Anderson Cooper 360 & AC360 Later Thursday, 10/31/2013

8:00PM  AC360:
*Revelations from the 2012 campaign - new book by authors of Game Change
*Benghazi investigation - CIA operatives to testify before house subcommittee
*Feds to investigate death of Kendrick Johnson
*Use of electronic devices on flights okayed by FAA
*360 News & Business Bulletin:  Susan Hendricks
*New drug tunnel discovered
*The RidicuList:  Boston Strong

10:00PM  AC360 Later:
*New book on 2012 campaign revelations
*Benghazi investigation
*Death penalty debate
*Born talented or skills learned?
*What's your story?

Happy Halloween from the Ladies at ATA ~

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Anderson Cooper 360 & AC360 Later Wednesday, 10/30/2013

8:00PM  AC360:

*New information on Kendrick Johnson's death (Georgia teen)

*ACA website problems - POTUS in Boston & Secy. Sebelius on Capitol Hill  

(Included a panel made up of CNN "Crossfire" anchors - not sure it this is CNN cross-promotion or lazy booking, but Newt Gingrich?  Really?)

*Little Boy and The Pope

*14 elderly patients in a California nursing home basically abandoned

*Big wave surfing controversy

*360 New & Business Bulletin:  Isha Sesay

10:00PM  AC360 Later:

*ACA website - defending Obamacare? 

*Is POTUS a "Hands Off" President?  

(So David Gergen showed up in studio tonight  to bash POTUS since Andrew Sullivan schooled him last night and he was not a happy camper.  Shall we take bets that Anderson told Sullivan to play nicer tonight?  Sullivan still got his points in but Cooper gave Gergen the first and last word.  Also, during the segment Anderson couldn't contain his contempt for President  Obama.  Apparently while giving lip service night after night about not having an opinion on Syria, but presenting both sides - cough, cough - he was really hoping that the US went to war with Syria from the comments he made tonight and the fact that he hasn't reported on sentence about the progress being made with the dismantling of Assad's chemical weapons - contrary to the numerous guests he had on AC360 saying it couldn't be done.  Guess the polio outbreak in Syria wasn't newsworthy for AC360 either, but debating big wave surfing records was?  And I had to laugh when Cooper mentioned hearing that POTUS often checked his cell phone during meetings.  This from the man who can be seen at the beginning of every break reaching for his cell phone before the camera has completely panned out.  Bless Charles Blow for pointing out that what some may view as "hand's off" is another person's "thinking man."   Gergen is so disgruntled that he's been shut out from the current White House administration that he's chosen to voice his hostilities on air and that makes me disappointed in a man I once admired.  Perhaps Cooper should ask Navarro why the Republican states have chosen not to run state health care exchanges but are part of the federal exchange.  Aren't they the party that always says the federal government needs to let the states run programs because they are more capable?)

*Most powerful list from Forbes  

*Is celebrity rehab real?

*What's your story?

KIND OF AN EXTRA:  

This isn't directly Anderson Cooper or AC360  related, but it's something that has been talked about in comments here - CNN's slanted reporting against the ACA.

Jon Stewart has been having some fun reporting on the woes of the ACA website on The Daily Show, but this segment from Monday night shows just how slanted the reporting from Wolf Blitzer and Tom Foreman has become.  As Jon pointed out, the minute Tom talked to someone that got on the site and liked what they saw, he jumped to the next person who talked about having issues with the site.  Guess it's not just Anderson and AC360 that don't want to report success stories of the ACA, but all of CNN?

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Anderson Cooper 360 & AC360 Later Tuesday, 10/29/2013

8:00PM  AC360:
*The Affordable Care Act (3 segments)
*Recent NSA "scandal"
*Racial profiling
*Possible new surfing record set
*360 News & Business Bulletin:  Isha Sesay
*The RidicuList

10:00PM  AC360 LATER:
*The Affordable Care Act (Which turned into a 4 against 1 POTUS bashing segment)
*NSA/spy games
*Should marijuana be legalized
*"Fat" letter
*What's your story?

For this blogger, the best part of AC360 Later was that Andrew Sullivan pushed back on David Gergen.  Didn't think I'd ever see that happen on AC360!

EXTRAS:

Robe Lowe tweeted about being in the halls of CNN today and Showbiztonight posted this photo of Lowe and AJ Hammer with Anderson's photo and the question, "@andersoncooper did they pull off the pose?"

From the Portland State Vanguard, an article on the 2013 Simon Benson Awards ~

Anderson Cooper being interviewed by Oregonian Editor Peter Bhatia.

Setting records for audience size and funds raised, the 14th annual Simon Benson Awards dinner on October 22nd proved to be the most successful in Portland State history.

With speeches from Award laureates, standout PSU students and CNN news anchor and journalist Anderson Cooper, the dinner inspired an especially celebratory atmosphere at the Oregon Convention Center.

Dubbed by emcee and PSU Geology professor Dr. Scott Burns as “Portland’s premier philanthropic event,” the event set new records for attendance and funds raised, with 1,832 attendees raising more than $1.2 million for the night—an unprecedented success that prompted PSU President Wim Wiewel to proclaim the 14th Awards dinner the “most successful Simon Benson awards ever.”

Award honorees for 2013 include long-time PSU donors Rick and Erika Miller, and PSU alum Bill Stoller. As the recipients for this year’s Simon Benson Award for Philanthropy, the Millers have donated gifts totaling $8 million toward the expansion of PSU’s School of Business.

Stoller, this year’s recipient of the Alumni Achievement Award, co-founded Express Employment Professionals and the Stoller Family Estate, the first LEED Gold-certified winery in North America.

Continuing a similar trend of increased gifts to PSU, the financial success of the Simon Benson Awards dinner has risen dramatically in recent years. Figures supplied by PSU indicate the dinner raised $285,000 in 2010, $465,000 in 2011, and $1 million in 2012. Proceeds from the evening go to the PSU Foundation and are utilized to fund scholarships, university programs, and faculty endeavors.

Monetary figures ultimately took a backseat to human generosity, with speakers’ stories providing inspiration and insight into more than financial matters.

The keynote speech by Anderson Cooper and his subsequent Q&A with Oregonian Editor Peter Bhatia drove home the evening’s message of generosity.

Amid bursts of jokes on topics ranging from politics to celebrity to his own self-image, Cooper related details from his early career, including the decision to go to “places that [were] dangerous” as a means of meeting “[little to] no competition” from other journalists.

While reporting from war-torn and impoverished countries in the 1990s and early 2000s, Cooper began to recognize the importance of helping people when the opportunity arose.

Acknowledging the importance of being a dispassionate observer, Cooper related a story about dropping his camera and aiding a badly injured boy during a riot in Haiti. His decision to help the boy was subsequently criticized by other journalists and media figures, but Cooper dismissed these criticisms.

“There are times when it’s important to just be a person and help someone,” Cooper said, later emphasizing his belief in “being a human being first [and a reporter second].”

His coverage of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 subsequently solidified Cooper’s beliefs in the importance of recognizing and honoring the humanity of every individual.

“The frailty of the heart should not be denied,” Cooper said, later adding a further realization of his journalistic drive: “I knew I couldn’t stop [suffering in the lives of others],” Cooper said, “but I could give testament to their lives.”

While Cooper provided the night with humanistic insight from expertise, it was Zanele Mutepfa who gave the evening an emotional and motivational center. A junior at PSU, Mutepfa is the founder and director of Empowering Sisterhood, a community-building initiative in PSU’s Diversity and Multicultural Student Services specifically designed for African and African-American women.

Delivering her speech, Mutepfa drew on her personal story to illuminate her sense of gratitude to PSU donors as she offered details on her early life in Zimbabwe, including the death of both her parents before she reached age 11 and her subsequent adoption by a “simply amazing” American family.

In 2009, Mutepfa returned to her village in Zimbabwe to mourn her parents.

“It was the first time in nine years that I was able to return to Africa,” Mutepfa said, “and feel the sun of my homeland hit my face and the people of my heart gaze into my eyes. I promised myself I would learn and embrace my culture, my family’s traditions and most importantly, the legacy my parents had left behind.”

After detailing the story of a woman committed to tending the village, Mutepfa spoke of an afternoon when she volunteered to watch the woman’s children.

“Immediately, six girls [swarmed] around me, singing and dancing,” Mutepfa recounted. “One of them pulled my arm and said, ‘Take me to America with you. I want to learn. I’m a smart girl, just like you.’”

As the girl began to recite poems and demonstrate her prowess in solving mathematical problems, Mutepfa found herself delightfully baffled by the child’s talents—and suddenly discovered her calling, too.

“My heart [filled] with pride, hope and a profound sense of responsibility,” Mutepfa said. “At that moment, I believed that it is my responsibility to get a college education and achieve a position that would allow me to grant opportunities for young women, worldwide.”

Mutepfa also praised PSU donors for helping her achieve success.

“My parents have the same heart for generosity as each of you in this room,” Mutepfa said. “Because of you, there are programs at PSU … which allowed me to found and serve as the director of Empowering Sisterhood. This program empowers women by providing mentoring resources and encourages community outreach.”

With a playful joke about “[working] for Big Bird” as an intern at Sesame Street Workshop in New York this past summer, Mutepfa outlined her ambitions for empowering women and children through educational media.

“I aspire to build my career in the media industry as an author and TV personality, serving as a catalyst for women and youth,” Mutepfa said. “I believe the media is the largest educational platform in the world.

“Therefore, if I can travel the world and broadcast stories [that] influence people globally, I would be fulfilling my ultimate purpose. I believe everyone has a story to tell; they just need someone to amplify them.”

And in a surprise moment, after a standing ovation from the audience that Mutepfa said made her “[feel] at home,” she received exactly the kind of amplification that she had championed moments before.

“Shortly after my speech,” Mutepfa said in an email to the Vanguard after the awards dinner, “Anderson Cooper [followed] me outside and offered his mentorship and guidance [to me]. He said, ‘There you are. I’m Anderson Cooper. So, you’re interested in the media?’”

“I must say,” Mutepfa said, “Mr. Cooper has kept his promise and we’ve stayed in [touch]. I feel honored and blessed.”

From CNN's press release on October 2013 ratings ~

CNN PROGRAMS CONTINUE RATINGS GAINS VS. A YEAR AGO; WHILE EVERY FXNC AND MSNBC WEEKDAY PROGRAM IS DOWN

AC 360 (8p): Is registering the largest growth vs. a year ago of CNN’s weekday primetime line-up (up +27% in total viewers and +19% among demo rating) and was the network’s top-rated weekday program in demo 25-54 (211k). FXNC and MSNBC continued to register notable declines at 8p, with O’Reilly Factor down -28% in total viewers and -41% in younger viewers 25-54 while MSNBC’s All in Chris Hayes was off 33%/46% compared to a year ago. AC 360 Later (10p) was up +6% in total viewers (528k vs. 497k) and up +5% (180k vs. 172k) in the demo vs. a year ago.

Last October cable news viewing was elevated due to 2012 presidential election coverage which included the four Presidential Commission Debates. As a result, all three cable news networks were down in the overall primetime (8-11p) and total day (6a-6a) dayparts vs. a year ago.


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Anderson Cooper 360, Monday 10/28/13

Wolf Blitzer in the AC360 anchor chair this Monday night.  An interview Cooper and the wife and brother of former Navy SEAL Cris Kyle was aired during the broadcast:
 

EXTRA:
There weren't many extras that came to our attention in the last few days except for another mention of the taxidermy piece that Anderson commissioned and that we originally blogged about back on October 7th.  This article was posted on the Albany Herald on Sunday:

LEESBURG — Around a year and a half ago, Leesburg taxidermist Grayson Roberts got a call from a customer and friend, Duncan Moore, who said he had an interesting prospect for him. Seems that Anderson Cooper, well-known reporter with CNN, was looking for a taxidermy job and maybe Roberts could do it for him.

“I was like, ‘Yeah, that would be pretty cool if it’s true,’” Roberts said. “But I got some buddies who are always playing jokes.”

Roberts knew, however, that Moore’s brother, Charlie Moore, is an executive producer for the CNN news show “Anderson Cooper 360.” Cooper wanted something “special” in the for his home. Moore said Cooper told Roberts and had asked him to recommend someone.

In a month or two, Roberts got a call from Cooper.

“That’s when I knew it was real,” Roberts said.

Cooper’s proposed project was to have two full-grown Georgia whitetail bucks locked in mortal combat — right there in his living room.

“He told me what he wanted,” Roberts said, “but he had one stipulation. He said, ‘I want them to be just like they walked into my living room and started fighting.”

Follow the link above to read the entire article. 

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From The ATA Archives: An Anderson Cooper 360 Special - It Helps To Laugh - Part 3

As we explained in our introductions the last couple of weeks, it's November 2006 and on Thursday, November 16th, Anderson was in Vegas to interview the hosts of Comedy Relief; Robin Williams, Billy Crystal and Whoopi Goldberg. (Comedy Relief stars in 2006 were Bill Maher, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, George Lopez, Sarah Silverman and Wayne Brady hosted the show's satellite location in New Orleans. Hurricane Katrina victims benefited from the fund raiser, which was broadcast live from Caesars Palace on that Saturday night.) Anderson's interview aired on Friday, November 17th as an AC360 Special. We will be posting the special in it's entirety on the next two or three Sundays. We felt with all the serious news of late, it would help us all to laugh! If you missed Part 1 you may view it by clicking here and Part 2 by clicking here.

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Anderson Cooper 360 Friday, 10/25/2013

* Brett Favre
* JonBenet Ramsey documents released
* U.S. spying on allies

360 NEWS & BUSINESS BULLETIN: Susan Hendricks

Friday's AC360 was shorten to 1/2 hour and an encore presentation of Blackfish was shown at 8:30

EXTRAS:

Announced today on Twitter Anderson will be hosting the Hobbit Fan Event on 11/4/13:

According to the press release: CNN anchor Anderson Cooper will host the entire event from New York, joined by Richard Armitage (Thorin Oakenshield) and Orlando Bloom (Legolas). Evangeline Lilly, who joins the cast as Elf warrior, Tauriel, will log on from Los Angeles. London will host other cast additions Lee Pace (who plays Elf King Thranduil), Luke Evans (Bard the Bowman) and Andy Serkis, who previously played Gollum. Director Peter Jackson will join from Wellington. Other select theaters around the world will also allow fans to watch the event.

 

 Occasional AC360's news reader and CNNi anchor Isha Sesay was a guest panelist on today's Wendy William's program.

Catching up with odds & ends we've collected ~

In DC last week:
From Twitter ~

From DCLives.com on Flickr ~

An AC360 Web Exclusive - Maajid Nawaz speaks out after death threat

Just before sitting down to speak with Anderson, former Muslim extremist turned author and politician Maajid Nawaz learned he was named directly in a death threat from the terror group al-Shabab. That's the same group blamed for the Nairobi mall massacre, along with a string of terror attacks around the world. In a wide ranging interview, Nawaz shares his journey of de-radicalization and discusses why the voices of moderate Muslims are needed to combat extremism and terrorism.

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Anderson Cooper 360 & AC360 Later Thursday, 10/24/2013

8:00PM  AC360:
*Updates on school shooting in Sparks, NV and teacher killed in Danvers, MA
*ACA website hearings on Capitol Hill today
*Maryland Attorney General regarding underage teens drinking alcohol at a party
*More on the new trial for Michael Skakel
*Boston Strong, Survivor Steven Byrne roots for the Red Soxs
*360 News  & Business Bulletin:  Martin Savidge

Anderson and Jeff Toobin talked about Dominick Dunn during tonight's segment on the Skakel trial.  Vanity Fair posted this photo today of Anderson and the late Dunn at a Vanity Fair Oscar Party ~

11:00PM AC360 SPECIAL:  
AC360 Later was replaced by a 1/2 hour Anderson Cooper Special -Inside Blackfish, Killers in Captivity.  Anderson, however, was not able to stay for the special and Martin Savidge filled in for him.

After our post went up last night, we learned why Anderson was MIA on AC360 last night ~

 And this afternoon he tweeted again ~

EXTRAS: 

Posted on Twitter today, a Throw Back Thursday  ~

@vdeanfla Vicki Dean " #tbt #Wilma was last hurricane to hit Southwest #Florida on this day in 2005. @andersoncooper on Marco Island"

A few more items from Anderson's Wonk of the Year Award from American University last Saturday:
From usnews.com ~

Anderson Cooper Studied Communism, Couldn't Find a Job

And people say journalism is a useless major. CNN's Anderson Cooper revealed to an audience of American University students on Saturday that he focused his studies at Yale on communism. "Because I kind of thought that was going to be around for awhile," the CNN host said, according to a release from American University. Unluckily for Cooper, his graduation year – 1989 – coincided with the Berlin Wall crashing down, leaving him to reconsider a career path. "I actually made a fake press pass, and I borrowed a camera and I decided to start going to wars by myself," Cooper said.

Fast forward to today and Cooper is at the top of his field. So much, in fact, that AU named him the university's Wonk of the Year. (The first Wonk of the Year award was doled out last year to former President Bill Clinton.)

Wolf Blitzer, Cooper's CNN colleague, filmed a special breaking news alert to introduce Cooper. "Anderson, as all of you know, is a real, real wonk," Blitzer told the crowd. "He knows the wonkish details of everything."

Cooper also knows how to entertain a college-age audience. "I realize why there are a lot of students here, because you're all trying to impress your parents that this is what you do every Saturday night in Washington, D.C.," Cooper said to laughs.

Video of why AC was chosen as "Wonk of the Year" ~

Video montage from Anderson's speech and the Q & A that followed ~

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Anderson Cooper 360 & AC360 Later Wednesday, 10/23/2013

Anderson Cooper at the Simon Benson Dinner at Portland State University in Portland Oregon last night. Since he was out of the anchor chair again tonight, we have mostly "extras" for you.  

8:00PM AC360: 
Sanjay Gupta was again in the anchor chair for a MIA Anderson Cooper.

I have some questions for CNN/AC360 and the Republicans concerning all the outrage over the computer glitches with the ACA website. Where was your outrage when then President W. Bush rolled out the Medicare Part D prescription drug program and it was a mess - people couldn't get their prescriptions?  Did you hold hearings, demand someone was fired and go on television bashing then President Bush?   Did CNN have one sided coverage night after night of the SNAFU?   I certainly don't remember slanted outrage coverage or political hearings - the problem was fixed and the program is now a success and well loved.   Oh, and by the way, President W. Bush didn't allocate any funding for the program so it's contributing to our National Debt, same as the two wars he put on the credit card.  Where was your outrage then?  Who was fired when no WMD's were found in Iraq?  Certainly Republicans and the media were outraged over that, weren't they?  Or is it all different now because President Obama is a Democrat and President W. Bush was a Republican?   (Sorry, that's the only segment of 360 that I watched and that was because Paul Begala was a guest.  If you want to know what other topics were covered, please click on the transcript link below. )

10:00PM AC360 Later:
The program originally promoted on the AC360 website didn't happen.  I guess no one else at CNN is capable of moderating a panel discussion program if Anderson has the night off.  The website now says "Next Time on AC360 Later" and the story that was to air tonight on AC360 didn't make it on the program.  Perhaps AC360 should spend some time fixing the "glitches" in their own web site?

PROGRAMMING NOTE: AC360 Later will air at 11:00pmET tomorrow night, after the CNN Film "Blackfish"
Blackfish will be followed by a live debate at 11:00 hosted by Anderson Cooper. The debate will feature Blackfish director Gabriela Cowperthwaite, Dr. Naomi Rose of the Animal Welfare Institute, Jack Hanna (yes, that Jack Hanna) and an aquarium representative. SeaWorld declined to participate.  

EXTRAS:

An interesting blog post from Cornelia Becker Seigneur after attending a Q&A with Anderson at Portland State University yesterday ~

Why I won’t ask Anderson Cooper to pose for a photo with me

Today, I had the chance to sit in the front row of a Q & A with respected news correspondent Anderson Cooper. The Q & A was part of a preview event Anderson IMG_4862 - Version 2was invited to participate in at IMG_4863 - Version 2Portland State University Native American Student and Community Center before he was to be whisked off to give the keynote speech at PSU’s Simon Benson awards banquet that honors alumni and philanthropists.

During the Q & A session, which I was able to attend thanks to my connections with the University of Oregon’s School of Journalism and Communications, Anderson shared the story of his long hours and hard work and late nights and then eventual rise from fledgling, solo reporter to where he is today, one of the most respected television news correspondents and anchors in our country. He anchors Anderson Cooper 360, reports for CBS’s 60 Minutes, and has been an ABC News correspondent and has reported for World News Tonight and 20/20. Over the years, he has reported from war-ravaged villages risking his life for the story he believes needs to be shared.

Anderson Cooper is one of those genuine, sincere, trusted, natural story tellers who asks the tough questions without being arrogant as some television personalities seem to be. In his conversational style, he’s someone with a lot of integrity and who is “sympathisch,” which is the German word I think of when I think of Anderson Cooper. Nice, is what my online dictionary says, but that is not it exactly. Anderson’s passion is for story and sharing the stories that matter, stories that make people think and feel and especially move to action.

He says he will always share these kinds of stories. He will not just report a story in order to beat the ratings race. He’s been reporting from forgotten places, or places that people have never even heard about, for years. He’s not about the ratings or the popularity or the number of twitter followers, though he’s got those–over four million to be exact.

Anderson said people ask to pose with him to get their picture taken, and he usually happily obliges. “Ninety-nine percent of the time. I am honored that someone cares and wants to get a photo with me.” They will then post on Twitter or their other favorite social media platforms.

One time, though, it was 2 a.m. at a bar when someone approached him for that “photo-op,” and he thought, Oh, it’s really late and if we start this, everyone in the bar will want photos. So, instead he said something like, “Hey, how about if we forgo the photo and just have a conversation. You can tell me about yourself, I’d love to hear about your family.”IMG_4854 - Version 2 The person who asked to pose in a photo with Anderson Cooper, however, was not interested in talking or sharing or conversation with the correspondent. Nope. He just wanted a photograph of them together. Perhaps, he wanted to post it on his Facebook page and Twitter feed or Instagram site. Bragging rights. It was sure to garner a bunch of “likes” and “wow” and “jealous” comments. “People today replace real life conversation with the image,” Anderson Cooper said. Indeed, people want to tweet it or post it or show it to their friends even if they have not really lived it.

As I wrote his quote down, the one about replacing real life conversation with the image, he looked directly at me and said, “See, what you’re doing, and have been doing much of this time,” and he smiled. I told him I just didn’t want to forget his quote; and yes, I was also getting some video for my one of my grad courses, and okay, I did tweet and post a photo of Anderson Cooper on Facebook. But, his point was so well taken.

When have we as a culture become so obsessed with technology and social media and connecting with everyone but who is right here with us. And, why do we feel this need to post every single moment of our lives for the entire world to see then say ‘wow’ to us for the entire world to see, while we are actually missing the very moment we are getting kudos for. We need to be reminded to be present with whom we are at the moment, with the situation we are in right now. Real-life rather than the image.

When I found out that I was one of the eight students in my U of O graduate program to get a seat for this “by invite” only event with Anderson Cooper, I had emailed the organizer, asking in as much of my “I’m not a brown-noser” voice as possible, if there would be an opportunity for photos with him afterward. The organizer replied that it was a possibility. However, after Anderson Cooper made that comment to me about real-life and the image, I was not about to ask to get a photo with him. I felt shallow for even thinking of it.

His statement really got me musing on presence and being present. The way the event turned out, there were no opportunities for photos with Anderson Cooper as he had to leave for the charity/awards night. But, given the opportunity, I’d like to say, that if I had to choose, that I’d rather spend time with a person rather than needing a photograph.

As a big social media person, Anderson Cooper reminded me of these, my own values indeed. The importance of being present, rather than preserving the moment for later. Presence. I’ll take the real-life over the image any day. Oh, okay, I like my photos with people as well, but we need to keep this in perspective for sure. I’ll take both, if I can have them.

Anderson was presented with a Pendleton blanket during the Q&A.  

And a blog post by Byron Beck contained the following photos and write up about Anderson at the dinner ~

ANDERSON COOPER IN PORTLAND: 

Portland State University's annual Simon Benson Dinner hosted quite a crowd on Tuesday night at the Oregon Convention Center. The crowd of 1,800-plus were there to support the good works of one of Oregon's largest university (and my alma mater), but I think many of them were also there to see the one and only Anderson Cooper speak about the issues of the day on what he called his "day off."

Mr. Cooper did not disappoint, especially during the Q&A moderated by Oregonian Editor Peter Bhatia. It was during this exchange that "Andy" shared how difficult it can be to be both a personality and a journalist, as well as a human being. In responding to the fact that he seems to cross over an invisible line that separates the person from the reporter, as he did during Katrina, Anderson said, "sometimes it's more important to be a person than a journalist."  (Please click on link to read the full article and see more photos from the event.)

An article in the American University student newspaper from Anderson's speech and Q&A at the Wonk of the Year event last Saturday night (theeagleonline.com) ~

Anderson Cooper accepts AU award, unsure if he is a 'wonk'

CNN anchor Anderson Cooper was honored with AU’s “Wonk of the Year” award in front of a massive crowd in Bender Arena on Oct. 19. The event was hosted by The Kennedy Political Union.

Cooper is the second recipient of this award, a year after former President Bill Clinton accepted it. The “Wonk of the Year” is intended to recognize “someone passionate, focused and engaged who uses their knowledge and influence to create meaningful change in the world,” according to the AU website.

AU defines the term “wonk” as someone who is smart, passionate and engaged, according to “Wonk of the Year” event moderator and School of Communication professor Jane Hall.

“I don’t really think of myself as a wonk,” Cooper said backstage prior to the event. “I am passionate and engaged. I don’t know how smart I am, but I appreciate the fact that people think I am.”
(Please click on the above link to read the full article.)

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Anderson Cooper AC360 & AC360 Later, Tuesday 10/22/13

If you've been paying attention to ATA in recent months then you know why Dr. Sanjay Gupta was in the AC360 anchor chair tonight. For those out of the loop Anderson Cooper was the guest speaker at Portland State University's 14th annual Simon Benson Awards Dinner. He started the event doing a Q & A with students and then it was off to the dinner and his keynote address.  There were plenty of social media mentions, here are just a few:

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