An Nth Degree By Anderson Cooper Memorial Day was started as a way to honor fallen soldiers during the Civil War by placing flowers on the graves of each soldier's tombstones. Today, it is a day to honor fallen soldiers of all wars. Anderson did his 2004 Memorial Day show with an Nth Degree fitting for Memorial Day.
Tonight, taking May-December romances to "The Nth Degree." It seems fitting somehow that on this Memorial Day, a day that began as a way to honor the dead from the Civil War, we end with a story of Alberta Martin, the last surviving widow of a soldier from the Civil War.
The story goes that back in 1927. When she was just 21, Alberta married William Martin, who at the time was 81 and a veteran of the Civil War. Mr. Martin died in 1931, and Mrs. Martin actually wound up marrying his grandson. But that's a whole other story.
In the last decade, the state of Alabama decided that Alberta Martin should receive a pension because of her first husband's service. And she became the darling of Confederate history buffs. Today, Alberta Martin died. She was 97. And lived in Enterprise, Alabama. Add her name to the list of those we remember on this Memorial Day.
Hello everyone. Another week has come and gone and Anderson Cooper was on Friday night. What a great way to end the week right! I had to start the post tonight wth the exchange between Anderson and Larry King at the top of the show. Really cute, kids just say the darnest things.
Now on to more serious matters. Hillary Clinton……what the heck were you thinking??? Today during an interview, Hillary Clinton was asked why people wanted her to leave the race. Hillary went on to say she was not sure why and that Bill was not the nominee until June and then there was the assassination of Robert Kennedy in June so why rush to end the race. I am going to rant a little now. When I saw this interview on Situation Room early in the day my mouth literally dropped open. I could not believe what I had just heard come of Hillary’s mouth. I had images of something horrible happening to Obama. I was absolutely stunned Hillary would even mention anything to do with assassination. If Hillary had said Bobby Kennedy won the California primary in June, I would have no issue with her comment what so ever. To me it showed a moment of insensitivity especially in light of the fact that Obama has had death threats made against him. Hillary was quick to come out and say she regretted making the comment. This is another example of why choosing your words is so important. Even if Hillary came out and apologized to the Obama’s, the Kennedys and the nation the fact is her words are now out in the cosmos as it were and she can never take them back. Hillary made a stupid move today and I lost any respect that I had for her. I know a lot of you will defend Hillary and that is your prerogative but to me Hillary crossed a line today. If this is what comes out of Hillary’s mouth when she is tired, I would hate to think of what may happen at 3AM.
Joe Johns filed a report on the Clinton remarks. RFK Jr. released a statement defending Clinton. The Obama camp released a statement saying it was unfortunate and has no place in the campaign which is completely correct.
Candy Crowley (in on her day off…again), Tony Perkins and Jennifer Palmieri joined Anderson to talk about the latest gaffe in this campaign season. I don’t know if this story will go away that quickly. I honestly think it will depend on if this causes superdelegates to come out and support Obama.
Speaking of words mattering, Rev. John Hagee spoke put today after Thursday’s rejection by John McCain of Rev. Hagee’s endorsement. It certainly seems there is a pattern of pastor problems this election cycle.
Candy, Tony and Jennifer joined Anderson again to discuss John McCain’s pastor problems. Candy had a great line “there may be a separation of church and politics from here on out because it has not been helpful this year.”
John McCain released his medical records today and from the looks of it John McCain is doing pretty well for a man his age. Cindy McCain also released her 2006 tax returns.
Breaking news came in about 3 tornadoes touching down in Kansas. Reynolds Wolf brought us the details that were coming in
Drew Griffin is always out there trying to keep people honest and Friday night’s segment was no different. Drew was investigating just how easy it is to get drugs from the internet. It is actually way too easy to do this but there are a lot of things that need to be worked on before this will not be so readily available to people.
It would seem like the 360 staff went into long weekend mode early Friday because no one on the staff could come up with a witty caption. The viewer winners were good.
Some Anderson Related News
On Friday May 30 Anderson’s appearance on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno which aired back in March will be re-airing.
ACAnderfan came across a great photo of Anderson and his family. Anderson is so adorable and I love the hair. There was also an article that accompanied the photo. It is a little hard to read but click here to check it out.
A reader of ATA sent us a picture they took in NYC of a giant ad for AC360.
Just a reminder that Ms. Phebe posted the first pictures of Kiran Chetry’s baby boy over at All Things CNN. If you have not had a chance to see the picture you should check them out.
That is it for me this week. I want to wish all the American readers a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. Enjoy the long weekend. Until next Friday ~ Sapphire
Update: I've just posted pictures of Kiran Chetry and her new baby at our sister blog, All Things CNN. Check out the pictures of her beautiful family and her personal account of Christopher's birth.The big story on Thursday's AC 360 was McCain's pastor problems. John McCain wanted the far right's support to help him win the Presidency. But John McCain will only compromise so far and then he snaps. Thursday was one of those days. As Tom Foreman said, Pastor Hagee and others were courted to bring the religious right on board with McCain's candidacy. During his rebuke McCain mentioned the church he attends, North Phoenix Baptist Church(NOBC). NPBC is a huge, well established church that sits on 40+ acres in the Phoenix. The congregation has over 8,000 members and a very active community outreach program. If you're interested in learning more about NPBC's philosophy I've included a link. Next the panel discussion with Peter Fenn, Candy Crowley and Tony Perkins. Peter Fenn (Democrat strategist) said McCain worked hard for the endorsements of Hagee, Jerry Falwell and other clergy of the Religious Right. When Mac reached out to these far right leaders Arizona (McCain's home State) journalist's were doing a lot of head scratching. It was definitely a case of strange bedfellows. Now that McCain has clinched his party's nomination it's time to throw these religious leaders under the bus and get to his real agenda. And his real agenda with attract more and more Independents. So he loses the Religious Right and picks up right leaning Independents, who can't bring themselves to support Obama. What a huge shock the Texas Supreme Court ruling was today. But after reading some of their opinion (here's the link ) their decision, legally, does make sense. I also thought Carolyn Jessop offered an interesting perspective in her post on the AC360 blog. She feels that criminal charges will be filed against some of the church leaders. Between that and appeals the YFZ members will be in court for years to come.
If you missed the second hour of AC360 on Thursday you missed an excellent Planet in Peril investigation piece by Joe Johns.
It was great to see Tom Foreman in the DC studio with Anderson (yes AC was in DC last night). American Morning showed a very funny segment on Thursday that pitted Jamie McIntyre, Zain Verjee and Tom Forman on a race to the CNN studios, using different forms of transportation. Take a look at TF in his biker shorts, he's look'in good!
On a personal note, I wanted to share a bit with you about the trip my family and I took last month. At the time I told you all I was going on vacation, but that really wasn't the whole story. We flew back to Washington, DC to bury my parent's cremains at Arlington National Cemetery. I had never been to a full military funeral before and cannot begin to convey how moving the ceremony was. I thought Memorial Day weekend would be an appropriate time to share a picture from their funeral with all of you. Have a safe and wonderful holiday weekend. ~Phebe
Wednesday's AC 360 began with a look at the day's political developments. More on that later. David Mattingly gave us an up close look at the YFZ Ranch in Texas. There really wasn't much to see, it sort of reminded me of that media op Anderson had in Beirut. Heavy on PR, light on useful information. I'm always sort of puzzled by Willie Jessop. He just doesn't fit the FLDS mold. He doesn't speak in that hauntingly odd pattern and he is not the typical meek FLDS man. He really seems more one of us than them. But he does have his talking points down pat. Randi Kaye revisited her report on the Smiley Face Murders. Hopefully AC360's coverage of this story will help law enforcement become more aware of a murder pattern. Retired detective Kevin Gannon was in the studio with Anderson to discuss the modusoperandi and any progress that has been made. Thursday's 'The Shot' was again something that had been shown on American Morning earlier in the day. But the addition of the twirling bear was just too cute. Unfortunately it was probably more a case of obsessive compulsive behavior than play, but cute none the less.
I had no intention of watching AC360 live on Thursday. It was, after all, opposite the big American Idol finale. But I flipped over for a second and was hooked when I heard AC say, "Has it (the Presidential campaign) been sexist"? I think the whole neighborhood heard me answering AC's question. "Hell, yes!" Sexism is alive and well and thriving in our media. If AC360 had wanted a real answer to Anderson's question they would not have populated the panel with a CNN employee who doesn't take sides, an old Republican white guy (sorry Ed) and an Obama supporter. There was no debate or educational comments, just a lot of superficial observations. If you really want to get to the core of the issue talk to Gloria Steinem, Geraldine Ferraro, Kim Gandy or any number of other women who recognize the sexism in the current Presidential contest. I dare you CNN....and I really don't think you will take me up on the challenge. You're way too worried about ratings and demographics.
Late Addition: On American Morning on Thursday they had a panel discussion that was more to my liking. Kyra Phillips, Liz Smith and Leslie Stahl had a conversation on sexism that addressed the issues missed by last night's AC360 panel.
We have a few bits of birthday news to share. First a belated Happy Birthday to Jeff Toobin. He was 48 years old on Wednesday.
A friend recently sent us some pictures of Anderson, and others, who attended a surprise birthday party for Jon Klein. The party was thrown by Mrs. Klein and held on March 22nd in NYC. The ladies talking to AC are Jennifer Snell Klein and Katie Couric. You can find more pictures at our sister blog All Things CNN. I can't believe tomorrow is Thursday all ready? Wow, this month is flying by. ~Phebe
We are having major issues with Blogger today and most of our videos are missing from recent posts. Blogger is working on the problem, and we hope things will be back to normal very soon. ~ Phebe
Can you believe that the finale of Idol and Dancing With the Stars was opposite AC360, here on the West Coast, Tuesday night? I should have taken one for the team and watched CNN, but I couldn't help flipping back and forth. The suspense of who would win Idol (I'm routing for David Cook, but I think young David Archuleta did better on Tuesday) and if Kristi would break the four year curse and win DWTS, could not compete with the Primaries. There didn't seem to be much political suspense in the Primaries anyway, since we've been hearing all week that HRC would win Kentucky and BHO would take Oregon. So here area a few screencaps from Election Center and then we'll move on to the real news of the day!
Our cup runneth over tonight, which is quite unusual for night when AC360 was all politics. Earlier in the day Anderson make a guest appearance on The View. For those of you who missed it (and those who just want to enjoy it over and over) here's the clip.
As most of you know Anderson Cooper was in NOLA this past weekend for the NCTA’s (National Cable and Telecommunication Association) 2008 Cable Show. He also was the guest speaker at Turner's banquet on Sunday night. Broadcast and Cable News did a brief interview with Anderson which addressed the heavy political direction AC360 has taken recently and AC's travel plans. Thanks to the readers who sent along the tip and Quitty for the embed.
And I'll leave you for tonight with the first new AC360 commerical we've seen in a long time. Much thanks to Cyn for clipping this. Have a great Wednesday. ~Phebe
Well, folks, here we are on another Primary Eve... This week, Kentucky and Oregon vote, with expectations for another split decision.
Candy Crowley reported on the Clinton campaign, which still fights on. Earlier in the day, Suzanne Malveaux pointed out that Hillary has started referring to her campaign in the past tense (during a speech she said, "if I were in the White House" rather than "when I am," as she has been; not sure that's actually past tense, but let's not split grammarians.) With two weeks left in the primary season, there is at least now light at the end of the very, very long tunnel.
Next we got the patented Anderson Cooper Walk'n'Talk across the set to John King at the Magic Map...
(More on this later...)
We also got some clips from the live rallies in Bozeman, Montana (Obama) and Louisville, Kentucky (Clinton).
Tonight's Pundit Panel was David Gergen, Marcus Mabry (NYT), and Mark Halperin (Time). I wasn't really keeping score, but I think they declared the Clinton campaign dead for about the seventeen-thousandth time this year. It's over when she says it is... or until the press stops following her around (isn't that what happened to Ron Paul?)
Are the candidate spouses fair game? I have to agree that if they are out on the trail, they are... although I still think it's tacky, by which I mean old-school politics, to do these sorts of ads. The soundbite pulled out of context, blahblahblah. But as long as people fall for them, they will be used. Lowest-common-denominator politics has a very long half-life, and we won't see the end of it in our lifetimes, I'm afraid. (Of course, I also said that this country wasn't yet ready to take either a black or a woman as a serious candidate for president, so what do I know??)
I did think Obama's defense of his wife was classy. He was neither belligerent nor macho, you didn't get the feeling that he felt he needed to leap to her defense because she's a poor helpless woman (and personally, my money would be on Michelle in the whupass category) but that he did it because it was the right thing to do. As always in the political arena, YMMV.
The partisan panel tonight was comprised of Generic Political Consultant Dan Gerstein, Hilary Rosen from HuffPo, and Ed Rollins.
(I just like the ad...)
Gary Tuchman reported from Clay County, Kentucky, the poorest county in the state and one of the poorest in the nation. It was a very interesting juxtaposition, and the kind of unusual look at a story that is exactly the kind of thing that 360 does best. Sadly, in this particular instance they lost me right when the woman at the counter started talking about a woman's place being in the home and I suddenly remembered why I didn't think this country had evolved sufficiently to actually see past race and gender.
Speaking of (there's a segue for ya!) it's time for the Polygamist update from David Mattingly. I do feel sorry for the children, removed from the only homes they've ever known and separated even from their siblings. I have no doubt that the State of Texas would have kept more of them together, but how many foster families can take in even three or four kids at a time? Children are resilient, and we can only pray that these kids are able to roll with this, and perhaps get a glimpse of the outside world, so that if they are sent back to a compound-like life, they will at least know that We Out Here are not the evil incarnate that they have been taught to fear.
No Erica tonight, Joe Johns does the Bulletin and gets the only splitscreen of the evening. Okay, remind me not to EVER plan on riding the Tokyo subway... SO many things wrong with that whole scene, which in addition to those Anderson mentioned, also includes the thought of the claustrophobic conditions inside those cars!
Okay, since there was so little action tonight, I thought I'd try something new, and the Tech gods were with me on this one... a couple clips from the StudioCam! (As you may know, there is no audio provided.)
First up is Anderson getting ready for the Walk'n'Talk:
Next is a look at the keyboard action -- both on the blog and the BlackBerry:
For some reason, this one is wonky for the first five seconds or so, then clears up ... after the live broadcast ends, Anderson films the promos for the rebroadcasts:
Anderson Alert: Set your TIVO's for The View on Tuesday, May 20th. Anderson Cooper will be a guest along with ABC's Dr. Nancy Snyderman. Check local listings for program times.
I have several goodies for you tonight, but I'm afraid it will take me two posts to get completely caught up with things.
The first treat tonight, two 360 in :60s. The first one is from the week of April 28th and includes four episodes- all with Anderson.
Next up, is all five episodes of 360 in :60 from the week of May 5th. This one includes a new voice in the mix: Randi Kaye.
Tonight's puzzle is a screencap from an AC360 from a few weeks ago. Anyone want to guess who or what Anderson is pointing at? Good luck with the puzzle!
Immediately following this post will be the April 2008 Cooper & Co. calendar. I'll have more for you next Sunday night!
