Finally the Dems are growing a set and are considering ramming through health care reform with the public option. As Cyn said in her post last Thursday, the previous administration made many decisions without a bipartisan consensus, now it is our turn. When you think about it, can HCR cost us much more than Bush's war in Iraq did? At least HCR will save lives, unlike the war which took so many of our young men & women.
Ed Henry and Dana Bash (by phone) had Washington covered. Alex Castellanos and Roy Sekoff (Huffington Post founder) did the follow up panel discussion. Dr. Sanjay Gupta joined Anderson after the break to answer a few questions about HCR and the public option. This was a terrific segment with great questions and lots of helpful information.
Michael Ware was in the AC360 studio with Anderson Cooper and Peter Bergen joined them by satellite to discuss the upcoming elections in Afghanistan and the war. Bergen said that the Taliban has been somewhat effective in their intimidation tactics and in shutting down about 10% of the polling sites. Ware felt that the attack on the Presidential Palace was timely in sending a message that the Taliban can and will strike anywhere. He added that the Taliban probably can't stop the election but they can disrupt it. Bergen added that Karzai will ultimately win, maybe initially or if there is need for a run off election.
On the subject of how the war is progressing Ware thought that the war is in its infancy and there is a long way to go before securing even Helman Province. Bergen felt that the political timetable for the war is set at about a year.
Randi Kaye was back from vacation and just in time to bring us the latest Michael Jackson news.
Jackson's doctor, Dr. Murry, posted a video to get his story before the public without him having to answer questions. 360 played portions and I found them just plan weird.
Jackson's family also announced that burial will be August 29th, thankfully a Saturday. I'm hoping by the following Monday it will no longer be 'Breaking News'.
The first installment in the 'junk science' series was a report by Gary Tuchman on a man who spent half his life in prison for a crime he didn't commit. Ernest Sonnier was convicted of rape and kidnapping in 1986. This case is the 6th case that has been proved to have been botched by the Huston crime lab. Tuchman interviewed Barry Sheck, director of the Innocence Project, which works to free wrongly convicted people, like Sonnier.
Dr. Gupta was back to do a discussion with AC on shoddy crime labs and CSI science.
Tuesday's 'The Shot' wasn't memorable for it's content, but more for the confusion in the follow up banter. I realized I watch entirely too much 360 when I could have explained the follow up clip better than either Anderson or Erica. Neither of them had a clue, which led to some giggles.
So there you have it for this Tuesday evening. ~Phebe
All Things Anderson is a blog dedicated to CNN's AC360 and its host Anderson Cooper.
8 comments:
360 was better last nite than it was monday nite.
I really enjoyed the Q&A segment with Dr.Gupta. The questions were really good. 360 needs more segments like that.
Nice to see Michael Ware and Peter Bergen on the program. Its a shame the Taliban is succeeding in scaring people. 10% of polling places is alot.
And 360 still won't get off the Michael Jackson train. They need to move on. There are far more important and pressing issues. If they must mention this MJ garbage then leave it to the 360 Bulletin.
I liked Anderson's DNA discussion with Dr.Gupta and I think Sanjay said he went to that DNA place to film a piece that is *supposed* to air tonite. Hopefully it will. 360 has a problem with saying something will air and then never showing it.
I loved all the Andergiggles during the shot. None of the clips they showed were even remotely funny, but the confusion he and Erica had over them certainly brought out the Andergiggles and it was cute.
It's time for the Dems to stop concerning themselves with Republicans and the Blue Dogs and just get health care reform with the public option through - I didn't get the feeling that they were really standing firm about pushing it through and I'm fearful that more wavering might take place. They may take some heat for their aggressive method but so what, this is something that needs to be done whatever it takes because the GOP will fight against it forever and a bipartisan agreement is not in the cards. I read an article that laid out how the resistance to HCR is coming mainly from conservatives and conservative backed organizations. Forget them and just get it done.
The report about the innocent man imprisoned for 23 years was infuriating and it's situations like this that make me completely against the death penalty. Too many people have been wrongly accused and put to death or have had their entire lives disrupted because of someone's lack of concern and carelessness.
It almost sounded like AC and Erica were playing to a studio audience during The Shot - I heard a lot of laughter in the background during their banter.
I don't think AC is covering the Michael Jackson story any more than any other TV news program. It is still heavy out there and will be for awhile. He might even be covering less than others.
I also am worried about HCR not passing. The last couple of days they've just been raking over the coals the POTUS, Sebelius and anyone else they can find about everything they are saying and doing wrong. But last night while I was watching it suddenly popped into my head that this man is so unbelievably smart, he knows exactly what he is doing. This is all part of the strategy. I sure hope I'm right. I'm also with Phebe - I think they should do whatever they need to to get it passed.
Also, when I was watching MW and PB side by side discussing such an important issue and they're both so smart and well-versed in their subject, but could they possibly be more different?!
Tuesday's show was fairly good, but my attention wandered somewhat. Monday's was better. I know international news is important, but I find it horrendously boring, especially when war is involved. I wish the show would feature some spirited debates, and funnier, more interesting Shots. I liked the banter about the T-shirts but not about the Shots, which were actually kind of annoying. But the show overall was good.
Personally, I found the shot annoying. Didn't get the "cuteness" with the kid parking his toy car. I find animals far more endearing.
Obama can't call it reform without the public option... period. Insurance companies are pressing hard against this format because they know they can't compete, but that's too bad and Obama needs to stand firm.
Overall, 360 was boring to watch last nite. Don't quite know why, but by now, MJ needs to be a blip on the radar screen and no more and that goes for his doctor as well.
Michael Ware and Peter Bergen were the highlight last night.
I'm so mad over all the town hall coverage, I was glad to see the coverage of President Obama and the Dems talking about going it alone. Apparently AC360 sees things differently. I decided to join in on the "Live Blog" and submitted 3 comments about being glad the Dems are saying if the Repubs can't cooperate we will do it without you. None of my posts made the blog, but the one I posted about being happy to see Michael Ware on the show made it! Since there were less than 200 comments on the blog, I'm sure it wasn't due to high activity. Was a little disappointed on how they screen, when the post was on topic and one submission was in response to a question AC himself posted.
I so agree that all MJ news know needs to show up only as a blip in the news bulletin.
Thanks for the post, Phebe -- and the Daily Show bit on CNN's ratings was quite funny.
Hi Phebe! I wanted to give you a heads up that I believe AC will guest on Andy Cohen's "Watch What Happens: Live" show on Bravo at 12:15 (I'm not sure if it is on today Wednesday or tomorrow Thursday). I'm hoping some kind soul such as yourself will record and post the guest spot since I don't have access to Bravo US.
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