State of the Union September 27, 2009

State of the Union with John King started off on Sunday morning at the magic map with John King comparing satellite images of the area in Iran where a secret nuclear facility has been constructed.

King's first interview (pre-recorded) was with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. King asked Gates about the nuclear facility in Iran, about military options concerning Iran, the impact this new facility has on Israel, and whether additional sanctions would make a difference.

Gates lays out non-military options to deal with Iran

The second segment with the Gates focused on potential increased troop levels in Afghanistan, the unresolved election in Afghanistan. Gates had some harsh criticism for the prior administration's handling of the war:

KING: General McChrystal, in an interview that will air on "60 Minutes" tonight, talks about the breadth and the geographic spread of the violence in Afghanistan. He says, "It's a little more than I would have gathered."

We've been at this nearly eight years. Why are we still surprised?

GATES: Well, I will tell you, I think that the strategy that the president put forward in late March is the first real strategy we have had for Afghanistan since the early 1980s. And that strategy was more about the Soviet Union than it was about Afghanistan.

KING: You served in the Bush administration. That's a pretty broad damnation of the Bush strategy.

GATES: Well, the reality is, we were fighting a holding action. We were very deeply engaged in Iraq. I increased -- I extended the 10th Mountain Division the first month I was on this job in January of '07. I extended -- I put another brigade into Afghanistan in the spring of 2007. And that's all we had to put in there. Every -- we were -- we were too stretched to do more. And I think we did not have the kind of comprehensive strategy that we have now.

KING: And if it comes to the point of sending more, this time, if the president agrees and General McChrystal gets -- maybe it's 20,000, 30,000, or 40,000, do we have the troops now? If you needed 40,000, could you find it?

GATES: Well, I think, if the president were to decide to approve additional combat forces, they really probably could not begin to flow until some time in January.

Source: CNN Transcript, State of the Union with John King September 27, 2009

The interview wrapped up with questions about whether closing Gitmo will occur on time and what makes working for President Obama different.

Gates, McCain say delay likely in closing Guantanamo facility

'I very much enjoy working for' Obama, Gates says

Gates: Any new troops to Afghanistan wouldn't 'flow' til early 2010

Next on the program was a live interview with Senator Evan Bayh (D) and Senator Bob Corker (R). King began by asking Sen. Bayh about whether the US should go into the 6 party talks with Iran using "carrots" or "sticks". King asked whether the sanctions should be imposed now or in January; the Chinese are going to be key to making any additional sanctions work. King questioned how an intelligence report (available to the public) that was released during the Bush administration states that Iran wasn't pursuing their nuclear program and yet this new facility is clearly setup for use with a weapons program.

Next, the Senators were asked about troop levels in Afghanistan and health care reform.

In this week's American Dispatch, King visited Jefferson County, Mississippi to report on unemployment in this community that is 90% African American and has the highest unemployment rate in the state.

Howard Kurtz was on at 10AM with Reliable Sources.

Kurtz's first panel included Ed Henry, Margaret Carlson, Jim Geraghty, and Lauren Ashburn. The panel discussed President Obama's relationship with the press. Henry spent a good portion of the discussion defending CNN in comparison to other cable news networks.

The second segment with the panel discussed Bob Woodward's article in the Washington Post about the plans in Afghanistan and an article the New York Times ran about the Obama asking NY's Governor Patterson not to run for re-election.

The program continued with Kurtz's pre-recorded interview with Joy Behar. Behar's new program, The Joy Behar Show, premieres at 9PM Tuesday night on CNN's sister network HLN.

Kurtz interviewed Christopher Andersen, the author of a new book about the Obamas entitled: Barack and Michelle: Portrait of an American Marriage. Andersen took issue with Kurtz's characterization of the book as "dirt digging". Kurtz took issue with Andersen "quoting" conversations that the Obama's had based on information from third parties.

The Sounds of Sunday hour started off with John King talking to James Carville and Mary Matalin in the DC studio. They discussed the war in Afghanistan and Iran's nuclear program. The second segment included the closing of Gitmo and President Clinton's comments about the GOP and the "vast right wing conspiracy".

The CNN Diner segment this week was from Jackson, Mississippi at the Coffee Roastery with Dr. David Cole, Nikdra Ford (owner of the Coffee Roastery), and Ted Duckworth. King asked them about Obama's performance so far, the economy and health care reform.

Barbara Starr, Gloria Borger, and Dana Bash joined King in the studio. King started the segment at the Magic Wall reviewing the satellite images of the Iranian nuclear site. The first part of the discussion centered around the policies surrounding the revelation that Iran has concealed this latest nuclear facility.

The second segment with the group included discussing the war in Afghanistan and President Clinton's change of opinion on gay marriage.

The Last Word went to Merrilee Carlson, a gold star mother and the President of Families United. Her son, Army Sergeant Michael Carlson died serving his country in Iraq. Her organization supports the troops.

One bonus clip tonight... while John King was in Portland, Maine earlier this month, he was interviewed on WCSH6's 207

All content, unless otherwise cited, is © All Things CNN and may not be used without consent of the blog administrator.

State of the Union July 19, 2009

State of the Union with John King started with a report on the proof of life video of a US soldier captured in Afghanistan with Barbara Starr. Later in the program, King reported that the Defense Department had identified the soldier as Pfc. Bowie Bergdahl of Ketchum, Idaho.

The first guest on the program was Peter Orszag the White House Budget Director to discuss the numbers on the health care legislation.

They also discussed the economy and the impact of the stimulus package and the budget deficit.

King talked with Senator Patrick Leahy (D) and Senator Jeff Sessions (R) on the confirmation hearings for Judge Sotomayor. Senator Leahy pointed out that he has voted on the confirmation of every member of the current Supreme Court. King tried multiple times to get Sen. Sessions to commit one way or another to how he planned to vote on the confirmation.

John King's column this week on CNN Politics was GOP sees fertile ground in taxes, pocketbook issues.

King mentioned that today's Reliable Sources would be discussing the passing of Walter Cronkite. King shared his thoughts on Friday night's coverage (which he anchored during both Larry King Live and Anderson Cooper 360) in the behind the scenes video clip for this week.

As part of the American Dispatch series, King reported from Newark, New Jersey talking to Mayor Cory Booker (D) who was offered a position in the Obama administration, but turned it down to focus on local politics.

Howard Kurtz was on with Reliable Sources at 10AM. His focus the first half of the hour on the death of the CBS anchorman, Walter Cronkite. Kurtz talked with Bob Schieffer, Susan Zirinsky, Bernard Shaw, Don Hewitt, Connie Chung, Daniel Schorr, and Sandy Sokoloff.

Kurtz then turned the program to the coverage of the Supreme Court nominee with Terry Moran, Dahlia Lithwick, and Jim Geraghty. Kurtz talked to Moran about the ratings success of Nightline and also grilled Moran on Nightline's decision to lead with the Michael Jackson story 12 out or 15 nights.

Wrapping up the hour, Kurtz reported on the release of emails to Gov. Sanford from various people in the media attempting to get the Governor to come appear on their programs. John King was one of those whose emails were being critiqued.

The Sounds of Sunday segment reviewed what some of the other Sunday morning programs were talking about:

Donna Brazile and Bill Bennett were in the Washington, D.C. studio with John King this morning. The topics this morning were the Sotomayor confirmation hearing and the health care reform legislation and whether or not it is going to make it through Congress.

The CNN Diner segment was in Newark, New Jersey this week at Je's Diner (Restaurant). King spoke with Gerard Drinkard, Charles Hayes, and Peggy Godrey-Drinkard.

The next panel had Ed Henry, Jessica Yellin, and Dana Bash discussing the Obama administration's August health care deadline as well as Secretary of State Clinton's comments on the vetting process for appointed positions within the Federal government.

The first 36 minutes of the noon hour was a repeat of interviews that were done during the first hour of the program. The Last Word this week went to Rev. Jesse Jackson. King asked Jackson about how the Obama administration was treating the older generation of African American leaders as well as how civil rights had progressed over the past 25 years.

Here are the links to this week's podcasts:

• State of the Union (Video)
• Reliable Sources (Video)
• State of the Union (Audio)

One last note tonight, looks like they are overhauling the graphics being used during the program… here's an example of the graphics that we saw during the intros at the top of each hour:

All content, unless otherwise cited, is © All Things CNN and may not be used without consent of the blog administrator.

State of the Union for July 5, 2009

John King was in the Los Angeles studio this morning for State of the Union. Other than the introduction and the news break at mid hour, the first hour of the program was pre-recorded.

John King interviewed former Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Colin Powell earlier in the week. They discussed the "America's Promise" program that assists children as well as encourages youth to serve. Powell discussed that his family was key to keeping him on the right path and that kids today need a "gang" and if their family doesn't provide this support then some will find it with a street gang.

They also discussed whether or not the country will be able to support the veterans that are coming back from war as well as the Iraq war and the withdrawal of troops from the cities. The conversation progressed to discussing whether Powell's way of approaching conflicts could have worked better than Rumsfeld's in Iraq and how the US should proceed in stabilizing Afghanistan. King asked Powell about the "don't ask; don't tell" policy and received the answer that Powell thinks that it should be reviewed, but that it is more complicated that just reversing it.

The next topic of discussion was the nomination of Judge Sotomayor and the Republican party's inability to reach out to minority voters.

When asked about the cost and size of government, Powell was worried and stated he wants a government that is as small as possible but a government that works.

Powell admitted that he understood the impact that Michael Jackson had had on pop culture, but that his memories of Jackson were of his younger years singing with his brothers in the Jackson Five and that the success of Thriller wasn't of his generation. Powell speculated that he may have been in Vietnam or Korea at the time.

The last part of the discussion was about the Independence Day holiday and what it meant to someone who had served in the armed forces.

King spoke with Tora Burns who works with Americorp as a mentor in Washington, D.C. She's a Howard University student who is spending her summer as an instructor in a Heads Up program.

At 10AM, you would expect a segue to Howard Kurtz, but not this morning. Instead another pre-recorded interview of King speaking with the Joint Chief's Chairman, Admiral Mike Mullen. Mullen got to use the magic wall while he explained the Helmand strategy. They also discussed troop levels and who the enemy in Afghanistan is.

Then the discussion moved to Iraq and how the troop withdrawal in the major cities is going to work.

The next topic covered was the recent actions of North Korea and the relations in that part of the world. As well as the President's visit to Russia and the military's policy of don't ask/ don't tell.

We got a shortened pre-recorded version of Reliable Sources with Howard Kurtz, who according to his tweets, is on vacation. Kurtz started with the coverage of Michael Jackson and began by claiming that the "wall to wall" coverage has been "out of control." His first panel included Sharon Waxman, Don Lemon, and David Zurawik. The conversation was spirited with Kurtz being the only one with the position that the coverage had been too much. Lemon justified the coverage that he was more than just an entertainer and described those that have criticized the coverage as "elitist." Zurawik also agreed that the coverage wasn't overdone because Jackson represents the conflicts within our culture. Bottom line- we have several more days before there is any chance of this story going away.

Next, Kurtz talked with TMZ founder, Harvey Levin. TMZ has been the first to break several of these stories, but other news sources have been hesitant to report and credit TMZ. Levin defended TMZ saying that they have high news standards and doesn't put information out without multiple sources and chasing down verification of the story. Kurtz took issue with paying for information, but Levy justified it since some news organizations pay for interviews.

I'd guess that the program was taped prior to Gov. Palin's announcement that she was resigning. I would have expected this story to have been mentioned at some point, otherwise.

Kurtz had a clip on the CNN.com website that did not air on today's program about last week's Nico Pitney versus Dana Milbank discussion and the coverage of it that followed.

Back to John King in Los Angeles at the beginning of the 11AM hour & the first live segment of the program. Donna Brazile, Bill Bennett, and Ed Rollins were on the strategist panel, this morning. The first topic was the Palin resignation. Even though there were two Republicans and only one Democrat, Rollins was very critical of Palin's decision. Bennett floated the idea that maybe the wrong governor resigned (referring to Gov. Sanford of South Carolina). The next debate was over the economy and what went wrong with the stimulus package.

The CNN Diner segment was at the Walter Reed Medical center. King spoke with Maj. Bryon Vaughn Bridges, a chaplin, and Sgt. Joseph Highberger, a medic.

Will post a link to the video clip if it becomes available.

The next political panel was with Barbara Starr, Jill Dougherty, and Ed Henry. Doughtery and Henry are currently in Russia covering the President's trip. They discussed Iran policy, the don't ask/ don't tell policy, the military actions in Helmand province, and the politics of US relations with Russia.

King visited central Florida to discuss Hispanic health care issues.

The top of the noon hour brought a repeat of the taped programming from earlier. It was 12:44pm when the Last Word started. King spoke with Queen Noor Al-Hussein earlier in the week when he was in Washington, D.C. and she was in London. Her Majesty has supported efforts to eliminate nuclear weapons within the next 14 years. They also discussed the difference between the view & popularity of the President versus the United States and what service & the 4th of July holiday means to Queen Noor.

This week's behind the scenes clip was once again the staff meeting in Washington, D.C.

And finally, here are this week's podcast links:

• State of the Union (video)
• Reliable Sources (video)
• State of the Union (audio)

All content, unless otherwise cited, is © All Things CNN and may not be used without consent of the blog administrator.

A Slow-moving Military Coup

Events in the Iranian election certainly caught everyone off-guard this week, and in fact devolved so quickly that it was hard to keep up with them. Here, Reza Aslan talks to John Roberts on Thursday's American Morning, before the bottom fell out:

Friday, Reza spoke with Rick Sanchez about what was clearly coming into focus as massive election fraud:

(Reza has a column posted today on The Daily Beast that is the source of the post title.)

Here also are the clips from Sunday's Fareed Zakaria GPS of Christiane Amanpour's report from Tehran and the panel discussion:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Also, a look at the latest move for al Qaeda, reported by Barbara Starr, with an appearance from Peter Bergen:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Where in the World...?

MONDAY: Joy Behar was in for Larry King.

TUESDAY: Christiane Amanpour was in Tehran to cover the election; Nic Robertson was in London; Ted Rowlands was still in Wichita, Kansas.

WEDNESDAY: Allan Chernoff was in Miami; John King was in Orlando; Ed Lavendera was in Mexico City; Karl Penhaul was on Fernando de Noronha Island, Brazil; Anderson Cooper was in Los Angeles.

THURSDAY: Don Lemon was in Hamilton, Bermuda; Anderson was still in Los Angeles. Kitty Pilgrim was in for Lou Dobbs.

FRIDAY: Gary Tuchman was in Chicago. Kitty was in for Lou. AC360 was a special report, "American Radical: The Lone Wolf" (above).

SATURDAY: no events

SUNDAY: no events

All content, unless otherwise cited, is © All Things CNN and may not be used without consent of the blog administrator.

Highlights State of the Union for May 10, 2009

Happy Mother's Day! Hopefully, those of you celebrating the holiday had a good day.

The first guest on with John King this morning was General David Petraeus to discuss Pakistan and the Taliban; as well as Afghanistan.

The next discussion was with Senator Bob Corker (R) and Senator Bob Casey (D). The topics included Pakistan and Afghanistan. Sen. Corker was not impressed with the President of Afghanistan at the recent luncheon in Washington, D. C. The discussion also turned to the economy; the results of the "stress test" of the banks; the future of the Republican party; and Sen. Specter's party change. King tried to ask Sen. Corker about comments that VP Cheney had made, but the Senator decided he preferred to talk about Sen. Specter.

Mary Matalin (R) and Hilary Rosen (D) were the next guests. King threw the question about VP Cheney's comments to Mary Matalin. They also debated how safe the US is with Obama as President and comments made at the White House Correspondent Association dinner.

Los Angeles is said to the homeless capital of the world. John King went there this week and interviewed Ruth Martinez, a homeless mother with a young son. He also interviewed Rudy Salis who works with a Community Outreach program. The version of this interview on CNN.com appears to be an extended version:

Reliable Sources with Howard Kurtz started off with Rachael Sklar, Amanda Carpenter, and Joe Klein. The topics included the state of the Republican party, Obama's Presidency, the Supreme Court vacancy (the President's "empathy" remark), Congressional hearings about the news industry, and of course, the White House Correspondents Association dinner, journalists dining with politicians, and the President and Vice President having a burger for lunch.

The next panel included Lois Romano and Lola Ogunnaike to discuss Elizabeth Edwards' book, Bristol Palin's interviews, and Miss California's photos.

Gideon Yago talked to Kurtz about the Al-Jazeera network not getting picked up by many cable providers and the shoe-throwing journalist.

Donna Brazile and Bill Bennett joined John King during the 11AM hour to discuss Gen. Petraeus' remarks about Pakistan and Afghanistan, VP Cheney's recent comments, the Republican party, and the White House Correspondent Association dinner.

In the CNN Diner segment, King spoke with three mothers at a diner in Los Angeles about the economy.

The political round table included: Ed Henry, Barbara Starr, Jill Dougherty. The topics included: Pakistan, President Zardari's comments regarding Bin Laden, and the White House Correspondent Association dinner (of course).

John King's second report on homelessness was an interview with another homeless single mother, Dina Acevedo. She lives at a hotel with her three daughters and is unable to work because of her immigration status.

The Last Word this morning went to a mother serving in Iraq at Camp Al Taqaddum Airbase, Marine Staff Sergeant Brandy Ovanek. King surprised her with having her family on the phone line.

John King talked about his trip to Los Angeles in this week's staff briefing:

The podcasts from Sunday are available at CNN.com/Podcasts:>

• State of the Union with John King (video)
• State of the Union with John King (audio)
• Reliable Sources (video)

CNN.com has several clips of the red carpet arrivals that included some familiar CNN faces:

All content, unless otherwise cited, is © All Things CNN and may not be used without consent of the blog administrator.

Updates from Kabul, Kandahar, Islamabad, Istanbul, and Baghdad

Early Sunday morning, CNN had the International feed running on Domestic in order to cover President Obama's speech in Prague. Ralitsa Vassileva spoke with Atia Abawi in Kabul and Reza Sayah in Islamabad for their reactions to the speech.

First, Atia discusses the likely reaction to the President's pledge to wrap up "loose nukes":

In the second part, Reza discusses the portion of the speech addressed to Iran:

This morning, Reza Aslan spoke to Kiran Chetry from Istanbul, as the President spoke in Ankara. They had some serious audio problems during the transmission, but it's always worth listening to Reza even if you can only hear every other word:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Meanwhile, Barbara Starr is currently in Afghanistan and on Friday had a report on The Situation Room about the spike in violence there:

And this morning Kiran introduced an interview that Barbara did over the weekend with General James Conway, Commandant of the Marine Corps as he visited the bases amidst concerns of a new wave of violence from the Taliban:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Frederik Pleitgin is back in Baghdad, and Don Lemon introduced a piece Frederik did about the targeting of gays in Iraq, where at least six gay men have been murdered in the past ten days:

This morning, Frederik spoke with Betty Nguyen about a number of car bombs that went off in Baghdad today:

Tony Harris also spoke with Frederik about the importance of Turkey to the US military forces in Iraq, especially to the planned withdrawal:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Don't forget about Wolf Blitzer's exclusive interview with Vice-President Biden during Tuesday's program.

Have a good week!

All content, unless otherwise cited, is © All Things CNN and may not be used without consent of the blog administrator.

Highlights from State of the Union with John King for March 29, 2009

CNN's State of the Union with John King and Reliable Sources are now on Facebook: State of the Union with John King

Reliable Sources

Also, according to the State of the Union with John King website, you can sign up for a State of the Union newsletter by emailing: StateoftheUnion@cnn.com

John King started off Sunday's program with President Obama's Afghanistan war strategy. He spoke with Gen. David Petraeus & US Special Representative Richard Holbrooke.

The discussion included the additional troops being deployed to Afghanistan; President Karzai and the upcoming election; the magic map was used during the discussion about the Afghanistan/ Pakistan border; Iran's nuclear capabilities and their participation in meetings about Afghanistan; and whether or not Obama should say that the "surge" worked.

Gen. Petraeus has a difficult job. Having served under the previous commander-in-chief and now reporting to the current commander-in-chief, he's going to continue to be asked to compare the two administrations. He does a very diplomatic job of avoiding the question (which he probably should continue to do - at least if he wants to keep his job.)

Obama's approach to Iran, Iraq

Obama's 'Af-Pak' strategy

Next was a discussion with two democrats, Rep. John Spratt and Sen. Kent Conrad. Sen. Conrad spoke about the flooding in Fargo, North Dakota. Rep. Spratt and Sen. Conrad discussed the President's budget proposal.

A close look at Obama's budget

John King visited St. Louis this past week and reported on the cut backs in mass transit.

Closed bus route devastates couple.

Later on in the program was King's breakfast diner segment which was also taped in St. Louis at Sweetie Pie's. The final segment from St. Louis was King's visit to Afro World where he once again spoke with owner, Sheila Forrest. She started selling Obama buttons during the campaign and interest has not decreased since he's taken office.

CNN has posted a behind the scenes video clip of John King talking about this trip to St. Louis.

Behind the scenes with John King

Reliable Sources with Howard Kurtz started out with a discussion with Mike Jacobs of the Grand Forks Herald about the floods in North Dakota.

Next up was a discussion about the media taking a critical look at the Obama administration (Is the honeymoon over?) with Chip Reid, Ann Compton, and Kevin Chappell. All three were lucky enough to have been able to ask the President a question in the East Room during the prime time press conference on Tuesday night. In addition, they discussed the coverage of the criticism and lack of praise for the administration about the stock market.

Kurtz talked with Gloria Allred and Ray Richmond about the Octo-mom's conflict with Dr. Phil. The discussion turned into a shouting match between Allred and Richmond. Why won't the Octo-mom saga just go away?

The octomom saga

Ed Gillespie talked to Kurtz about media bias. They discussed NBC, MSNBC, & FOX news (oddly CNN was absent from the discussion).

If you missed any of Reliable Sources, you can always view the program's podcast:

The 11AM hour sent the program back to John King and the start of the panel discussions for the morning. The first panel consisted of David Gergen, Alex Castellanos, and Donna Brazile. They discussed the spending proposed in the budget, the Treasury Secretary's performance this week, and the war in Afghanistan

At one point, the typical newspaper display behind King was replaced by a set of CNN.com pages. The page on the top left is CNNPolitics.com. On the top right is the State of the Union with John King website. In the bottom left corner, is CNN.com. And the bottom right corner looks like ti could be the facebook page.

The second panel included Barbara Starr, Jessica Yellin, and Dana Bash. The budget was at the top of the discussion list with comparisons to 1993 & 1994 as well as talk of budget cuts for the Pentagon and the policy on Pakistan.

Christiane Amanpour, who recently returned from Afghanistan, spoke with King about the administration's policies towards the country and the war.

Senator Mitch McConnell got the last word on this Sunday's broadcast. The discussion revolved around the budget proposal and big government as well as the administration's policy on Afghanistan and Pakistan and the state of bipartisanship in Washington.

Obama disappoints GOP leader

If you missed Sunday's State of the Union with John King, CNN has two podcasts available: an audio podcast *new* and a video podcast.

All content, unless otherwise cited, is © All Things CNN and may not be used without consent of the blog administrator.

The economy is tough all over...

As you can imagine, not a lot of international news during the "Road to Rescue" week, but there were a couple glimpses of how the world economy is faring. In this first one (which aired Thursday) we have Paula Hancocks reporting from Galilee about employment problems, Stan Grant from Abu Dhabi about the still-strong tourism industry, and Al Goodman from Madrid on the drop in divorce rates and increase in traffic accidents:

Friday we got this one, which has Matthew Chance reporting from Moscow about the expected drop in birthrate and rise in abortions, and Jim Boulden from London on the rise in internet dating:

Thursday also gave us this report from Barbara Starr that focuses on the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

BookAsylum posted that wonderful interview about Jack Cafferty's new book yesterday, and last Monday Wolf Blitzer spoke to Jack about the book during TheSitRoom. It is heartbreaking to watch Jack's face as Wolf reads the excerpt about his late wife Carol. She sounds like an extraordinary woman, and it is easy to understand why he misses her so much:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Where in the World...?

SATURDAY: Susan Roesgen was in the NewsRoom for Betty Nguyen.

SUNDAY: Stan Grant was in Islamabad reporting on the riots in Lahore, Pakistan; John Zarella was at the Kennedy Space Center to cover the launch of Discovery. Susan was in for Betty.

MONDAY: Rick Sanchez hosted his hour of NewsRoom from the campus of Georgia State University; Anderson Cooper hosted AC360 from outside the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

TUESDAY: Anderson hosted from New Orleans.

WEDNESDAY: Ali Velshi was in The Situation Room as he prepared to interview SecTreas Tim Geithner; Anderson was in Warren, Michigan. Don Lemon was in for Tony Harris.

THURSDAY: Recorded reports from Paula Hancocks in Galilee, Stan Grant in Abu Dhabi (above), and Al Goodman from Madrid; Ed Henry was in Los Angeles with President Obama; Anderson Cooper hosted from the campus of Hofstra University. Christine Romans was in for John Roberts (who was in Orlando for the Student Television Network Conference); Don was in for Tony; Lisa Sylvester was in for Lou Dobbs.

FRIDAY: Recorded reports from Matthew Chance in Moscow and Jim Boulden in London; Candy Crowley was in Trenton, NJ to look at how stimulus money is being spent; Rick hosted from the campus of Morehouse College; Anderson was back in the NY studio. Christine was in for John; TJ Holmes was in for Tony; Fredericka Whitfield was in for Kyra Phillips; Lisa was in for Lou.

All content, unless otherwise cited, is © All Things CNN and may not be used without consent of the blog administrator.