Anderson Cooper | BIO
AC360° Anchor

Anderson Cooper | BIO
AC360° Anchor

Program Note: Tune in tonight for more of Anderson’s interview with Former President Bill Clinton. AC360° 10 p.m. ET.

Former President Bill Clinton.

Anderson Cooper | BIO
AC360° Anchor

Anderson Cooper: You are focusing this year on women and girls and you are saying it’s not only a social issues but it’s also a business issue.

Bill Clinton: Absolutely, if you look in developing countries, there is a huge disconnect between work women do and the money they earn and the wealth they have. In general, women do two thirds of the work, earn ten percent of the income and own one percent of the property.

Bill Clinton: The more you put the girls of the world in school and give the young women access to the labor market, and then involve them in the business and political life of the country, the more stable the society is going to be, the more prosperous the society is going to be. And the less human trafficking you are going to have. So what we are trying to do is to address these issues in a way that people can see everyone benefits.

Bill Clinton: Last night, the president of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, talked about how in the last ten years after the genocide, fourteen or fifteen years now but in the last ten years they have almost quadrupled their per capita income.

Anderson Cooper: Their whole parliament is women.

Bill Clinton: Well it’s a majority, it’s the first country in the world to have the majority of the parliament as women, half the governors are women, half the mayors are women.

Anderson Cooper: But you are saying it also makes sense for business because these are future customers.

Bill Clinton: Absolutely, it’s half of the talent pool of the country at least, and they cut them out like crazy. So you see Kagame who was in exile, the leader of a military insurrection in the bush you know not the sort of guy who you think is out there promoting women’s rights, you know.

Bill Clinton: And he made the practical argument and I think that we want to see that. Now I’m working in Haiti now with the UN, I had a meeting the other day with the leaders of women’s organizations there, including business organizations.

Bill Clinton: And it’s obvious if we are going to try to reconstruct the education system of the country we have got to get the girls as well as the boys in there. There is a historically a system called the “restavec” system in Haiti.

Anderson Cooper | BIO
AC360° Anchor

Anderson Cooper: Senator McCain, many conservatives have blasted President Obama over the past two days at the U.N. Former U.N. Ambassador Bolton said of the president's message it was "extremely naive." Do you agree?

Senator McCain: Well I would like to hear the President mention that American blood and treasure was expended on behalf of Muslims and Operation Desert Storm, the same thing was in Kosovo, in Bosnia, and we have made sacrifices that we also hope will be recognized by the Arab world in particular and the entire world.

Anderson Cooper: Lets talk about Afghanistan. You support sending more troops. This counterinsurgency strategy, "Clear, Hold, and Build" clearly requires more troops. Anyone who goes there, we that ourselves two weeks ago on the ground in Helmand province with the Marines. Do we have the right strategy? In effect, there are a lot of people who say we are nation-building in Afghanistan with military personnel instead of civilians and on behalf of a government riddled with corruption.

Senator McCain: Well that's a big question, Anderson, and I'll try and make my answer short but I think what we are in engaged in is a counter-insurgency not counter-terrorism operational plan and once we make the areas secure then the people are able to make progress economically, politically, and every other way. But unless we do what we did in the surge in Iraq which is "Clear, Hold, and Secure" areas then it is very difficult to defeat an insurgency.

Former Presidential candidate and Senator John McCain.

Anderson Cooper: But in terms of the shear number of troops that that would require...in Helmand alone, the Taliban have just moved into other areas where we don't have enough forces to go into to clear and hold and secure and or build.

Senator McCain: Well it is going to be difficult and it will require a significant injection of troops I hope in keeping with General McChrystal's assessment. But there's also an advantage we have here which is people don't want the Taliban back so if we offer them an alternative of a safe and secure environment I think it can be successful. It's going to be long and hard and tough just like the surge in Iraq was, but I have confidence in our leadership, in General McChrystal and General Petraeus, and in their strategy.

Editor's Note: Many of you had a lot of questions to ask about the H1N1 flu vaccine after last night's AC360°. And we're still hearing a lot of comments about the abduction of Jaycee Lee Dugard. What do you have to say? Let us know – we want to hear from you!
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I have read brief news several months ago on the problem of how big pharm. companies try to make sure that they benefit from the swine flu vaccine. A very simple question: Did WHO make an effort to organize a world-wide effort to coordinate and speed-up vaccine production? I heard about alternative faster methods of preparation of flu vaccine (e.g., Hungarians developed one – but their company did not get sample form this virus despite their repeated requests).

My husband's doctor has advised him to take a regular flu shot, but he is not recommending the Swine Flu vaccine, as it is not FDA approved and he is not planning on giving it to any of his patients when it becomes available.

Just remember that Jaycee and her daughters were prisoners. Who cares if they seemed nicely dressed?

Excellent coverage and questions Cooper. Is it Stockholm syndrome? The psychologist's are currently with her to determine.

Anderson Cooper | BIO

AC360° Anchor

An 11-year-old California girl snatched from the street in front of her house in 1991 had two children with the man accused of taking her and lived in a secret backyard shed, authorities said Thursday.

The 18-year mystery of what happened to Jaycee Dugard ended this week when a sex offender admitted to corrections authorities that he abducted her.

Since her kidnapping, Dugard has lived in her alleged abductor’s backyard, in a shed. All of this played out in a residential neighborhood.

We spoke to Ed Smart and his daughter Elizabeth. The Smarts lived through a similar nightmare, when Elizabeth was snatched from her bedroom in the middle of the night in 2002. She was found nine months later.

Elizabeth Smart and her father, Ed, speak to Anderson Cooper.

Anderson Cooper: Elizabeth from your own experiences, what do you think Jaycee is going through right now?

Elizabeth Smart: Well for me I felt relief and happiness and I was just excited to be home and back to the people that I know love and care for me and I know want the best for me. So I think Jaycee is probably feeling something along those lines as well.

Cooper: And Ed from a father's perspective what was it like getting that call, being told that after so long, your child was alive?

Ed Smart: It's the end of the nightmare. Just you know, it was very surreal, we didn't even get a call saying we had them, they just said we want you to come down. So I didn't know what to expect. They didn't even ask Lois to come with me, so you know, I'm just so happy for them, the moment finding that it was really her, was just like this one miracle in life that i could really have. It was just overwhelming and joyful.

Cooper: And Elizabeth, that reunion, obviously, incredibly emotional, and obviously, incredibly joyful. But there's got to be some ups and downs with it - can you talk a little bit about what that's like?

Elizabeth Smart: For me it was just overwhelming happiness because, I mean, I was out of that terrible situation, I was with my family and friends. I thought life was just going to resume back to what it had been before, I was just very happy. Of course I wondered what was going to happen, my captors, where were they going to be kept? What was going to happen to them? I mean, certainly there were some questions I had. But I would say for the main part I was just so happy, and I felt so loved being at home, and it was just one of the best days of my life.

Cooper: Ed, for you, what was that reunion like, and what do you think this reunion is like for this woman Jaycee who's been away for so long?

Ed Smart: The reunion was amazing, it was pure heaven. When we were transferred to the Salt Lake Police Department, one of my biggest concerns was that law enforcement would immediately get the full story from Elizabeth, which they took her in and started – I guess what you would call – debriefing her. And I was very concerned about that. And I'm hopeful that Jaycee will not have to immediately go through that. And that's basically reliving the whole nightmare of the time that she was gone. Now is the time to rejoice and be happy, reconnect as a family. The other will come, and it has to come, but right now it's just a time to live and feel the joy and happiness that life can bring.

Cooper: It was a police officer, a campus police officer, who was kind of very observant and got the ball moving, which ultimately lead to Jaycee being discovered. And yet, what we've now learned is that she was living in a backyard for 18 years, her children never went to school, never went to see a doctor. do you think the public is observing enough of things they see?

Ed Smart: I think that there are some people, in Elizabeth's case, there were two people that saw her at the same time. So I think a lot of people are very observant. I think that sometimes we need to put ourselves out and if we feel uncomfortable about something, you might look stupid, but it's better to check than not. There are other children out there like this that want to be found, and that we just need to work on how we feel.

In this scenario I don't know all the details on it, but you would i think somebody would have noticed a tent in a backyard. It sounds like it might have been remote. It's hard to second guess anyone and I wouldn't want to try to. It's important to be observant. I think that's really key.

Cooper: Elizabeth what's your advice for Jaycee?

Elizabeth Smart: I would tell her to just relax and enjoy your family and spend some time reconnecting. Maybe if it's possible to think back and think of things that she enjoyed doing with her family, and maybe going out and doing them again, and finding new things she would want to do with her family. One of the things I liked the best, after I came home – and no offense to the media – but, we didn't do anything. We just my family we went on a vacation but we just spent time as a family, which was like - it was the best thing I could have done. Together as a family, it was the best thing that I could have have done.

Cooper:And Elizabeth you would agree with your Dad, and just let her take as much time as she needs and tell her story or not in her own way, to her family, to her loved ones?

Elizabeth Smart: Yes I would agree with my Dad, for me it's something very personal and I just don't talk about it all the time with everybody and so I would think maybe she feels the same way and if she chooses to never say anything about it, I think it should always be her decision and there are a lot of people out here that love her and support her in what she decides to do.

Cooper: And Elizabeth, I read somewhere that you had written a pamphlet to help others who have been in similar situations, is that right?

Elizabeth Smart: That's right. A big thing I tried to stress in the section that I participated in writing was , to set goals for yourself to continually be moving forward, continuing on with your life and not letting this horrible event take over and consume the rest of your life. Because we only have one life and it's a beautiful world out there and there are so many things to see and learn and grow in. And I would just encourage her to find different passions in life and continually push forward and learn more and reach more for them and not to look behind, because there's a lot out there.

Cooper: It's something that happened to you its not who you are.

Elizabeth Smart: Right.

Cooper: Obviously, this is extraordinarily good news for everyone involved in this story. And it gives hope to other families out there who are still waiting for their loved ones to be found, in one way or another. Some would say that it gives false hope to some people because so many people will never find their loved one and yet there are cases like this, like Elizabeth's case, Jaycee's case. So it's a hard thing. Hope is important to hold onto isn't it?

Ed Smart: It is. A lot of people during those nine months said, how can you believe that she's still out there? You're crazy, or any number of comments. But I had this impression that Elizabeth was still out there, and we never gave up hope. That isn't to say that there weren't doubts in my mind. But for this family I've heard today that a lot of them kept on hoping, and you know, here it is. It's real. A miracle has happened.

Cooper: So many others are waiting and hoping as well.

Ed Smart: Absolutely.

Erica Hill | BIO
AC360º

Editor's Note: In early June Anderson spoke to the families of Laura Ling and Euna Lee, American journalists detained in North Korea. A couple of days later, Ling and Lee were sentenced to 12 years in prison on charges of entering North Korea illegally. Former President Bill Clinton is in North Korea, unannounced, to negotiate their release.

Anderson Cooper and President Obama walking around Cape Coast Castle.

Anderson Cooper | BIO
AC360° Anchor

Interviewing the President is always a difficult prospect. There are so many questions you want to ask, but you only have a limited amount of time.

We had been told we might get about 15 to 20 minutes sitting down with the President and then perhaps 10 minutes walking around Cape Coast Castle – a whitewashed fort through which enslaved Africans were sent to the New World.

We arrived in Ghana last week, one day before the President arrived with his family. We spent the day shooting a story about African Americans who visit Ghana to retrace their roots, and we also spent an hour or so walking through the Castle with members of the President's advance team.

It is a remarkable thing to see how much effort and organization goes into the President's movements. The Castle and the nearby hotel were full of secret service, embassy personnel, White House advance personnel, military backup and I'm sure more from other agencies as well.

Everything is timed to the minute: When the President will arrive, where he will go, etc. I read something on Drudgereport that said the crowds were not enthusiastic for the President's trip. I'm not sure where that impression came from.

Everywhere I went people were quizzing me about where to go to see Obama. I didn't tell anyone about his visit to the Castle, because I didn't know if that information had been released yet. On Ghanaian radio I heard all sorts of theories about what the President would be doing in the country, and where he might go.

Anderson Cooper joins a parade to celebrate the appointment of a new Chief on the Cape Coast of Ghana.

By the time he arrived at the Castle a huge crowd had gathered and was listening to music. When the President emerged from his limo, and waved to the crowd, everyone was screaming and waving back.

I was a little bit inside the Castle with my cameraman Neil Hallsworth. After waving, the President came back around the car, and did a little dance for the amusement of his kids and Mrs. Obama. It was a very lighthearted, private moment that few people saw.

We'll show it to you on 360°, as well as the interview tonight and tomorrow. We talked about the economy, Iran, Afghanistan, Don't Ask Don't Tell, as well as U.S. policy with regard to Africa.

We also talked a lot about his impressions walking through the dungeons of Cape Coast Castle, where so many enslaved Africans died, and so many more survived only to be loaded onto slave ships. He was there with his kids, and we talked about the impact of the visit on them, and how the history of the slave trade still resonates today in America.

We are also putting together an hour special: 'President Obama's African Journey, that will air later this week. I hope you tune in.

Program Note: Watch Anderson's interview with President Obama on Monday at 10 p.m. ET.