GOP "assortment, hodgepodge, potpourri, etc."

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

GOP Jumble: I couldn’t have said it better myself! And you know – what’s so terribly awful about the nominee actually being chosen at the convention(s) this year – either Republican or Democrat – or – better yet – both?? Especially for anyone who entered this campaign thinking that their success was ‘pre-ordained’!



John King had a report on the ‘muddled’ GOP race in South Carolina, and then joined correspondent David Brody from the Christian Broadcasting Network for a discussion with Anderson about strategies that each candidate is utilizing in the hopes of securing an important victory in that state on Saturday.



Dems in the courtroom: Candy Crowley had a report on the Nevada lawsuit that’s been filed to shut down nine Las Vegas caucus sites that have been set up to accommodate workers who are unable to be in their home precincts on Saturday. There are so many times when I just can’t state it better than one of the best (i.e. – Candy), so here’s the ‘telling’ quote from the report: "Many of those workers belong to the Culinary Union, which has endorsed Barack Obama. A couple of days after that endorsement, a lawsuit was filed challenging the constitutionality of the at-large precincts. The Culinary Union notes that nobody objected to the plan when the Clinton campaign thought it would be getting the endorsement."



Rudy in FLA: Tom Foreman had a good piece on the “Rudy strategy” – and the ‘Florida firewall’, as it’s been dubbed. Tom ended the segment with a very accurate summary: “He is betting his political life.” Or – as an AP article today stated, it could end up being “a strategy that could be a colossal failure or a masterful calculation.” We’ll see soon enough.



Randi Kaye exclusive: I’m not sure I understand why ‘Lisa’, the Cesar Laurean ‘friend’, insisted on being interviewed with her identity hidden as it was, and then describe identity-revealing information such as the fact that she was the individual who wrote up the second military protective order given to Maria Lauterbach? It didn’t make a lot of sense. And even with as much sympathy as I have for her family, I do think they should now be given some privacy by the media, and any further reports should consist only of the capture of Cpl. Laurean.



Toobin double-duty (again): We had two doses of legal analysis from Jeff Toobin – thankfully brief (no offense to Jeff) – about OJ Simpson’s release from jail and about the SF Zoo tiger attack. I say ‘thankfully brief’ because the amount of coverage that both stories have already received far exceeds their relative importance.




Zain Verjee attack: Now this story is one that would have warranted at least a few more minutes. Zain is still in Kenya – and reporting on police forces staged in Uhuru Park in Nairobi, readying to combat opposition forces still protesting in the streets. In the midst of a police crackdown, Zain was struck in the back by a tear gas canister. The first picture below shows the canister just above her left shoulder before it struck her. I’ve included the second photo (post-strike) to show she wasn’t seriously hurt - thankfully!




Other News and Notes:

Anderson will be co-hosting “Live With Regis & Kelly” on Friday, February 1st. He’s almost becoming a regular substitute host! If we’re lucky, he’ll have another hilarious tale to tell – a la ‘drunk girls’ from last month!



Unless I really missed something last night, the interview that Anderson did with Glenn Beck yesterday never made it on air during 360°, but here is the link for the video (if you're interested). Best line from the interview – Glenn describing the communication ‘style’ of Fred Thompson: “Ambien in shoes”. Sometimes he gets it right!!



It’s not listed yet on the CNN official weekend schedule, but I understand that there is three hours of coverage planned for Saturday evening to report on the South Carolina Republican primary and the Nevada Caucuses – beginning at 7:00 PM EST!

And don’t forget about the special Anderson Cooper 360° special on Monday, January 21st – entitled “Race and Politics” - after the South Carolina Democratic Debate - 11:00 PM EST. It’ll be co-hosted by Soledad O’Brien.



Just a very brief statement to those who visit this blog and “borrow” screen caps and other material for use elsewhere: In a small way, I’m flattered. And I do try to focus on that if I ever see anything that’s obviously been ‘borrowed” from this blog or the AC360° Yahoo group. But it would be courteous to at least give credit to the blog or the group. Especially if I see something in a place that’s trying to claim “copyright” on material that clearly is not the original work of the blog or website owners. Perhaps a review of this excellent site which concisely explains what copyright protection is – and isn’t – including the caveats of the “Fair Use” doctrine – might be in order. Just a friendly suggestion – and even though I make every effort to give credit whenever possible, I’m sure I’ve fallen short on occasion. But usually not with material from individual sites – as I’m well aware of the time and effort put into those ventures and how deserving those people are of whatever credit is due to them! And for most of you reading this – to which none of this applies – thank you for suffering through my ‘mini-rant’!

And not to end on a completely “down” note – below is one of the videos available from the recent World News Now “15+1” celebration that was broadcast last week – this particular segment is called “Outrageous Moments” and it’s interesting to note that Anderson Cooper – yes, the now respectable CNN anchor, Anderson Cooper – appears in three of these ‘moments’ - not at all surprising, BTW: #13 – “Some Enchanted Evening”, #12 – “Bus Tour” and #11 – “Wassup”. Screen caps follow the video – courtesy of "WorldNewsNow" at YouTube:









And not to shirk my other ‘crediting’ responsibilities – the WNN video linked to on Monday was courtesy of “rasaiz” at YouTube, although it can also be found in several other places on the net!

tonight on Anderson Cooper 360°:


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

Romney Wins Michigan …

Today’s Buzz ...
Could the “call” have been made any sooner last night? Seriously – I don’t think that even 60 seconds had transpired at the top of the hour after the polls closed when Wolf made the announcement. And I thought last week’s call was fairly quick – YIKES!




There really aren’t a lot of ‘in-depth’ comments about last night’s coverage – not that it wasn’t good and mostly enjoyable (as political primary coverage goes), but with the GOP race called so quickly, and Hillary running against someone called “uncommitted” (I’m kidding) – there really wasn’t all that much to discuss. But a few observations:

Technological wizardry as desk art: Can we assume that the ‘floating’ pizza pie chart has been at least temporarily retired? It sat on the desk in front of John King, Gloria Borger and Jeff Toobin for the entire night.



Beck vs. Martin: When I hear Glenn Beck talk about unification and “one America” – I’m almost convinced to check out his program on Headline News. Remember I said almost ... but the pairing of Glenn Beck and Roland Martin last night for analysis was entertaining (in a ‘political’ way) and possibly made you think along different angles – perhaps not necessarily agreeing with one or the other – but it’s good to stretch the brain cells occasionally. I must say, though, that I agree with Roland Martin’s assessment of DNC Chairman Howard Dean’s indifference during the recent potentially destructive Dem ‘dust-up’.



Dems Debate: While Michigan was in focus for the Republicans, the Democrats held a debate in Nevada last night. David Gergen and Candy Crowley gave post-debate reports on the outcome. I kept switching back & forth to MSNBC for awhile until I realized that, for the most part, it was some form of ‘love fest’ – as Anderson described it - or perhaps a ‘temporary reconciliation fest’ – which at least allowed for focused discussion on issues, policies, philosophies, etc. – a welcome change from truly petty accusations flying back & forth. Again, I say that if the Democratic candidates think that any pre-nomination attack is unfair – wait until the GOP sinks their teeth into the fray come September ...



Speaking of Dems – and this “uncommitted” Clinton opponent: I guess it’s just me, but when you’re running literally unopposed, and you can only manage 55% of your party’s vote in a state, there’s a message there – not sure if it’s one that the Clinton camp has time to pay attention to, but it struck me as troubling – for them - from a general election perspective ...



News Bulletins: Gary Tuchman handled the 360° Bulletins last night – from Los Angeles! He’s in the area to work on a story for the AC360° special this coming Monday night - after the South Carolina Democratic Debate – “Race and Politics”. Gary is focusing on race and “immigration” politics – we’re looking forward to it and the entire hour!




Other News & Notes:

Poor Bill Maher: Because guests aren’t being announced ahead of time, I only caught his appearance on The Tonight Show last night by accident! But when I heard that Carrie Ann Inaba & Bruno Tonioli ('Dance Wars', 'Dancing With The Stars') were also guests, I knew that Bill was in trouble, and I was right! Bruno managed to ‘paw’ Bill until he almost begged for ‘cover’ from Jay. Not sure if it was ‘set up’ that way or not, but it was very funny nonetheless. And since NBC is now offering free videos, you can check it out here!



And to finish up with Part 3 of the screen caps from the World News Now “serenade” video, here they are:









Thanks very much for visiting - updates posted as needed - have a wonderful Wednesday!!

Envision being able to say “President McCain” …

Some are pleased about that – others are cringing in horror – and the reason for the statement? See below ...

Today’s Buzz ...
from the debut of “Election Center” last night:


Here we go again: As we watch the Democratic Party once again teetering on the brink of self-induced implosion, an alleged “truce” has been called between the candidates regarding the recent divisiveness created by various “race card” accusations. Yet, even if the candidates themselves tone down the damaging rhetoric, we’ll deal with the aftermath as stated by Candy Crowley last night: “What I think you are going to see is that the principles -- that is, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama -- will in fact dial it back. I am not sure you can stop some of the whispering, nor do I think you can probably stop the surrogates.”

I guess we’re just not past this discussion yet – in the year 2008. A few items from yesterday were of particular interest to me: (1) an article in Time about race spelling trouble for the Democrats, (2) the blog entry from Tom Foreman and (3) the Cafferty File question about race being used by the Democrats.

The most succinct example I can use is the explanation from David Gergen on last night’s program: “Here's the danger. In a place like New York City, we have seen this before in Democratic politics. You got a strong white candidate. You got a strong black candidate in a Democratic primary for mayor, for example. They run against each other. The white candidate wins, but at enormous cost in the black community, a lot of bruises in the black community. The blacks then don't vote in the same numbers as the Latino community, and then the Republican candidate comes up and wins.”

Hence – projecting out this scenario beyond NYC – which is all too likely, if this useless, destructive rhetoric continues - we end up swearing in President McCain (Giuliani, Romney, Huckabee, etc.) on January 20, 2009.



I’m not going to review what’s being reported about who said what, to whom, and when – you can’t miss it on the news, even for those only slightly interested at this point in the races. I can only hope (haven’t we heard that word before?) that the Democrats will circle back to the issues and focus on the ultimate goal. What a welcome change (déjà vu?) that would be ...

Candy Crowley, Roland Martin and David Gergen continued their analysis last night with a Republican Primary preview in Michigan – McCain slightly ahead in many polls, Romney’s “must-win” status, Huckabee trailing in third place and Giuliani still biding his time until Florida.



I had a passing thought about Rudy Giuliani’s strategy last night, and I haven’t heard it specifically mentioned in any reports yet, as everyone seems to be so focused on the closest upcoming contests. But I was thinking that – for all the time – and probably all the money – that Rudy has spent in Florida – if he doesn’t absolutely crush the competition – all of them – and not just winning by a relatively narrow margin - then he may well be “on the ropes” as well. The primary is on January 29th – which leaves just about zero recovery time before “Super Duper Tuesday” on February 5th.

Marine death investigation: Randi Kaye has been reporting on this story for the past week and I think the frustration of what so many people are thinking is surfacing – and rightly so. She has a blog entry today that questions the handling of the initial ‘missing persons’ report of Maria Lauterbach and the lack of disclosure from the Marine Corps to Onslow County law enforcement officers that could have potentially aided them in the early stages of what has now become a worst-case scenario murder investigation. Well, actually – it could get worse with any kind of ‘reported sighting’ that comes out of Mexico at this point.



Jeff Toobin also weighed in on the fact that there continues to be - in this day and age – an inherent lack of cooperation among law enforcement agencies. That’s ludicrous and endangers everyone – if they can’t cooperate in this kind of case – what happens when ‘we’ are faced with a biological or chemical weapons threat? Or worse? As has been reported so many times now, from so many different angles, perhaps the venerable “9/11” really didn’t change everything ...



Jeff ended up with ‘double duty’ last night – also providing commentary – amusing at times – about actor Wesley Snipes going on trial for tax evasion. Not much to say – he won’t be sent to jail – he’ll probably have to pay some extra penalties – and life will go on ...



Anderson also spoke with Newsweek International editor Fareed Zakaria about his recent interview with Pakistan’s President Musharraf. Not much new to report – Musharraf’s support has taken another decline since the assassination of Benazir Bhutto – down to 20% - even though he continues to deny that his government was complicit in her death. In a country where conspiracy theories abound due partially to overall incompetence of the government. And Musharraf maintains that the nuclear arsenal is secure and under control, while bristling at the suggestion of the US taking any kind of unilateral action due to that or due to continued pursuit leading to the capture of Osama bin Laden.



Other news and notes:

So – for the US readers - what are your elected Congressional representatives up to today? Passing legislation to assist with the mortgage collapse? Investigating the causes of oil price hikes? Hammering out some kind of healthcare reform? No – they’re holding hearings on the use of steroids in Major League Baseball. Yes, you read that correctly. Now, I’m a HUGE baseball fan – but is this really necessary? Right now? Read Drew Griffin’s take on the issue – from today’s AC360° blog.

Well, I’m continuing on with my ‘series’ of screen caps from yesterday’s World News Now video clip - circa 1999 – I’ll wind it up tomorrow and probably debut another video on Thursday. Also – I’ll put together a photo album of these caps for the AC360° Yahoo group. These are what I call “fond childhood memories”:








Tonight on Anderson Cooper 360°:


And my favorite shot from last night:


Thanks so much for visiting - updates posted as needed - have a terrific Tuesday!!

another manic Monday ...

Today's Buzz (so far) ...

IMHO - In the world of news (in general) and Anderson Cooper / Anderson Cooper 360° news (specifically), Mondays are notorious for being extra busy ... or maybe it's just me??

For example - I just got through hearing Kyra Phillips ever-so-assertively (and rightly so) grill Sheriff Ed Brown from Onslow County, NC - about why Cpl. Cesar Armando Laurean was given so much 'latitude' with regards to being accountable for his whereabouts while the investigation into the then-missing Cpl. Maria Lauterbach was being conducted. Let's just say that I'm glad that I don't have any friends or relatives relying on law enforcement in that area for safety!

Anyway - some catch-up with a few 'fun' items that I've been wanting to get to, and some miscellaneous information to pass along - starting with this brand new annoucement released just a little while ago - from both the CNN Pressroom and Multichannel Online:

CNN Launches Nightly "Election Center" Co-Anchored from Campaign Trail

Best Political Team to Provide Round-Up of Campaign News for 8 p.m. Hour
CNN starting today will dedicate the 8 p.m. hour each weekday to the latest election news coverage from the campaign trail in a new program, CNN Election Center. Building on CNN’s successes and ratings wins from both the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primaries, CNN Election Center will be anchored by members of the “Best Political Team on Television” from the New York-based CNN Election Center and on the trail by CNN anchor John Roberts.
The program combines CNN’s unrivaled field reporting and analysis with all of the technology that CNN demonstrated on recent primary election nights. Each evening, CNN will report on substantive issues of concern to the American people with policy-oriented questions that will go beyond the minutia of the horse race and Beltway conventions.

For CNN Election Center, Roberts will anchor live from the field as candidates circulate through Michigan, Nevada, South Carolina, Florida and California as the Super Tuesday primaries approach. In New York, a rotating slate of anchors, including Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, Lou Dobbs, John King and Soledad O’Brien, will anchor from the CNN Election Center. Cooper and Roberts will co-anchor the program’s debut edition.

“CNN will offer the electricity of Election Night every night at 8,” said Jon Klein, president of CNN/U.S. “The Best Political Team on Television will provide unmatched insight and inside information and will give viewers what they want the most: less horse race coverage and more of the candidates talking about what they would do as president.”

CNN Election Center will air each weekday from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. through the week of Super Tuesday. All times Eastern. The program also serves as a television companion to CNN.com’s Election Center available here.

Joining the program from the trail will be CNN’s Emmy Award-winning political team with Dana Bash, John King and Mary Snow covering the Republican candidates, and Candy Crowley, Suzanne Malveaux and Jessica Yellin reporting on the Democrats. Also out on the campaign trail will be CNN correspondents Jim Acosta, Tom Foreman, Joe Johns, Chris Lawrence and Dan Lothian. Gloria Borger; senior political analyst; Jack Cafferty, commentator; David Gergen, senior political analyst; Bill Schneider, senior political analyst; and Jeff Toobin, legal analyst; will also contribute to the program along with CNN’s nationally known contributors Bill Bennett, Carl Bernstein, Donna Brazile and Roland Martin.

Through 2007 and continuing this year, CNN’s election programming has resonated with viewers who have made the network and CNN.com their source for politics. Two of CNN’s primary debates – the CNN/YouTube Republican debate and the Democratic debate in Las Vegas – stand as the two highest-rated primary debates in cable news history. CNN’s coverage of the Iowa caucuses topped the competition in the youngest demographics, while its New Hampshire primary coverage won across all demographics including total viewers.

An extra hour of Lou Dobbs Tonight will preempt CNN Election Center on Tuesday, Jan. 15, the day of the Michigan primary, with Lou Dobbs Tonight airing from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m., followed by a Lou Dobbs Tonight Special Report, “Independents Day: Awakening the American Spirit,’ airing from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Not sure what this means for "Out In The Open" - stay tuned!!


If you're interested in submitting questions to the candidates for the upcoming CNN Presidential Debates in the LA area on January 30th and 31st - co-sponsored by Politico.com - you can do so here.



And if you're confused about what your state's requirements are for being able to vote in upcoming primaries, caucuses or even the general election this coming November, find out here - it's the site sponsored by the League of Women Voters. Just locate your state - and it's all there for you!!


I feel like I've discovered a new "toy" - and I don't have a lot of time to make new discoveries, so I'm really jazzed about this one - it's an 'easy' way to link up to videos from the blog - and I like it (a lot) and hope to be using it much more extensively ... my first "try" was last week with a couple of Daily Show videos, which worked really well - so I'm starting out this week with one that (sorry, Jon) is even more to my liking ...

It's the video of "Anderson's Mom" (aka - Gloria Vanderbilt) 'serenading' him on World News Now in 1999 - it's quite funny, if only for the serenade, but then we saw a series of 'old AC photos' - and I'll post a few screen caps below the video link - with more to come tomorrow and Wednesday:











Update # 1: Place your order for the Mole 2 on DVD ...

I didn't forget that I had mentioned I would offer the recent airing of The Mole 2 on DVD – in exchange for a charity donation. So here's the offer: a $15 check or money order, made payable to either the American Heart Association or WildLife Direct, in exchange for The Mole 2 on DVD (minus Hour 5). I'll put each hour on a separate DVD – and there will be no other cost for shipping or anything else.

I'll keep this offer open until the end of the day on Sunday, January
20th – so if you're interested, please contact me at newsblooz@yahoo.com and we'll work out the details. It's your chance to get a great deal and help out a deserving organization!

If you'd like more information about either charity, you can check
out their web sites as linked above. If you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail me!! :-)


tonight on Anderson Cooper 360°:


Thanks for visiting - updates posted as needed (it IS Monday, after all!) - have a terrific day!