More Climber News, Senator Johnson Update, The Dems Plan, Warren Jeffs, And Living Long (Thursday's Show)

Hello everyone. We open tonight with a Dan Simon piece on the climbers stuck on Mount Hood. The rescue efforts are being hampered by the sucktastic weather, but there is some hope because they got another ping from one of their cell phones on Tuesday. I think this update is definitely warranted, but as the lead story? We then move on to a piece where CNN tries yet again to kill Rick Sanchez. They drop his butt in snow again, but this time he's high up and man is it windy! About 60 miles per hour to be exact, which is "downright painful." Then why are you standing out there? Look, sometimes we need reporters in dangerous places to get the story. Iraq comes to mind. But this is just stupid and not even fun to watch like the hurricanes. Rick tells us that hypothermia can make you strangely delusional. Well that would explain this piece. Following the bizarreness, we have one of the climber's brother live.

Transitioning now to what should have been the lead story: an update on Senator Johnson. He has undergone a sucessful surgery to remove blood from his brain, but there is little info on his prognosis. Some good news for the family is that he's responding to stimuli and some good news for us is that senators can still serve even if they're gravely ill. This leads us into a taped interview with Dr. Sanjay Gupta who explains exactly what happened to the senator. Johnson suffers from arteriovenous malformation (AVM) a congenital defect that results in a cluster of blood vessels that can become weak and then bleed into the brain. Usually people don't know they have it unless they have a brain scan or an incident such as this occurs. The symptoms are much like a stroke, the difference being is that a stroke involves the blockage of blood flow and AVM involves bleeding into the brain. The condition often warrants surgery, but sometimes it can also be treated with high beams of radiation. Sanjay is concerned because he believes the senator's bleed was in the left temporal area, which is the "highest price real estate" of the brain. You guys probably didn't want or need all that info, but sometimes I miss my psych classes. After this we learn it's safe to make a run for the border again. The great Taco Bell E Coli outbreak of 2006 is over.

Next up we have David Gergen live to discuss the democrat's leadership. They bring up the 100 hour plan and The Gerg points out it has a lot of stuff in it that is important to Americans, but the way forward in Iraq is noticeably absent. That's because there is no way forward in Iraq. Anderson points out that voter expectations are so high it must be tough for the democrats because if they don't bring change they'll be feeling the anger from voters. The Gerg thinks most of that anger will still be directed at Bush and maybe even McCain if he goes for this more troops thing. They then discuss increasing troops and The Gerg notes that while Bush seems to be all for it, the generals on the ground...aren't. He calls what Bush is doing a "doubling down bet." Oh Gerg. Please don't use that phrase. I already heard someone else use it today. It's like a memo went out or something. I think you're smart enough on your own without having to come across as beltway cool. Finally, The Gerg says that the democrats can't tackle Iraq as a silent party. But that's what they're good at. It's funny because it's true.

As we come back from commercial we're assaulted with a horrible noise. That awful singing can only come from one man. "No it's not Kenny G," Anderson tells us and that actually would not have been my first guess. Did I even know that Kenny G sings? I don't know. ANYway, the man making dogs howl and babies cry is none other than Warren Jeffs. Why 360, do you do this to us every time? You people have issues. The singing is because Jeffs plead not guilty today and Gary Tuchman was there to cover it. Unfortunately, the court video missed the actual plea, which I find amusing.

On now to another Gary Tuchman piece, this time on aging for the "How Far Would You Go?" series. I'm beginning to think this whole series is just one big exercise in slacking because all these pieces are repeats. I know it's a little sad that I know that, but it is what it is. In Gary's piece we meet Marge who is 102 and still very much kicking. She still drives and Gary even rode with her. Brave man, though he's probably too nice to turn her down. Honestly I can't say I'm on board with Marge still tooling around in her car, but watching the piece it's clear she is one awesome lady. Marge is a Seventh-Day Adventist, and because of their lifestyle, they tend to live longer than the average person. This kind of longevity can also be found in places in Japan and Italy and it's believed that diet, low stress, and happiness can go a long way in living longer. After the piece Anderson asks, "How cool is Marge?" Very cool.

Tom Foreman doing the headlines tonight and he tells us how a man with three foot arms reached into dolphins to pull out plastic. This was quite disturbing to Tom who thinks he will now have nightmares. Poor Tom must have had a bad experience with dolphins. Or plastic. Or a man with three foot arms. Anderson finds Tom's reaction hilarious and totally cracks up. The Shot tonight is a stray bullet that comes through the wall of a train station and almost hits a guy. Yikes. I think I liked the Rubik's cube better. We end the night with Anderson calling Soledad and Miles "the O'Brien twins." He must be in a good mood. There were a lot of little comments from him tonight. The show was just okay. I'm not reviewing the special second hour, but I did watch and thought it was pretty good. C+

Screecaps by stillife.

Is CNN trying to kill Rick? Will the dems live up to expectations? What did you think of the special on Christians?