Interview With Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, Another Gulf Rig Accident, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer Probably Shouldn't Be Governor, & A Pakistan Update

Hi everyone. I literally can't think of anything else to say, so...let's begin!

• Hurricane Earl has weakened, so yay for that, but it's still coming! I hope everyone is being safe. CNN has us covered with Chad Myers, Susan Candiotti, and a red slickered-up Rob Marciano on the case. Though hurricanes decidedly belong in the "bad things" category, I still can't help but be a little nostalgic for when Anderson Cooper used to frequently run around in them. Like an idiot. (I say this with love!) I'm telling you people, there are not many things more fun to watch than a sleep-deprived wind-whipped soaking-wet anchor. You get to about hour five and essentially what you have is a person operating at the level of drunk. On live television. Am I cruel to enjoy this? Perhaps. But I am most certainly not alone.

• You remember that controversy that involved Dallas Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson rewarding scholarship money to her relatives? (Nepotism-Gate?) Well, she's here! Er, on the phone anyway. But first Anderson gives us a recap of the situation. I actually like that they had him just tell us all the details rather than an explainer package.
  

• As for the interview itself, I really wish they could have gotten her on camera. I suppose some things are not meant to be. It starts off with Johnson trying to state that the rules of the scholarship were ambiguous. All well and good except, um, the 360 kids actually dug up the application and, hey, lookee there, rules being all clear and unambiguous.

• Johnson's refrain throughout the whole interview is that she didn't know she was doing anything wrong and now she's trying to correct her mistake. And as I listen, I very much want to give her the benefit of the doubt...but she is making it so hard!

• Anderson tries to bring home the point that obviously someone on her staff must have known about the rules because family members signed the forms, denying they were related.
  

• Johnson: "Anderson, I have acknowledged that I was negligent. I have acknowledged that I made a mistake. When it was called to my attention, I tried to correct it. I know you want you to make a scandal out of this, but I can't help you. All I can do is tell you the truth."

• Our anchor: "Well, I think you have done enough in terms of making it a scandal. I'm trying to figure out how it happened. And you say you take responsibility." I believe "oh, snap!" is the phrase you're looking for.

• I like how Anderson's mind is completely boggled that the congresswoman didn't know what she did was ethically wrong. You know he just wants to be all, "duh, lady!"
  

• You think things are bad now, well, then Johnson claims she doesn't know if the kids lied, because she doesn't know if they saw the forms. To which Anderson replies, um, they signed the forms.

• Johnson: "Well, you have seen more than I have, Anderson." Our anchor: "You haven't looked into this at all?" Johnson: "I don't have the forms, the records. The records are missing from my office." You have got to be kidding me. Don't worry, people. They looked for them!
  

• This woman knew she was on CNN, right? And she knew the topic she would be discussing? A member of your United States Congress, ladies and gentlemen! Weep now and get it over with.

• This interview was very well-done. Good research. Mostly nice job by Anderson, though as I said last night, he needs to be more careful not to talk over guests. Of course, I'll take Interrupty Anderson over Asleep-At-The-Wheel Anderson any day.

• I'm glad they're keeping up (sort of) with the BP oil disaster, but James Carville? Again?

• Then for a subsequent political discussion we have Carville and Erik Erikson. Oh! Do. Not. Want.
  

• So wow, Jan Brewer. Graduate of the School of Bachmann?
  

• I was glad to get another Pakistan report from Sanjay Gupta. That little girl is so cute. And the very end of the package? So much aw. Watch below:
  

• We had Isha Sesay back for the headlines and she continues to be a big hit. CNN is crazy if they don't try to incorporate her more onto the domestic side.
  

• The "shot" tonight is Double Rainbow Guy. I was a little excited to find out Anderson is a fan. They didn't play my favorite part though (or they talked over it), when the guy is like, "What does it mean?!" Yes, what does it mean?! A few years ago I saw a circular rainbow around the sun and I can't even imagine what this guy's reaction would have been. By the way, I found out about it by my mother calling me and saying,"go outside and look at the sun." Um, what?

• The show was pretty good, though too much Carville for my tastes (and any Erickson is too much Erickson). But hey, what are you going to do?
  

Nepotism In Congress, Glenn Beck Decides To Do His Weeping Outside For A Change, And An Update From Pakistan

Hi everyone. Since I neglected to blog Friday's show, I have deprived you of my overall thoughts on the 360 kids New Orleans coverage (you poor, poor things!). Obviously this cannot stand! Don't worry, the matter will be rectified, well, now. Honestly, I'm a little torn. As a hard news junkie, my first instinct is to deem it shallow. Soledad O'Brien had a good look at the trailer situation, but there really wasn't that much honesty-keeping going on.

As I stated before, the lack of focus on the levees was rather ridiculous. Harry Shearer implies (in the comments) that further coverage on this issue was bumped. If true, that's a pretty big shame. It means they shirked their journalistic integrity for good video.

Bumpings like that wouldn't bother me much if I had confidence they would address the subject later. I do not. One thing that's always driven me crazy about this show is that they seem incapable of covering stories like Katrina's aftermath unless they are physically broadcasting from the region. Highlighting charity work or the city's restaurant situation is absolutely warranted and it is news. In fact, it seems like the most appropriate coverage to air while actually in the region. I just wish it didn't feel like a competition for airtime: accountability versus human interest.

Speaking of human interest, if they were going that route, where were the follow-ups with the people they met five years ago? Herbert Gettridge? Ms. Connie? The Kearneys? I think Dr. Henderson might have been the only one we got. For what it's worth, Tom Foreman caught up with the Kearneys, though I'm not sure when exactly this aired. In this podcast, Anderson Cooper says he keeps in contact with them by texting. Even if 360 couldn't fit them in the show, it seems like the perfect subject to blog/tweet about, don't you think? C'mon Silver Fox, you can't possibly be too busy to type a 140 character update.

Anyway. Like I said, I'm torn. It was good coverage--much of it enjoyable to watch. But as always, I would have liked to see more investigation. So, those are my thoughts. Your mileage may vary. Now let's zip back to the present day and churn out a few bullet point, mmkay?

• Why won't Anderson operate the Magic Wall live? This dude will dodge bullets and swim with sharks, but he cowers in the face of multi-touch technology? Yeah, that sounds about right.

• Admittedly, I was a little suspicious as to the origin of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation story. Right wing meme? Doesn't sound like it. That wouldn't necessary make it a non story anyway--it would just make me wonder the context. It looks like Representative Eddie Johnson has committed some stone-cold nepotism--a very big no-no. Our anchor's interview with Muriel Cooper, the senior media manager for the CBC Foundation is below.
  

• Anderson: "If multiple kids who are relatives of members of the CBC are signing off on this, I mean, it's pretty gutsy for a kid to lie like that. I would assume that they must have asked their family member who is in the CBC or who works for the congresswoman, you know, what should I do here? I'm assuming somebody told them, yes, just go ahead and say you're not a family member." Though he's probably right, you know what they say about people who assume. Let's just stick with the facts.

• Overall I thought our anchor did a nice job with that interview.

• This is possibly neither here nor there, but the presence of Melanie Sloan instantly upped this story's newsy cred.
  

• While I am pondering as to why this nepotism thing was the lede, I'm glad it's getting the coverage--even if some think it's not a big deal. This kind of crap is the root of the beltway rot. Keep it in context and I'll be a happy camper.
  

• Anderson: "Two men on a United Airlines flight from Chicago taken into custody after landing in Amsterdam. Who they are, what they tried to get on board and what authorities say they believe they were up to is raising some pretty chilling questions." Gotta say, I am decidedly unchilled. Look, we know terrorists want to commit terror. If we've gotten to the point where we catch them during a dry run and not when they're lighting their crotches on fire, I say go us! We don't even know what happened yet (and NBC News actually implied this is probably nothing). I'm going to wait a couple days to pay this story mind--if it's even still a story.

• Did you hear? This weekend former shock jock Glenn Beck decided to get all Jesus-y up in D.C. and restore America's virginity. Or something like that. What is there to say about Beck, really? He's either a man who legitimately needs psychological help...or he's a soulless cynic who is a master at exploiting the fears of a group of people who rightly or wrongly feel disenfranchised. Pick your poison!
  

• I don't even understand this rally. Restoring America's honor? Where did it go? Who took it? (I have a guess!) Beck seems to think his little gathering is going to change history. You know, just like all those protesters totally stopped the Iraq war from happening. Oh, wait.
  

• Though I like Matt Taibbi, the debate between him and Dana Loesch was fairly irrelevant. If you like Beck, you will think Dana destroyed Matt. If you don't, flip it around. You get the picture. FYI, Loesch is from St. Louis. So proud!

• I can't believe that they spent the whole first part of that segment arguing about whether or not the rally was political and no one mentioned that the whole thing was organized through a charity and therefore they had to be mindful of their tax exempt status. Also, as Matt said, of course it was political.

• Taibbi: "This is like one of those things when you see your crazy uncle taking his pants off at Thanksgiving. You don't know whether to laugh or cry. It's so incredibly offensive, this whole business." Ha! This is pretty much where I am right now with politics. It's like, oh look, more people being crazy.
  

• Anderson: "Dana, I should just point out, just for accuracy's sake, Dr. Alveda King, she's not an actual doctor. It's an honorary degree." It's kind of funny that after all that, this is what he decides to call out. But ok, I'll take it. Annnnnd cue the tea party hysterics. Segment below:

• Claustrophobics leave the room. Gary Tuchman's piece is scary. Those poor Chilean miners. I cannot imagine being down there for months. They're basically entombed in rock.

• As for the reenactment, with these kind of things I'm always conscious of the fact that it's TV. The leader guy's all, "I'll be the last one," and I'm like, um, yeah, there's a camera person behind you. Poor camera person--never counted. Heh.
  

• Sanjay Gupta continues to bring us great reporting from Pakistan. Horrible situation. His piece is below:

• That'll do it. Show wasn't bad.
  

In Katrina's Wake: Live From New Orleans

Hi everyone. Did you miss me? For those of you wondering just where your blogger has been, this is what happened: the world done gone crazy!! Terror babies! Obama's religion! Muslims who want to exercise their constitutionally protected freedom of religion! Clutch. Your. Pearls. People.

Um, yeah.

So I was all, EFF THAT! You know who also made his escape from Crazy Town? Anderson Cooper, that's who. But tonight the Silver Fox has resumed his rightful place on our television screens. And oh! It's called sunscreen, son. Well, at least I guess this means he had some vacay fun. I swear, he doesn't wear a helmet when biking, doesn't satisfactorily protect against UV rays--what are we going to do with this anchor?! Next we'll probably hear about him doing something really crazy, like swimming with sharks without a cage. Oh, wait.

With the five year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina looming, the 360 kids have made their way down to New Orleans for some follow up coverage. Tonight's broadcast comes at us from George Washington Carver High, where residents hope to build a so-called Ninth Ward Field of Dreams--a community track and football field. I think this is a good place to get the bullet points rolling (oh yes, they're back!). Away we go:

• Whoops. An apparently unforeseen kink in the new graphics package is that our anchor's face gets covered if he moves an inch. And he's a mover!

• The look back at Hurricane Katrina was very well-done. The majority of those clips I remember like they were yesterday. Anderson Cooper rightly got a lot of attention for his reporting, but I cannot put into words the impact of Jeanne Meserve's report that aired on NewsNight that Monday night. I will never forget that. I'll be doing my own retrospective in blog form at some point, but I'm not sure exactly when. Look back! The CNN segment is below:

• If we're being honest here, going from that great segment to discussion with James Carville and Julia Reed was a pretty big letdown. I'm done with the professional talkers. I want to see reporting and I want to hear from everyday people. Kthxbai.

• Washboard Chaz! But I forgot to look and see if he still has his little bell. Thinking about Anderson ringing it still makes me laugh. One of the last times Chaz was on, I was chatting with other viewers and we were placing bets regarding when in the broadcast our anchor would finally ring that bell. You could just tell he wanted to soo bad. Because all men are 12 inside. If I recall, Anderson held strong until the very end. Hey man, a bell must be rung.

• Gary Tuchman had a piece on Sarah Palin and I was like, why Gary, why?! It's okay, I still love you. Palin is a job hazard.
  

• Then we had political discussion with Ed Rollins and James Carville. Yay? Actually, if we must have the pundit from the right and pundit from the left formula, can we lock in Ed here? So. Much. Better. Than. Erickson.

• Carville on why he hopes Palin will run in 2010: "...it's just there's nobody more compelling than she is in politics. I mean, forget the politics of it. But she's a force. And she keeps doing it. And she's gutsy." Annnnd James perfectly illustrates why I hate punditry as a whole and usually dislike him specifically. She's compelling! She's gutsy! Um, policy stands? Bueller? I'm sure he also wants her to run because he thinks she'll lose, but c'mon.

• Ed believes Palin will run and added that, "I think, Anderson, you and I will spend our time at New York dinner parties arguing with the Manhattanites." I only quote this because as soon as Ed said it I knew what was coming. Ruh-roh! Anderson Cooper is not going to like you messing with his carefully maintained 'everyman' reputation. Cue our anchor: "I can't tell you the last time I was actually invited to a dinner party. But I digress." Oh Silver Fox. So predictable. We believe you're down to earth...but we also know you're a famous millionaire descended from what is basically American royalty. So there's that. But okay, no dinner parties for you. Embrace your dichotomy, Anderson!

• Sanjay Gupta is reporting from Pakistan on the horrible flooding and he checked in from Islamabad tonight. Kudos to CNN for allowing him to go. He's still traveling, so I'm hoping that we'll be getting a lot more coverage later. A sobering tweet from him: "The UN: Pakistan flood destruction greater than the 04 tsunami, 05 Pakistan quake and Haiti quake combined."

• I'm glad Amber Lyon's report on Craigslist got results (officials from 17 states are demanding the adult services section be taken down), but I kinda wish we didn't have to see it again. I know, I know, it's new to many.
  

• Tom Foreman took a (very short) look at the Superdome then and now:

• Anderson had a report in which he talked with Brian Bordainick, the executive director of Ninth Ward Field of Dreams. At only 24-years-old he looks like he himself could be a student at that high school. He explained to Anderson why he thinks the sports fields will lower the crime rate and improve lives.
  

• After the piece, Brian and principal Lee Green joined Anderson live. They've raised $1.4 million for their project, but have $250,000 to go. To help them meet that goal, check out 9thwardfieldofdreams.com.

• That'll do it. The show was pretty good. I would have liked more from New Orleans, but it's only the first day.
  

• This bullet point contains some NOLA food. The CNNers keep tweeting their meals and it's making me jealous. And hungry.
  

Missionaries Released, Charlie Crist Labeled A RINO, Taliban Talk, Jean-Bertrand Aristide Profile, And Troll Foot

Hi everyone. Tonight we have Wolf Blitzer holding down the fort for Anderson Cooper. The Silver Fox should know he is not allowed to suddenly be gone in the middle of the week. It's too confusing. Now I'm going to keep thinking it's Friday, and it is sadly not Friday. Anyway, BREAKING NEWS!!! Oh yeah, we got the big graphic and sound effect and everything.

So what's the what? Eight of those ten American missionaries are being released from Haiti. Okay, once again, that is not breaking news. Yes, it's news, but we learned about it hours ago. It's not breaking anymore, it's broken. Why does CNN insist on making that graphic irrelevant? But back to that news, we've got David McKenzie at the Port-au-Prince airport where the Americans were just flown out by the military.

Then we go to John Vause for more details, and he basically recaps everything we already know. Plus, we learn that while eight of the missionaries were allowed to leave after promising they'd return if asked, Laura Silsby and Charisa Coulter are still in custody because the judge is trying to determine if there was criminal intent. I'm glad the eight got to leave. I hope the other two are held accountable if they were in fact up to something shady, which it kinda sounds like they were.

Transitioning now to a Randi Kaye piece on Charlie Crist and how he's just been slapped with the dreaded RINO label (republican in name only). Long story short? Once again, someone from the Far Right (in this case, Marco Rubio) has come out of nowhere to leave a moderate Republican shaking in their boots. Both men are battling it out for Florida's senate seat.

Rubio is dazzling the tea party set with his Real American upbringing and his ability to speak in slogans. But don't be fooled. While I'm sure he's hoping to paint himself as a young-in coming to shakeup the system, in reality he's grabbing points by bashing the stimulus, all the while admitting he would have taken the money as well. Ah, hypocrisy. Yep, he's a Republican.

Now, to make your eyes bleed, we have the Wolfbot discussing this stuff with John Avlon. Ugh. At some point the election is going to heat up enough that I'll be forced to pay attention to segments like this one so I can counteract all the BS, but thank God that day is not today. I actually flipped over to MSNBC to see what Keith had going on. Gearing up for a special comment. How original. Le sigh.

On now to David Gergen giving us some of his insider-y insiderness related to what's going on with the fight against the Taliban. Turns out? The administration is rather optimistic. Okay, I don't want to dismiss the Gerg's perspective, but how do we know he's not being manipulated to tell us what the administration wants us to hear? Doesn't CNN have boots on the ground in the region to give us more of an independent perspective? At least to accompany what the Gerg is saying? Can we get a little Michael Ware up in here, yo?

Next up, we have a Randi Kaye piece that explores Jean-Bertrand Aristide's role in turning Haiti into what it is today. He was the first democratically-elected president and had a lot of nice dreams for the country, but critics say he stole money and armed street thugs to battle political opponents. Aristide's lawyer claims the charges are all just a disinformation campaign.

Due to epic laziness tonight, that's as in-depth as I'm going with this piece. It was pretty thorough, though I would quibble that there should have been more elaboration regarding the 2004 coup. This is what Randi's voice over says: "President George W. Bush's administration supplied the plane to hustle Aristide out of his country in the middle of the night. He's been living in exile and teaching in South Africa ever since." Aristide actually accused the U.S. of being behind his ousting, a charge the U.S. denied.

Tom Foreman has a piece on Amy Bishop, but I never really followed this story closely in the first place, so pass.

Then we're on to John Zarrella staking out the Miami airport, waiting for the missionaries. Duude. I guess this is going to be, like, a thing now. I should have realized this before. I mean, is there anyone out there who really needs to see or hear from these people as soon as they step off the plane? I'm sure we can all wait for the big Larry King interview (oh, you know it's coming!). But this is the cable news game...and why so many people hate it.

The "shot" tonight is troll foot! This probably requires a little bit of explanation, huh? Apparently, Danny DeVito has been taking pictures of his bare foot all over the place, like it's a friggin' traveling gnome. Remember how I said Blitzer was holding down the fort for our anchor? Well, epic fail! Yes, that would be the Silver Fox's office, obviously unguarded by the Wolfbot.

"This is the kind of thing that goes on when you're away," says our guest anchor to the absent Anderson, who is no doubt currently grimacing in horror at the toes perilously close to his keyboard. Or not. Didn't they do a report years back where they found out that Anderson's office was crazy disgusting when it comes to germs? Oh, also? DeVito did his anchor desk too. Strangely enough, all this just makes me want to watch It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

You've might have already guessed, but I found the show tonight to be just meh. I'll admit, I was fairly bored. Maybe it was partly me. I really hope they're not going to go crazy with this missionary thing now, especially when it seems to be in place of other Haiti news. Isn't that exactly what Anderson spoke out against? Obviously we all want the facts reported, but no more staking out airports, mmkay? That'll do it.

Homegrown Terror, Pakistan Arrest, Interview With Senator Ben Nelson, And The Plight Of The Polar Bears

Hi everybody. Hide the kiddies, because apparently it's homegrown terror night. This is where 360 takes the opportunity to freak us all the hell out. And they're employing their technology to do it. Anderson Cooper takes us to the Big Wall, where we find a map of the United States that is filled with terror-related doings. Kinda like when Ali Velshi used to show us the Dow everyday. Except, instead of viewing our crashing economy, it's people who potentially want to kill us. So there's that.

Our anchor takes us through a whole mess of information about plots and arrests that I don't have time to recap. Actually, I'm wondering if they lost people here, because there's no way anyone can take that all in at the speed it's coming. I don't really have a solution to that. I certainly would never advocate dumbing anything down. Just a ponderance.

Anyway, this is the lede tonight because five Americans--possibly from Virginia--were just arrested in Pakistan. A Randi Kaye piece has more about their terrorist intents, but a lot of this still isn't completely confirmed.

From here we go to Peter Bergen for discussion. The rub: homegrown terrorism is on the rise (Peter doesn't know why). BUT it's also way harder to pull off. BUT it's way hard to catch people with clean track records. So...there you go. Sleep tight, I guess.

Peter then surprises me by stating that he believes it is untrue that there have been no successful terrorist acts on American soil since 9-11. He gives the attack on an El- Al counter at LAX and the guy who shot up the Little Rock recruiting center as examples (Hassan is mentioned as well, though there's still so much we don't know).

I don't really go for his reasoning here. Shouldn't there be a difference between someone connected to terrorism who commits an act out of an agenda, and someone who's mentally unstable and just latches onto radical Islam for whatever reason? I guess I just don't see why we would treat the unstable "lone wolves" any differently than the unstable guy who shot up Virginia Tech. Obviously they are still extremely dangerous, but terrorists?

That being said, the threat of homegrown terrorism is very real. Joining us to discuss how it can be combated, is Texas Muslim leader Mohamed Elibiary. It seems jihad is the new cool for some Muslim youth. Mohamed likens it to kids getting caught up in gangs. Ironically, most of these kids don't even understand Islam or the causes being fought. Anderson asks what can be done and it's noted that our government never adopted a counter-radicalization policy. So hey, let's do that.

Your moment of randomness: During the "360 Bulletin" we learn there's a boycott of some trashy show called Jersey Shore. The Silver Fox tries to claim he hasn't seen it and has no plans to ever do so. "That is what he says on TV," says Erica Hill. "No, it's true," protests our anchor. Oh, honey. I'm sorry, but we sooo don't believe you. Adorable liar.

Transitioning now to the topic of health care reform. Yesterday, we learned that Senator Ben Nelson's abortion amendment was struck down, and ultimately it will come down to him, Joe Lieberman, and Olympia Snowe as to whether the whole bill passes. Next, we have an interview with Nelson himself. The senator proclaims the loss of his amendment a deal breaker, unless similar language from Stupak survives in the final bill. Anderson brings up the Hyde Amendment, which already ensures federal money will not fund abortions, but Nelson isn't buying it.

The public option is brought up as well and Nelson goes on about buying coverage across state lines, but c'mon. How do you keep insurance companies honest without a public option? Anderson wonders if he's worried about being labeled the Democrat who killed health care reform. The senator brushes it off, stating there still might be reconciliation, so he won't be blamed and blah blah. Eh, I'm actually hating on you quite a lot right now and you haven't done anything official yet. You're going to be reviled.

On now to discussion with Dana Bash, Joe Johns, and David Gergen. There's still no done deal by any means, so this is a lot of speculation. Very informed speculation though, so that's not a criticism. This segment makes me want to pull my hair out in frustration. No reflection on 360, just, why does our government have to be so stupid? Le sigh.

Transitioning now to Al Gore talking on American Morning about the hacked climate emails. Then we once again get a mention of Sarah Palin's take on the whole controversy, specifically polar bears. I don't know why. Wait, actually, yes I do. Segue! Cue the Planet in Peril piece on polar bears! We see Jeff Corwin and scientist Steve Anstrep track the animals. The species is now experiencing nutritional stress due to the melting of the ice, which has resulted in difficultly hunting seals. So, basically a big bummer. Check out my post from yesterday for lots of Planet in Peril related links.

The "shot" tonight is the year in auto-tune. Oh yes. This would more accurately be described as the ridiculousness of the year in auto-tune. Sully soo did not belong. Anyway, the 360 kids wrap things up with the oft-played "Who the hell is Wolf?" clip. Because, hey, why not?

The show wasn't bad. Nice and newsy. I'm wondering if they need to make the homegrown terrorism stuff more accessible somehow. It's definitely an important story. Thoughts?

H1N1 Vaccine Debate, Hate Crimes Bill To Include Sexual Orientation, (Very Short) Pervez Musharraf Interview, And Immigration Limbo

Hi everyone. Well, this is getting ridiculous. Last night my Internet went down, and then tonight I not only had satellite problems, but Blogger decided to crash and burn for a while. Obviously the technology Gods are trying to tell me something. So anyway, it is now very late, but the show was good and I really wanted to blog. I think you know what that means: one super-abbreviated post coming up!

We kick things off with the news that New York has suspended its mandatory swine flu shot order for health care workers. Tom Foreman joins us with more, stating that though some objected to the mandatory-ness, officials say things were shut down mostly because there's not enough shots anyway.

Next up, we have discussion with Dr. Jorge Rodriguez and Registered Nurse Lorna Patterson, who actually sued in order to not have to receive the shot. She doesn't trust the vaccine, while Jorge thinks her view sends a bad message. I'm pretty much in the middle here, but it was hard to know how to take the discussion given we have no idea how many health care professionals hold Lorna's view. Is she the rare exception or the voice of a substantial percentage? Just because you have two views, doesn't make them equal.

On now to the excellent news that the Senate has voted to add sexual orientation to hate crimes protection and Obama has pledged to sign the provision into law. About time! This segues us into a Dana Bash piece, in which we meet Todd Metrokin, a gay man who was brutally beaten for nothing more than being gay. This will now be a federal offense. Not everyone is cheering, however. Many Republican are unhappy (surprise, surprise) because they think the legislation will be like charging people for thought crimes. Okay, someone smashed their foot on Todd Metrokin's face after calling him a gay slur. Yes, they may have thought about it first. But then they DID IT. That's a crime.

For discussion of this we're joined by one of my favs, Dan Savage, and Corey Johnson, Political Director of Towleroad.com (a site with homosexual tendencies-heh). Whoa, whoa, WAIT! Did we just get sucked into some alternate cable news universe where we're not forced to endure stupid fake "balance" regarding every discussion? Two gay guests and no representative from an organization with a family friendly-sounding name with a viewpoint bordering on homophobic? This pretty much never happens.

But anyway, alternate universe is awesome! We get a nice intelligent conversation about how, yes, the hate crimes addition is a "yay" moment, BUT Obama still has a long way to go when it comes to actually addressing issues important to the gay community (and the rest of us who support human rights). They also talk a bit about how the Obama situation has fostered a divide between gay rights supporters. And aw, it's kinda cute how they seem excited to actually be agreeing with each other. Like I said before, two gay guests at the same time without a Tony Perkins-like foe doesn't happen very often. I also had to slightly chuckle over Dan pointing out that the new legislation is in fact not magical. Gay people aren't suddenly invincible. You gotta be bitten by a radioactive spider or something for that.

Transitioning now to the "BIG 360 INTERVIEW" with Pervez Musharraf. How do I know it's "big"? Well, because the former president of Pakistan and Anderson Cooper are sitting at the "map table" in front of a graphic that looks like it's about to swallow them both up. Subtle, and not at all distracting. There's talk of Mullah Omar and Musharraf tries to deny he's in Quetta, but Anderson's not having any of that and presses. Then they move on to the subject of US aid. After that they play us a clip of Cheney, who has apparently slithered out of his lair again to criticize Obama. Stop giving him airtime!

And...then suddenly we're talking to Michael Ware and Peter Bergen, so apparently interview over. Well, that was shockingly short. Later, Anderson tells us that there's an extended interview online and I was floored to find a discussion that is almost 30 minutes long! Honestly, I'm not sure what to say about this, or if I would do things differently. The full interview is good, but from a strictly TV perspective, Musharraf doesn't have the same magnetism that, say, Michael Ware does to get the viewer through a long complicated discussion. Airing the whole thing probably would have been a ratings killer.

But why pimp out the interview so much if you're only going to show a few minutes? I think Anderson should have at least stressed how much more was left online because I was expecting maybe an extra five minutes at most--not an extra twenty five. As for Michael and Peter, I'm definitely not complaining about their sudden appearance. Always love them. They hit on the subject of troops for Afghanistan and then move on to discussing some of Pakistan's issues. A good talk.

The final piece of the night is from Soledad O'Brien on the immigration limbo that some children find themselves in when they cross the border on their own or have a parent go to jail. The kids are detained in shelters. It must be terrifying for them. After Soledad's piece, Erica Hill talks with former Senator Mel Martinez, who came over legally from Cuba, but also initially spent some time in a Boys Town shelter. They discuss immigration.

That'll about do it. Good show.