Fred Thompson, Mitt Romney, Mideast Meltdown, And Losing An Important Satellite (Monday's Second Hour)

Hey guys. We're kicking it off this hour with repeat coverage of the disappearance of Jessie Davis and that's followed by a whole bunch of speculation from Kris Mohandie, forensic psychologist. Then we have Peter Bergen again for discussion about the Taliban graduation. After that we transition to some coverage of Fred Thompson and Anderson says, "when it comes to the actor and former Senator, we haven't seen this kind of buildup since the Olson twins turned 18 -- badumpa, thank you. Be here all week. Try the veal." Ha! Such a dork. Anyway, a Candy Crowley piece breaks down the Thompson coverage. Basically, this guy is nothing special and if you ask me, if he actually declares, he's going to fizzle out soon after. Sometimes the unknown looks more appealing than the known. We learn that he didn't do much as a Senator and his abortion position is kind of wibbly wobbly. Presidential!

Next up we have an interview John Roberts did with Mitt Romney. For a good part of the piece they're in a car and I am very pleased to see seatbelts. Nobody's making that mistake after Corzine, huh? So okay, Romney has no foreign policy experience, but he does have lots and lots of money. And according to John he also has "movie star looks." Um, okay. We'll go with that. They also talk a bit about how Romney has to be "on" all the time because people are always watching...and possibly recording. The republicans learned a lot from "macaca" is what he's saying. Ah, George Allen, you're...not missed at all. After this interview we're joined by Mike Murphy for discussion. Mike thinks Romney is doing so well right now because he dumped so much money into advertising. Also, he thinks the religion thing is kind of going to be a problem for him in cycles. When Anderson asks about the flip flopping, Mike says that all politicians flip flop, "Otherwise you could train a chimp to be president if you wanted to lock in some of these opinions and never have them rethink them. George W. -- excuse me, George Herbert Walker Bush, Ronald Reagan both evolved," he says. Bwah! As soon as he said chimp I was thinking of Dubya and then he has to correct himself because apparently Bush hasn't evolved. Too funny.

Moving on now to Anderson noting that he should have mentioned before that Canadians are fighting in Afghanistan too. Man, you do not want to make the Canadians angry. (I love my Canadian readers!) After that we're joined by Ambassador Dennis Ross to talk about the mideast going to hell in a handbasket. Again. Dennis tells us the two state solution is out the window now that Hamas and Fatah have split the West Bank and Gaza. Anderson wonders what we do now, pointing out that Fatah has always had a corruption problem. Dennis thinks we should give money to the grassroots in order to deliver services. The talk then soon turns to Israel and Dennis says that the real issue is Palestinian identity. Are they a national or religious movement? He thinks Israel should help Fatah.

Our last piece of the night is from John Zarella and he's keeping NOAA honest. We learn that there's a satellite called QuikSCAT that has been a tremendous help in hurricane prediction and warning. But the QuikSCAT is only designed to last three years and right now it's in its eighth. Hmm. Bill Proenza, director of the National Hurricane Center, has decided to go public with this potential crisis and his bosses are none too happy. Basically, NOAA wants everybody to chill out. But a study published by NOAA itself seems to find QuikSCAT pretty important. Senator Bill Nelson thinks NOAA just doesn't want to ask for the money a new satellite will cost. Since when are people afraid to ask for money from the government? Something fishy there. And...that'll do it.

Continued Hurricane Dean Coverage, QuickScat Satellite Update, Raw Politics, 360 Takes Your Calls On Vick, And RIP Miles Levin (Tuesday's Show)

Hi everybody. We're starting an hour later tonight because Christiane Amanpour has stolen half of 360's time. But we forgive her due to her awesomeness. Unfortunately I missed the special because I was doing an airport pickup of a family member, so I'll have to catch it during one of the zillion times it is sure to be rerun. Que sera, sera. Anyway, tonight 360 again begins with the latest on Hurricane Dean, which has already made landfall. Anderson Cooper informs us that though it was a Category five storm, at this time there are no reported fatalities in Mexico. Happy dance! That is what a blogger likes to hear. In a Gary Tuchman piece from Tulum, Mexico, we learn that one of the reasons for the no-death toll is most likely because the strongest part of Dean hit an unpopulated area. After this piece, Gary then joins us live to say that the storm actually came ashore at a wildlife sanctuary and they also apparently had a really good evacuation. Hmm. Unlike, say, US cities.

But don't take a nap yet, people. Dean still has some oomph in him and he's aiming for a second landfall. Chad Myers is on top of it, explaining that the hurricane will mostly likely next land in a more mountainess region of Mexico. From Chad we check in with Carl Penhall who is live in Nautla, awaiting Dean round two. There's a nuclear power plant there (which they'll be shutting down), so, um, lets keep our fingers crossed on that one. Because Dean came ashore as a Category five storm, 360 would like to take this opportunity to educate us on Category five storms that have hit the US. You know, in case you're playing trivia later or something. Anyway, there have been three in the past 100 or so years: a nameless one that struck the Florida Keys in 1935, Camille hit the Mississippi coast in 1969, and of course Andrew in Florida in 1992. I remember Andrew fairly well because it coincided with major surgery I had. Not a good week for me or Florida.

Next up we have a John Zarella "Keeping Them Honest" piece on the QuickScat satellite. At first I thought this was a repeat because it was intro-d like this is the first time 360 has ever mentioned it (when in reality John filed a package in June), but no, no. It's actually recut to include the bummer news that Bill Proenza's reprimand has turned into a full-out firing. It sounds like he might try his luck at claiming the firing violated the Whistleblower Protection Act, but last I heard that had been gutted pretty well, so...good luck with that. I'm sure it'll be fine. It's not like we need accurate weather predictions or anything, right?

Transitioning now to some "Raw Politics" with Tom Foreman. First up we learn that Obama wants to ease the Cuba embargo. I don't see why not. I mean, we have full on trade with the Chinese "commies" and they're currently poisoning our pets and children. And they own us, so there's that. Tom also tells us that Romney is talking smack about New York City, calling it a sanctuary for illegal immigrants. Giuliani, the real target of Romney's blows, is fighting back, bringing up the fact that Romney's landscaping company doesn't hire people on the up and up. Oooh. I swear, why don't they just scream "I know you are, but what am I?" and be done with it? Next up we learn that Fred Thompson...wait, you know what? He needs to officially get in the friggin race if he wants me to keep talking about him. That's it. Finally, it seems "Obama girl" has caught the attention of one of the little Obamas. And hopefully that's the worst that she'll be exposed to.

Tonight's "What Were They Thinking?" was something about a gunman helping customers during a holdup, but it all kind of fell out of my head when Anderson noted that it looked like one of the scenes in "Superbad." Anderson saw "Superbad"?! Bwah! I am amused. I myself haven't seen it, but I did just see "Knocked Up," which is Seth Rogen's last film (I'm one behind, apparently). I have to say, Paul Rudd on mushrooms, tripping out because there's five different kinds of chairs in his hotel room? Funniest thing ever. Oh, did I mention I'm 12? Anyway, "Superbad" is a teen sex comedy, hence my amusement at Anderson's viewing. So okay, after that discussion we've got some V-mail and hey, this is actually the first time I've seen this since I always just watch the first hour. Interesting. Anderson says he's liking the V-mail, but he said that about the blog at first too and now he's rarely on it. These kids today. They lose interest in their toys so quickly.

Transitioning now to an Anderson piece on Michael Vick and his probable looming jail time. Apparently his teammates are being supportive. Oh, well, isn't that sweet. And the Knicks' Stefan Marbury has gone so far as to defend Vick by saying dogfighting is a sport. After his piece, Anderson then repeats this line using the Anderson-Cooper-disapproves-of-this voice inflection. Yeah buddy, I got your number. Anyway, apparently 360 is into this story because they're taking your calls! For discussion we're joined by our senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin and ESPN's Stephen Smith. Okay, let's see, the first caller pretty much thinks Vick is scum and the second caller thinks he needs a second chance. Toobin hammers home the point that dogfighting is a crime, while Stephen spends time on cultural issues.

In my last blog I pointed out that Toobin noted how people seem to freak out more about a dog being abused than a woman being beaten. Tonight Anderson notes that they got email about that. I feel like I should be shocked, but I'm not. Toobin reiterates his point that though he's a dog lover, he finds it disturbing that more people are upset about the Vick case than athletes that beat their wives. Oh, and in regards to the emails, Toobin says, "I love our viewers, but some of them are out of their minds." Bwah! It's funny, because it's true. And oh you've done it now, mister. That inbox is going to be full. But seriously, people, Toobin is totally right. I love my dog, but let's have some perspective. The next caller brings up how athletes are role models and she says she won't watch football anymore if Vick plays again. This causes Stephen to flip out. I don't know what his deal is. These guys are enormously overpaid for doing something they find fun. Sorry if we also expect them to act like human beings.

Next up we have a Carol Costello piece on Miles Levin who sadly passed away from cancer this weekend. Miles was just shy of turning only 19 years old. He had become an inspiration for many while blogging about his experience with the disease. There's not really much I can say here. A part of me hoped that maybe they would find out his cancer really wasn't terminal. But life doesn't work like that, does it? You should check out the blog post written by Miles' mother. After the piece, we learn that Anderson was able to briefly meet Miles and he says some words of his own. We then fade out with no sound on a picture of a healthier Miles. Classy. And for once I say that without sarcasm. Godspeed, Miles.

The Shot tonight is a doggie rescue in West Virginia. It seems a man's Dalmation pooch got himself (herself?) trapped in a storm drain for four days. And boy was that owner happy to get him back. I'm guessing Anderson likes this video because he's on "aw" overload over here. Erica Hill then whips out the Dramatic Animal Video! graphic (the most awesome graphic evah) for a video of a Rottweiler that adopted a kitten. Aw, this video is so sweet it's giving me a cavity. What's freaky is that the dog is also nursing the kitten. Yeah, weird, right? Anderson is boggled too. Okay, well, at least I found this show entertaining, but seriously 360, what have you done with the hard news? I'm about to put out an APB. B-