Terror and sadness in the heartland …

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

Today’s entry should be a happy one – there is so much good, positive news to share – but it’s all at least slightly overshadowed by the senseless, brutal massacre of 8 innocent victims - that happened at the WestRoads Mall in Omaha yesterday.

My deepest sympathy goes out to nine families who are needlessly grieving in this holiday season over the loss of loved ones. Yes, that includes the family of yesterday’s shooter, Robert Hawkins. It’s always difficult to remember that they not only lost someone, but are most likely dealing with extra sadness and remorse over the events of yesterday.

I won’t spend a great deal of time on this story, as it’s still evolving to some extent, but the coverage on 360° last night was exemplary – Suzanne Malveaux had been in Omaha covering President Bush’s attendance at a GOP fundraiser, so she took the first on-the-scene reporting duties, and Anderson first spoke with her about any updates. He also interviewed CNN security analyst Mike Brooks about what precautions can be reasonably taken to better secure these types of facilities (I agree that even a small police sub-station in a mall is a good idea – some in CA already have them) and forensic psychologist Dr. Kris Mohandie, who repeated a very similar list of characteristics that we’ve heard far too many times now - ones that seem to be a profile for those that go to the extent of bringing a rifle into a mall and begin firing at total strangers.

Anderson also interviewed eyewitnesses Jennifer Kramer (on camera), Hele Spivak (by phone) and an i-Reporter (by phone) who wanted to remain anonymous. Can’t say that I blame her. It’s so difficult to imagine the fear that one feels in that setting, knowing that someone is firing off a gun and there aren’t too many options of places to hide or places to run.





The most “telling” interview of the evening, though, was with Debora Maruca Kovac, who rented a room to Robert Hawkins. I’m sure she’s in as much shock as his family – and ultimately thankful that her family was spared from his apparent massive and murderous anger. The picture on the right below is from this morning during a CNN interview.



The other story covered last night was Jason Carroll’s exclusive interview with Leeland Eisenberg. You remember him, right? The guy that took 5 hostages in the Clinton campaign office last Friday in Rochester, NH. What a fascinating interview, if only from the perspective of his lucidity. I suspected even on Friday that one of his objectives was to be killed by the police, but thankfully he didn’t harm any of the hostages in the process. I’m not sure if Mr. Eisenberg’s goal of shining a spotlight on the lack of mental health care has been (or will be) achieved – but I certainly hope that he now gets the help that he very obviously needs!



I did want to somewhat circle back to a story that I’ve been writing about for the past couple of days – about the recent “news” that Iran stopped its nuclear weapons development back in 2003. You may recall that President Bush immediately claimed that he “didn’t ask” about what the “latest developments” might be on this subject back in August (yeah, right ...), which ranks in the upper percentiles of moronic remarks that a US President can make, but nonetheless, this is the headline from a report by WH Correspondent Ed Henry: “Bush told in August that Iran nuke program 'may be suspended'” and it’s worth the time to read it at CNN.com.

Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney delivered his “faith” speech today and while I’d like to take some time to digest his remarks before commenting, as some of them, at first reading, seem slightly obtuse (IMHO), I did want to point to a terrific interview available at CNN.com about why religion remains an issue for Presidential candidates. The interview was with renowned psychiatrist Dr. Alvin Poussaint, who is the director of the media center of the Judge Baker Children's Center at Harvard University, and is an expert on America's race relations, prejudice and diversity issues.

And now to the happier, more positive items on the agenda for today:

A quick “thank you” to those who participated in the latest 'blog poll' – “Which country will Anderson report from next for AC 360°?” – and the results are in about what you thought: Iraq – 12%, Afghanistan – 12%, Pakistan – 50%, “other” – 25%. Wherever it ends up being, I just have this feeling that it’ll be sooner rather than later!!

Thanks so much to Annie Kate at the AC360° Yahoo group for the heads up about the airing of Anderson’s report on mountain gorillas at risk in the Congo - it'll be on this Sunday on 60 Minutes! I was hoping we’d see this segment before the end of the year. This link is for the 'sneak peek' video - it's great - you can see how surprised Anderson is about how close in proximity the film crew has gotten to a gorilla family and how the family just carries on with their normal eating and playing, as though nothing is different (like cameras and humans watching them) ... it's really fascinating to see!

Here’s the ‘blurb’ from the 60 Minutes site:

(CBS) Sunday, Dec. 9, 2007
KINGS OF CONGO - With just 700 mountain gorillas left on earth, CNN's Anderson Cooper finds some high in the African jungles and reports on why they have become so endangered on this Sunday's 60 Minutes. Robert Anderson and Casey Morgan are the producers.




THE most “fun” news for the day, though, (thanks to Bon Jour at the group, too!) is the “Elfin’ Anchor 2007” video available at CNN.com – it’s only 40 seconds long, but it’s a total MUST SEE – here’s a preview cap below, just to get you interested ...



One more reminder to catch the CNN Heroes Tribute tonight – here’s an update on the festivities planned for tonight!



Thanks so very much for visiting – updates posted as needed – have a terrific day!!