Week Four Of Live Coverage From Louisana Of The BP Oil Disaster

Hi everyone. Day 56 of the oil disaster, week four of the 360 kids live from the field. Their stick-to-it-ness is about to rival how long they stayed for Katrina or Israel. Good for them. Well, shall we do this thing? The bullet points await:

• Anderson Cooper: "Now, I know it seems like we have been talking about this oil for a long time. And maybe you're getting tired of hearing about it. And I understand that, but this oil is not keeping track of days." Nope, I'm good. But thank you for your concern. Seriously, this is 360/Anderson at their best. This is the kind of reporting that built their base of viewers. And the ratings are showing it too, with a pretty consistent solid second most nights they've been in the Gulf.
  

• Well, what a surprise, more evidence that BP sacrificed safety to save a quick buck. I swear, at this point all of the company's executives should have twirly mustaches because they are becoming cartoonishly evil.
  

• After taking a shortcut, one BP official actually wrote in an email, "Who cares? It's done. End of story. We will probably be fine." We'll probably be fine? That's like the horror movie equivalent of "I'll be right back." They're not going to be right back; they're going to get stabbed by the scary murderer! And now the Gulf is full of oil.

• Billy Nungesser and Douglas Brinkley stopped by for their nightly BP bashing. You can watch the entire first segment of the broadcast including the first part of their discussion below (quality is bad, but beggars can't be choosers):
  

• Ed Henry joined us (looking uncharacteristically sweaty) to talk about President Obama's speech tomorrow and his dwindling poll numbers. The prez will be coming at us from the Oval Office, which Ed implies is a Big Deal, or as the vice president might say, a Big F*cking Deal. As for those poll numbers, 71 percent of respondents think Obama hasn't been tough enough on BP. Wow, that's bad. Except for, not really. Hell, I still pretty much have his back on this and even I'm probably one of those 71 percenters. Let's face it, we humans are pretty childish. We want this thing fixed. Now! And since Obama's our leader and BP is the supposed fixer, obviously he's not being tough enough, right? Yeah, things are more complicated than that, people. I want Obama to be tough too. I want him to tie BP up, lift them by their ankles, and repeatedly dunk them in the oily Gulf until they cry. But as far as actual things Obama could be doing to them right now? Beats me. I suspect many of those 71 percenters aren't as down on the president as your average pundit might like you to believe. That being said, Obama is not in an enviable position--not by a long shot.
  

• You know how I've been having a coronary over our press's coronary about Obama's lack of coronary over the oil disaster? Enter Fareed Zakaria who is so far this week's winner of the Internets. So reasonable! And yet James Carville is all over my TeeVee screen. (I actually probably support more federal intervention on this than Zakaria does, but still, reasonableness stands.)
  

• Now the British are mad at us for being mad? What the hell? When did the stiff upper lip turn into a whine?
  

• Still. STILL. BP will not come on 360. Seriously Tony, you're just being a wuss at this point. As always, if you think BP needs to be interviewed by Anderson, show your support by joining the Facebook group. Below is the montage of our anchor repeatedly requesting an interview:

• I missed a lot of the interview with Drew Wheelan, but sounds like disturbing stuff.

• Tonight 360 began a new (yet strangely familiar) series called Culprits of the Collapse Catastrophe. Good for them, calling out the names. It'll be interesting to see how brave they get. Going after BP isn't exactly hard at this point. That's where they started; former CEO Lord John Browne to be exact. Yes, he's a frickin' lord. You can watch Randi Kaye's piece below:

• I'm guessing that Kevin Costner knows his stuff, yet I still can't help being disturbed that we are currently so far down the rabbit hole that talking to the guy from Waterworld seems like a good option. I wait with baited breath to find out how Mel Gibson would stop the oil.
  

• Finally tonight, Gary Tuchman talks to General Russel Honore, who apparently wants to declare World War III on the oil disaster. We must invade the ocean! The fish will greet us as liberators and present us with flowers and candy! Hm. I know the General kicked ass during Katrina and all and I really do appreciate the moxie, but I kinda don't get this. He wants to move troops from Iraq and Afghanistan to the Gulf? Okay, yay, but to do what? Clean blades of grass? Gary asks him if he can draw out a battle plan and dang if he doesn't do so right there. I found that fairly amusing, and not just because he makes Florida look like a penis (oh, like I'm the only one who noticed). So anyway, the General's plan is to "find the oil and kill it." Which, um, okay. He does know the oil is not alive, right? I could see me using this kind of rhetoric because I would be doing so ironically, but Honore doesn't seem like a guy who gets ironic, like, ever. But hell, maybe we do need his plan. I mean, the best thing we got going for us right now seems to be Kevin Costner, so there you go. You kill that oil, General! You kill it with fire!
  

• That'll do it. This bullet point contains a World Cup goal. Save it for Friday!

Day Three Of Anderson Cooper 360's Live Reporting From Haiti

Edit 1/18/10: For those searching, here is the video of Anderson Cooper rescuing the Haitian boy who was injured during looting chaos. Warning, the boy's face is covered in blood. Graphic.

Hi everyone. If Wednesday was a night of uncertainty and panic, tonight was a night of despair and confused outrage. I feel completely drained and I didn't even do anything but watch. Until today, I'm not sure I really felt this tragedy. That all changed earlier this evening when I heard Anaika Saint Louis had died. She was the young girl that Ivan Watson reported on all day yesterday. Trapped under rubble, but ultimately freed.

I knew that her injuries were pretty substantial, and Haiti's medical care is currently rudimentary at best, but I guess I had convinced myself that since she was finally rescued, she was going to be okay. Learning that she died was like a sucker-punch; learning her reported final words: "maman, ne me laisse pas mourir (Mother, don't let me die.)", was like having your heart ripped out. I completely understand Campbell Brown's emotional response (earlier tonight). Poor Ivan has had to tell this story over and over on air all day.



A "stupid death" was what Anderson Cooper called the little girl's passing. I suppose you could say that, given Haiti's poverty, they (and many other places in the world) have suffered many "stupid deaths" before the earthquake even hit, but it doesn't make it any less outrage-inducing. Yesterday Anaika Saint Louis was alive. Today she is dead, and it didn't have to be that way.

There will sadly be more "stupid deaths" tonight, perhaps in the make-shift hospital where Sanjay Gupta and crew are trying their hardest--even as I type this--to keep abandoned patients alive. At the top of the broadcast we learned that the United Nations had ordered the hospital's doctors and nurses to leave due to "security concerns," and they were subsequently complying. I don't know what the punishment would have been if they defied orders and stayed, but it's unfathomable to me that a doctor would just abandon their patients. Thank God for Sanjay and crew, though they can only do so much.

I'm not sure there are any words for Anderson's piece on the mass graves. All those people, treated like trash, gone forever. I don't want to think about how many of those pits there will end up being.

Gary Tuchman's piece on the orphans contained much adorableness (him sitting with all of them--aw!), but of course left a feeling of unease. Jamie and Ali McMutrie are amazing. I'm afraid for them though. What happens if things get really bad? I hope Ross Haskell and Jean Griffith are reunited with Alexander David soon. Unfortunately, unless laws are waived, I don't see any of those children being adopted in the near future. Right now I just fear for their safety, but a bureaucratic nightmare looms.



Chris Lawrence's piece pretty much confirmed my fears that things would soon start to get out of control. It's heartbreaking that the hungry threw away perfectly good food due to a stupid rumor.



There was a bit of good news tonight though. Thank God for the good news, and for people like Deiby Celestino, who threw caution to the wind to rescue a little girl.



Please see my prior post for links on how to help and other information. There will be a special edition of AC360 tomorrow night at 8pm ET. I'm assuming it will be live, and plan to have a post afterward. I'll be gone most of the day tomorrow, so no tweets from me. That'll do it.