Anderson Cooper 360 Review: Team Gupta Hits The Gulf For Some Keeping 'Em Honest

Update Wednesday: Hi guys. I decided not to blog tonight because I'm pissed off at CNN for firing Octavia Nasr, and I'm afraid I'll take it out on Team Gupta and the 360 kids. Once again, the network brass prove themselves to be trigger-happy cowards. Unless of course we're talking about an infraction that involves meth and a sex toy. Then it's apparently okay. Annnd...I better stop right there. On a brighter note, I hope you have been watching Rachel Maddow's coverage from Afghanistan. Truly impressive. I'll be back tomorrow.

Hi everyone. To my fellow Americans, I hope you had a nice holiday weekend. I know the 360 kids did a show on Monday (and it was a good one), but I decided to stay in vacation mode for one more day. It seems Anderson Cooper has ditched us for the week to take a well-deserved break (and hopefully a nap). But never fear, the doctor is here! Yes, everyone's favorite walking toothpaste commercial, otherwise known as Sanjay Gupta, is in the house. When it comes to playing second string for 360, I'm a pretty big Team Gupta fan. What are we waiting for--on to the bullet points:

So hey, that train-crossing bell? Yeah, it's back. And constant. But I did a good job at ignoring it tonight. I am so totally zen.

Another day, another revelation that BP lies. Now we learn that way back in March, the company filed papers saying that in the event of a leak they could skim and remove 491,721 barrels of oil from the Gulf. Per day. And apparently the feds were like, okey-dokey, we believe in you. So how'd that work out? Yeah, not so good. As of now, they've skimmed a TOTAL of 67,000 barrels. Awesome.

For discussion, we are actually Nungesser free tonight, and are instead joined by Julia Reed and Jefferson Parish Council President John Young. There's something about Julia that I find grating. Sorry. I guess I'm just mean. But I fully concede her points that Obama approved deepwater drilling, failed to clean up the Minerals Management Service, and made the ridiculous promise that 90 percent of the oil would be captured.

What I won't concede was the talk about the screw ups/slow cleanup somehow being "willful." Yeah, and the Bush administration blew up the levees. C'mon guys, let's keep things reality-based. Good on Sanjay for the push-back.

Young: "We need the American people to call their congressmen and their senators and put pressure on the Congress and the Senate, as well as the president of the United States." Aw, this just made me sad. Because unfortunately, the American people are moving on. All the more important for 360 to keep up what they're doing. Below is the first block of the show:

Randi Kaye updated her piece on the state of Louisiana requesting money from BP for mental health services. Still no happy ending on this one.

Sanjay Gupta talked further with Dr. Elmore Rigamer, medical director of Catholic Charities in New Orleans. Credit where credit is due, it sounds like BP did step up somewhat to provide money for services. I believe this is the first time I've typed something positive about them. The mental health situation is so sad. Chris Rose's piece Hell and Back comes to mind. Randi's report and the subsequent discussion are below:

The Joe Johns piece was pretty infuriating. I knew MMS was worthless and an industry lapdog, but I was hoping for more from the Fish and Wildlife Service. My mistake, obviously.

Chad Myers calling Sanjay "doctor" amused me. I know he is a doctor, but no one else continually calls him that. It's like Chad is allergic to his name or something.

Joe Johns had our headlines tonight and he brought us the very important news that Israeli soldiers are in a bit of trouble for getting down to Kesha while patrolling on the West Bank. Personally, I think their biggest offense is listening to the dreaded Kesha in the first place (and no, I will not put the stupid dollar sign in her name). What's hilarious is that Joe says he's watched it a dozen times and is apparently boggled as to its authenticity. Says Sanjay: "So you've watched it a dozen times. You see anything different each time?" Dr. Gupta, are you subtly mocking our Joe?

If that whole massive oil disaster isn't depressing enough for you, how about the news that the majority of Americans approve of Arizona's draconian immigration law? Awesome. But the Obama administration is suing the state, so there's that. Discussion with Jeffrey Toobin and Sheriff Paul Babeu of Pinal County is below. Given that it's not his topic of expertise, I was pretty impressed with Sanjay's moderating and follow ups here.

Richard Quest was, well, Richard Quest. There's not much more to say. All hail the queen.

Aside from the weird flustery end (what was going on there?), Sanjay did a really nice job tonight.

So, Lindsay Lohan is going to the clink, huh? Anyone else immediately think of the Paris Hilton show and cringe in horror? I've been watching the 360 kids long enough to see them hit some low moments, but I think that night was possibly their lowest ever. Glad to see Lindsay only got a headline...for now.