Anderson Cooper | BIO
AC360° Anchor

Cate Vojdik
AC360° Writer

Tonight we’ll have an in-depth look at Sen. Ted Kennedy’s life, legacy and battle with brain cancer.

As you’ve heard by now, the Massachusetts senator died last night, surrounded by his family, 15 months after learning he had an aggressive form of brain cancer. Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta will join us with details on malignant glioma and its treatment.

Senator Kennedy’s final months were not easy. He knew the odds he was facing–but he didn’t put his life on hold.

After serving for 47 years in the U.S. Senate, the issue he cared so deeply about, health care reform, is in play again. While his illness and treatments prevented him from playing as big a role in the debate as he otherwise may have, Kennedy stayed in the game as much as he could. Tonight, we’ll look at what his loss means for the health care reform battle ahead.

Allies and adversaries of Senator Kennedy have been speaking out all day, reacting to his death, paying tribute to his accomplishments. He was the youngest of the Kennedy clan, the baby brother who grew up to become the third-longest serving senator ever. He was the only Kennedy son to live beyond middle-age and die of natural causes. Tonight you’ll hear from many who knew him.

The road to becoming a senior statesman, the so-called lion of the Senate, had some serious bumps: the fatal car accident in Chappaquiddick in 1969; the plane crash that broke his back; an ugly divorce; a failed presidential bid. We’ll take you through Kennedy’s journey tonight.

See you at 10 eastern.

Chris Brown appears at the hearing Wednesday. The actual sentencing will take place today.

CNN

Recent reports indicate that rates of reported domestic violence incidents are on the rise.

Many point to the economic recession as a factor causing the spike, such as the Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation which found that 75 percent of domestic violence shelters in the U.S. reported an increase in women seeking help since September. The report concluded that 73 percent of these shelters attribute this rise to financial issues.

The National Domestic Violence Hotline measured an increase in calls of 21 percent during the third quarter of 2008.

Learn more about where to find help here...

CNN answers your questions about the health care reform bill.

CNN Truth Squad

The statement: Questions about whether those in the United States illegally would be covered by the health-care bill now before the House of Representatives have been a staple of the raucous public meetings some members of Congress have been hosting during their August break. At least two people raised the issue at a forum held by Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Maryland, on Wednesday, and Cardin's insistence that "Illegal aliens will not be in this bill — period — the end" was met with a round of jeers.

The facts: The bill, HR 3200, specifically bars coverage for illegal immigrants. Section 246, which is included in the part of the bill that sets up a health insurance exchange, forbids payments "on behalf of individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States." But critics say there is no way to enforce that provision, and the Democratic majority in the House has turned back at least one Republican effort to stiffen citizenship checks.

Henrie Treadwell, a professor of community health and preventative medicine at Atlanta's Morehouse School of Medicine, calls the issue a "red herring." The existing health-care programs Medicare and Medicaid already require those enrolled to provide "a substantial number of documents" to show they're U.S. citizens or legal residents, she said.

Keep reading...

At Princeton, Sotomayor co-founded the student group Accion Puertorriquena and spoke out about Latino issues.

Ruben Navarrette Jr.
Special to CNN

Sixteen years ago, after I wrote a memoir about my experience as a Latino in the Ivy League, I got a call from a retired Jewish obstetrician who saw his reflection in my words.

A book about being a Chicano at Harvard in the 1980s had stirred memories of being one of the few Jewish students at the University of Southern California in the 1930s.

Now, I feel like calling Sonia Sotomayor, although I realize that her schedule is crowded this week in light of the Senate confirmation hearings for the nominee to the Supreme Court.

I'd like Sotomayor to know that, even though she arrived at Princeton University in 1972 (the year I started kindergarten), I have a good idea what she went through in college - and, later, at Yale Law School - because many Latinos who later traveled that road experienced the same thing.

Keep reading

Residents sift through the rubble of a bombed school near Peshawar.

Editor's note: Two weeks ago in Pakistan a leading anti-Taliban cleric was killed by a suicide bomber. CNN's Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson visited his son at the school where his father was killed and found surprises in security and nuances in attitudes toward suicide bombers.

Nic Robertson
CNN Senior International Correspondent

I first realized something was wrong when the hand-held metal detector didn't make a sound.

There were three phones in my pocket, surely one of them should have triggered the guard's electronic wand to do something. Not a bleep, not even a twinkling LED.

It was all a little surreal. Here we were just feet from where a Taliban suicide bomber had blown himself up the week before killing the owner of the establishment and yet security was so lax his brother could have come in with a second pay load and no one would have been any the wiser until it went off.

The man the suicide bomber had come to kill was Mulana Safaraz Naeemi, the proprietor of the religious schools we were now entering.

Naeemi had built a vast network of religious schools, better known here as Madrassas, all across Pakistan. In Lahore alone he had more than 100, attended by as many as 100,000 young students. The one we were now visiting was the flagship, Jamia Naeemi.

As we moved inside, there arrayed around the open courtyard and in classrooms were his students, sitting on low benches at low tables rocking backwards and forwards memorizing the Quran. Apparently they'd taken a two-day break after he'd been killed and then gone back to their studies.

Naeemi's office was by the main door; his son Mulana Raghib Naeemi told me what happened.

He described how after leading the main weekly prayers on Friday his father had retired to his office, was sitting in his chair talking with his students when a young man came in and asked for him by name.

The man they now know was a Taliban killer asked for a glass of water, slowly drank it, dropped to one knee then detonated his explosive vest.

Naeemi's crime in the eyes of the Taliban was to issue a religious ruling, a Fatwa banning suicide bombing. He was a real threat, a top level cleric with a lot of pull. If young fanatics listened to him the Taliban would be without one of their best weapons.

Naeemi junior showed me the nuts, bolts, screws and ball bearings they'd gathered from around the room, even found embedded in the store across the road. Everything that had spewed from the Taliban bomb.

Then he delivered his own stunning secret and even now it feels surreal. He tells me his father could have had security but had turned it down choosing to put his faith in God. It sort of explains the lack of attention to detail by the guard on the front gate.

At least I thought that was the scoop until I started asking Naeemi junior more about the suicide issue. His father had a huge following and Naeemi told me he was committed to following in his footsteps. To do anything else, he said, would be to turn the country over to the Taliban and anarchy.

Then he told me suicide bombings in Afghanistan against U.S. and NATO troops are justified because they are invaders killing Muslims. That's when the penny dropped so to speak. A question I'd had for a while just got answered.

While Pakistan and Pakistanis are more committed than they've ever been to crushing their own internal Taliban problem they are far from turning on the Taliban across the border in Afghanistan.

Inside Pakistan the sentiment is clear; the Taliban are a menace to stability. Outside the country however they are still seen as a tool to achieve regional goals.

Pakistan it appears is still pursuing historic national interests, what they call having "strategic depth". Simply put to have a stake in who runs Afghanistan.

Anderson Cooper
AC360° Anchor

@andersoncooper: Ever feel like your day is cursed? Was heading to dc today to intv Hillary Clinton and Angelina Jolie. Sounds simple right?

@andersoncooper: Last night learned Clinton was injured in a fall and was canceling. Just now my plane was diverted back to NY.

@andersoncooper: Trying to set up interview with Jolie via satellite. Stay tuned.

@andersoncooper: Oh yeah, almost forgot, mid air, a lighting flash lit up the plane. "Dear God, what was that!" The flight attendant exclaimed...

@andersoncooper: That was the same flight attendant who was seen clutching a barf bag. It was not a fun flight.

@andersoncooper: Intv is on with Jolie. That is if a bolt of lighting doesn't strike the car I'm in. Entirely possible given my luck so far today.

To see Anderson's interview with Angelina Jolie, tune in tonight to AC360° at 10 p.m. ET.

And follow Anderson on Twitter @andersoncooper.

Tricia Escobedo
CNN

On Monday, the Iranian government announced it would begin to investigate reports of violence at a Tehran University dormitory. According to a CNN iReporter, a former Tehran University student, who did not want to be identified for security reasons, students jumped out of windows to escape police forces who threw tear gas and beat students early Monday morning.

While CNN has been unable to confirm the report because of the tight restrictions on international media at the moment, the iReporter shared with CNN emails he received from current students at Tehran University who reportedly witnessed the violence.

In his report, the iReporter quotes one email: "Last night they attacked the dorm, it was worse than July '99. They injured many, at least 150. Many more were injured. We don't have a good count yet. At least one student was killed, but they say up to five may be dead. Destruction was terrible."

A few hours later, around 2:30 A.M., the iReporter says he received an email from another friend at the University as the attack was occurring. Quoting the email, he says, "A few minutes ago, riot police entered the dorm. They are beating the students. They are shooting students with Winchester rifles. Some students are shot in belly, head, face. They are throwing tons of tear gases. They are coming in with motor bikes. Pray for us!"

There have been several reports of crackdowns at other universities throughout Iran. Students, the iReporter said, play a very important role in Iranian politics.

Iranian opposition supporters protest in Tehran on Monday.

Eliza Browning
AC360° Associate Producer

We're following Iran closely and will bring you the latest on the situation on the ground tonight.

The official results from Iran's election had President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad winning, but Iran's election authorities will probe allegations of ballot fraud.

Iranian television reported that gunfire broke out at the end of a rally today in support of defeated presidential candidate Mir Hossein Moussavi. A Press TV reporter said that at least one person, a boy, appeared to be injured by the gunfire.

We'll talk to Christiane Amanpour about what she's seeing in Tehran. Do you have questions you'd like to her to answer?

We'll also talk to experts about the aftermath of the Iranian election and hear more about what we can expect from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as well as his opposition.

If you have any questions you'd like answered, post them here and tune in tonight at 10 p.m. ET.

Craig Jaggers
World Vision U.S.
Policy adviser for global health

The World Health Organization has made it official. The United Nations’ health agency raised its alert to the highest level for the new H1N1 “swine flu” pandemic yesterday, citing its spread and unknown potential for greater harm, while top health officials highlighted troubling questions for the world’s poor compared with wealthier nations:

“It is prudent to anticipate a bleaker picture as the virus spreads to areas with limited resources, poor health care, and a high prevalence of underlying medical problems,” WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said in the announcement.

Pandemics are not new to the billions of people in impoverished countries where AIDS, malaria and other diseases are already taking millions of lives each year. The onslaught of a new health threat in many of these places looms like the next massive wave on a stormy beach, threatening another body-slam against large populations already struggling for footing.

Dr. Chan underscores a pressing concern about developing nations’ ability to cope and the need to focus on them. So far, the new flu’s spread has mainly impacted countries with a higher capacity to respond with medical care and protective measures. What happens when that’s no longer the case?

For all, this warning is a call to attend to the underlying weaknesses in global health that routinely devastate poor communities by the thousands.

These are the very populations with whom aid agencies like World Vision work in dozens of less-developed countries. They are especially vulnerable to outbreaks, given the prevalence of existing pandemics and lack of access to basic health services. The future may indeed look “bleak” if the virus continues to mutate and spread in such contexts.

A higher pandemic alert isn’t going to suddenly change this reality, nor can it single-handedly pour ample resources into creating an adequate response in settings where health spending is already under pressure from the current economic crisis and ongoing poverty.

By making the designation official, Dr. Chan and her colleagues put the world on alert and emphasized the chance at a head start in the fight against the virus through good monitoring and early detection. Countries with the resources are either doing this already or likely to step up their efforts. Many less-developed nations, however, don’t have the capacity.

Already, nearly 10 million children and mothers die every year from avoidable causes such as pneumonia, diarrhea and malaria as many countries fail to focus on community-based approaches and deliver on their global health promises. Lack of investment in developing health systems often means pregnant women must walk several miles just to access antenatal clinics, feverish children go without basic medication to treat malaria or pneumonia, and babies with diarrhea too often die of dehydration.

The word ‘pandemic’ has a grip on our attention that may prove doubly useful if it prompts leaders to take up the challenge of improving weak health systems and making sure each village and town is able to reduce threats to its most vulnerable, particularly children.

The best approach to mitigating the flu pandemic where poverty is prevalent is the same approach needed to hold back the tide of preventable diseases already threatening these communities – by investing in community-focused solutions to basic health. These are not complicated, expensive or high-tech solutions. They include providing access to clean water, training in good hygiene practices, investing in community health workers, distributing mosquito nets and ensuring essential drugs are available.

Without stronger local health access, even providing vaccines to poor countries will have limited benefit. Stocks of vaccine without systems in place to immunize, monitor and treat people won’t do enough.

Fortunately, government officials at the annual World Health Assembly in Geneva last month voted to re-establish primary health care as a chief priority for development – a welcome signal that aligns with commitments these leaders have already made to reduce child and maternal mortality by 2015. It is this primary health approach that will benefit the poor most broadly and help ensure that future pandemic announcements don’t hold the same threatening scenario of a “bleak” horizon.

In the absence of overwhelming outbreaks, when the coughing, sneezing or aching starts, there are places those of us in wealthy nations can go that will provide us with basic to high-level care, even if we are uninsured. Too few in the developing world have such a place to turn.

We should be concerned. The lack of primary health care in developing nations near or far ultimately affects us all. The jump of this novel swine flu strain from a rural village in Mexico to the rest of the world should tell us that much.

The future of this virus will be told by time – but we do know that without adequate basic facilities, community health workers and general disease prevention efforts, countless lives will continue to be lost, flu pandemic or not.

Debris from Air France Flight 447.

Searchers pick up a piece of debris from Air France Flight 447.

Searchers find the tail section of Air France Flight 447 in the Atlantic Ocean.

More debris retrieved from Air France Flight 447.

Brock Husted was stabbed with his wife, Davina, who was four months pregnant.

Chuck Hadad
AC360° Producer

Brock Husted was stabbed to death along with his wife and unborn child in their Ventura, California home on May 20th. His 9-year-old son saw the killer enter the home and discovered his parents’ bodies afterward. Now, more than two weeks later, the suspect and the motive seem to be a complete mystery. I spoke to Scott Husted, brother of victim Brock Husted, today in preparation for his interview on tonight’s AC360° Interview. These are not exact quotes but notes on our conversation that are given to Anderson to prepare for the interview.

________________________________________________________________________________________

- The case is as wide open as today as it was the day it happened. A lot of police work has been put into it so I don't want to say we're no closer but we have no idea as far as motive. The police as recently as this morning continue to conduct interviews and they have not given us any indication that they're getting close on the case at this point. We’re in contact with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office daily.

- The kids are doing ok. How well can a kid do when their parents are taken from them and their living arrangements are disrupted? I don't want to say that they're doing well but they're doing as well as can be expected. They ask for their parents every day and express how much they miss them every day.

- The son was interviewed by police in trying to come up with a description. I can't elaborate on what may have been expressed by the child.

- If you were to ask me before this attack if I had any reason to believe that any attack, let alone a triple murder would be possible, I would tell you no. Afterwards, of course I, like many, are trying to take into consideration everything to consider what caused it. I can't think of any particular thing that would have come close to explain this happening. We're at the point of looking at minor traffic arguments where someone cut someone off. There's no business disputes, financial problems, no stalking that we know of, no bullying. And today a week and a half after, I'm not aware of anything establishing a motive.

- Our interest are of course first and foremost taking care of the kids and we're doing the best job possible. Second to that, we need people to heighten the sense of awareness and a big message needs to be put out there that someone knows who did it or the person who did could be watching. This is a triple murder investigation with death penalty ramifications and police are putting together a list of persons of interest. These people have to realize there's a difference between a co-conspirator versus someone offering info. The people that come forward with information often don't get charged. The people that don't come forward could face jail time.

- People are affected by this in California and elsewhere because they realize this could happen to anyone, anywhere.

Program Note: Tune in tonight to hear more reactions to President Obama’s speech from people around the world on AC360° at 10 p.m. ET.

Anderson talks with Liz Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney. Anderson asks whether or not it is appropriate for her father to be so vocal right now, so soon after leaving office. They also talk about the debate surrounding the use of 'enhanced interrogation techniques.'

A guard talks with a detainee at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, earlier this year.

Editor's note: The Defense Department reports that up to 14 percent of detainees suspected of terrorism and held by the U.S. at Guantanamo Bay turn to terrorism when they get out of custody. The numbers are alarming. But are they accurate?

Peter Bergen says no. The CNN National Security Analyst believes the recidivism rate for suspected terrorists is far lower than the 14 percent estimate from the Pentagon. Together with his colleagues at The New American Foundation, Bergen concludes that less than 3 percent of released detainees engage in attacks or attempted attacks against the U.S. citizens or interests.

And there is more, as Peter tells us in his dispatch below:

Peter Bergen
CNN National Security Analyst

This is what we have concluded based on analysis of press reports, previous DoD statements and al Qaeda or Taliban statements.

Instead of a 14 percent recidivism rate, we found a TOTAL rate of 8 percent - even if you include people making anit-American statements when they got freed.

When you take out those people and guys who joined insurgencies or terror groups that aren't anti-American-focused, the real number is no more than 3 percent. Here's the raw data:

Of 534 detainees released, 13 have engaged in insurgent groups that attack or attempt to attack the U.S., U.S. citizens or U.S. bases abroad. That's 2.4 percent.

Thirteen more engaged in insurgent groups that attack or attempt to attack non-U.S. targets. That's another 2.4 percent.

And 18 more got involved in anti-American propaganda or criticism of the U.S. government or military - but not in terrorism. That's another 3.4 percent.

If you add them up, you can conclude the recidivism rate is 8 percent. But more realistically, no more than 3 percent have gotten involved in groups that engage in anti-American violence. About 5 percent TOTAL are engaged with violent groups anywhere in the world. AND a not surprising 3-4 percent who get involved in anti American propaganda activities.

By comparison, the recidivism rate for convicts coming out of U.S. prisons is about 60 percent.

Editor's Note: A Minnesota judge issued an arrest warrant Tuesday for the mother of Daniel Hauser, a 13-year-old boy who is refusing treatment for his cancer, after neither she nor the boy showed up for a court appearance.

Doctors say Daniel Hauser's lymphoma responded well to a first round of chemotherapy in February.

Anderson Cooper spoke with CNN Senior Legal Analyst Jeffrey Toobin and Arthur Caplan, Chairman of the Department of Medical Ethics at the University of Pennsylvania.

Cooper: Dr. Caplan, is this a tough call for you?

Dr. Caplan: It's not a tough call for me, Anderson. When you compel treatment, it has to be something that's well established and proven. This is. The chemotherapy success rate for the cancer that this boy has, if we can get it going soon, is about 95%. It's very, very good. You wouldn't push as hard if you had an experimental treatment or something that was iffy. Other facts, if you look at the situation with the chemotherapy, the alternative the parents proposed is well known to have a success rate of zero. So sometimes you can say, well, you know, the parents prefer surgery. We prefer chemo. Let's go with what they want first. you've got to move to save this child's life. Parental rights are strong, but they do have a limit when you're basically sacrificing your child for a religious belief that they themselves can't articulate.

Cooper: Dr. Caplan, though, it may be tough to actually give this boy treatment. He's saying he's going to kick and refuse, you know, and make it difficult for doctors to put any needles in him. How do you deal with that?

Dr. Caplan: Well, I'll tell you, I've seen these cases. What happens is, you've got the dad who's already started to come around and say maybe chemo. They'll work with a psychologist. They will try very hard to bring the boy around. And I will tell you, Anderson, there's a lot of success in sort of swaying people once they understand and see one of their parents start to waver. I've never seen a case where you actually had to strap a child down and sedate them and administer chemotherapy that way. Could happen, but most of the time when parents begin to sort of change their minds and the dad is here, you get the kid to come on, too.

Cooper: Art, are you surprised to hear that maybe the dad is starting to change his mind, or you say that's what often happens in these cases?

Dr. Caplan: It often happens that way. When you're really up against it and you start to realize the doctors are saying this is the cure and you've got to go with it, pretty soon, or you're going to miss the opportunity, one or both parents usually begin to waver. One other point, Anderson, you can sometimes get a parent who holds out to work with you, saying you pray, you do the ceremonies, healing ceremonies you want, we'll do the chemo, we can work together. That sometimes brings them around, too.

Cooper: Jeff, if they continue to refuse treatment and this boy dies, god forbid, would the parents be charged?

Toobin: They could be. Oftentimes the prosecutors exercise their discretion and say, look, they've lost a child. They've suffered enough. But the point is not to, you know, prosecute later. It's to save the kid now. That's the focus of everybody's effort. And what makes this case so excruciating is that you have a real cure here. 90-plus percent, and you have a 0% chance for the others. As art was saying, this one is a particularly easy case. Sometimes you have cases where there's only a 10% chance of saving the child. And the parents just want to take the kid home and, you know, do hospice care. That's an understandable situation under circumstances. This is not. This is, as far as I'm concerned, just child abuse.

Cooper: What's the legal precedent for something like this?

Toobin: There actually are a lot of precedents mostly involving Christian scientists, Jehovah's witnesses and virtually all the time the court says what this mother is doing while we sympathize with her pain, this is child abuse. This is the same thing –

Cooper: She could do it for herself, but it's the fact that she's making that decision for a minor.

Toobin: Absolutely. This is a minor. He is not qualified to make this decision for himself. This is what it needs to be a minor. Other people make your decisions for you, and you are not allowed to make this decision. This is the same thing as if he got hit by a car blocking the ambulance and letting him bleed to death. There is no difference. and if need be, they have to take the kid away and strap him down and put - and apply chemotherapy that way. It's horrible to think of, but it's life or death.

Cooper: In terms of what would the mom be charged with if, in fact, she is found?

Toobin: Child neglect, child abuse. It is a form of assault. It's just - you know, you are allowed to believe anything you want. And you are allowed to treat yourself in line with your own beliefs if you are an adult. But you can't impose religious beliefs on a child who has no other options.

Jack Gray
AC360° Producer/Writer

So, President Obama releases his budget today.  Having been an unofficial consultant on the project because of my uncanny resemblance to Alan Greenspan, I can tell you that the budget is quite sound.  I don’t want to completely steal the president’s thunder, but I think you folks in Milwaukee are going to enjoy Beyoncé International Airport.

It was an exciting process to be sure but, let me tell you, you don’t realize how big the federal budget is until you see it first-hand.  “It’s as big as a phone book," said Vice President Biden. And I was like, "What's a phone book?"

You’ll be glad to know that, true to President Obama’s pledge, it’s a bi-partisan budget.  For every hundred million dollars spent on pashminas for Nancy Pelosi, an equal amount will be spent on Crocs for Orrin Hatch.

And I know we can all agree that the Lincoln Bedroom was lacking in lava lamps.

As for Marine One, don’t even get me started on the embarrassingly small amount of caviar storage room.

There was much discussion about improving the nation’s infrastructure but fortunately I convinced the president that those funds were better used to give tax breaks to fertility doctors who specialize in patients who already have six kids but want eight more.

And I agree with Vice President Biden:  America needs a National Hair Plug Museum.

Despite the high stakes, everything about the brainstorming process went pretty smoothly.  Except when a presidential aide asked me what I wanted for lunch.  I mean, I don’t think that dirty look was necessary.  As if no one visiting the Oval Office had ever asked for a Kahlua Mudslide and a side order of Valium.

And sure, there’s a little money tucked away in the budget for President Obama’s home state of Illinois.  But I implore you to reserve judgment.  Because even though you might be skeptical now I think you’ll change your mind when you see that gold statue of Roland Burris, one hand held high swearing to tell the truth, other hand behind his back, fingers crossed.

Even if you can’t support that, I’m sure you can support your tax dollars being used to buy new eyeglass frames for Harry Reid.

Anyway, today the president releases the budget for public consumption.  Just think of it as a case of beer that fell off the back of a tractor-trailer.

A case of beer that Congress will fight over.  Which, I suppose, isn’t so difficult to imagine.

On that note, in honor of the budget, I’m taking tomorrow off from blogging.  I’ve earmarked some time for a nap.  Have a good weekend.

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Follow Jack Gray on Twitter