Politics & Crime - but not in the same story ...

Today’s Buzz ...
From last night’s program:

Welcome back, Erica!!

Mike Huckabee on the move: OK – I get. I do - really. He’s a nice guy that doesn’t take himself too seriously and talks a good game. However, I shudder at the thought that the last Republican you could “kind of” say that about – who was running for President of the United States – was George W. Bush.

Anderson spoke with David Gergen, Candy Crowley and Tony Perkins (Family Research Council President) about the value of “celebrity endorsements” for candidates. I suspect that the jackpot of endorsements in the Republican race will be from Governor Arnold (Schwarzenegger, that is), since you get “two-for-one” – a celebrity AND a political endorsement – all at the same time!



And just as an aside – if I were advising Governor Huckabee – I'm not so sure I would have had Chuck Norris appear with him last night on Larry King Live – particularly for the extended length of time that they appeared together – it makes me wonder if there’s a Cabinet position waiting for Chuck??



Criminal (Justice) Education (gone wrong): As much as it angers me, I wasn’t all that surprised to learn that serial killer Timothy Krajcir learned how to elude police through criminal justice education he received at Southern Illinois University. In the early 1980’s, I’m sure that it would never have occurred to college admissions offices to conduct criminal background checks on its students. Another loss of ‘innocence’. We can only hope that Missouri Governor Matt Blunt will be successful in his quest for extradition and prosecution of this killer, in order to achieve some semblance of justice for the victims.

Free Eric Volz: After an overturned conviction being announced yesterday, Eric Volz is still being held in a Nicaragua prison, and when his mother appeared on the program last night, she was justifiably concerned for his safety. This is the update from the “Friends of Eric Volz” site:

“Judge Toruno is currently in contempt of court by refusing to make her appointment and sign the release papers. Eric has been freed, but is still being detained illegally, against the orders of the Appellate Court.

Nicaraguan radio broadcasts have been announcing that the people need to take justice into their own hands, since word of the court’s decision. We are more concerned than ever before, for Eric’s safety.

It appears as if no one in the judicial, penal and/or immigration systems in Nicaragua is responding to requests by Eric’s attorney or by the US Embassy to process Eric’s release immediately as ordered by the court.”



Witness Protection (or lack thereof): Randi Kaye had an extensive segment about the inexcusable lack of witness protection available in the state of Colorado. And even that miniscule amount often is not even offered to those who desperately need it. People who are willing to do what is morally right and testify against criminals, such as Darrell Gibbons and Javal Fields, have paid for this lack of protection with their lives. The only (and I mean only) ‘saving grace’ to this story, if you can even call it that, is the fact that Colorado is the only state with such a sub-standard witness protection program.





Many other updates for today:

Does foreign policy experience matter in a presidential race? I'm very intrigued by the blog entry from Candy Crowley this morning - she asks the question about whether foreign policy experience matters in a Presidential race? She also hints at the fact that both the Democratic and Republican candidates with the MOST amount of foreign policy experience are trailing (rather poorly) in the polls.

I've been thinking about this phenomenon for awhile now. Personally, I would think that, in this day and age, that particular criteria would matter a whole lot more. What about everyone else - does the foreign policy experience of a Presidential candidate matter - and/or should it??

Anderson will be covering the Iowa Caucuses on January 3rd – along with Wolf Blitzer and Lou Dobbs. You can read the full CNN Press Release here.





Jon Klein will be at CNN for another four years, according to Broadcasting & Cable.






And the AC360° ‘Announcer’ is: Anderson's blog today is classic - we all have a chance to vote for the new AC360° 'announcer' - personally, I'm torn between Fran Drescher (in "Nanny" character, of course) and Clint Eastwood (in "Dirty Harry" character, of course) ... "do ya feel lucky?" ... :-)

Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Anderson's View

Damn that NBC Nightly News. OK, here goes. I hadn't wanted to say anything
about this until we'd reached a decision, and had a signed contract, but now
that NBC News has announced that Michael Douglas will be doing the voiceover
introduction to their nightly newscast, our hand has been forced.

For about six months now we've been working on having someone with a very
distinctive voice introduce 360° every night. It all started for us when CBS got
Walter Cronkite to introduce their broadcast. We formed an exploratory committee
which met once a week in a backroom at Michael's restaurant in New York. Week
after week, cobb salad after cobb salad, we argued over whose voice to use.
Sometimes the discussions got very heated, and eventually we were asked not to
return to Michael's. I actually think some NBC News executives may have
overheard our discussions there one afternoon and it might have given them the
idea to use Michael Douglas. (We never actually talked about using him, but
Catherine Zeta-Jones was high on our list for a long time.) Water under the
bridge.

While we have not made a final decision, I thought I'd let you know about our
four finalists, and if there is anyone else you think should be considered,
please let us know. In no particular order, the four people we are considering
hiring to introduce 360° everynight are:

Fran Drescher
Clint Eastwood
Paul Reubens (aka Pee Wee Herman)
Cher

Personally, I'm arguing for Fran Drescher, but I'm keeping an open mind.

- Anderson Cooper




A Special THANK YOU goes out to 360° Stage Manager Kevin!!!!
Our companion Yahoo Group - AC360° - (aka: "Gunmetal Grey") - welcomes the shout-out during your announcer "audition" tonight - although it probably had nothing to do with the group ... but it's still appreciated ... ;-)

Thanks so much for visiting - have a terrific evening!