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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

Hurricane Jeanne Poised To Strike Florida; Kerry Says Iraq War A Diversion From War On Terror; Interview With Iraqi Hostage Survivor

Aired September 24, 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: The massive storm that's already killed more than 1,000 bears down on Florida.
360 starts now.

Hurricane Jeanne, on target to hit Florida, 100-mile-an-hour winds, this storm already a killer. Tonight, what you need to know about when and where Jeanne will strike.

Senator Kerry blasts President Bush, calling Iraq a diversion from the war on terror. Cheney fires back, and the war of words heats up.

She was kidnapped in Iraq, threatened with death, but lived to tell her tale. Tonight, a 360 exclusive, a shocking account of what it's really like being a hostage in Iraq.

Hunting for evidence against Michael Jackson, a surprise raid on his assistant's house. Is the prosecution on the right track, or desperately searching for a case?

Mary Kay Letourneau, the teacher who became a molester, speaks out about the boy she raped, the man she now says she wants to marry.

And a special look at Marriage and Divorce in America. Tonight, the heartache and betrayal when you find out your spouse has a hidden life.

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

COOPER: Good evening again.

We begin tonight with a force of nature that is almost hard to believe. We're talking, of course, about Hurricane Jeanne. Less than 400 miles right now off the southeastern coast of Florida, 100 mile- an-hour winds, category two. And what's worse, this storm may be getting stronger. Already half a million people have been advised to evacuate in Florida.

The storm already hit Haiti hard, 1,000 dead, 1,000 believed missing. Take a look at these pictures. Those are shots being fired by U.N. peacekeepers. The people still alive in Haiti fighting for scraps of food and clean water, rioting today among hurricane survivors desperate to get some relief supplies. A terrible thing to see. Let's find out where Jeanne is headed right now and when from CNN meteorologist Orelon Sidney. Orelon?

ORELON SIDNEY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Anderson, thanks a lot.

Seeing something like that really puts it all into perspective. This storm is a dangerous storm, headed towards the United States, affecting the northern Bahamas tonight. It does look like it's going to make a very close approach to the U.S. coast, possibly even making a landfall. I'll show you in just a moment why I put that in quotes.

This is what's going on currently. Winds of 100 miles an hour. It's picked up a little bit of speed moving to the west now at 12 miles an hour, 400 miles east of the southeast Florida coast at last report. That was at 5:00 p.m. A new update is due out next hour.

From Altamaha Sound, Georgia, southward down to St. Augustine, Florida, we have a hurricane watch in effect. South of St. Augustine, Florida, down to Florida city, including Lake Okeechobee (ph), hurricane warning in effect. (UNINTELLIGIBLE), you can expect hurricane conditions within the next 24 hours.

I've used this all day to show what's going on here. We've got two big anticyclones, several thousand feet up. The northern anticyclone, I think, is going to be building westward. And that is probably going to be the area of weakness in between the two that Jeanne will follow as we go over the next 48 hours or so.

Thus, the track from the National Hurricane Center. Still looking at category two by 2:00 p.m. Saturday, could see it as a three in here somewhere before it makes a landfall on Florida.

And then look at this. It just scrapes the coast all the way up northward before heading out to sea in North Carolina. Of course, Anderson, we've got big possibility on either side of that line, so don't pay too much attention to the center line. Look at that big area of possibility across the southeastern United States, Anderson.

COOPER: Scraping the coast there, that is just a horrible thought.

SIDNEY: Yes, it is.

COOPER: Thanks very much. Appreciate you joining us for that, Orelon Sidney. Thanks.

I'm going down to Florida tomorrow, but what's so hard to believe is that Jeanne is the fourth hurricane to swirl toward the South since this all started last month on Friday the 13th, no less. There's barely been time for Florida to dry out, let alone forget.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): It's deja vu all over again in Florida, a state already hammered by three hurricanes in five weeks is amazingly and wearily preparing for number four. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sick of it. I'm sick of it.

COOPER: Charley barreled into Florida first, packing 145-mile- per- hour winds. Millions lost power. Punta Gorda saw the worst that Charley could offer.

(on camera): It's so strange, some things make it through the storm. One house will be fine, the house next door will be completely destroyed.

(voice-over): Just three weeks later, with Floridians still digging out from Charley, Hurricane Frances roared in from the east.

GOV. JEB BUSH (R), FLORIDA: We don't wish to have two storms of this magnitude hit our state in a three-week period. We're prepared.

COOPER: An even larger storm, Frances, battered much of southeastern Florida.

(on camera): It's a, (UNINTELLIGIBLE), it's going to be a long night.

(voice-over): Four billion dollars in damage, and as the state collectively staggered to its feet, a third major hurricane was on the way. Category five Ivan eyed the entire panhandle of the Gulf of Mexico. We were in Mobile, Alabama, right in the path when Ivan made landfall as a category three with 130 mile-per-hour winds. It was a very long night.

(on camera): This storm is coming, and it is coming on fast.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, we'll -- holy smokes. Saddle up, kids.

COOPER (voice-over): And for residents all along the Gulf coast, a sobering next morning, streets flooded, trees down, communities ruined. Florida was not spared. Pensacola was pounded. And tornadoes in the panhandle killed at least six.

For the battered state, it's a story of numbers, 81 killed, as much as $18 billion in insured damage. And now here comes Jeanne.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: And here's a 360 fast fact for you. If Hurricane Jeanne hits Florida, it's going to the first time on record in more than 100 years that any one state has been hit four times by a hurricane in one season. Last time was 1886, and that was in Texas.

Desperation breeds chaos, as we showed you a bit earlier. That is precisely what happened in Haiti today, when relief workers were forced to fire guns into the air to keep from being overwhelmed by hurricane survivors clamoring for food.

The shots worked for the moment, but order is a very long way away from being restored on the pour, punished island of Haiti. And that's where CNN's Karl Penhaul is with the latest. Karl?

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Anderson.

Certainly Haitian officials here are now saying that the death toll from tropical storm Jeanne has risen to around 1,200, but it's not so much concern for the dead now that's the problem, it's concern for the living. How will they be fed? How will they be given enough drinking water?

It's now been a week since the tropical storm destroyed many of the people's homes here in the city of Gonaives, the northern Haitian city most affected by that storm. And many of the people that we talked to today waiting outside one of the main food distribution centers said in that time they'd only had scraps to eat, and only a few mouthfuls of water to drink.

That explains, then why this hunger, why this desperation made up an explosive mix this afternoon. What we saw were Argentinian troops from the United Nations stabilization force. That was the force originally sent in to restore political stability here. They had to fire, fire into the air and lob tear gas canisters to get these hungry people back.

There was so much pressure there, there was so much chaos there, at one point the hungry people threatened to break through into the food distribution center unchecked.

When finally the crowds were restored to some kind of order, food distribution did resume. But both U.N. officials and international aid workers here say not enough aid is getting through because of the scale of the disaster. An estimated 300,000 people need some kind of emergency help right now, Anderson.

COOPER: Desperate days and a desperate night. Karl Penhaul, thanks for that.

There are only 39 days left until a storm, well, of a very different kind makes landfall, that, of course, the 2004 presidential race. And it has grown much more powerful in recent days with another heavy round of back-and-forth attacks today.

Now, tonight, as always, a close look at both sides of the race, beginning with the Bush camp. Senior White House correspondent John King is on the trail with the president.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the Wisconsin side of Lake Michigan, a big crowd, and a new attack. The president says his Democratic opponent failed a key test of leadership by criticizing Iraq's new prime minister.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ... (UNINTELLIGIBLE). You cannot lead if you get blown around by the political winds. KING: Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi was at the White House Thursday, and Senator Kerry says both he and the president were far too optimistic in their assessments of Iraq's political and security situation. At two stops in Wisconsin, the president suggested such talk undermines the mission.

BUSH: You can't lead this country if your ally in Iraq feels like you question his credibility. The message ought to be to the Iraqi people, we support you.

KING: Here in Racine, the unemployment rate is 11.4 percent. But Iraq is as much an issue as the economy. Angie Vail voted for Mr. Bush four years ago, but is waiting for the debates before deciding this time around.

ANGIE VAIL: (UNINTELLIGIBLE), I'm not real comfortable with the war situation. There are people in my life that have been touched by the war, and that is something that concerns me. So, you know, you just -- I'm going to keep my options open until I go into that booth.

KING: Dan Mouw is a Republican, father of a Marine who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, and certain Mr. Bush made the right call.

DAN MOUW: That Saddam Hussein is somebody that we needed to take out. We had (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- the world is going to be a better place without him, and the United States is going to be a better and safer place in the long run if we...

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KING: Now, this debate certain to continue next week, Anderson. Of course, the first presidential debate is next week. It is dedicated to foreign policy and homeland security.

We're told Mr. Bush has already participated in several mock debates, more scheduled this weekend at his ranch in Crawford, Texas. And Mr. Bush is also preparing, we're told, by listening to audiotapes of Senator Kerry's speeches, statements, and news conferences. The president listens while he travels and even while working out at the White House gym, Anderson.

COOPER: All right, two polished debaters. It is going to be fascinating. John King, thanks for that from Racine, Wisconsin, tonight.

On the Kerry side, more offense on a front that's become familiar. The senator outlining his strategy for the war on terror and saying the choices made on Iraq have only strengthened al Qaeda.

CNN's senior political correspondent Candy Crowley is with Camp Kerry tonight from Philadelphia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The idea is to recalibrate the fall debate, separate the war on Iraq from the war on terror.

SEN. JOHN KERRY, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: This president took his eye off the real war on terror, which is against al Qaeda, against Osama bin Laden, against terrorists in 60 countries, and he invaded a nation where there weren't any terrorists, but there are today.

CROWLEY: Argue everywhere and repeatedly that the president has failed at both.

KERRY: The president's misjudgment, miscalculation, and mismanagement of the war in Iraq all make the war on terror harder to win.

CROWLEY: Having spent the better part of two years explaining his own position on Iraq, John Kerry spent this past week trying to fight his way to better field position, which is to say, offense on the ground and in the air.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE, KERRY-EDWARDS AD)

ANNOUNCER: Americans are being kidnapped, held hostage, even beheaded. Over 1,000 American soldiers have died. And George Bush has no plan to get us out of Iraq.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CROWLEY: Kerry counterweights his often acid rhetoric with four- point and seven-point plans. But his ace remains the claim he can work better with allies.

KERRY: I have news for President Bush. Just because you can't do something doesn't mean it can't be done.

CROWLEY: Though the president enjoys a wide lead when it comes to handling the war on Iraq and terrorism, Kerry strategists believe this week of sustained criticism and focus has put the Bush campaign on defense. Said one top Kerry aide, The president is answering us.

(on camera): The optimism inside the Kerry campaign is as real as it is premature. Some Kerry strategists believe come November they may look back and see this as the week that was, though it's certainly too early to know if it is.

Candy Crowley, CNN, Philadelphia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, later this evening, a 360 exclusive. We're going to have a view of Iraq from a very rare perspective, a woman kidnapped by insurgents. Now, she argued her way to freedom, and at the moment she thought she was going to be killed, she wanted her co-captive to be present.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ZEYNEP TUGRUL, KIDNAPPED IN IRAQ: And I didn't want to be killed by a man who's looking at me in a hated way, you know, very angry eyes, you know, someone that has no love in his heart. You know, I would like to see someone that I do trust.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: We don't show hostage videos on this show, but we did think you'd want to hear from her what it is like to be held hostage in Iraq. We're going to have more on that later on 360.

California approves the world's toughest smog rules. That tops our look at what's going on right now cross-country.

In Los Angeles, yes, in the city where people live in their cars, basically, a stamp of approval, a new statewide regulations aimed at cutting vehicle emissions by up to 25 percent. State regulators are giving the auto industry five years to develop cleaner technology, and until 2016 to meet new emission standards. Expect the auto industry to appeal.

Stockton, California, self-defense. Investigators don't think so after looking at this videotape. Six counselors at a high-security prison for juveniles have been fired after an investigation found they used excessive force on inmates in January.

McLean, Virginia, now, D.C. sniper Lee Boyd Malvo will drop his appeal of one murder conviction, and he's going to plead guilty to a second killing. Malvo was just 17 when we went on a killing spree in October 2002 with, of course, John Allen Muhammad. Ten people were killed. Malvo's lawyer says the plea spares him the death penalty but guarantees life in prison.

That's a quick look what's going on cross-country tonight.

Coming up next on 360, Michael Jackson's search warrant. Police raid the offices of his personal assistant. The question is, is it a show of strength, or are they grasping at straws?

Plus, disgraced teacher Mary Kay Letourneau, she served time for raping her student. Now she shares for the first time how it all unfolded.

Also, great white shark shows up where it shouldn't be. Check it out. Find out where the killer of the sea is headed for now.

All that ahead.

First, let's take a look at your picks, the most popular stories on CNN.com right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Well, the state's case against Michael Jackson has taken a surprising turn, a raid on his assistant's house. Now, personal assistants to celebrities don't usually make headlines. Michael Jackson's assistant now finds herself front and center in the child molestation case against the singer.

(UNINTELLIGIBLE) Thelma Gutierrez has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Santa Barbara County sheriff's investigators recently raided this Sherman Oaks home belonging to Michael Jackson's personal assistant, a move that has stunned some legal observers.

ARTHUR BARRONS, LEGAL ANALYST: They either feel that their alleged victim is not totally credible or is inconsistent somehow, or perhaps outright unsupportable, and they're looking for some other way to salvage their position.

GUTIERREZ: Court documents released this week show on September 15 authorities seized personal papers and files kept by Jackson's assistant, including a fax sent from the pop star to his lawyer about possible trial witnesses, and three files labeled with the name of Jackson's lead attorney, Tom Mesereau.

BARRONS: Anything with counsel's name on it would involve attorney-client privilege and the attorney's work product. This is a severe and grievous violation of the attorney-client privilege.

GUTIERREZ: So why are authorities still hunting for more evidence against Jackson five months after he was indicted on charges of child molestation?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: It could mean that prosecutors think they have a weak case, they're desperate to shore it up in any way they can. It could mean that there are productive new veins that they're discovering, and there could be even ongoing criminal conduct.

GUTIERREZ: Last November, sheriff's deputies raided the office of private investigator Brad Miller, who was then working for Jackson's attorney Mark Geragos, who has since left the case.

(on camera): The defense filed an emergency application to seal all items seized in the most recent raid. That motion was granted, but the judge must decide whether the evidence is admissible.

Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Covering the case for us tonight in Philadelphia is Michael Smerconish, CNN contributor and attorney.

Michael, good to see you.

It's a, I mean, it's a not, it's a surprising thing, raiding this assistant's house. Why do you think they're doing it? Is this just a fishing expedition? MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: One extreme or the other, either because the prosecution is scared to death of the case, and maybe it's disintegrating, or perhaps because, through the course of ongoing investigation, they found something else that causes them to believe that there's ongoing criminal conduct.

Here's the issue that I'm thinking about. Michael Jackson is not the sort of a person that I envision sending out his own facsimiles. That's probably a duty that's relegated to the personal assistant. And what's being reported by the Jackson defense team is that certain faxed documents were found in the home of the personal assistant relative to trial witnesses.

Anderson, if that's the case, if it's a fax where Michael Jackson, by way of hypothetical, is passing judgment on potential trial witnesses, and sending his thoughts to his lawyer, that is clear...

COOPER: Which is what the defense is saying right now. I mean, the defense is saying that some of these documents were from Michael Jackson advising potential witnesses.

SMERCONISH: Then it would absolutely cross the line. I mean, my God, the prosecution may as well go in and serve a search warrant on the defense lawyers' offices and cut to the chase already. I can't imagine that that sort of information is going to come into evidence.

And that's why my hunch is, more a sign of desperation than one of strength.

COOPER: Desperation what, theoretically, because they don't have confidence in their witness, don't have confidence...

SMERCONISH: You know...

COOPER: ... that the kid can hold up, the kid's mother can hold up?

SMERCONISH: You know, Anderson, I was here recently with you, and we talked about the fact that the kid's mother really got beat up by Tom Mesereau, and this comes on the heel of the Kobe Bryant case disintegrating. Why? Because they played hardball with the accuser in that particular case.

So who's to say, maybe after Mom recently testified, she's all of a sudden got some cold feet, the prosecution is looking to build their case elsewhere. That's speculation on my part, but I don't think that it's unreasonable.

COOPER: Michael Smerconish, always good to talk with you. Thanks, Michael.

SMERCONISH: Thank you.

COOPER: Coming up next on 360, a woman beaten, held captive, and threatened with beheading. She survived and tonight tells you what it is like to think you're about to die. A 360 exclusive.

Plus, where's Teresa, Kerry's feisty first lady? Are Democrats pushing her in the background, or is this just raw politics? We'll talk about that ahead.

And Mary Kay Letourneau speaks out for the first time since her release from prison say why she plans to have another child with her former student.

And secret sex lives, what happens when a spouse has a secret hidden life? Part of our special series, State of the Union.

All that ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: This week Senator Kerry's wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, had another one of those moments, you know, the kind she says something frank and it ends up in the tabloids and all over right-wing Web sites. It certainly reminded us of the old days, and it kind of got us thinking, where have you been, Mrs. Heinz Kerry? Could she be the latest victim of raw politics?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): Remember her? Teresa Heinz Kerry, the once highly visible wife of John Kerry. During the summer, she seemed everywhere on the campaign trail.

TERESA HEINZ KERRY, JOHN KERRY'S WIFE: And the next president of the United States...

COOPER: Introducing her husband at every stop, giving one-on-one interviews to the media, speaking at the Democratic National Convention, and even appearing in a John Kerry ad.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, KERRY-EDWARDS AD)

TERESA HEINZ KERRY: John is the face of someone who is hopeful, who's generous of spirit and of heart.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Yet today, you may ask, where's been? The Kerry camp says she's out there doing her job, campaigning for her husband. She was in Arizona talking healthcare and raising $1 million. She was in New Mexico yesterday and in Colorado today.

But political analysts say recently she's keeping a lower profile, and that's a clear strategy.

CARLOS WATSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: The strategy behind Teresa Heinz Kerry is target, target, target. Keep her off TV, and target your focus, reach out to Democratic audiences...

COOPER: Where in controlled situations, the Kerry camp use her as an asset. But what they do not want, experts say, is having Teresa Heinz Kerry making another one of her headline-grabbing comments, like when she told a reporter from a paper she considered anti-Kerry to...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TERESA HEINZ KERRY: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) now shove it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: And there are the polls. The recent one about who would make a better first lady showed her badly lagging behind Laura Bush, who has recently been more visible and combative.

Yet Wednesday in Arizona, Teresa Heinz Kerry managed once more to make headlines, when she said she would not be surprised if Osama bin Laden was captured next month.

Keeping Teresa out there, but not too much, that's raw politics.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Osama bin Laden's alleged accountant boycotted a review hearing at Gitmo. That story tops our look at what's going on in the uplink.

The detainee is accused of being al Qaeda's paymaster and supply chief. Now, he didn't show up in court today in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, after his attorney was barred from the legal status hearing. Proceedings took place without the detainee. The war crimes trial is scheduled for December.

Middlesborough (ph), England. Holy bridge span, Batman. That's right, men dressed as Batman and Robin scaled a bridge today. Batman's breaking out all over, and stayed up there for 10 straight hours, all to demand separated fathers get more time with their kids. Remember, a similar protest took place two weeks ago at Buckingham Palace.

And in London, the singer formerly known as Cat Stevens is taking legal action to find out why he's banned from the U.S. Stevens, who converted to Islam, changed his name to Yusef Islam, was kicked off a London flight to Dulles after his name appeared on a no-fly list, as you well remember.

And that is a quick look what's going on in the uplink.

She was kidnapped in Iraq, threatened with death, but lived to tell her tale. Tonight, a 360 exclusive, a shocking account of what it's really like being a hostage in Iraq.

Mary Kay Letourneau, the teacher who became a molester, speaks out about the boy she raped, the man she now says she wants to marry.

And a special look at marriage and divorce in America. Tonight, the heartache and betrayal when you find out your spouse has a hidden life. 360 continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Well, Mary Kay Letourneau is speaking out, making some plans. The former schoolteacher who went to prison in 1997 for having sex with her sixth-grade student is free, released just a month ago. And in an interview with Barbara Walters, Letourneau says it's time she settled down and got married. And guess who she wants to spend the rest of her life with? Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARBARA WALTERS, ABC NEWS: OK. This 12-year-old boy says to you, "Mrs. Letourneau, would you ever have an affair?"

COOPER (voice-over): After seven and a half years in prison, Mary Kay Letourneau is ready to tell the world and Barbara Walters the tawdry details of her relationship with a young man who was once her victim, a relationship she seems to say happened at his urging.

MARY KAY LETOURNEAU, IMPRISONED FOR RAPE: He knew that I was avoiding all of his comments and insinuations, and he was very assertive, and wanted a response. And when I looked him in the eyes, I -- it really took me back.

COOPER: When Letourneau met Vili Fualaau, she was a teacher, he was her sixth grade student. She was 34, married with four children of her own, but she couldn't keep away from her teenage lover. They had two children together, and that cost her a long prison stretch.

WALTERS: So you felt something?

LETOURNEAU: I did, yeah. And basically, he said that he was in love with me.

WALTERS: And Mary, what did you say?

LETOURNEAU: I said, can you hold that for a long, long time?

COOPER: That time has now passed. Mary Kay is a free woman. Vili is no longer a child, and the registered sex offender and the unemployed high school dropout are now telling television audiences they're planning a future together.

VILI FUALAAU, LETOURNEAU'S LOVER: Well, next we got to get ourselves financially stable, and we have to work out the family court issues. And then I guess it would be safe to say -- or safe to get married.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, Mary Kay Letourneau of course was married when she met Vili Fualaau. She had children, she had a home and a secret.

All spouses likely keep secrets from their loved ones; most are not hiding illegal behavior. But some secrets are still devastating when discovered. Last month, Jim McGreevey, of course, the married governor of New Jersey, announced he's gay, and very publicly, reportedly, very publicly did so. Reportedly, now McGreevey's wife was informed not long before the announcement.

A husband announcing he's gay or a wife announcing she's a lesbian is something a growing number of couples are being much more open about. Tonight in our 360 series "State of the Union: Marriage and Divorce in America," we look at what happens when your spouse reveals who they really are. Adaora Udoji reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ADAORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Russ thought all was fine with his 12-year-old marriage, two kids, a house in the suburbs, but it wasn't.

(on camera): Would you describe yourself as devastated back in 1998?

RUSS, STRAIGHT SPOUSE: Absolutely.

UDOJI (voice-over): His ex-wife, who requested her identify be concealed, realized after a painful journey she's a lesbian, telling CNN by an e-mail, quote: "You've exhausted all other possibilities. Now, you're faced with having to change everything for everyone."

Within months, she and Russ divorced in 1999.

RUSS: I started to question myself basically as a man. My masculinity was shut down. My sexual worth as a man was shut down.

UDOJI: Russ spent the next five years confused and angry, even suicidal, until he found the Straight Spouse Network.

RUSS: It saved my life.

UDOJI: The network's founder, Amity Pierce Buxton, understands. After 25 years of marriage, her husband told her he was gay. Since the '80s, she's written a book and set up support groups for spouses like Russ, 7,000 spouses.

AMITY PIERCE BUXTON, FOUNDER, STRAIGHT SPOUSE NETWORK: It's a long struggle, because first of all they're rejected for being a man or a woman. Then they're deceived about the sexuality core of their -- of the persons they trusted and loved the most in the world.

UDOJI: No hard numbers. Buxton estimates up to two million homosexuals or bisexuals have or will marry straights. A stunning example last month in New Jersey, when Governor Jim McGreevey announced he's gay while his wife stood nearby.

RUSS: I recognized the look in her face immediately. It's that deer-in-the-headlights look. It's, I don't know what the heck I'm dealing with. UDOJI: Like many families, Russ and his ex-wife are working it out. They share custody of their children as they learn to move on with their lives.

Adaora Udoji, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: My next guest knows that look as well. Carol Grever is the author of "My Husband Is Gay: A Woman's Guide to Surviving a Crisis." She joins me tonight from Denver. Carol, good to have you on the program tonight. You were married for 30 years, you had two grown kids. Your husband then told you he was gay. Was it a complete surprise to you?

CAROL GREVER, AUTHOR, "MY HUSBAND IS GAY": Absolutely. I was completely shocked. I had no idea.

COOPER: I mean, some people would hear that and say, look, there must have been some indications. You must have had some suspicions or some doubts.

GREVER: Or she must be really stupid. No, I'm not stupid. He was just very good at deception. He was able to cover his private life, his secret life, and carry on our conventional life with no clues at all.

COOPER: You -- I know you've interviewed a lot of women for this book, a lot of spouses for this book...

GREVER: That's right.

COOPER: ... I mean, across the board, devastation, I guess, is the accurate word to describe the reaction?

GREVER: Oh, yes. Shock. Some denial. In some cases, a sense of relief, because they realize it's not their fault.

COOPER: Is there anger, though, toward the spouse? I mean, there must be.

GREVER: At some point, there always is anger. It comes at different places. Sometimes it's immediate, sometimes later.

COOPER: What's your advice to someone who discovers this or who has suspicions about that?

GREVER: First of all, take care of yourself and your children if you have children. Make sure that your health is good, that you don't have AIDS, that you don't have STDs. It's important also to feel your feelings and to get through that whole process of grief.

It's a lot like grieving a death.

COOPER: And I guess, I mean, you mentioned the AIDS or STDs, I mean, that certainly becomes a concern, because you really don't know what life this person has been leading, and I assume they've been having unprotected sex with their spouse.

GREVER: Absolutely. And that's when I got angry, when I realized that I had been greatly at risk for almost 30 years. And he had lived this other life, and had had many, many sex partners throughout those years.

COOPER: Does the anger remain? I mean, do you still -- are you still angry at him?

GREVER: I thought I was over it, until recently, when he told me that he had had probably 1,000 sex partners, and then I got angry all over again. So, yeah.

COOPER: Well, I know it's -- you know, a lot of people don't really talk about this. You've written a book about it, and we appreciate you joining us today. Thanks very much, Carol Grever.

GREVER: Thank you.

COOPER: Today's "Buzz" question is this -- what do you think, who keeps more secrets from their spouses? Men, or women? Not really sure there is a correct answer there. Log on to cnn.com/360, cast your vote. In fact, I'm certain there is not. Results at the end of the show.

360 next, held hostage in Iraq, but she lived to tell her harrowing tale. A 360 exclusive. You will want to hear her story.

Plus, a Cape Cod shocker. What is this fearsome force of the deep sea doing in these shallow waters?

And a little later, from sharks to other flesh eaters, mutants, they're chomping at the bit in a new comedy -- yes, a comedy. Some ideas of what you might want to do this weekend in "The Weekender."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: You know, we don't show hostage videos on this program, we think it only encourages the taking of more hostages but we think this story is an important one. And you are about to meet a woman lucky to alive. She is a Turkish journalist named Zeynep Tugrul and for four terror-filled days she and a Canadian reporter named Scott Taylor (ph) were held captive in Iraq. She was beaten, she was threatened, she was routinely told that she and Peter (ph) were going to be beheaded. It all started at a checkpoint near Mosul when Zeynep and Peter Taylor were turned over to mass gunmen by Iraqi police, no less. They were taken to a house, they were given some food. They didn't even realize they were hostages at first. Then all of that suddenly changed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: When did you realize you were a hostage?

ZEYNEP TUGRUL, TURKISH JOURNALIST: The door was knocked, and some man came in and they said -- they took Scott, and say that, wake up, American pig, and put (UNINTELLIGIBLE) just behind him and they began searching him in a very wild way. I was so much afraid, and I thought that, you know, those guys are -- have kidnapped us.

COOPER: And at one point -- you thought they were going to shoot Scott, and you yelled out.

TUGRUL: I just remember that I yelled out, please, he has got a son. This is the thing that I first remembered what to say, and it was the first reaction without thinking anything.

COOPER: And then I imagine -- I mean there are highs where you suddenly think you know what, I'm going to get out, I'm going to escape, I'm going to be set free and there are lows when you must think they're going to kill me any second.

TUGRUL: I think the first thing that you think is you have to obey, you have to do what they tell you to do. You know, you don't at first -- you know that you're locked there, the door is closed and there are six guys in the house with (UNINTELLIGIBLE). There is no way to go out, so you just try to be seen, you know, obeyable (ph) and I was trying to do everything that I'm Muslim and as my friend is Christian, but he is with me, so he can count on him, too.

COOPER: Do they view you differently because you were Muslim? Did that make any difference to them?

TUGRUL: When you're a Muslim, they don't tell you that much harsh words like you're a spy or the other things. They just question you, how can a real Muslim girl be a friend of kaffir which means that non-believer. And for them there is no difference between Christians and the Jews. They were asking me, how can you be a friend of an American Jew? I was saying that he's a Christian Canadian, but for them there is no difference for that...

COOPER: You would be taken from one group to another. One group would hand you -- the group that originally took you gave you off to another group, then you were handed off to another group.

TUGRUL: Every new group consider you -- you're an American spy, and you have to convince them that you're a journalist. I do remember that when we were in Mosul finally, I told Scott, Scott, I have got no strength to tell these guys who I am, who you are. I said that let them kill us and let this finish. It was some tiring thing, really so much tiring.

COOPER: What seems so scary about your account is that everywhere you went, people wanted to help these kidnappers who had taken you. People, families were offering them food and water. Iraqi policemen were either looking the other way or, I mean, for goodness' sake they handed you over to these people.

TUGRUL: Exactly. Exactly. First, I have to emphasize this. I'm still against this occupation, but I would like to say something now which has changed in my mind. You know, when we see that the Americans sometimes, you know, bomb the civilian places, and you know, I was getting so much angry while watching the television, now something has changed in my mind. I mean, any child, you know, if he is old enough or big enough to carry a gun, he is a part of resistance.

COOPER: When you thought you were going to die, you and Scott had a conversation, and you told him you wanted to see him, to have him be in front of you when you died. Why was that?

TUGRUL: I didn't want to be killed by a man who's looking at me in a hatred way, in a very angry eyes, you know, someone that has no love in his heart. You know, I would like to see someone that I do trust, and at that point, the last point, I don't want to be seen like I'm afraid of them, because I was very much angry and frustrated of them.

COOPER: Well, Zeynep, I'm very happy you got out OK and I'm glad Scott got out all right. It's a real pleasure to talk with you. Thank you so much.

TUGRUL: Thank you.

COOPER: An amazingly strong woman, a remarkable story of survival. She was arguing with these guys for four days just trying her, and trying to keep her comrade Scott alive. Remarkable.

Coming up next on 360, a much lighter story for your Friday night. Trying to get you into the weekend with a smile -- well it's not that much lighter. A shark lingering close to shore on Cape Cod, that story coming up.

And then the lighter stuff, Julianne Moore goes supernatural with her new spooky thriller. We'll take a look ahead in the "Weekender."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: So to get a really good look at a great white shark, you can watch the Discovery Channel, you can jump in an underwater cage, or maybe rent "Jaws," or if you're on Cape Cod this weekend, you can see the real thing swimming in the shallow waters of the bay. Do not get too close is my advice. Lauren Pryzbyl of CNN affiliate WHDH has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAUREN PRYZBYL, WHDH CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We hopped on board with Captain Greg Aldridge (ph), and within minutes, there it was. A great white shark.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's really big.

PRYZBYL: At times, it glided effortlessly through Lackey's Bay (ph), but then it would find itself almost stuck in a shallow area.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just kind of take in the beauty of this wild animal that's unfortunately been trapped in this really enclosed area.

PRYZBYL: The shark was first spotted in the bay three days ago. Now it has lots of fans, watching its every move.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was ready to cut off my little toe and throw it in the water, I wanted to see the thing so bad.

PRYZBYL (on camera): The shark has been circling around and around in this area. You can see some of the onlookers. The shark even went right underneath our boat at one point.

I did see the movie "Jaws," I was just a little bit scared. He's about 2,000 pounds and 17 feet long.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have to ask you guys to leave. We're trying to keep down all unnecessary boat traffic, just for the safety of the shark.

PRYZBYL: Today, environmental police cleared out the bay as biologists worked to figure out how to get this kind of the wide open ocean back to where he belongs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's just the talk of the town, you know. This is just -- this is like once in a lifetime thing for us. So it's definitely something special.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Did you hear that woman say she wanted to cut off her toe just to see the shark? Was she drunk? What was that about?

Anyway, there are no sharks to speak of in the movies this weekend, but there are plenty of zombies, and even a sighting of Che Guevara. Plus, Julianne Moore on hand. There's probably something for everyone. So let's take a quick look at what's going on in "The Weekender."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TIM ROBBINS, ACTOR: They're listening.

COOPER (voice-over): They're listening, and I guess they really don't like what they're hearing in "The Forgotten." Julianne Moore stars in this thriller about a mother searching for her son. Along the way, she stumbles upon some pretty strange and supernatural stuff. It's like "The X Files" meets "Unsolved Mysteries."

If flesh eating is more your thing, there's "Shaun of the Dead," a romantic zombie comedy from England. Our hero, that would be Shaun, decides good old London town has been taken over by the undead in this undecidedly British spoof of mutant movies.

Serious filmgoers might want to take a bite out of "The Motorcycle Diaries," in the coming-of-age film about Che Guevara. In the movie, he's on a road trip with a buddy. Along the way, we get hints of how his journey of self-discovery will make him a leader of the Cuban revolution.

On TV, new shows for the new season. One being offered by CBS tonight is "Dr. Vegas." Rob Lowe goes from "The West Wing" to the casino strip as a good-hearted MD who finds patients and temptations in Sin City.

In concert, doesn't get better than this. If you're in Houston tonight or Ft. Worth tomorrow, check out B.B. King. The master of the blues make his guitar, Lucille, sing with soul, grace, and a sound that only the King can make.

And if you're near Clinton, Illinois, this weekend, drop by the apple and pork festival. There's a flea market, pony rides and my guess, some Granny Smiths and bacon strips.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Coming up next on 360 -- I'm actually heading down to Florida tomorrow morning to cover the hurricane for CNN this weekend. I hope you'll watch. Stay safe and watch from home.

Also coming up tonight, the harsh reality of hurricanes. When you never get a warning because it just doesn't happen that way in some places. We're going to take that to "The Nth Degree."

First today's "Buzz" -- who keeps more secrets, do you think, from their spouses, men or women? Log on to cnn.com/360. Cast your vote now. Results when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Earlier we asked you, who keeps more secrets from their spouses? Men or women? Fifty-two percent of you said the men; 48 percent said it's women. Not a scientific poll, but it is your buzz. We appreciate you voting.

Tonight, taking a sad reality to "The Nth Degree."

If you need graphic reminders of what the phrase "third world" actually means, hurricanes provide them. It has been bad enough in this rich country of ours, heaven knows what with Charley and Frances and Ivan, and now Jeanne lumbering this way, much damage has been done and dozens are dead.

But in Haiti, there are hundreds dead, more than 1,000, and the number may come to twice that if all the victims are ever found. There are bodies afloat in the rank floodwaters. There are bodies strewn on the soggy ground. Hundreds of thousands are homeless right now, without food enough or clean water.

The third world, we say sometimes, forgetting what that bland- sounding description really means.

This is what it means. Shacks instead of houses, rutted lanes instead of paved roads, no radio or television to be warned by, or cars to try and escape in, and nothing whatever put away to fall back on.

This is the third world, days and nights without any leeway at all, always so close to the edge that a strong wind is enough to make the difference between life and death.

I'll be in Florida this weekend covering the hurricane. I hope you'll join me for that watching at home. I'll be down Monday as well from Florida on 360. I'm Anderson Cooper, thanks for watching. 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 24, 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: The massive storm that's already killed more than 1,000 bears down on Florida.
360 starts now.

Hurricane Jeanne, on target to hit Florida, 100-mile-an-hour winds, this storm already a killer. Tonight, what you need to know about when and where Jeanne will strike.

Senator Kerry blasts President Bush, calling Iraq a diversion from the war on terror. Cheney fires back, and the war of words heats up.

She was kidnapped in Iraq, threatened with death, but lived to tell her tale. Tonight, a 360 exclusive, a shocking account of what it's really like being a hostage in Iraq.

Hunting for evidence against Michael Jackson, a surprise raid on his assistant's house. Is the prosecution on the right track, or desperately searching for a case?

Mary Kay Letourneau, the teacher who became a molester, speaks out about the boy she raped, the man she now says she wants to marry.

And a special look at Marriage and Divorce in America. Tonight, the heartache and betrayal when you find out your spouse has a hidden life.

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

COOPER: Good evening again.

We begin tonight with a force of nature that is almost hard to believe. We're talking, of course, about Hurricane Jeanne. Less than 400 miles right now off the southeastern coast of Florida, 100 mile- an-hour winds, category two. And what's worse, this storm may be getting stronger. Already half a million people have been advised to evacuate in Florida.

The storm already hit Haiti hard, 1,000 dead, 1,000 believed missing. Take a look at these pictures. Those are shots being fired by U.N. peacekeepers. The people still alive in Haiti fighting for scraps of food and clean water, rioting today among hurricane survivors desperate to get some relief supplies. A terrible thing to see. Let's find out where Jeanne is headed right now and when from CNN meteorologist Orelon Sidney. Orelon?

ORELON SIDNEY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Anderson, thanks a lot.

Seeing something like that really puts it all into perspective. This storm is a dangerous storm, headed towards the United States, affecting the northern Bahamas tonight. It does look like it's going to make a very close approach to the U.S. coast, possibly even making a landfall. I'll show you in just a moment why I put that in quotes.

This is what's going on currently. Winds of 100 miles an hour. It's picked up a little bit of speed moving to the west now at 12 miles an hour, 400 miles east of the southeast Florida coast at last report. That was at 5:00 p.m. A new update is due out next hour.

From Altamaha Sound, Georgia, southward down to St. Augustine, Florida, we have a hurricane watch in effect. South of St. Augustine, Florida, down to Florida city, including Lake Okeechobee (ph), hurricane warning in effect. (UNINTELLIGIBLE), you can expect hurricane conditions within the next 24 hours.

I've used this all day to show what's going on here. We've got two big anticyclones, several thousand feet up. The northern anticyclone, I think, is going to be building westward. And that is probably going to be the area of weakness in between the two that Jeanne will follow as we go over the next 48 hours or so.

Thus, the track from the National Hurricane Center. Still looking at category two by 2:00 p.m. Saturday, could see it as a three in here somewhere before it makes a landfall on Florida.

And then look at this. It just scrapes the coast all the way up northward before heading out to sea in North Carolina. Of course, Anderson, we've got big possibility on either side of that line, so don't pay too much attention to the center line. Look at that big area of possibility across the southeastern United States, Anderson.

COOPER: Scraping the coast there, that is just a horrible thought.

SIDNEY: Yes, it is.

COOPER: Thanks very much. Appreciate you joining us for that, Orelon Sidney. Thanks.

I'm going down to Florida tomorrow, but what's so hard to believe is that Jeanne is the fourth hurricane to swirl toward the South since this all started last month on Friday the 13th, no less. There's barely been time for Florida to dry out, let alone forget.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): It's deja vu all over again in Florida, a state already hammered by three hurricanes in five weeks is amazingly and wearily preparing for number four. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sick of it. I'm sick of it.

COOPER: Charley barreled into Florida first, packing 145-mile- per- hour winds. Millions lost power. Punta Gorda saw the worst that Charley could offer.

(on camera): It's so strange, some things make it through the storm. One house will be fine, the house next door will be completely destroyed.

(voice-over): Just three weeks later, with Floridians still digging out from Charley, Hurricane Frances roared in from the east.

GOV. JEB BUSH (R), FLORIDA: We don't wish to have two storms of this magnitude hit our state in a three-week period. We're prepared.

COOPER: An even larger storm, Frances, battered much of southeastern Florida.

(on camera): It's a, (UNINTELLIGIBLE), it's going to be a long night.

(voice-over): Four billion dollars in damage, and as the state collectively staggered to its feet, a third major hurricane was on the way. Category five Ivan eyed the entire panhandle of the Gulf of Mexico. We were in Mobile, Alabama, right in the path when Ivan made landfall as a category three with 130 mile-per-hour winds. It was a very long night.

(on camera): This storm is coming, and it is coming on fast.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, we'll -- holy smokes. Saddle up, kids.

COOPER (voice-over): And for residents all along the Gulf coast, a sobering next morning, streets flooded, trees down, communities ruined. Florida was not spared. Pensacola was pounded. And tornadoes in the panhandle killed at least six.

For the battered state, it's a story of numbers, 81 killed, as much as $18 billion in insured damage. And now here comes Jeanne.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: And here's a 360 fast fact for you. If Hurricane Jeanne hits Florida, it's going to the first time on record in more than 100 years that any one state has been hit four times by a hurricane in one season. Last time was 1886, and that was in Texas.

Desperation breeds chaos, as we showed you a bit earlier. That is precisely what happened in Haiti today, when relief workers were forced to fire guns into the air to keep from being overwhelmed by hurricane survivors clamoring for food.

The shots worked for the moment, but order is a very long way away from being restored on the pour, punished island of Haiti. And that's where CNN's Karl Penhaul is with the latest. Karl?

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Anderson.

Certainly Haitian officials here are now saying that the death toll from tropical storm Jeanne has risen to around 1,200, but it's not so much concern for the dead now that's the problem, it's concern for the living. How will they be fed? How will they be given enough drinking water?

It's now been a week since the tropical storm destroyed many of the people's homes here in the city of Gonaives, the northern Haitian city most affected by that storm. And many of the people that we talked to today waiting outside one of the main food distribution centers said in that time they'd only had scraps to eat, and only a few mouthfuls of water to drink.

That explains, then why this hunger, why this desperation made up an explosive mix this afternoon. What we saw were Argentinian troops from the United Nations stabilization force. That was the force originally sent in to restore political stability here. They had to fire, fire into the air and lob tear gas canisters to get these hungry people back.

There was so much pressure there, there was so much chaos there, at one point the hungry people threatened to break through into the food distribution center unchecked.

When finally the crowds were restored to some kind of order, food distribution did resume. But both U.N. officials and international aid workers here say not enough aid is getting through because of the scale of the disaster. An estimated 300,000 people need some kind of emergency help right now, Anderson.

COOPER: Desperate days and a desperate night. Karl Penhaul, thanks for that.

There are only 39 days left until a storm, well, of a very different kind makes landfall, that, of course, the 2004 presidential race. And it has grown much more powerful in recent days with another heavy round of back-and-forth attacks today.

Now, tonight, as always, a close look at both sides of the race, beginning with the Bush camp. Senior White House correspondent John King is on the trail with the president.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the Wisconsin side of Lake Michigan, a big crowd, and a new attack. The president says his Democratic opponent failed a key test of leadership by criticizing Iraq's new prime minister.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ... (UNINTELLIGIBLE). You cannot lead if you get blown around by the political winds. KING: Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi was at the White House Thursday, and Senator Kerry says both he and the president were far too optimistic in their assessments of Iraq's political and security situation. At two stops in Wisconsin, the president suggested such talk undermines the mission.

BUSH: You can't lead this country if your ally in Iraq feels like you question his credibility. The message ought to be to the Iraqi people, we support you.

KING: Here in Racine, the unemployment rate is 11.4 percent. But Iraq is as much an issue as the economy. Angie Vail voted for Mr. Bush four years ago, but is waiting for the debates before deciding this time around.

ANGIE VAIL: (UNINTELLIGIBLE), I'm not real comfortable with the war situation. There are people in my life that have been touched by the war, and that is something that concerns me. So, you know, you just -- I'm going to keep my options open until I go into that booth.

KING: Dan Mouw is a Republican, father of a Marine who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, and certain Mr. Bush made the right call.

DAN MOUW: That Saddam Hussein is somebody that we needed to take out. We had (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- the world is going to be a better place without him, and the United States is going to be a better and safer place in the long run if we...

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KING: Now, this debate certain to continue next week, Anderson. Of course, the first presidential debate is next week. It is dedicated to foreign policy and homeland security.

We're told Mr. Bush has already participated in several mock debates, more scheduled this weekend at his ranch in Crawford, Texas. And Mr. Bush is also preparing, we're told, by listening to audiotapes of Senator Kerry's speeches, statements, and news conferences. The president listens while he travels and even while working out at the White House gym, Anderson.

COOPER: All right, two polished debaters. It is going to be fascinating. John King, thanks for that from Racine, Wisconsin, tonight.

On the Kerry side, more offense on a front that's become familiar. The senator outlining his strategy for the war on terror and saying the choices made on Iraq have only strengthened al Qaeda.

CNN's senior political correspondent Candy Crowley is with Camp Kerry tonight from Philadelphia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The idea is to recalibrate the fall debate, separate the war on Iraq from the war on terror.

SEN. JOHN KERRY, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: This president took his eye off the real war on terror, which is against al Qaeda, against Osama bin Laden, against terrorists in 60 countries, and he invaded a nation where there weren't any terrorists, but there are today.

CROWLEY: Argue everywhere and repeatedly that the president has failed at both.

KERRY: The president's misjudgment, miscalculation, and mismanagement of the war in Iraq all make the war on terror harder to win.

CROWLEY: Having spent the better part of two years explaining his own position on Iraq, John Kerry spent this past week trying to fight his way to better field position, which is to say, offense on the ground and in the air.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE, KERRY-EDWARDS AD)

ANNOUNCER: Americans are being kidnapped, held hostage, even beheaded. Over 1,000 American soldiers have died. And George Bush has no plan to get us out of Iraq.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CROWLEY: Kerry counterweights his often acid rhetoric with four- point and seven-point plans. But his ace remains the claim he can work better with allies.

KERRY: I have news for President Bush. Just because you can't do something doesn't mean it can't be done.

CROWLEY: Though the president enjoys a wide lead when it comes to handling the war on Iraq and terrorism, Kerry strategists believe this week of sustained criticism and focus has put the Bush campaign on defense. Said one top Kerry aide, The president is answering us.

(on camera): The optimism inside the Kerry campaign is as real as it is premature. Some Kerry strategists believe come November they may look back and see this as the week that was, though it's certainly too early to know if it is.

Candy Crowley, CNN, Philadelphia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, later this evening, a 360 exclusive. We're going to have a view of Iraq from a very rare perspective, a woman kidnapped by insurgents. Now, she argued her way to freedom, and at the moment she thought she was going to be killed, she wanted her co-captive to be present.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ZEYNEP TUGRUL, KIDNAPPED IN IRAQ: And I didn't want to be killed by a man who's looking at me in a hated way, you know, very angry eyes, you know, someone that has no love in his heart. You know, I would like to see someone that I do trust.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: We don't show hostage videos on this show, but we did think you'd want to hear from her what it is like to be held hostage in Iraq. We're going to have more on that later on 360.

California approves the world's toughest smog rules. That tops our look at what's going on right now cross-country.

In Los Angeles, yes, in the city where people live in their cars, basically, a stamp of approval, a new statewide regulations aimed at cutting vehicle emissions by up to 25 percent. State regulators are giving the auto industry five years to develop cleaner technology, and until 2016 to meet new emission standards. Expect the auto industry to appeal.

Stockton, California, self-defense. Investigators don't think so after looking at this videotape. Six counselors at a high-security prison for juveniles have been fired after an investigation found they used excessive force on inmates in January.

McLean, Virginia, now, D.C. sniper Lee Boyd Malvo will drop his appeal of one murder conviction, and he's going to plead guilty to a second killing. Malvo was just 17 when we went on a killing spree in October 2002 with, of course, John Allen Muhammad. Ten people were killed. Malvo's lawyer says the plea spares him the death penalty but guarantees life in prison.

That's a quick look what's going on cross-country tonight.

Coming up next on 360, Michael Jackson's search warrant. Police raid the offices of his personal assistant. The question is, is it a show of strength, or are they grasping at straws?

Plus, disgraced teacher Mary Kay Letourneau, she served time for raping her student. Now she shares for the first time how it all unfolded.

Also, great white shark shows up where it shouldn't be. Check it out. Find out where the killer of the sea is headed for now.

All that ahead.

First, let's take a look at your picks, the most popular stories on CNN.com right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Well, the state's case against Michael Jackson has taken a surprising turn, a raid on his assistant's house. Now, personal assistants to celebrities don't usually make headlines. Michael Jackson's assistant now finds herself front and center in the child molestation case against the singer.

(UNINTELLIGIBLE) Thelma Gutierrez has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Santa Barbara County sheriff's investigators recently raided this Sherman Oaks home belonging to Michael Jackson's personal assistant, a move that has stunned some legal observers.

ARTHUR BARRONS, LEGAL ANALYST: They either feel that their alleged victim is not totally credible or is inconsistent somehow, or perhaps outright unsupportable, and they're looking for some other way to salvage their position.

GUTIERREZ: Court documents released this week show on September 15 authorities seized personal papers and files kept by Jackson's assistant, including a fax sent from the pop star to his lawyer about possible trial witnesses, and three files labeled with the name of Jackson's lead attorney, Tom Mesereau.

BARRONS: Anything with counsel's name on it would involve attorney-client privilege and the attorney's work product. This is a severe and grievous violation of the attorney-client privilege.

GUTIERREZ: So why are authorities still hunting for more evidence against Jackson five months after he was indicted on charges of child molestation?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: It could mean that prosecutors think they have a weak case, they're desperate to shore it up in any way they can. It could mean that there are productive new veins that they're discovering, and there could be even ongoing criminal conduct.

GUTIERREZ: Last November, sheriff's deputies raided the office of private investigator Brad Miller, who was then working for Jackson's attorney Mark Geragos, who has since left the case.

(on camera): The defense filed an emergency application to seal all items seized in the most recent raid. That motion was granted, but the judge must decide whether the evidence is admissible.

Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Covering the case for us tonight in Philadelphia is Michael Smerconish, CNN contributor and attorney.

Michael, good to see you.

It's a, I mean, it's a not, it's a surprising thing, raiding this assistant's house. Why do you think they're doing it? Is this just a fishing expedition? MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: One extreme or the other, either because the prosecution is scared to death of the case, and maybe it's disintegrating, or perhaps because, through the course of ongoing investigation, they found something else that causes them to believe that there's ongoing criminal conduct.

Here's the issue that I'm thinking about. Michael Jackson is not the sort of a person that I envision sending out his own facsimiles. That's probably a duty that's relegated to the personal assistant. And what's being reported by the Jackson defense team is that certain faxed documents were found in the home of the personal assistant relative to trial witnesses.

Anderson, if that's the case, if it's a fax where Michael Jackson, by way of hypothetical, is passing judgment on potential trial witnesses, and sending his thoughts to his lawyer, that is clear...

COOPER: Which is what the defense is saying right now. I mean, the defense is saying that some of these documents were from Michael Jackson advising potential witnesses.

SMERCONISH: Then it would absolutely cross the line. I mean, my God, the prosecution may as well go in and serve a search warrant on the defense lawyers' offices and cut to the chase already. I can't imagine that that sort of information is going to come into evidence.

And that's why my hunch is, more a sign of desperation than one of strength.

COOPER: Desperation what, theoretically, because they don't have confidence in their witness, don't have confidence...

SMERCONISH: You know...

COOPER: ... that the kid can hold up, the kid's mother can hold up?

SMERCONISH: You know, Anderson, I was here recently with you, and we talked about the fact that the kid's mother really got beat up by Tom Mesereau, and this comes on the heel of the Kobe Bryant case disintegrating. Why? Because they played hardball with the accuser in that particular case.

So who's to say, maybe after Mom recently testified, she's all of a sudden got some cold feet, the prosecution is looking to build their case elsewhere. That's speculation on my part, but I don't think that it's unreasonable.

COOPER: Michael Smerconish, always good to talk with you. Thanks, Michael.

SMERCONISH: Thank you.

COOPER: Coming up next on 360, a woman beaten, held captive, and threatened with beheading. She survived and tonight tells you what it is like to think you're about to die. A 360 exclusive.

Plus, where's Teresa, Kerry's feisty first lady? Are Democrats pushing her in the background, or is this just raw politics? We'll talk about that ahead.

And Mary Kay Letourneau speaks out for the first time since her release from prison say why she plans to have another child with her former student.

And secret sex lives, what happens when a spouse has a secret hidden life? Part of our special series, State of the Union.

All that ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: This week Senator Kerry's wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, had another one of those moments, you know, the kind she says something frank and it ends up in the tabloids and all over right-wing Web sites. It certainly reminded us of the old days, and it kind of got us thinking, where have you been, Mrs. Heinz Kerry? Could she be the latest victim of raw politics?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): Remember her? Teresa Heinz Kerry, the once highly visible wife of John Kerry. During the summer, she seemed everywhere on the campaign trail.

TERESA HEINZ KERRY, JOHN KERRY'S WIFE: And the next president of the United States...

COOPER: Introducing her husband at every stop, giving one-on-one interviews to the media, speaking at the Democratic National Convention, and even appearing in a John Kerry ad.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, KERRY-EDWARDS AD)

TERESA HEINZ KERRY: John is the face of someone who is hopeful, who's generous of spirit and of heart.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Yet today, you may ask, where's been? The Kerry camp says she's out there doing her job, campaigning for her husband. She was in Arizona talking healthcare and raising $1 million. She was in New Mexico yesterday and in Colorado today.

But political analysts say recently she's keeping a lower profile, and that's a clear strategy.

CARLOS WATSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: The strategy behind Teresa Heinz Kerry is target, target, target. Keep her off TV, and target your focus, reach out to Democratic audiences...

COOPER: Where in controlled situations, the Kerry camp use her as an asset. But what they do not want, experts say, is having Teresa Heinz Kerry making another one of her headline-grabbing comments, like when she told a reporter from a paper she considered anti-Kerry to...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TERESA HEINZ KERRY: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) now shove it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: And there are the polls. The recent one about who would make a better first lady showed her badly lagging behind Laura Bush, who has recently been more visible and combative.

Yet Wednesday in Arizona, Teresa Heinz Kerry managed once more to make headlines, when she said she would not be surprised if Osama bin Laden was captured next month.

Keeping Teresa out there, but not too much, that's raw politics.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Osama bin Laden's alleged accountant boycotted a review hearing at Gitmo. That story tops our look at what's going on in the uplink.

The detainee is accused of being al Qaeda's paymaster and supply chief. Now, he didn't show up in court today in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, after his attorney was barred from the legal status hearing. Proceedings took place without the detainee. The war crimes trial is scheduled for December.

Middlesborough (ph), England. Holy bridge span, Batman. That's right, men dressed as Batman and Robin scaled a bridge today. Batman's breaking out all over, and stayed up there for 10 straight hours, all to demand separated fathers get more time with their kids. Remember, a similar protest took place two weeks ago at Buckingham Palace.

And in London, the singer formerly known as Cat Stevens is taking legal action to find out why he's banned from the U.S. Stevens, who converted to Islam, changed his name to Yusef Islam, was kicked off a London flight to Dulles after his name appeared on a no-fly list, as you well remember.

And that is a quick look what's going on in the uplink.

She was kidnapped in Iraq, threatened with death, but lived to tell her tale. Tonight, a 360 exclusive, a shocking account of what it's really like being a hostage in Iraq.

Mary Kay Letourneau, the teacher who became a molester, speaks out about the boy she raped, the man she now says she wants to marry.

And a special look at marriage and divorce in America. Tonight, the heartache and betrayal when you find out your spouse has a hidden life. 360 continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Well, Mary Kay Letourneau is speaking out, making some plans. The former schoolteacher who went to prison in 1997 for having sex with her sixth-grade student is free, released just a month ago. And in an interview with Barbara Walters, Letourneau says it's time she settled down and got married. And guess who she wants to spend the rest of her life with? Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARBARA WALTERS, ABC NEWS: OK. This 12-year-old boy says to you, "Mrs. Letourneau, would you ever have an affair?"

COOPER (voice-over): After seven and a half years in prison, Mary Kay Letourneau is ready to tell the world and Barbara Walters the tawdry details of her relationship with a young man who was once her victim, a relationship she seems to say happened at his urging.

MARY KAY LETOURNEAU, IMPRISONED FOR RAPE: He knew that I was avoiding all of his comments and insinuations, and he was very assertive, and wanted a response. And when I looked him in the eyes, I -- it really took me back.

COOPER: When Letourneau met Vili Fualaau, she was a teacher, he was her sixth grade student. She was 34, married with four children of her own, but she couldn't keep away from her teenage lover. They had two children together, and that cost her a long prison stretch.

WALTERS: So you felt something?

LETOURNEAU: I did, yeah. And basically, he said that he was in love with me.

WALTERS: And Mary, what did you say?

LETOURNEAU: I said, can you hold that for a long, long time?

COOPER: That time has now passed. Mary Kay is a free woman. Vili is no longer a child, and the registered sex offender and the unemployed high school dropout are now telling television audiences they're planning a future together.

VILI FUALAAU, LETOURNEAU'S LOVER: Well, next we got to get ourselves financially stable, and we have to work out the family court issues. And then I guess it would be safe to say -- or safe to get married.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, Mary Kay Letourneau of course was married when she met Vili Fualaau. She had children, she had a home and a secret.

All spouses likely keep secrets from their loved ones; most are not hiding illegal behavior. But some secrets are still devastating when discovered. Last month, Jim McGreevey, of course, the married governor of New Jersey, announced he's gay, and very publicly, reportedly, very publicly did so. Reportedly, now McGreevey's wife was informed not long before the announcement.

A husband announcing he's gay or a wife announcing she's a lesbian is something a growing number of couples are being much more open about. Tonight in our 360 series "State of the Union: Marriage and Divorce in America," we look at what happens when your spouse reveals who they really are. Adaora Udoji reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ADAORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Russ thought all was fine with his 12-year-old marriage, two kids, a house in the suburbs, but it wasn't.

(on camera): Would you describe yourself as devastated back in 1998?

RUSS, STRAIGHT SPOUSE: Absolutely.

UDOJI (voice-over): His ex-wife, who requested her identify be concealed, realized after a painful journey she's a lesbian, telling CNN by an e-mail, quote: "You've exhausted all other possibilities. Now, you're faced with having to change everything for everyone."

Within months, she and Russ divorced in 1999.

RUSS: I started to question myself basically as a man. My masculinity was shut down. My sexual worth as a man was shut down.

UDOJI: Russ spent the next five years confused and angry, even suicidal, until he found the Straight Spouse Network.

RUSS: It saved my life.

UDOJI: The network's founder, Amity Pierce Buxton, understands. After 25 years of marriage, her husband told her he was gay. Since the '80s, she's written a book and set up support groups for spouses like Russ, 7,000 spouses.

AMITY PIERCE BUXTON, FOUNDER, STRAIGHT SPOUSE NETWORK: It's a long struggle, because first of all they're rejected for being a man or a woman. Then they're deceived about the sexuality core of their -- of the persons they trusted and loved the most in the world.

UDOJI: No hard numbers. Buxton estimates up to two million homosexuals or bisexuals have or will marry straights. A stunning example last month in New Jersey, when Governor Jim McGreevey announced he's gay while his wife stood nearby.

RUSS: I recognized the look in her face immediately. It's that deer-in-the-headlights look. It's, I don't know what the heck I'm dealing with. UDOJI: Like many families, Russ and his ex-wife are working it out. They share custody of their children as they learn to move on with their lives.

Adaora Udoji, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: My next guest knows that look as well. Carol Grever is the author of "My Husband Is Gay: A Woman's Guide to Surviving a Crisis." She joins me tonight from Denver. Carol, good to have you on the program tonight. You were married for 30 years, you had two grown kids. Your husband then told you he was gay. Was it a complete surprise to you?

CAROL GREVER, AUTHOR, "MY HUSBAND IS GAY": Absolutely. I was completely shocked. I had no idea.

COOPER: I mean, some people would hear that and say, look, there must have been some indications. You must have had some suspicions or some doubts.

GREVER: Or she must be really stupid. No, I'm not stupid. He was just very good at deception. He was able to cover his private life, his secret life, and carry on our conventional life with no clues at all.

COOPER: You -- I know you've interviewed a lot of women for this book, a lot of spouses for this book...

GREVER: That's right.

COOPER: ... I mean, across the board, devastation, I guess, is the accurate word to describe the reaction?

GREVER: Oh, yes. Shock. Some denial. In some cases, a sense of relief, because they realize it's not their fault.

COOPER: Is there anger, though, toward the spouse? I mean, there must be.

GREVER: At some point, there always is anger. It comes at different places. Sometimes it's immediate, sometimes later.

COOPER: What's your advice to someone who discovers this or who has suspicions about that?

GREVER: First of all, take care of yourself and your children if you have children. Make sure that your health is good, that you don't have AIDS, that you don't have STDs. It's important also to feel your feelings and to get through that whole process of grief.

It's a lot like grieving a death.

COOPER: And I guess, I mean, you mentioned the AIDS or STDs, I mean, that certainly becomes a concern, because you really don't know what life this person has been leading, and I assume they've been having unprotected sex with their spouse.

GREVER: Absolutely. And that's when I got angry, when I realized that I had been greatly at risk for almost 30 years. And he had lived this other life, and had had many, many sex partners throughout those years.

COOPER: Does the anger remain? I mean, do you still -- are you still angry at him?

GREVER: I thought I was over it, until recently, when he told me that he had had probably 1,000 sex partners, and then I got angry all over again. So, yeah.

COOPER: Well, I know it's -- you know, a lot of people don't really talk about this. You've written a book about it, and we appreciate you joining us today. Thanks very much, Carol Grever.

GREVER: Thank you.

COOPER: Today's "Buzz" question is this -- what do you think, who keeps more secrets from their spouses? Men, or women? Not really sure there is a correct answer there. Log on to cnn.com/360, cast your vote. In fact, I'm certain there is not. Results at the end of the show.

360 next, held hostage in Iraq, but she lived to tell her harrowing tale. A 360 exclusive. You will want to hear her story.

Plus, a Cape Cod shocker. What is this fearsome force of the deep sea doing in these shallow waters?

And a little later, from sharks to other flesh eaters, mutants, they're chomping at the bit in a new comedy -- yes, a comedy. Some ideas of what you might want to do this weekend in "The Weekender."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: You know, we don't show hostage videos on this program, we think it only encourages the taking of more hostages but we think this story is an important one. And you are about to meet a woman lucky to alive. She is a Turkish journalist named Zeynep Tugrul and for four terror-filled days she and a Canadian reporter named Scott Taylor (ph) were held captive in Iraq. She was beaten, she was threatened, she was routinely told that she and Peter (ph) were going to be beheaded. It all started at a checkpoint near Mosul when Zeynep and Peter Taylor were turned over to mass gunmen by Iraqi police, no less. They were taken to a house, they were given some food. They didn't even realize they were hostages at first. Then all of that suddenly changed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: When did you realize you were a hostage?

ZEYNEP TUGRUL, TURKISH JOURNALIST: The door was knocked, and some man came in and they said -- they took Scott, and say that, wake up, American pig, and put (UNINTELLIGIBLE) just behind him and they began searching him in a very wild way. I was so much afraid, and I thought that, you know, those guys are -- have kidnapped us.

COOPER: And at one point -- you thought they were going to shoot Scott, and you yelled out.

TUGRUL: I just remember that I yelled out, please, he has got a son. This is the thing that I first remembered what to say, and it was the first reaction without thinking anything.

COOPER: And then I imagine -- I mean there are highs where you suddenly think you know what, I'm going to get out, I'm going to escape, I'm going to be set free and there are lows when you must think they're going to kill me any second.

TUGRUL: I think the first thing that you think is you have to obey, you have to do what they tell you to do. You know, you don't at first -- you know that you're locked there, the door is closed and there are six guys in the house with (UNINTELLIGIBLE). There is no way to go out, so you just try to be seen, you know, obeyable (ph) and I was trying to do everything that I'm Muslim and as my friend is Christian, but he is with me, so he can count on him, too.

COOPER: Do they view you differently because you were Muslim? Did that make any difference to them?

TUGRUL: When you're a Muslim, they don't tell you that much harsh words like you're a spy or the other things. They just question you, how can a real Muslim girl be a friend of kaffir which means that non-believer. And for them there is no difference between Christians and the Jews. They were asking me, how can you be a friend of an American Jew? I was saying that he's a Christian Canadian, but for them there is no difference for that...

COOPER: You would be taken from one group to another. One group would hand you -- the group that originally took you gave you off to another group, then you were handed off to another group.

TUGRUL: Every new group consider you -- you're an American spy, and you have to convince them that you're a journalist. I do remember that when we were in Mosul finally, I told Scott, Scott, I have got no strength to tell these guys who I am, who you are. I said that let them kill us and let this finish. It was some tiring thing, really so much tiring.

COOPER: What seems so scary about your account is that everywhere you went, people wanted to help these kidnappers who had taken you. People, families were offering them food and water. Iraqi policemen were either looking the other way or, I mean, for goodness' sake they handed you over to these people.

TUGRUL: Exactly. Exactly. First, I have to emphasize this. I'm still against this occupation, but I would like to say something now which has changed in my mind. You know, when we see that the Americans sometimes, you know, bomb the civilian places, and you know, I was getting so much angry while watching the television, now something has changed in my mind. I mean, any child, you know, if he is old enough or big enough to carry a gun, he is a part of resistance.

COOPER: When you thought you were going to die, you and Scott had a conversation, and you told him you wanted to see him, to have him be in front of you when you died. Why was that?

TUGRUL: I didn't want to be killed by a man who's looking at me in a hatred way, in a very angry eyes, you know, someone that has no love in his heart. You know, I would like to see someone that I do trust, and at that point, the last point, I don't want to be seen like I'm afraid of them, because I was very much angry and frustrated of them.

COOPER: Well, Zeynep, I'm very happy you got out OK and I'm glad Scott got out all right. It's a real pleasure to talk with you. Thank you so much.

TUGRUL: Thank you.

COOPER: An amazingly strong woman, a remarkable story of survival. She was arguing with these guys for four days just trying her, and trying to keep her comrade Scott alive. Remarkable.

Coming up next on 360, a much lighter story for your Friday night. Trying to get you into the weekend with a smile -- well it's not that much lighter. A shark lingering close to shore on Cape Cod, that story coming up.

And then the lighter stuff, Julianne Moore goes supernatural with her new spooky thriller. We'll take a look ahead in the "Weekender."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: So to get a really good look at a great white shark, you can watch the Discovery Channel, you can jump in an underwater cage, or maybe rent "Jaws," or if you're on Cape Cod this weekend, you can see the real thing swimming in the shallow waters of the bay. Do not get too close is my advice. Lauren Pryzbyl of CNN affiliate WHDH has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAUREN PRYZBYL, WHDH CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We hopped on board with Captain Greg Aldridge (ph), and within minutes, there it was. A great white shark.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's really big.

PRYZBYL: At times, it glided effortlessly through Lackey's Bay (ph), but then it would find itself almost stuck in a shallow area.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just kind of take in the beauty of this wild animal that's unfortunately been trapped in this really enclosed area.

PRYZBYL: The shark was first spotted in the bay three days ago. Now it has lots of fans, watching its every move.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was ready to cut off my little toe and throw it in the water, I wanted to see the thing so bad.

PRYZBYL (on camera): The shark has been circling around and around in this area. You can see some of the onlookers. The shark even went right underneath our boat at one point.

I did see the movie "Jaws," I was just a little bit scared. He's about 2,000 pounds and 17 feet long.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have to ask you guys to leave. We're trying to keep down all unnecessary boat traffic, just for the safety of the shark.

PRYZBYL: Today, environmental police cleared out the bay as biologists worked to figure out how to get this kind of the wide open ocean back to where he belongs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's just the talk of the town, you know. This is just -- this is like once in a lifetime thing for us. So it's definitely something special.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Did you hear that woman say she wanted to cut off her toe just to see the shark? Was she drunk? What was that about?

Anyway, there are no sharks to speak of in the movies this weekend, but there are plenty of zombies, and even a sighting of Che Guevara. Plus, Julianne Moore on hand. There's probably something for everyone. So let's take a quick look at what's going on in "The Weekender."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TIM ROBBINS, ACTOR: They're listening.

COOPER (voice-over): They're listening, and I guess they really don't like what they're hearing in "The Forgotten." Julianne Moore stars in this thriller about a mother searching for her son. Along the way, she stumbles upon some pretty strange and supernatural stuff. It's like "The X Files" meets "Unsolved Mysteries."

If flesh eating is more your thing, there's "Shaun of the Dead," a romantic zombie comedy from England. Our hero, that would be Shaun, decides good old London town has been taken over by the undead in this undecidedly British spoof of mutant movies.

Serious filmgoers might want to take a bite out of "The Motorcycle Diaries," in the coming-of-age film about Che Guevara. In the movie, he's on a road trip with a buddy. Along the way, we get hints of how his journey of self-discovery will make him a leader of the Cuban revolution.

On TV, new shows for the new season. One being offered by CBS tonight is "Dr. Vegas." Rob Lowe goes from "The West Wing" to the casino strip as a good-hearted MD who finds patients and temptations in Sin City.

In concert, doesn't get better than this. If you're in Houston tonight or Ft. Worth tomorrow, check out B.B. King. The master of the blues make his guitar, Lucille, sing with soul, grace, and a sound that only the King can make.

And if you're near Clinton, Illinois, this weekend, drop by the apple and pork festival. There's a flea market, pony rides and my guess, some Granny Smiths and bacon strips.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Coming up next on 360 -- I'm actually heading down to Florida tomorrow morning to cover the hurricane for CNN this weekend. I hope you'll watch. Stay safe and watch from home.

Also coming up tonight, the harsh reality of hurricanes. When you never get a warning because it just doesn't happen that way in some places. We're going to take that to "The Nth Degree."

First today's "Buzz" -- who keeps more secrets, do you think, from their spouses, men or women? Log on to cnn.com/360. Cast your vote now. Results when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Earlier we asked you, who keeps more secrets from their spouses? Men or women? Fifty-two percent of you said the men; 48 percent said it's women. Not a scientific poll, but it is your buzz. We appreciate you voting.

Tonight, taking a sad reality to "The Nth Degree."

If you need graphic reminders of what the phrase "third world" actually means, hurricanes provide them. It has been bad enough in this rich country of ours, heaven knows what with Charley and Frances and Ivan, and now Jeanne lumbering this way, much damage has been done and dozens are dead.

But in Haiti, there are hundreds dead, more than 1,000, and the number may come to twice that if all the victims are ever found. There are bodies afloat in the rank floodwaters. There are bodies strewn on the soggy ground. Hundreds of thousands are homeless right now, without food enough or clean water.

The third world, we say sometimes, forgetting what that bland- sounding description really means.

This is what it means. Shacks instead of houses, rutted lanes instead of paved roads, no radio or television to be warned by, or cars to try and escape in, and nothing whatever put away to fall back on.

This is the third world, days and nights without any leeway at all, always so close to the edge that a strong wind is enough to make the difference between life and death.

I'll be in Florida this weekend covering the hurricane. I hope you'll join me for that watching at home. I'll be down Monday as well from Florida on 360. I'm Anderson Cooper, thanks for watching. Coming up next, "PAULA ZAHN NOW."

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