Anderson Cooper 360 Returns To Haiti, Update On The American Missionaries, Sarah Palin Keynotes Tea Party Convention, & Who Dat?!

Hi everyone. Sorry about the lack of Friday review. Sometimes you feel like blogging; other times you feel like vegging. But it's a new week, and we find ourselves back in Haiti. I'm not sure if technically one is allowed to be proud of people they've never met, but if it is, I am totally proud of Team 360 right now. I knew they would return to the country. There was never any doubt in my mind (and it should be noted that CNN as an organization never left). But it's still nice to witness the dedication.

Anderson Cooper begins by addressing the question of why he returned, a question he also explored in a blog post. He explains that the people on the ground aren't asking him why he returned, but rather why he ever left. I'm guessing he probably feels guilty about that. He shouldn't. I don't see any other major anchor in the country. Last week, Brian Williams was on The Daily Show talking about the three days he spent in Haiti. Now, I love me some BriWi, but three days? That's your classic parachute in, do the disaster tour, sayonara.

As for the week break, quite frankly CNN would be stupid to let any of their people stay in those conditions for an extended period of time. They are there to perform a job. Getting worn down to the point that you become an infection magnet isn't exactly helpful. But anyway, the video below is Anderson talking about why he returned and some of things he's seen upon his re-arrival:



There was amazing news today. Maybe. Anderson and Sanjay Gupta talk about a 28-year-old man who was allegedly pulled from the rubble alive nearly a month after the quake. I have to say, I'm pretty skeptical about this one. So much so that I didn't feel comfortable tweeting the news. Obviously, if true, the man must have had access to water. Otherwise there's no way in hell he would have survived and even then...it seems a little fishy. We may never know for sure.

From that potential miracle, we move into an Anderson piece that just kind of summarizes what the situation continues to be like on the ground. People are living in the street. Bodies are still being found, and subsequently buried in old graves (if they're lucky). There's heavy equipment being used to clean up, but destruction remains all around. People find new ways to make money, such as a man they come across selling electricity. All in all, improvement has been made, but Haiti remains plunged in misery.

Karl Penhaul then joins us live to talk about the case of the American missionaries charged with kidnapping. Earlier, Anderson noted how much coverage this controversy has been getting and reiterated there is much more to the story of Haiti. I'm glad he said that. Last week I noticed that their post-quake coverage had suddenly become strangely focused, but I didn't want to complain just yet. That's not to say, of course, that they shouldn't cover the missionaries. Karl tells us that the Laura Silsby-led group actually tried to take a whole other group of children before the current group and were stopped. So, yes, they are in big trouble.

Then we bounce back to Idaho to get the angle that Dan Simon has been covering. We learned the other day that the men and women have been separated. Dan was actually able to sit down with Renee Thompson, wife of Paul Thompson, one of the men arrested. We learn that Thompson received an email from Silsby (who he did not know), basically recruiting him for this trip. He went on to recruit four other men himself. Paul's wife claims he was not in the loop on the details, but rather thought he was going to do good with his handyman skills. This is both sad and totally messed up.

Next, we're joined by Frances Robles of the Miami Herald live on-the-ground with Anderson and Sanjay to talk about the fallout from this missionary mess. Apparently, sick kids are now being denied their promised flights out of the country because pilots are freaking out over all the questions they're being asked. I guess suddenly everyone is extra suspicious of those transporting children and no one wants to be arrested for trying to do a good deed. The result? Sick kids become dead kids. There has to be a better way.

The subject of keeping this story in the news also comes up, an issue I depressingly blogged about over a week ago. It's apparent that Anderson is worried about it, and hey, he's seen it before--there's no reason he shouldn't be worried. Frances, on the other hand, is more worried about the staying power of the aid agencies currently lending a hand in Haiti. I guess that will partly be the media's responsibility as well. If the help leaves and no one reports it, well, I don't even want to think out that.

On a silly note, you know that whole "Text 360" thing that I think is pretty stupid? Well, my feelings haven't changed on that, but tonight my girl Vanessa got her text read. So...shout out! That's pretty much all I have to say on that. Below is video of discussion between Anderson, Frances, and Sanjay:



Transitioning now to politics. Can I get a woo hoo? No? Okay. So, as you might have heard, the big Tea Party Convention has taken the country by storm. By storm, people! All 600 of them. I am completely flummoxed by the media's complete newsgasm over a stupid convention that only drew 600 people. Hell, I went to a media reform convention back in 2005 that had well over a thousand attendees. I'm pretty sure CNN didn't even know it existed, even with the attendance of Bill Moyers, Al Franken, and various members of Congress. My point here is WTF is up with the drooling over this convention?

Oh wait, I know what's up. And her name is Sarah Palin: Media Magnet. Ms. Maverick-y gave the keynote, and while she made sure to rag on Obama's use of the teleprompter, she failed to see the irony in using her hand as a crib sheet to remind herself to "lift American spirits." No, I'm not kidding. I wish I were kidding. So, to recap, the favored leader of the conservative movement likes to use her hand as a cheat sheet for hard words like "tax," and predominantly uses Facebook to communicate. Good lord, they're trying to elect a 14-year-old. It's like America is trapped in a scene from a really warped version of Freaky Friday.

That train wreck all came to us via a Randi Kaye piece, by the way. After covering the convention, I figure she deserves the credit. For discussion, we're next joined by Mary Matalin. Um, yeah, I don't think so. Even Anderson looks downright thrilled to be having this conversation. Yes, yes, I'm sure it'd be the same with a Democrat, but whatev.

Finally tonight,...who dat???!!! Yes, the New Orleans Saints won the Superbowl, which just so happens to have been the most-watched television program evah! In full disclosure, I should note that I neither like nor understand the game of football. But! My heart was totally rooting for New Orleans. I just, you know, didn't actually watch any of it. Hey man, ABC had Modern Family on. Don't judge me. Anyway! James Carville and Mary Matalin then join us to gloat. They're decked out in their Saints gear too. They're being, dare I say, almost enjoyable? Now see, why can't they be like this all the time? I mean, c'mon, is that whole politics thing really that necessary?

The "shot" tonight is a weatherman freaking the eff out over snowmageddon. SnOMG! Good times.

The show was pretty good. Obviously, they just got there and haven't had much time to really zero in on specific stories (besides the missionaries). As Anderson noted earlier, it's going to get harder to keep the reports fresh and find new angles. I tend to hang onto stories forever. (Wanna do a follow up on Katrina? I'll watch.) But most viewers aren't like me. Again, I really admire that Team 360 is back.

American Missionaries Charged With Kidnapping, Corporate Greed, And Tea Party Movement's First Convention (Yay?)

Hi everyone. We're beginning tonight with the news that those American missionaries arrested in Haiti have just been charged with kidnapping. This story keeps getting stranger and stranger. It seems a villain has officially been cast, and her name is Laura Silsby. Anderson Cooper informs us that they have an EXCLUSIVE with two people who have interacted with Silsby and believe she's not as innocent as she claims.

We're then joined by phone with David Louis of Compassion For All Orphanage and Richard Pickett, who just legally adopted children from Haiti. The conversation starts with David...and it is excruciating. One of those pulling-teeth interviews where Anderson really makes his big bucks. David tells us Silsby offered to take some of their orphans, but when our anchor tries to confirm that David then told her she couldn't do that without permission from the government, he suddenly clams up and paints himself as uninvolved in any of that. And...then he's gone. Well, thanks for playing.

But we still have Richard via satellite and he's a much easier conversation. He tells us that Silsby actually called his wife while they were in the process of adopting and offered to get the kids out of the country. Obviously, the couple was like, um, no. Because that would be crazy and illegal. Richard also says that this woman would go from orphanage to orphanage, trying to get people to give her kids, and when they refused, she would freak out and cry. He speculates she wanted the kids for fund-raising purposes. So...wow.

We then go live to Haiti to talk to Karl Penhaul about the brochure he's holding. A brochure of LIES! This is sad, awesome, and a tinge comical all rolled into one. So anyway, the brochure is what the Americans were giving out regarding their plans for the children. Karl then proceeds to (slightly dramatically) tick off the untruths one by one. No, the kids they took are not orphans. No, they don't even have an orphanage built. No, they did not have permission from the government to take them. No, they do not have a working website! Lies, lies, lies! Calling a spade a spade. Loves it.

For the other angle of the story, we flip back to Idaho to further explore this Silsby character with Dan Simon. Apparently, the missionary was having quite a time of it recently. Single mom. Recently foreclosed home. Can't pay the bills. Sad, actually. But weird too. It seems she's run her business poorly. Also? A couple of years ago she hired her 24-year-old nanny to set up an orphanage. I mean, WTF? Then she just strolls into the church, meets with the pastor, and is all, hey, who wants to go help Haiti orphans?

I feel bad for the other people arrested with her because it feels like they were probably sucked up in something that's way over their heads. They trusted this woman, and it looks like that's going to be a mistake. My theory on Silsby herself? I'm thinking some sort of mental illness/acute breakdown that led to some very poor decisions, and maybe even believing things that weren't true. What a mess. In related bad news, there's a new estimated quake death toll: 212,000. There are no words.

Transitioning now to Jeffrey Toobin talking about people I want to strangle. Perhaps I should be more specific. Today, Bank of America and two former top executives were charged with defrauding the government. But it's only a civil suit. Not one of the douchebags who got us into our financial mess has gone to prison. Let's list a couple of them for old time's sake, shall we? We're shown a picture of Richard Fuld of Lehman Brothers and Joseph Cassano of AIG fame. As for Bank of America (which, by the way, is teh evil), they're paying for their douches' legal fees, and since we bailed them out, guess who's really paying for the defense. Awesome.

Kiran Chetry continues her "360 Bulletin" duties, and the piece of inane information I'm pulling out for you tonight is that Heinz is going to revamp their ketchup packets. Life changing news, I know. They're going to be bigger now. And dippable! But I don't deal with change well, so we'll see how this goes. Although, if they could remove all metal from the packets, that would we good. Have you ever tossed a fast food bag in the microwave, not realizing one of those little buggers was in there, and then watched the whole thing light up like Fourth of July? Um, yeah...me neither.

Tea Party time! It seems the movement is all growed up and got themselves a convention. One wonders what their numbers are compared to conventions held on the Left (yes, they have them too!), generally not significantly covered by the media. Centrist dude John Avlon is here again for discussion. I guess 360 has like adopted him now? Meh. I suppose they figure one middle-ly pundit is less work than two partisan ones. Efficient!

John draws the distinction between the crazies and those who have legitimate concerns about the nation's fiscal health. Anderson notes that critics want to know where all this populist outrage was during the Bush years (I think he's talking about me!). John then concedes that a lot of the anger is a reaction to the Obama administration. Hm, I wonder why that would be. Anyway! My only real beef with this segment is that there is no mention of the astroturfing done of the movement. Yes, there is genuine anger. There's also been big bucks making sure it's incited. Also? Dick Armey is mentioned, which now always makes me giggle. Because I'm 12.

On now to a Randi Kaye piece in which we meet Bob Porto, Tea Party activist. So what's his story? Nothing out of the ordinary these days: Business disappeared, bank wants the money back on his home loan, now he's ticked. But I still don't understand what he's protesting. You think liberals aren't outraged about this stuff? The problem is, all I hear is slogans from these people. Big government bad! Freedom good! Let's take our country back! From what though? Says Bob: "We want to instill the fact that the Founding Fathers gave us values, and in those values were the basic foundations that created the greatness that America has experienced." What does that even mean?! Yes, values good!

The only specific we get is that Bob does not like regulations. Like salmonella in your food, do you Bob? Big fan of lead? Do any of these people realize that if we would have had better financial regulations set up (and enforced) years ago, it's very possible none of this mess would have happened? So again, Bob seems like a nice guy and sincere and everything, but I still have no idea what his deal is, other than to be just ticked off that life has screwed him over. Yeah, Bob, join the club. It sucks. Of course, it's very possible Bob was much more detailed during taping and the problem lies with the piece, though I suspect not. Activism is awesome. But there's a difference between getting involved in your government, and simply opposing everything it does.

The "shot" tonight is bye-bye pandas. Tai Shan and Mei Lan are being returned to China. Aw. For those that think our anchor might naturally find the animals adorable (they are!), don't be fooled! Anderson is on record as a panda hater. And when I say "on record," I mean he might have mumbled something not completely complimentary about pandas once and I totally blogged it. The Silver Fox gets by with nothing on my watch!

I thought the show was pretty good again. Ratings haven't been so hot lately though. Hopefully they'll hold strong and not give into the urge to go tabloid. That'll do it.