of the terrorists' bombs went off.
Anetta loses her English when she tells the rest. "When the blast went off, she must have gotten up and started running away," she tells me, "because she had a bullet here in her neck."
Every morning Anetta goes to the memorial cemetery. Every morning, she seeks forgiveness.
"Mommy didn't protect you. Mommy didn't save you. I left you there. I thought all three of us would die if we stayed. Why don't you come to me in my dreams?"
This was Alana two years ago, star of her class. She spoke to graduating students. Her words then now have new meaning.
"This is the last time I will sing for you," she says. "I will remain in the school to live, and for you, I will remain in the past."
From her apartment's balcony view of the school, Anetta struggles with the decision that freed two lives, but forever made her a hostage of her choice.
Ryan Chilcote, CNN, Beslan, Russia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: An impossible choice.
We'll be right back with the story of Aaron Ralston.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Well, New Orleans is known for its jazz music, its Cajun food, and those wild Mardi Gras parties, I suppose. But the good times could come to an end on Thursday if Hurricane Ivan hits it directly.
In a worst-case scenario, the city could end up under 20 feet of water.
CNN's John Zarrella is in New Orleans. John, what's the latest?
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, and for that very reason, this is a very, very nervous city tonight. The port of New Orleans just announced it is closing down. The airport will be closing down by tomorrow, probably in the early morning hours. Evacuations have been ordered for many of the parishes, or requested by the mayor and the governor.
And people are taking this very, very seriously because of the potential danger from Ivan.
As we drove in here today, Interstate 10. leading out of the city, was a virtual parking lot, absolutely stopped for miles northbound, perhaps 15 to 20 miles, cars just lined up bumper to bumper heading out of town.
And before they did that, as they're doing all over the Gulf Coast, people were boarding up, trying to protect what they have here just in case Ivan does make a fall here and doesn't skirt and move away.
Now, New Orleans, of course, famous for its jazz and a wonderful city to be in. But right now, some very tenuous times. With Ivan too close to call, city officials are treating this as potentially a worst-case scenario, with that 15 to 20 feet of water in the city and potentially tens of thousands of people's lives at risk, according to emergency managers, from people who might be stuck here and can't get out, Anderson.
COOPER: John, I feel like we were just doing this just the last week. Thanks very much. I'll see you down there shortly.
CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras has the latest on Hurricane Ivan's path -- Jacqui.
JERAS: Well, if Ivan does hit New Orleans, one of the biggest concerns is the storm surge and the heavy rainfall. Right now, it looks like storm surge could be anywhere between 9 and 13 feet, and rainfall amounts near the center of the storm could be as high as 10 or more, maybe even 15 inches. And that will eventually be spreading its way inland.
The current forecast track has it moving in a little closer to Mississippi or Alabama, which would be great news for New Orleans because the worst part of the storm is on the north and east side. So that would fare much better for the Big Easy. Of course, certainly not looking good into the Mobile Bay area at this time.
Now, people who live in Florida also need to be concerned about the potential for yet another one. This is Tropical Storm Jean (ph) at this time. It's moving into the Lesser Antilles, heading towards Puerto Rico, a hurricane warning in effect for Puerto Rico, expected to move over to Hispanola, potentially then into the Bahamas. And also, the Carolinas needs to watching that one. But Anderson, still a week away.
COOPER: Unbelievable. These things just don't stop. Jacqui Jeras, thanks very much for that.
Many in the Panhandle right now are fearful of the coming storm, and with good reason. These days, however, seems to us fear is all around -- of terrorists, of war. And daily, those fears are manipulated on TV and even on the campaign trail.
Tonight we thought it worth taking a few minutes to listen to and learn from a young man who has faced fear and conquered it. His name is Aron Ralston. While climbing in a remote Utah canyon, he became trapped by a bolder, pinned his right hand to a rock wall. Now, he was alone. No one knew where he was. And after several days, he ran out of water. To survive, he had to conquer fear and pain, and he had to cut off his hand. Now, you probably heard his story. I had. But I didn't know the half of it. When I sat down with him earlier, I was mesmerized and shocked and inspired. And we think you will be, as well.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARON RALSTON, CUT OFF PART OF ARM TO SURVIVE: There was pain. There was panic. There was the realization that, at first, I couldn't get my arm out, even though I was just thrashing my body about. And what followed from there was 45 minutes of just adrenalized hurtling my body against the boulder, trying to heave and lift from beneath it to pull it maybe towards me and try to dislodge it, and wasn't able to successfully move it.
COOPER: So you realized you were in it for the long haul. RALSTON: In from the get-go. And having come up with these different options of either waiting for someone to come and rescue me, for possibly amputating my arm, of using the ropes and rigging that I had with me, this equipment to do the rappels I was anticipating down the canyon, to perhaps move the boulder, and to use the pocket knife that I had with me to chip away and gouge out the rock to extract my arm. I went through the process of attempting each of those and eliminating them because they just weren't working. They weren't making enough progress. It wasn't feasible. And I got very quickly to the conclusion that I was going to die in that place. The end result of all that was I turned to my family to say good-bye.
My name's Aron Ralston. My parents are Donna and Larry Ralston of Englewood, Colorado. Whoever finds this, please make an attempt to get it to them.
I taped myself to give them my final messages and to say thank you for their involvement in my life.
COOPER: You know, when I see that tape, you seem -- your eyes are so wide. I mean, you can see the -- I mean, it's beyond fear. It's sort of -- it doesn't look like you.
RALSTON: It doesn't. I was transformed as I was in that canyon. You can see things like my beard growing out, my cheeks sinking in, my eyes bugging out more and more, my vocal chords tighten, and so my voice elevates over the course of the -- each time the tape starts up on a new day.
COOPER: And you had tried -- I mean, you had this knife.
RALSTON: Yes.
COOPER: It wasn't even a real leatherman (ph). Apparently, your mom had ordered a flashlight or something from Wal-Mart, and this was, like, a free giveaway?
RALSTON: Exactly. I mean, it was the cheapest of the cheapies and was barely worth even having carried it into that canyon, except to think that, Well, one time, I might need to use it. And so I had it with me. The knife not being up to the task of being able to get through bones -- I mean, it could barely break the flesh, even when I held it like a dagger and stabbed myself.
COOPER: And you did that. You stabbed yourself.
RALSTON: And I did. I experimented with it repeatedly over the course of those days that I was there.
COOPER: You write that you -- actually, when you stuck the knife in, you could actually feel it going to the bone and radiating up your arm.
RALSTON: I could feel that tapping on my bone, and it just reassured me that I would never be able to get through the bones with the knife. The idea that came on Thursday morning, the epiphany... COOPER: This is day six.
RALSTON: Day six, exactly. At 10:30, that was what solved the puzzle, and it was a beautiful experience.
COOPER: And at that point, you had decided, All right, I'm going to break the bones in the arm, two bones in the arm. How'd you do it?
RALSTON: Bending my arm down and to the side, I was able to isolate the force on the top bone. I reached up and was pulling my body over it, and as I bent my arm farther and farther, and then finally, this cracking, splintering sound, kind of like a cap gun, then, Pow! It echoed up and down the canyon. I knew that I had broken my bone. And yes, it hurt. It hurt a lot. But the end effect of having the bones broken there was...
COOPER: And did you immediately go to cut off the skin, cut off the nerves, cut off...
RALSTON: Exactly. It gave me the opportunity. And I reached for the knife, said out loud to myself, Here we go, Aron. You're in it now, and very calmly and collectedly went about the process of thrusting the knife into my arm, first all the way up to the hilt, and then working a hole in my arm until I could get fingers in and sort out where the arteries were. That was very important, that I figured out how to cut those last, if at all possible.
COOPER: But it's not just -- I mean, you also have to cut through nerve.
RALSTON: Yes. And that was by far the most painful part. The pain felt like I had thrust my arm into a cauldron of magma all up to my shoulder, this incinerating...
COOPER: That was when you were trying to...
RALSTON: ... sensation of burning. When I cut that nerve, it was -- it just -- it radiated all the way up my arm. At the same time, that pain was just one more thing I had to do, and it was, in some sense, a very beautiful feeling, too.
COOPER: Because it was liberation.
RALSTON: Yes. It was liberation. Exactly. After that, there was just one last piece of muscle, one last piece of skin. I pulled my arm tight, and I hacked through those and I was free.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well when 360 continues, we're going to have more of Aron Ralston's remarkable story. His ordeal was far from over. He was free, but he still had a long journey ahead of him. Wait until you hear what he faced before being rescued.
Tonight's "Buzz" question is this. What do you think? Could you do it, cut off your own arm to save your life? Log onto cnn.com/360. Cast your vote. We'll have results at the end of the show.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Mountain man Aron Ralston was pinned in a Utah canyon for six excruciating days before authorities traced his credit cards, found his truck and then went looking for him in the Canyonlands National Park. Ralston talks about surviving those desperate days in his new book, "Between a Rock and a Hard Place." Ralston cut off his own hand to free himself, but amazingly, that was not the end of his ordeal. It was really just the beginning. Take a look.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RALSTON: I had nearly four hours, three-and-a-half hours of hiking, rappelling, canyoneering this almost seven-story rappel, that I had to rig up an anchor, set my ropes up, get them attached to my harness properly, work my way backwards over this overhanging lift and then down the canyon wall.
COOPER: And at this point, I mean, it had been six days. You had no more water left. You were drinking your own urine.
RALSTON: Yes.
COOPER: What had -- I mean, what is that like, drinking your own urine? What had that done -- I mean, did -- I read that your mouth...
RALSTON: Isn't that a funny question to ask someone?
COOPER: I know!
(LAUGHTER)
COOPER: I guess. Oh, I've asked that of many of our guests, yes!
RALSTON: Well, it was the most sour, bitter, caustic thing I've ever put in my mouth.
COOPER: But I mean, it's acidic, so it eat up your mouth.
RALSTON: It was. It was eroding the palate, the roof of my mouth. It was actually eroding the enamel of my teeth. It was weeks and even months of brushing and dental work to get my teeth...
COOPER: But it was keeping you alive.
RALSTON: ... looking clean again. But it was doing at least a temporary job of keeping me somewhat hydrated enough that I, at six days, had already doubled the amount of time that someone was lasts in the desert without an adequate water supply.
COOPER: And at this point, I mean, are you looking at your right arm? Are you thinking about it? Or is it all just thinking about that you have to do? RALSTON: I had a tourniquet still on, and I had fashioned a sling of sorts that held my arm to my chest. Really, what I was watching was the blood that was coming out the end of the arm because it was dripping down on my legs. It was dripping on my shorts, my socks, my shoes. And I was trying to monitor that, to take some account of, How much blood have I lost, How much can I lose before I just pass out and die?
And I came around the corner in the canyon, and about 100 yards in front of me are three people hiking in the canyon. It's a husband and a wife and a son. And my voice catches in my throat at the sight. It was probably five seconds before I could get myself together enough to then shout, Help, and it came out very choked like that. And I had, OK, anxiety and excitement all building up around me, to calm that so that I could shout, Help! Help! And they immediately turned around.
I began walking towards them again at full speed. They're walking towards me. I'm shouting to them what's happened, who I am, what I need. We hike for about a half an hour. They're talking to me, asking some of the details of what's happened. I'm asking them for water, for any food that they have. They give me two Oreo cookies, and it's, like, this banquet feast that I can enjoy.
It came to the point in the canyon where, with this family, we had hiked almost another half an hour, gone another good mile during that time and got to the point where I could see the beginning of the trail that started up out of the canyon, over 800 vertical feet that was separating us still from where we were and the tracks of the vehicles, the rescuers that were waiting up near the trailhead. At that time, I knew that I wasn't going to make it. Just -- the exertion I was feeling even going up five feet was so much that 800 feet was absolutely inconceivable. I was going to give myself a heart attack or a stroke from trying to get up that hill in the state that I was.
So we had formulated a plan that the wife and the son would go ahead. They would get to the rescuers, tell them that I needed a helicopter, and I was just going to wait. I had taken my shoe off, digged out some of the sand out because my foot was hurting me, even worse than my arm was, by that point, put my shoe back on, hiked another -- not even a minute-and-a-half. And at the moment when I realized there was really not going to be anything more that I could do and that I probably should go back and sit under that tree, where it was shady, this noise, starting from a low roar to an increasingly present thunder, that -- and this (UNINTELLIGIBLE) of the helicopter coming up through the canyon.
And I looked up, and here it comes zooming over the canyon wall. And every bit of strength that I had left I had to call upon so that I didn't just collapse in a heap right there in the sand. It was my salvation. It was deliverance right there.
COOPER: You talked about it as an epic journey, and you know, in mythology, they talk about the hero's journey and sort of the -- or having to overcome many things. But in the end, you sort of learn something.
RALSTON: Yes.
COOPER: What, to you, are the lessons?
RALSTON: There's a lot of them. I think one of the major ones for me personally that I found, where I get my motivation, my strength, is from my family and my friends, that even the impossible can be overcome by courage and perseverance of not being stuck behind fear that I might bleed to death. But I had to make a decision to go forward not knowing what was going to come. And that was important, that I took action in that moment, overcoming that fear.
COOPER: What did you do with your -- with the right hand?
RALSTON: I personally left it there, and I intended to leave it there. The Park Service had other ideas about that, and so they went in and took a crew that included, I think, a 13-person team, according to the information they gave me, a winch and a jack, and moved that boulder, retrieving the hand, and then at our family's request, took it to mortuary and it was cremated. I sprinkled some of the ashes up canyon, where I'd come from, in the spot where I had stood, and down canyon, where I had headed to in getting out of there, and cried tears of absolute joy that I was alive. Being able to complete that circle is a beautiful part of that whole experience, too.
COOPER: Aron Ralston, it's a great book. Thanks for joining us.
RALSTON: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Remarkable story.
Today's "Buzz" question is this. What do you think? Could you cut off your own arm to save your life? Find out at cnn.com/360. Cast your vote. We'll have results at the end of the program tonight.
And 360 next, some much lighter news, "Playgirl's" search for the hottest newsmen. I actually, I guess, made the cut without begging, unlike some others. Keith Olbermann, take that to "The Nth Degree."
And also tonight, well, we'll look at the what the world of pop is doing, some -- why some designers at New York's fashion shows are loving all those celebrities. I'm not sure who that is. Oh, that's the Aerosmith guy. All right. Not sure who the one chewing gum behind him -- anyway, 360 next will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: In New York, fashion week is finally wrapping up, the top designers selling their newest fashions. But we kept noticing that no matter what show you went to, there were always some celebrities on hand. Why, is the question? Alina Cho went to find out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Liv and Kate, Chloe and Winona, even the Donald -- these one-named wonders are more than just celebrities, they're walking billboards. Just ask hip-hop star Lil' Kim.
LIL' KIM, RAPPER: Celebrities, we're always on television, all the time. So we're the...
CHO (on camera): You sell clothes.
LIL' KIM: Yes. And we're the biggest free promotion any design can get.
CHO (voice-over): Designer Michael Kors says when a celebrity like Jessica Simpson is photographed attending his show, wearing his clothes, buyers think he's cool. Stars sell.
MICHAEL KORS, FASHION DESIGNER: Madonna and Gwyneth both carried a big I did at Celine's. The next thing you knew, everyone had to have that bag.
CHO (on camera): A Kors. The boogie bag (ph).
KORS: The boogie bag definitely boogied, yes.
CHO (voice-over): Mary Alice Stephenson, contributing fashion editor at "Harper's Bazaar," says what's good for the designer is also good for the star.
(on camera): Why do the celebrities come to the show? Why is it important for them to be here?
MARY ALICE STEPHENSON, "HARPER'S BAZAAR": For press. Press, press, press, press, worldwide press instantly.
CHO (voice-over): Take Jennifer Lopez arriving not so secretly for the Tommy Hilfiger show. Others, like Tony Danza, have to work for it. Hanging around back stage means free press for his new talk show. Oftentimes, though, stars, like famous sisters Olson, Williams and Hilton, get star treatment.
STEPHENSON: Internationally, houses like Versace and Armani actually send private planes. The stars are flown to Milan or Paris, put up in the Villa Versace.
CHO: Lil' Kim says the relationship is mutually beneficial.
LIL' KIM: It's always important for celebrities to come and support designers if they want to wear some free clothes.
CHO: Alina Cho, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Like, they really need free clothes? All right, let's check on some lighter news, some pop news in tonight's "Current."
Jessica Simpson has been tapped to star in the big screen remake of "The Dukes of Hazzard." Yeehah. The pop star will reportedly play Daisy Duke, which we think is a good idea. Considering there were no other female parts in the show, it makes a whole lot of sense.
Hip-hop star Nelly says Britney Spears would have a tough time if her career came to an end. Nelly tells "Blender" magazine, quote, "I know Britney, and she's cool, but that could be a downer for her to come down from so high as the Barbie doll of pop." Words of caution from Nelly -- rapper, wordsmith, clinical psychologist.
And the nominees for the Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame were announced yesterday. Leading the charge is U2, Buddy Guy and Randy Newman. To be considered, you got to be in the biz for 25 years, which means there is still hope for The Village People, Geno Vanilli (ph) and Dead or Alive. Yes, the band that gave us -- you spin right round, baby, right round, like the record, baby. Round, round, round, round.
360 next, round round, "Playgirl's" search for the sexiest news guy. I don't want to boast, but I made the list without begging, unlike some sad sacks -- Keith Olbermann, MSNBC. We'll take that to "The Nth Degree."
Tomorrow, Hurricane Ivan on the track to hit the U.S. somewhere between Florida and Louisiana. I'll be there live, bringing you the coverage.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Earlier, we asked you, Could you cut off your own arm to save your life, based on Aron Ralston's story? It's a split vote, amazingly, straight down the middle, 50 percent of you said yes, 50 percent no. Not a scientific poll, but it is your "Buzz."
Tonight, taking campaigning to "The Nth Degree." All right, so "Playgirl" magazine conducted a poll to determine who its readers think is TV's sexiest newscaster. I came in third. I can live with that, especially considering the fact that I didn't do any electioneering at all. None whatsoever. Whereas the guy who came in first campaigned like crazy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anderson Cooper, not sexy. Keith Olbermann, now that's sexy!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Look at this. Kind of pathetic, isn't it? Keith Olbermann of MSNBC all but begged viewers to vote for him. He even linked his Web site to "Playgirl's." Keith, baby, get a grip. I know losing on "Jeopardy" was painful for you, but pleading for "Playgirl" votes? Sad. For all I know, Fox's Sean Hannity, who came in second, may have been moved to vote for Olbermann himself out of pity. Can't say for a fact whether Hannity was as shameless as Olbermann because I was away at the time. See, I was working, going on patrol with soldiers and facing danger in Baghdad instead of groveling day and night for sexiest news guy votes. Nonetheless, as I say, I placed third without any campaigning at all. Shepard Smith was fourth. And then there was a tie for fifth place between my CNN colleague Bill Hemmer and Andy Rooney, the grand old man of CBS News. Betcha anything he didn't get down on his knees to beg for votes. No, sir, Andy Rooney's got more dignity than that. Know what else he's got that makes him so sexy? If you ask me, it's the white hair.
Thanks for watching. I'll be in Alabama tomorrow, covering the arrival of Hurricane Ivan. Join me for that.
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 September 14, 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.
Thousands flee as Ivan draws a bead on the Gulf Coast.
360 starts now.
Waiting for a killer. Hurricane Ivan barrels down. Evacuations under way. Tonight, the latest on where it is going, and how hard it is going to hit.
Facing attack. U.S. troops under fire in Sadr City. We'll take you there, up close, on patrol in one of the most dangerous places in Iraq.
Bush talks to National Guard vets about Kerry and Iraq. But why no mention of the controversy over his own Guard service?
A mother's impossible choice, forced by terrorists to decide. She can save her infant, but has to sacrifice her daughter. Tonight, meet the mother forced to make that horrible choice.
And a 360 special, in depth with Aaron Ralston. Hear his stunning story of survival, how he cut off his hand to save his life. What would you have done?
ANNOUNCER: Live from the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is ANDERSON COOPER 360.
COOPER: And good evening.
We begin tonight with an all-too-familiar anxiety in the South. A powerful hurricane is looming, and tens of thousands have been forced to board up, pack up, and head for higher ground.
From space, let's take a look. You can see the massive shape of Ivan, though it doesn't look so dangerous from space. But beneath those white puffy clouds is a strong category four storm, winds extending as far as 105 miles from its center. This is massive. Some of the fiercest winds reaching 140 miles per hour.
Hurricane has already killed more than 60 people as it traveled through the Caribbean. That's the path there. Tonight, as it steadily heads north, a 420-mile-long stretch of U.S. land is in the crosshairs. Ivan could strike anywhere from Florida's panhandle to New Orleans, where the a mass exodus is under way before the storm strikes somewhere, sometime Thursday morning.
That's a live shot. The traffic has slowed a little bit. But it was bumper to bumper earlier today.
CNN national correspondent Susan Candiotti is in Ivan's projected path.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With a state of emergency in effect, Mobile gallery owner Yolanda Avery is boxing up what she can, and moving everything else off the floor.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm getting some of my larger pictures, some of my better artists, a lot of my limited edition pieces, and I'm trying to protect them, take them out of town.
CANDIOTTI: With Mobile Bay just around the corner, flooding is a sure bet if Ivan pounds ashore.
Boats line the Mobile River, coming up from the bay, from freighters and cargo ships, to sport fishing boats, all trying to move out of harm's way.
With Ivan inching closer and closer, there is little time to spare. A downtown office building sandbagging its ground floor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So everything is pulled away from the windows. We have all the interior doors locked and shut.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Landfall is expected early Thursday. The weather will start to go downhill beginning tomorrow...
CANDIOTTI: Interstate 10 heading east and west, busy throughout the day. New Orleans, below sea level, also a potential target, a voluntary evacuation urging residents to move to higher ground.
MAYOR RAY NAGIN, NEW ORLEANS: If we get a storm like Ivan to hit us directly, or to become -- come really close to us, then we could have a situation where we have 12 to 18 feet of water throughout the city.
CANDIOTTI: In Biloxi, Mississippi, a dozen Gulf Coast hotel casinos were ordered closed at noon, guests ushered out two hours later. Treasure Bay was hit hard by George in 1998, ripped off its moorings. Four years later, Isidore and Lily struck.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've had just over $30 million of damage in that time, so it's been a tough 10 years. But we always bounce back, and as I'm sure we will this time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI: Now here on Biloxi Beach, you see that dock over my shoulder at this particular casino. Back during Hurricane George in 1998, the water came up over that railing, which is at least eight feet high.
Now, disaster planners here say they're fairly happy with the way the evacuation is going. Here in Biloxi, everyone living south of Interstate 10 has been ordered out. However, deputies are now handing out forms, we understand, to those who refuse to leave, asking for identifying body marks, Anderson.
COOPER: Yes, always hate to hear that. All right, Susan Candiotti, thanks very much, the calm before the storm.
Let's check in with CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras in Atlanta to see where the storm is, where it's going. Jacqui?
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, Anderson, after some slight weakening this morning, Hurricane Ivan is now holding its own, and it is steady with winds of 140 miles per hour, making it a strong category four hurricane.
It is moving on a west-northwesterly track at nine miles per hour and is expected to stay along that track, about that speed, we think, for the next 24 to 48 hours. There is still time for this to strengthen.
Now the forecast track, we are getting more confidence in this, and I want to show you the projected wind fields now on Ivan. This is the Vipercast (ph) model, and it is showing that the tropical storm- force winds should be arriving by midday tomorrow. And then the hurricane-force winds, as it moves in onto the Gulf Coast, should be moving in, we think, into the late evening hours.
And landfall, at best estimate at this time, will likely be in the early morning hours of Thursday, maybe between the hours of 4:00 and 7:00 a.m.
Warnings were issued at 5:00 this evening Eastern time. And those warnings are now in place, which does include many big cities like New Orleans. There you see the warnings from Grand Isle, extending all the way over to Apalachicola.
And you may ask why there is such a big spread here for the warnings. Well, this hurricane, Anderson, is about 500 miles wide. The hurricane-force winds extend out about 100 miles from the center of this storm.
And also, Anderson, we have to look out for Mean Jean. That's on the way too. We'll tell you more about that at the bottom of the hour.
COOPER: All right, Jacqui Jeras, we'll check in with you a little bit later on. Thanks very much. Heading down to Mobile in just a couple hours. I'll see you down there from tomorrow night.
Help may soon be on the way to the victims of the last hurricane, Hurricane Frances. Here's a quick 360 news note. Today President Bush asked Congress to send Florida $3.1 billion to help with relief efforts. That is in addition to the $2 billion that Congress approved last week to help Florida recover from Hurricane Charley.
In Iraq, insurgents continue to strike at anyone, anything they can. Today's targets mostly young Iraqi men whose only offense was to look for work.
A car bomb exploded outside a police station in Baghdad. Forty- seven people killed in the carnage as they stood in line trying to apply for jobs.
And we've seen this kind of attack before in Baghdad.
North of the capital, also, in Baquba, gunmen shot dead a dozen Iraqi police.
One of the most troubling aspects of the situation in Iraq is that the insurgency seems to be spreading. On 360, we strive to bring you all sides to a story. Tonight we want to show you what it is like for American soldiers on patrol and under fire in Baghdad's Sadr City. We can't bring you the heat and the fear or the danger, but CNN's Diana Muriel gets as close as we can.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Make a hole, make a hole, make a hole.
DIANA MURIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When the sun goes down, the shooting starts. For the soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry, it's a daily part of their routine at this base, an abandoned school building in the north of Sadr City.
(on camera): What you've been hearing is like a warmup for what is to come, rocket-propelled grenades, small arms fire, and mortars have been landing around this forward operating base here in Sadr City. It happens every night. And it will probably only get worse.
(voice-over): Waiting to go out on a mission, the tension building. A few try to snatch some sleep. Most are alert, watchful.
Finally, the night operation is under way, 20 armored vehicles on patrol, with air support.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE), are you ready?
MURIEL: The tactic, drawing out the Mahdi Militia, who have been attacking with rockets and AK-47s. The helicopter is the bait.
Tonight, the patrol has been successful. Two fighters killed in action. In all, the day's tally, 18 militiamen killed, an unknown number wounded. The commander considers it a quiet night.
LT. COL. GARY VOLESKY, 5th CAVALRY, U.S. ARMY: Maybe they just didn't want to come out and fight us tonight.
MURIEL: But these soldiers rarely get much of a break.
(on camera): This base, to the northeast of Sadr City, is where U.S. forces come back to regroup and reform. But even here, they're vulnerable to attack. The black smoke is rising from a mortar attack on a fuel truck within the walls of this compound.
(voice-over): Despite the problems, U.S. forces have been trying to improve the desperate living conditions for the people of this sprawling slum district. But work on most of the projects has had to stop. We found out why.
At a sewage pumping station the U.S. military had helped to refurbish, we came under attack from militiamen firing AK-47s. We made a run for it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go, go, go, go, go.
MURIEL: The cavalry will be back, but only once they've finished fighting.
Diana Muriel, CNN, Sadr City, Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: American soldiers, doing their job.
Confirmation hearings in Washington for President Bush's pick to head the CIA. That story tops our look at what is going on cross- country tonight.
Republican Congressman Porter Goss told the Senate Intelligence Committee that he'd give up political partisanship if he gets the job. As late as May of this year, Democrats accused Goss of playing politics with intelligence matters.
In Washington, antidepressants need stronger warnings. That is the conclusion of an FDA advisory panel looking into suicidal tendencies in some children and teenagers who take the drug. The FDA has the final decision as to whether the warning labels will be mandatory. We'll see about that.
Green Bay, Wisconsin, now, a baby thrown out of a car. Hard to believe. You see it right there. A man accused of domestic violence dumped his girlfriend's baby out of a moving car while being chased by police. Now, the 8-month-old girl is doing just fine, but the man died after he crashed his car into a police cruiser. Unbelievable.
Oakland, California, now take me out to the brawl game. Texas Rangers relief pitcher Frank Francisco is free on $15,000 bond. He was arrested -- I don't think that's a baseball card shot, I think that's a mug shot. He was arrested for assault after throwing a chair into the stands during a game in Oakland last night. The chair broke a woman's nose, as you saw. He also faces a possible suspension from major league baseball.
That's a quick look at stories around the country tonight.
360 next, Bush talks to National Guard vets. The first lady talks about forgeries. And John Kerry, he says it's all about character. We'll take you on the campaign trail for the latest as the fight for your vote comes down to just 49 days away.
Plus, a mother forced to do the unthinkable, choose between two daughters. Only one could live, the other to face a certain death. Terrorists make the mother decide. You'll meet her, and hear her choice.
And overcoming fear. Meet the man who cut off part of his own arm to save his life. He is remarkable. A special part of 360 tonight.
First, let's take a look at your picks, the most popular stories on CNN.com right now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: So you know the ad campaign, What happens in Las Vegas stays in Vegas? Well, in this case, it is the presidential campaign, and it is supposed to get out. President Bush certainly expected his appearance in Las Vegas today before the National Guard Association to be noticed, and it was.
Senior CNN White House correspondent John King has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladies and gentlemen, the president of the United States.
JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A rousing welcome for the commander in chief, and a brief mention of his National Guard service as a piece of political history, not as a campaign controversy.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Nineteen individuals have served both in the Guard and as president of the United States, and I'm proud to be one of them.
KING: Not a word about new allegations he skirted the rules and received special treatment back when he was Lieutenant Bush in the Texas Air National Guard 30 years ago. But First Lady Laura Bush, in a Radio Iowa interview, questioned the authenticity of memos CBS News says are from Mr. Bush's commanding officer. The memos mention pressure to sugarcoat operations and speculate Mr. Bush was using political connections to help arrange a transfer.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
LAURA BUSH: You know, they probably are altered, and they probably are forgeries, and I think that is terrible, really, I think...
(END AUDIO CLIP)
KING: The brother of a Guardsman killed in Iraq was among those on hand in Las Vegas to criticize the president. DANTE ZAPPALA, BROTHER KILLED IN IRAQ: He has not supported our troops. But he has used their service and sacrifice to satisfy a very reckless agenda.
KING: But his reception was overwhelmingly positive. Most on hand said performance in office mattered more to them than his Guard record 30 years ago.
CAPT. JIM FLOWERS, MICHIGAN NATIONAL GUARD: I think President Bush has got us on the right path to combat terrorism, and he made the right decision. And that's coming from a commanding officer that spent 12 months in combat in Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: Now, the president recently reviewed those contested documents, and he told aides they do not, in his view, reflect the tenor of the relationship he had with his commanding officer. And Anderson, White House officials say in saying today that she thought those documents were a forgery, the first lady was expressing a personal opinion, not any new official White House position, Anderson.
COOPER: All right, John King, thanks for that from Vegas.
Meantime, the Democrats seem to have worked out a kind of good cop, bad cop routine. The candidate sticks to the issues, while the party isn't afraid to, well, roll up their sleeves and maybe get down to some dirt.
CNN senior political correspondent Candy Crowley is with the Kerry campaign.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): National Guard story, the Kitty Kelley book, what story? What book?
SEN. JOHN KERRY, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And the reason they're hiding the truth from the American people is because the out-of-pocket expenses of Medicare have now gone up to 37.2 percent by 2006.
CROWLEY: Wooing seniors in Milwaukee and Toledo, John Kerry was a man on message.
KERRY: I'm focused like a laser beam, folks.
CROWLEY: Tuesday, it was Medicare and prescription drugs, a change in subject from Monday's focus on the assault weapons ban for the same target, the character of George W. Bush.
KERRY: It is not just that the administration is making the wrong choice by feeding the insurance companies and the drug companies and depriving you of more available, lower-cost drugs. It is that they're being dishonest with you about it. CROWLEY: The Kerry campaign has outsourced the National Guard issue, giving the Democratic National Committee carte blanche to open up on George Bush on any subject too flammable for the candidate to touch.
TERRY MCAULIFFE, CHAIRMAN, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE: His lack of commitment 30 years ago is an insult to those who fulfilled their National Guard duty. His lies only make the matter worse.
CROWLEY: The DNC has cobbled together a two-minute film titled "Fortunate Son," its version of George Bush's National Guard career. The RNC called the film as creative and accurate as the memos Democrats gave CBS. Just a game of hardball the candidate would rather not play.
KERRY: I really want to sort of lower my voice, I want independents and undecided voters and Republicans to think about this.
CROWLEY (on camera): The campaign is so intent on keeping Kerry away from issues that are not helpful, the candidate is into his seventh week without a full-blown news conference. Very soon, Kerry promised. An aide later explained that means when the senator is ready to make news.
Candy Crowley, CNN, Toledo, Ohio.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, 360 next, a mother forced to choose between her two daughters, who will live and who will die. Forced by terrorists, a family's heartache from the Beslan school massacre.
Also tonight, a survivor story. A hiker pinned down by a boulder cut off his hand, part of his arm, to save his life. Could you do what it takes to stay alive? An inspirational story. Aaron Ralston joins us for that, 360 next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: The wave of terrorism in Russia has shaken that country to its core. But now Russian President Vladimir Putin is proposing sweeping new political changes, and we do mean sweeping. Putin is calling for governors to be nominated by the president, not by popular vote, and instead of electing individuals of parliament, Russians will actually then only vote for political parties.
Now, Putin says all this is needed to win the war on terror. Critics say it allows him to consolidate power and crush opposition.
All of this is probably little comfort for the parents of the hundreds of children killed by terrorists during that siege in a school in Beslan earlier this month. Schools across Beslan were supposed to reopen today, but security concerns kept them closed.
Now, there are so many heartbreaking stories from the survivors from Middle School Number One, but there is one that will haunt you. It is from a mother who, to save one child, was told she had to sacrifice another.
CNN's Ryan Chilcote reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After more than 24 hours in captivity with her two daughters, Anetta Adila (ph) had to make the choice.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Terrorists came and said, Only one woman and one baby come out.
CHILCOTE: The hostage takers had struck a deal with a Russian negotiator to let a small group of mothers leave the school with their infants. But any older children would have to stay.
Anetta pleaded with the terrorists to leave her behind, and let her 9-year-old take 1-year-old Milena (ph) out instead.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I say, It is my other daughter. Maybe she take my baby, and she come out.
CHILCOTE: There was to be no compromise. Either she went with the infant, or no one would be released.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My bigger daughter look me, and I -- every time, every time I see her eyes.
CHILCOTE: Her elder daughter, Alana, started to cry.
(on camera): This is your daughter.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
CHILCOTE: And she -- how old is she here?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nine and a half.
CHILCOTE (voice-over): The last time she saw Alana alive was as she left the school with a group of other mothers, many of whom had to make the same choice.
Twenty-four hours later, Alana was still a hostage, sleeping, a survivor said, when one of the terrorists' bombs went off.
Anetta loses her English when she tells the rest. "When the blast went off, she must have gotten up and started running away," she tells me, "because she had a bullet here in her neck."
Every morning Anetta goes to the memorial cemetery. Every morning, she seeks forgiveness.
"Mommy didn't protect you. Mommy didn't save you. I left you there. I thought all three of us would die if we stayed. Why don't you come to me in my dreams?"
This was Alana two years ago, star of her class. She spoke to graduating students. Her words then now have new meaning.
"This is the last time I will sing for you," she says. "I will remain in the school to live, and for you, I will remain in the past."
From her apartment's balcony view of the school, Anetta struggles with the decision that freed two lives, but forever made her a hostage of her choice.
Ryan Chilcote, CNN, Beslan, Russia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: An impossible choice.
We'll be right back with the story of Aaron Ralston.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Well, New Orleans is known for its jazz music, its Cajun food, and those wild Mardi Gras parties, I suppose. But the good times could come to an end on Thursday if Hurricane Ivan hits it directly.
In a worst-case scenario, the city could end up under 20 feet of water.
CNN's John Zarrella is in New Orleans. John, what's the latest?
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, and for that very reason, this is a very, very nervous city tonight. The port of New Orleans just announced it is closing down. The airport will be closing down by tomorrow, probably in the early morning hours. Evacuations have been ordered for many of the parishes, or requested by the mayor and the governor.
And people are taking this very, very seriously because of the potential danger from Ivan.
As we drove in here today, Interstate 10. leading out of the city, was a virtual parking lot, absolutely stopped for miles northbound, perhaps 15 to 20 miles, cars just lined up bumper to bumper heading out of town.
And before they did that, as they're doing all over the Gulf Coast, people were boarding up, trying to protect what they have here just in case Ivan does make a fall here and doesn't skirt and move away.
Now, New Orleans, of course, famous for its jazz and a wonderful city to be in. But right now, some very tenuous times. With Ivan too close to call, city officials are treating this as potentially a worst-case scenario, with that 15 to 20 feet of water in the city and potentially tens of thousands of people's lives at risk, according to emergency managers, from people who might be stuck here and can't get out, Anderson.
COOPER: John, I feel like we were just doing this just the last week. Thanks very much. I'll see you down there shortly.
CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras has the latest on Hurricane Ivan's path -- Jacqui.
JERAS: Well, if Ivan does hit New Orleans, one of the biggest concerns is the storm surge and the heavy rainfall. Right now, it looks like storm surge could be anywhere between 9 and 13 feet, and rainfall amounts near the center of the storm could be as high as 10 or more, maybe even 15 inches. And that will eventually be spreading its way inland.
The current forecast track has it moving in a little closer to Mississippi or Alabama, which would be great news for New Orleans because the worst part of the storm is on the north and east side. So that would fare much better for the Big Easy. Of course, certainly not looking good into the Mobile Bay area at this time.
Now, people who live in Florida also need to be concerned about the potential for yet another one. This is Tropical Storm Jean (ph) at this time. It's moving into the Lesser Antilles, heading towards Puerto Rico, a hurricane warning in effect for Puerto Rico, expected to move over to Hispanola, potentially then into the Bahamas. And also, the Carolinas needs to watching that one. But Anderson, still a week away.
COOPER: Unbelievable. These things just don't stop. Jacqui Jeras, thanks very much for that.
Many in the Panhandle right now are fearful of the coming storm, and with good reason. These days, however, seems to us fear is all around -- of terrorists, of war. And daily, those fears are manipulated on TV and even on the campaign trail.
Tonight we thought it worth taking a few minutes to listen to and learn from a young man who has faced fear and conquered it. His name is Aron Ralston. While climbing in a remote Utah canyon, he became trapped by a bolder, pinned his right hand to a rock wall. Now, he was alone. No one knew where he was. And after several days, he ran out of water. To survive, he had to conquer fear and pain, and he had to cut off his hand. Now, you probably heard his story. I had. But I didn't know the half of it. When I sat down with him earlier, I was mesmerized and shocked and inspired. And we think you will be, as well.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARON RALSTON, CUT OFF PART OF ARM TO SURVIVE: There was pain. There was panic. There was the realization that, at first, I couldn't get my arm out, even though I was just thrashing my body about. And what followed from there was 45 minutes of just adrenalized hurtling my body against the boulder, trying to heave and lift from beneath it to pull it maybe towards me and try to dislodge it, and wasn't able to successfully move it.
COOPER: So you realized you were in it for the long haul. RALSTON: In from the get-go. And having come up with these different options of either waiting for someone to come and rescue me, for possibly amputating my arm, of using the ropes and rigging that I had with me, this equipment to do the rappels I was anticipating down the canyon, to perhaps move the boulder, and to use the pocket knife that I had with me to chip away and gouge out the rock to extract my arm. I went through the process of attempting each of those and eliminating them because they just weren't working. They weren't making enough progress. It wasn't feasible. And I got very quickly to the conclusion that I was going to die in that place. The end result of all that was I turned to my family to say good-bye.
My name's Aron Ralston. My parents are Donna and Larry Ralston of Englewood, Colorado. Whoever finds this, please make an attempt to get it to them.
I taped myself to give them my final messages and to say thank you for their involvement in my life.
COOPER: You know, when I see that tape, you seem -- your eyes are so wide. I mean, you can see the -- I mean, it's beyond fear. It's sort of -- it doesn't look like you.
RALSTON: It doesn't. I was transformed as I was in that canyon. You can see things like my beard growing out, my cheeks sinking in, my eyes bugging out more and more, my vocal chords tighten, and so my voice elevates over the course of the -- each time the tape starts up on a new day.
COOPER: And you had tried -- I mean, you had this knife.
RALSTON: Yes.
COOPER: It wasn't even a real leatherman (ph). Apparently, your mom had ordered a flashlight or something from Wal-Mart, and this was, like, a free giveaway?
RALSTON: Exactly. I mean, it was the cheapest of the cheapies and was barely worth even having carried it into that canyon, except to think that, Well, one time, I might need to use it. And so I had it with me. The knife not being up to the task of being able to get through bones -- I mean, it could barely break the flesh, even when I held it like a dagger and stabbed myself.
COOPER: And you did that. You stabbed yourself.
RALSTON: And I did. I experimented with it repeatedly over the course of those days that I was there.
COOPER: You write that you -- actually, when you stuck the knife in, you could actually feel it going to the bone and radiating up your arm.
RALSTON: I could feel that tapping on my bone, and it just reassured me that I would never be able to get through the bones with the knife. The idea that came on Thursday morning, the epiphany... COOPER: This is day six.
RALSTON: Day six, exactly. At 10:30, that was what solved the puzzle, and it was a beautiful experience.
COOPER: And at that point, you had decided, All right, I'm going to break the bones in the arm, two bones in the arm. How'd you do it?
RALSTON: Bending my arm down and to the side, I was able to isolate the force on the top bone. I reached up and was pulling my body over it, and as I bent my arm farther and farther, and then finally, this cracking, splintering sound, kind of like a cap gun, then, Pow! It echoed up and down the canyon. I knew that I had broken my bone. And yes, it hurt. It hurt a lot. But the end effect of having the bones broken there was...
COOPER: And did you immediately go to cut off the skin, cut off the nerves, cut off...
RALSTON: Exactly. It gave me the opportunity. And I reached for the knife, said out loud to myself, Here we go, Aron. You're in it now, and very calmly and collectedly went about the process of thrusting the knife into my arm, first all the way up to the hilt, and then working a hole in my arm until I could get fingers in and sort out where the arteries were. That was very important, that I figured out how to cut those last, if at all possible.
COOPER: But it's not just -- I mean, you also have to cut through nerve.
RALSTON: Yes. And that was by far the most painful part. The pain felt like I had thrust my arm into a cauldron of magma all up to my shoulder, this incinerating...
COOPER: That was when you were trying to...
RALSTON: ... sensation of burning. When I cut that nerve, it was -- it just -- it radiated all the way up my arm. At the same time, that pain was just one more thing I had to do, and it was, in some sense, a very beautiful feeling, too.
COOPER: Because it was liberation.
RALSTON: Yes. It was liberation. Exactly. After that, there was just one last piece of muscle, one last piece of skin. I pulled my arm tight, and I hacked through those and I was free.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well when 360 continues, we're going to have more of Aron Ralston's remarkable story. His ordeal was far from over. He was free, but he still had a long journey ahead of him. Wait until you hear what he faced before being rescued.
Tonight's "Buzz" question is this. What do you think? Could you do it, cut off your own arm to save your life? Log onto cnn.com/360. Cast your vote. We'll have results at the end of the show.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Mountain man Aron Ralston was pinned in a Utah canyon for six excruciating days before authorities traced his credit cards, found his truck and then went looking for him in the Canyonlands National Park. Ralston talks about surviving those desperate days in his new book, "Between a Rock and a Hard Place." Ralston cut off his own hand to free himself, but amazingly, that was not the end of his ordeal. It was really just the beginning. Take a look.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RALSTON: I had nearly four hours, three-and-a-half hours of hiking, rappelling, canyoneering this almost seven-story rappel, that I had to rig up an anchor, set my ropes up, get them attached to my harness properly, work my way backwards over this overhanging lift and then down the canyon wall.
COOPER: And at this point, I mean, it had been six days. You had no more water left. You were drinking your own urine.
RALSTON: Yes.
COOPER: What had -- I mean, what is that like, drinking your own urine? What had that done -- I mean, did -- I read that your mouth...
RALSTON: Isn't that a funny question to ask someone?
COOPER: I know!
(LAUGHTER)
COOPER: I guess. Oh, I've asked that of many of our guests, yes!
RALSTON: Well, it was the most sour, bitter, caustic thing I've ever put in my mouth.
COOPER: But I mean, it's acidic, so it eat up your mouth.
RALSTON: It was. It was eroding the palate, the roof of my mouth. It was actually eroding the enamel of my teeth. It was weeks and even months of brushing and dental work to get my teeth...
COOPER: But it was keeping you alive.
RALSTON: ... looking clean again. But it was doing at least a temporary job of keeping me somewhat hydrated enough that I, at six days, had already doubled the amount of time that someone was lasts in the desert without an adequate water supply.
COOPER: And at this point, I mean, are you looking at your right arm? Are you thinking about it? Or is it all just thinking about that you have to do? RALSTON: I had a tourniquet still on, and I had fashioned a sling of sorts that held my arm to my chest. Really, what I was watching was the blood that was coming out the end of the arm because it was dripping down on my legs. It was dripping on my shorts, my socks, my shoes. And I was trying to monitor that, to take some account of, How much blood have I lost, How much can I lose before I just pass out and die?
And I came around the corner in the canyon, and about 100 yards in front of me are three people hiking in the canyon. It's a husband and a wife and a son. And my voice catches in my throat at the sight. It was probably five seconds before I could get myself together enough to then shout, Help, and it came out very choked like that. And I had, OK, anxiety and excitement all building up around me, to calm that so that I could shout, Help! Help! And they immediately turned around.
I began walking towards them again at full speed. They're walking towards me. I'm shouting to them what's happened, who I am, what I need. We hike for about a half an hour. They're talking to me, asking some of the details of what's happened. I'm asking them for water, for any food that they have. They give me two Oreo cookies, and it's, like, this banquet feast that I can enjoy.
It came to the point in the canyon where, with this family, we had hiked almost another half an hour, gone another good mile during that time and got to the point where I could see the beginning of the trail that started up out of the canyon, over 800 vertical feet that was separating us still from where we were and the tracks of the vehicles, the rescuers that were waiting up near the trailhead. At that time, I knew that I wasn't going to make it. Just -- the exertion I was feeling even going up five feet was so much that 800 feet was absolutely inconceivable. I was going to give myself a heart attack or a stroke from trying to get up that hill in the state that I was.
So we had formulated a plan that the wife and the son would go ahead. They would get to the rescuers, tell them that I needed a helicopter, and I was just going to wait. I had taken my shoe off, digged out some of the sand out because my foot was hurting me, even worse than my arm was, by that point, put my shoe back on, hiked another -- not even a minute-and-a-half. And at the moment when I realized there was really not going to be anything more that I could do and that I probably should go back and sit under that tree, where it was shady, this noise, starting from a low roar to an increasingly present thunder, that -- and this (UNINTELLIGIBLE) of the helicopter coming up through the canyon.
And I looked up, and here it comes zooming over the canyon wall. And every bit of strength that I had left I had to call upon so that I didn't just collapse in a heap right there in the sand. It was my salvation. It was deliverance right there.
COOPER: You talked about it as an epic journey, and you know, in mythology, they talk about the hero's journey and sort of the -- or having to overcome many things. But in the end, you sort of learn something.
RALSTON: Yes.
COOPER: What, to you, are the lessons?
RALSTON: There's a lot of them. I think one of the major ones for me personally that I found, where I get my motivation, my strength, is from my family and my friends, that even the impossible can be overcome by courage and perseverance of not being stuck behind fear that I might bleed to death. But I had to make a decision to go forward not knowing what was going to come. And that was important, that I took action in that moment, overcoming that fear.
COOPER: What did you do with your -- with the right hand?
RALSTON: I personally left it there, and I intended to leave it there. The Park Service had other ideas about that, and so they went in and took a crew that included, I think, a 13-person team, according to the information they gave me, a winch and a jack, and moved that boulder, retrieving the hand, and then at our family's request, took it to mortuary and it was cremated. I sprinkled some of the ashes up canyon, where I'd come from, in the spot where I had stood, and down canyon, where I had headed to in getting out of there, and cried tears of absolute joy that I was alive. Being able to complete that circle is a beautiful part of that whole experience, too.
COOPER: Aron Ralston, it's a great book. Thanks for joining us.
RALSTON: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Remarkable story.
Today's "Buzz" question is this. What do you think? Could you cut off your own arm to save your life? Find out at cnn.com/360. Cast your vote. We'll have results at the end of the program tonight.
And 360 next, some much lighter news, "Playgirl's" search for the hottest newsmen. I actually, I guess, made the cut without begging, unlike some others. Keith Olbermann, take that to "The Nth Degree."
And also tonight, well, we'll look at the what the world of pop is doing, some -- why some designers at New York's fashion shows are loving all those celebrities. I'm not sure who that is. Oh, that's the Aerosmith guy. All right. Not sure who the one chewing gum behind him -- anyway, 360 next will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: In New York, fashion week is finally wrapping up, the top designers selling their newest fashions. But we kept noticing that no matter what show you went to, there were always some celebrities on hand. Why, is the question? Alina Cho went to find out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Liv and Kate, Chloe and Winona, even the Donald -- these one-named wonders are more than just celebrities, they're walking billboards. Just ask hip-hop star Lil' Kim.
LIL' KIM, RAPPER: Celebrities, we're always on television, all the time. So we're the...
CHO (on camera): You sell clothes.
LIL' KIM: Yes. And we're the biggest free promotion any design can get.
CHO (voice-over): Designer Michael Kors says when a celebrity like Jessica Simpson is photographed attending his show, wearing his clothes, buyers think he's cool. Stars sell.
MICHAEL KORS, FASHION DESIGNER: Madonna and Gwyneth both carried a big I did at Celine's. The next thing you knew, everyone had to have that bag.
CHO (on camera): A Kors. The boogie bag (ph).
KORS: The boogie bag definitely boogied, yes.
CHO (voice-over): Mary Alice Stephenson, contributing fashion editor at "Harper's Bazaar," says what's good for the designer is also good for the star.
(on camera): Why do the celebrities come to the show? Why is it important for them to be here?
MARY ALICE STEPHENSON, "HARPER'S BAZAAR": For press. Press, press, press, press, worldwide press instantly.
CHO (voice-over): Take Jennifer Lopez arriving not so secretly for the Tommy Hilfiger show. Others, like Tony Danza, have to work for it. Hanging around back stage means free press for his new talk show. Oftentimes, though, stars, like famous sisters Olson, Williams and Hilton, get star treatment.
STEPHENSON: Internationally, houses like Versace and Armani actually send private planes. The stars are flown to Milan or Paris, put up in the Villa Versace.
CHO: Lil' Kim says the relationship is mutually beneficial.
LIL' KIM: It's always important for celebrities to come and support designers if they want to wear some free clothes.
CHO: Alina Cho, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Like, they really need free clothes? All right, let's check on some lighter news, some pop news in tonight's "Current."
Jessica Simpson has been tapped to star in the big screen remake of "The Dukes of Hazzard." Yeehah. The pop star will reportedly play Daisy Duke, which we think is a good idea. Considering there were no other female parts in the show, it makes a whole lot of sense.
Hip-hop star Nelly says Britney Spears would have a tough time if her career came to an end. Nelly tells "Blender" magazine, quote, "I know Britney, and she's cool, but that could be a downer for her to come down from so high as the Barbie doll of pop." Words of caution from Nelly -- rapper, wordsmith, clinical psychologist.
And the nominees for the Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame were announced yesterday. Leading the charge is U2, Buddy Guy and Randy Newman. To be considered, you got to be in the biz for 25 years, which means there is still hope for The Village People, Geno Vanilli (ph) and Dead or Alive. Yes, the band that gave us -- you spin right round, baby, right round, like the record, baby. Round, round, round, round.
360 next, round round, "Playgirl's" search for the sexiest news guy. I don't want to boast, but I made the list without begging, unlike some sad sacks -- Keith Olbermann, MSNBC. We'll take that to "The Nth Degree."
Tomorrow, Hurricane Ivan on the track to hit the U.S. somewhere between Florida and Louisiana. I'll be there live, bringing you the coverage.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Earlier, we asked you, Could you cut off your own arm to save your life, based on Aron Ralston's story? It's a split vote, amazingly, straight down the middle, 50 percent of you said yes, 50 percent no. Not a scientific poll, but it is your "Buzz."
Tonight, taking campaigning to "The Nth Degree." All right, so "Playgirl" magazine conducted a poll to determine who its readers think is TV's sexiest newscaster. I came in third. I can live with that, especially considering the fact that I didn't do any electioneering at all. None whatsoever. Whereas the guy who came in first campaigned like crazy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anderson Cooper, not sexy. Keith Olbermann, now that's sexy!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Look at this. Kind of pathetic, isn't it? Keith Olbermann of MSNBC all but begged viewers to vote for him. He even linked his Web site to "Playgirl's." Keith, baby, get a grip. I know losing on "Jeopardy" was painful for you, but pleading for "Playgirl" votes? Sad. For all I know, Fox's Sean Hannity, who came in second, may have been moved to vote for Olbermann himself out of pity. Can't say for a fact whether Hannity was as shameless as Olbermann because I was away at the time. See, I was working, going on patrol with soldiers and facing danger in Baghdad instead of groveling day and night for sexiest news guy votes. Nonetheless, as I say, I placed third without any campaigning at all. Shepard Smith was fourth. And then there was a tie for fifth place between my CNN colleague Bill Hemmer and Andy Rooney, the grand old man of CBS News. Betcha anything he didn't get down on his knees to beg for votes. No, sir, Andy Rooney's got more dignity than that. Know what else he's got that makes him so sexy? If you ask me, it's the white hair.
Thanks for watching. I'll be in Alabama tomorrow, covering the arrival of Hurricane Ivan. Join me for that.
Coming up next, "PAULA ZAHN NOW."
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