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Here's the latest from the CNN Press Releases:

John King to Anchor Special Coverage Live from Election Express

Chief national correspondent John King will anchor a live one-hour special election program at 10 p.m. (ET) on Saturday, April 12, and Sunday, April 13, from the CNN Election Express in Pennsylvania. King has traveled with the bus across Pennsylvania this week connecting with that state’s voters, volunteers and campaigns.

The special programming, called “Route 2008,” will feature CNN’s multi-touch wall which can provide in-depth analysis into the demographics of Pennsylvanians and what drives their vote. Saturday’s program will air live from the Pittsburgh area. Sunday’s program will originate from the CNN Election Express, which will be stationed at Messiah College near Harrisburg, Pa., the location of The Compassion Forum. The program will air immediately following CNN’s broadcast of The Compassion Forum and will feature analysis from commentators across the faith and ideological spectrum.

The Compassion Forum is a presidential candidate forum, sponsored by Faith in Public Life and anchored by CNN’s Campbell Brown and Newsweek’s Jon Meacham with a focus on faith, values and other current issues. Presently serving as CNN’s Pennsylvania “mini-bureau,” the CNN Election Express has allowed the network to maintain a full-time presence in the weeks leading up to the April 22 primary.

CNN Showcases Breaking News Expertise, Election Experience at NAB 2008

Broadcasting & Cable to Honor CNN’s Bob Hesskamp with Technology Leadership Award

As the electronic journalism community descends upon Las Vegas next week for two of the premier broadcasting conferences, NAB Show 2008 and RTNDA@NAB. CNN will showcase its prominence and expertise in such areas as breaking news and election coverage, new technologies and online and digital ventures.

More than 15 journalists and executives from CNN will be speaking at this year’s NAB and RTNDA@NAB conferences. CNN Newsroom anchor Kyra Phillips opens this year’s event by moderating the opening session, “Leadership Lessons for Breaking News Coverage” on Sunday, April 13, at 4 p.m., and CNN’s chief national correspondent John King will be moderator of the joint NAB/RTNDA Super Session “Election 2008: The Home Stretch,” on Wednesday, April 15, at 7:30 a.m.

The NAB Show 2008, sponsored by the National Association of Broadcasters, takes place from Friday, April 11, through Thursday, April 17, and is the world's largest electronic media show covering the development, delivery and management of professional video and audio content across all mediums. RTNDA@NAB, is a conference and exhibition for radio, television and online news, and runs from Sunday, April 13, to Wednesday, April 16.

During the NAB Show, Broadcasting & Cable will present Bob Hesskamp, senior vice president for CNN Broadcast Engineering and Systems Technology, with one of its 2008 Technology Leadership Award. The award, presented during a ceremony on Monday, April 14, pays tribute to technology leaders who have displayed innovation, imagination and achievement. Hesskamp’s duties at CNN include leadership of engineering and broadcasting-related IT resources, technology installations, support and maintenance, and engineering management development at CNN’s production centers worldwide. Hesskamp directed the September 2007 launch of CNN HD, the network’s first 24-hour news network in high definition, and continues to guide sweeping upgrades to CNN studios and equipment around the world to handle the format.

The schedule of NAB and RTNDA panels, speeches, and presentations featuring CNN journalists and executives is as follows:

• Sunday, April 13
• Kyra Phillips, CNN Newsroom anchor, moderates RTNDA Opening Session “Leadership Lessons for Breaking News Coverage,” 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
• Monday, April 14
• Sandy Malcolm, executive producer for CNN.com Video, serves as a panelist for RTNDA’s “Mobile, Digital & Syndicated Content,” 10:30 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.
• Mitch Gelman, senior vice president and senior executive producer for CNN.com, serves as a panelist for RTNDA’s “Making User Generated Content Part of Your Overall Strategy – On-line and On-Air”, 4 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.
• Dave Hennen, senior producer for science and technology for CNN/U.S, serves as a panelist for RTNDA’s “Win the Weather War,” 4 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.
• Tuesday, April 15
• John King, chief national correspondent for CNN, moderates NAB/RTNDA super session “Election 2008: The Home Stretch,” 7:30 a.m. to 8:45 a.m.
• Bob Hesskamp, senior vice president for Broadcast Engineering and Systems Technology for CNN, serves as a panelist for RTNDA,’s “The Digital Conversion Countdown: It’s Later Than You Think,” 9 a.m. to 10:30a.m.
• Chris Hinton, senior director of software development for CNN, serves as keynote speaker for the Creative Storage Conference @ NAB, 10 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.
• Dick Tauber, vice president, transmission systems and new technology for CNN, moderator for the Content Distribution Forum @ NAB panel “What’s the Life Expectancy of SNG?”, 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.
• Arnie Christenson, operations manager, satellites and transmissions for CNN, serves as a panelist for Content Distribution Forum @ NAB panel, “What’s the Life Expectancy of SNG?”, 10 a.m. to 11 a.m

• Sam Feist, political director and senior executive producer of political programming for CNN/U.S., moderates the RTNDA panel, “More Than Just a Reporter's Cap: The Many Hats Journalists Wear in the News Production Process,” 10:45 am to noon.
• Tyler Moody, senior producer for CNN Radio, serves as a panelist for RTNDA’s “Go Ahead. You Can Touch It,”11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
• David C. Vigilante, vice president of legal for CNN, serves as a panelist for RTNDA’s “What’s Legal Online?”, 2 p.m. to 3:15 p.m.
• Michael Koetter, vice president of news technology planning & development for CNN, serves as a panelist for the Creative Storage Conference@ NAB “Entertainment and Media User Session,” 4:30 p.m. to 5:45 p.m.
• Wednesday, April 16
• Jerry DeMink, vice president of CNN News Services, serves as a panelist for RTNDA’s “Sound Streaming: Boost Your On-Line and On-Air Traffic Today,” 9:30 to 10:45 a.m.
• Sandy Malcolm, executive producer for CNN.com Video, serves as a panelist for the TV World @NAB panel “The Billion Dollar Question: How Will Broadband Video Make Money?”, 12:15 a.m. to 1 p.m.

CNN Plans for Pope Benedict’s First Official U.S. Visit

CNN will use its unparalleled newsgathering resources to cover Pope Benedict’s first official papal visit to the United States, from Tuesday, April 15, through Sunday, April 20, in Washington, D.C., and New York. Online as well as on CNN/U.S., CNN International, CNN en Español, CNN Radio and Headline News, CNN will report on the pope’s address to the United Nations, his meeting with President George W. Bush, his visit to Ground Zero in New York and other events.

Soledad O’Brien anchors CNN’s special live coverage on Sunday, April 20, as Pope Benedict visits Ground Zero of the World Trade Center and officiates Mass in New York’s Yankee Stadium. O’Brien will be joined by weekend CNN Newsroom anchors T.J. Holmes and Betty Nguyen reporting from location and CNN’s Vatican analyst John Allen. CNN’s coverage begins with the pope’s arrival on Tuesday, April 15, and continues with contributions throughout the visit from Jim Acosta, Wolf Blitzer, Jason Carroll, Ines Ferre, Ed Henry, Juan Carlos Lopez, Colleen McEdwards, Kyra Phillips, Richard Roth and Mary Snow.

CNN.com will offer expanded coverage of Pope Benedict’s trip. Through multimedia and interactive elements, as well as traditional stories and videos, viewers around the world will be able to view the visit as CNN.com Live will stream all available ceremonies and events live in their entirety, as well as feature live reports from the field with John Allen.

Viewers and users are encouraged to share their firsthand accounts of the pope’s public events through video, photo, or audio submissions to www.iReport.com, CNN’s recently launched user-generated community Web site. CNN will have a mobile iReport station at the public Mass held at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., for attendees to upload personal stories, photos and videos related to the pope’s visit. Contributors also may gain recognition by having the material they submit to the site – once vetted and approved for use – appear on a CNN network or CNN.com.

After making it through all those press releases, how about a little fun? John Stewart was watching The Situation Room and Wolf "Mad Man" Blitzer during CNN's coverage of the Olympic Touch run.

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