North Korea Tentative Deal, The Iran/Iraq Connection, Lots Of Snow, Anna Nicole, A Killer Marine, And Niger Delta Update (Monday's First Hour)

Hi guys! Well we're missing Anderson tonight and I know some of you probably aren't very happy about that, BUT we don't start with Anna Nicole Smith news. So I say score! In fact, John Roberts informs us that there might be good news on one of the foreign fronts. Good news? I don't even know what to do with that. Good news? Does not compute. It seems we might actually have a tentative deal with North Korea. In case your brain has turned to mush from too much diaper-wearing astronaut and Anna Nicole coverage, North Korea spent fourth of July setting off something a little more powerful than firecrackers. Made us a little nervous.

We begin with a taped interview John did with presidential hopeful and New Mexico governor Bill Richardson, who worked on the last deal with North Korea back in 1994. Bill thinks this new deal is a very good first step. John points out that John Bolten has said it's a terrible deal and makes the Bush Administration look weak. Well, I think Bolten is a terrible deal and makes the US look crazy, so point? John Bolten is no longer relevant. Bill explains that under this deal North Korea will not be able to harvest new plutonium and again, it's a good first step. John asks what kind of message this deal sends to Iran. Bill thinks it says that if you negotiate you could get a decent deal. Diplomacy how we miss you.

On now to a John Roberts piece on the Iran factor in Iraq. Exactly one year ago was the bombing of the golden mosque in Samarra. Hmm, is 90 dead the proper gift for the first anniversary of a civil war? Because that's what Iraq got today. On Sunday the US released photos that were provided as evidence to show that Iran was meddling in Iraq's affairs. Iran of course denies this. The thing is, these weapons were found years ago, so the question is why they're making a big deal out of them now. Reasons related to domestic issues in Iraq and other issues are given, but they're drown out by the war drums I hear beating.

To discuss this we're joined by Michael Ware and Christiane Amanpour, my two favorite international reporters. Michael gives us the interesting information that the briefing in which the pictures were released was not allowed to be taped and none of the officials were identified by name. Michael says they did it like that because otherwise they wouldn't be able to show them at all due to the sensitive nature or whatever. However, I think they're looking at all the crap coming out every day at the Libby trial and deciding to cover their butts a little better this go around. Christiane tells us that the Iranians are strongly denying all involvement in Iraq, but behind the scenes they're acknowledging that it's time to start engaging with the US. Michael thinks there is nothing that can be done to stop cross border traffic of explosives. Well, bummer. Christiane thinks that to even try to stop it there will first need to be engagement between the US and Iran. And we all know Bush is down with that. Hey, where did Bill Richardson go? Maybe we can get him on this one too.

Transitioning now to snow! Lots and lots of snow! Gary Tuchman is in Redfield, New York where 141 inches have fallen since Febraury 3. Good Lord! Plus it's five below outside. Okay, remind me to never move to Redfield. The drifts are unbelievable. The snow is up to the roofs of the houses and covers all the windows. I would feel like I was suffocating. Yet the locals are all "eh, whatever." They even had school. Unbelievable. Gary seems to be having fun. He stands up on the roof of the house and then just frickin walks down the snow. Ha! Craziness. We're onto headlines now and...ERICA'S BACK! But Anderson's not here to welcome her. That's just not right man. Not right.

Next up we have the latest on the Anna Nicole saga. Oh yay! Rusty Dornin is live in the Bahamas and she's showing us the local paper. I could probably explain to you why this is all important if I had actually been paying attention, but sorry, I wasn't. But whatever's going on I'm sure it's scandalous. However, I did catch the part about finding Slim Fast and Methadone in her refrigerator. Slim Fast! Gasp. Perhaps someone wanted to take down the Trim Spa empire. Wait, is there an empire? Anyway, forget Howard Stern, my money's on Slim Fast as the killer. You know, if there actually is a killer. After this we chat with Court TV's Lisa Bloom, but all she says is, "blah blah blah blah blah." Or maybe that's just what I heard. The coverage tonight was 10 minutes. There's none in the second hour, so I guess that's actually pretty good.

On now to a Jason Carroll piece on Trent Thomas, a marine charged with murdering an innocent Iraqi. Trent grew up on the hard knock streets of East St. Louis, but he was a good church going boy who wanted to serve his country. One day in Iraq he and his squad were looking for an insurgent, but couldn't find him. But they did find an innocent father of 11 and Trent proceeded to shoot him to death. What the hell, you ask? Trent tells us he did it to send a message to others. Well, that's mighty Christian of you. Trent says that he now knows what he did was wrong, but the battle turned him into a different person. He compares himself to a battered wife that suddenly snaps. Okay, I understand that these guys are going through stuff I can't even dream of, but cold blooded murder? And the way he's telling this story tells me that he's either not sorry at all or is more mentally messed up that he's letting on to himself. Oh, but there's a twist. After all of this he changes his story and says that actually he was ordered to kill the man. Hmm. Yeah, there's something going on here. A confusing situation with so many ruined lives.

Finally tonight we have an update on Jeff Koinange's piece on the Niger Delta. Nigeria is not happy and they're even claiming that CNN paid to set up the whole Filipino hostages thing. Oh, c'mon! Jeff responds to these charges in a taped interview that John did with him earlier. He said they did not pay. The only thing they paid for was the speedboat and a "fixer" which is a local journalist that showed them around and translated. Jeff notes that they had people shooting over their heads. "We were hitting the decks, screaming for our lives. How could we have stage managed that?" I don't know Jeff, but this is the most worked up I've ever seen you. Don't mess with Jeff! John wants to know what this is all about and Jeff thinks they hit a raw nerve in exposing Nigeria's chronic problems to the world. Jeff notes it's easy to shoot the messenger. Yes it is. I believe the Bush Administration wrote the book on that. Okay, guys. That's it for the hour. The show actually wasn't too bad tonight. B+

Do you think we'll go to war with Iran? Do you have snow? What's your take on Trent Thomas?

Also, thanks to everyone who donated to help Herbert Gettridge. A total of $640 was collected and my friend spoke with him today to inform him he was getting a gift card from "constant 360 viewers," to which he replied, "bless your sweet heart."