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!!

(admitting) the truth hurts sometimes ...

Today’s Buzz ...
From Tuesday’s program –

Mitt’s Sanctuary Mansion: For some reason, this sounds like an NC-17 rated film title. The main reason I wanted to comment on this, over and above the obvious “flip-flop” label, is partly because of the very sarcastic way that Mitt responded to John Roberts the morning after the debate about this very question – as to what he knew and when he knew about the hiring practices of the landscaper:

ROBERTS: Let me come back to my original question. Let me get you to clear this up for us. What is the deal with the illegal immigrants and the landscape company?

ROMNEY: Now, there's a big building here. Are there people here that have been hired by outside contractors that are here illegally? You don't know that in this country because we don't have an employment verification system.

ROBERTS: But do you know that the landscape company that you hired to work on your home had in fact employed illegal immigrants?

ROMNEY: Of course, I did not know that. As a matter of fact, the person...

ROBERTS: Do you know it now in retrospect?

ROMNEY: It's been a story in the paper.

ROBERTS: We haven't heard from your side. Do you now know that they did?

ROMNEY: Well, it's in the paper. Come on, John, you're smart enough to know. The answer is you hire contractors at your home, to paint the home, to put on a roof or to do a driveway and the contractor that we hired is a legal contractor. The man who runs the company is here legally and it turns out after a globe investigation that some of his employees were not legal.

And yet – it was verified by the Boston Globe that the morning after the YouTube debate, there were ‘at least’ two illegal immigrants working at the Romney home through this same landscape company.

Illegal immigration is a major hot-button topic in the Republican race, and when a candidate chooses to make the issue a centerpiece of his campaign, shouldn’t there be some kind of ‘internal audit’ that occurs beforehand?

I really liked the way Candy Crowley explained that there are ‘narratives’ woven about each candidate, consisting of both issues and symbols. I was also glad to be able to see Candy, John King and Anderson get a chuckle about the thought of “not adding fuel to a fire, just see how long it burns on its own”, as it involves whatever self-induced ‘trouble’ the Romney campaign may be in at the moment. I wonder if this will overshadow his upcoming “Kennedy-esque” speech about the Mormon faith? Frankly, I see that as a move of desperation, and I doubt that very many will be swayed by it.



The truth about Iran: I began writing about this story yesterday, and I’m glad that 360° spent a significant amount of time on the subject last night. Not necessarily because of the content of the report, but because of the reaction to it by the Bush administration. If anyone had any doubts that this country is being run under the auspices of an elected monarchy, and that the ‘leader’ is anything other than an irresponsible, delusional fool – there are no doubts that should remain. To continue on with the same lying rhetoric (yes, I’ve used the word that no one else would last night) about Iran cements the fact that one of the largest security threats to this country and its future – resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC. I would add the address for Cheney’s house, but we should know by now that he’s usually holed up in a secret bunker somewhere – with very little natural light – or contact with indisputable reality – since he makes up his own (reality, that is).

This certainly isn’t to say that Iran should get any kind of ‘free pass’ – but we are, as a nation, continuing on with the saber-rattling and pursuit of sanctions – rather than giving any form of meaningful diplomacy a microscopic chance of working. I was very pleased to see that the discussion panel for this topic last night consisted of David Gergen, Christiane Amanpour and Reza Aslan. Three of the most knowledgeable, sane voices to weigh in on this crucial subject.




Seth Tobias: John Zarella reported on this story and was right – there are some things money just can’t buy. One of them is the guarantee that your spouse will, at least, not do anything to hasten your demise in order to inherit your fortune. Seth Tobias was a high-living hedge fund manager whose wife, Filomena, allegedly found him floating face down in their pool one day this past September. She also wouldn’t let police enter the home after her 9-1-1 call for help, and had the pool drained and resurfaced a few days after the incident. I don’t quite understand why the toxicology report results haven’t been determined yet, but this just seem like it’s case where we haven’t yet seen the last of Filomena’s involvement.



Cults in America: This story is very close to being too sick and perverted to comment on, but I feel sorry for the suicide victim and his surviving family members. Randi Kaye reported on The Family International – a group that was born out one originally called the Children of God and headed up by a ‘prophet’ named David Berg, who engaged in sex with children and justified it as being done in the name of Jesus. Randi's story revolved around Ricky Rodriguez – a young man who had been sexually abused by several adult women in the cult, including his mother, Karen Zerby, and his nanny. After fleeing the cult, Ricky was obsessed with exacting revenge for his treatment, and ended up killing his nanny in 2005. Without much hope of finding his mother for similar revenge, he became even angrier and more disturbed. Shortly thereafter, he committed suicide.

How very sad. I've thought for a very long time that there should be some kind of “safety net” for those who want to leave a cult – whether it’s this one or FLDS or Scientology or whatever – where people can get assistance with re-establishing their lives absent the influence of the cult.




There was one video during the first news bulletin that I kind of chuckled about, and I’m not going to comment further or post a cap – but the second video shown during the second news bulletin qualifies as 100% sick – as well as 100% cruel. I found myself cheering for one the fish to inflict significantly permanent damage to whatever perverted freak would jam his arm down a fish’s throat and through its gills. Allegedly it’s called “noodling” – I think it should be called “criminal” and the bastards should be arrested. Period.

Moving on ... I hope everyone is looking forward to the CNN Heroes Tribute – tomorrow night at 9:00 PM EST. And unless Christiane is hosting a portion of it from London, I hope that she was getting on a plane bound for NYC shortly after her live appearance on 360° last night!



And it seems that Anderson has just blogged (WOW!) and is sending an apology out for not blogging as frequently this year as he possibly should have. Good grief - no apologies needed – we know that he’s an extraordinarily busy guy - his entries don't have to be anything spectacularly lengthy or mind-boggling - we just like to hear from him every so often - a few words here and there about what's happening and how he see things would be terrific!! If he threw in a few behind-the-scenes tidbits about the pre-taped interviews or other ‘shareable factoids’ about the show – that would make it even more special! Anyway – we understand that time is valuable and gets away from us all too easily!

Thanks for visiting - updates posted as needed – have a terrific day!