Ali Velshi on Recovery Road in the CNN Express

Looks like CNN's Ali Velshi is hitting the road again in the CNN Express Bus. Watch for him next week.

Source: CNN Political Ticker: Ali Velshi hits the 'Recovery Road' next week on CNN

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CNN covers the New Hampshire Primary

Hi everyone! The CNN Express showed up in New Hampshire for the first Primary of the season. Here is CNN's coverage plans for the evening (click here for full text):

CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, Best Political Team on Television Lead New Hampshire Coverage

New Election Center with State-of-the-Art Technology, CNN Election Express on Display on Jan. 8

CNN will employ its extensive resources and political expertise for incisive and expansive coverage of New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary on Tuesday, Jan. 8. From the new CNN Election Center in New York and from around the state of New Hampshire, lead political anchor Wolf Blitzer and CNN’s political team will guide the network’s special coverage.

CNN’s special programming will begin at 8 p.m. (ET)—following wall-to-wall politics on The Situation Room and Lou Dobbs Tonight—and run late into the night. The coverage will lead into a special edition of Larry King Live at midnight (ET) hosted by Larry King and featuring analysis and insight into the election results.

The CNN Election Center is the network’s new political nerve center located in CNN’s broadcast headquarters in New York. CNN’s team of statisticians and political analysts will pore over data and polling information to bring viewers the most accurate results as results come in. CNN’s new technology such as the “multi-touch” and enhanced graphics capabilities has led to a whole new way to visualize these races and combined with the network’s unsurpassed reporting and analysis made CNN the most-watched cable news network in all the key demos the night of the Iowa caucuses.

In addition, CNN will offer up-to-the minute reporting and analysis at CNNPolitics.com and on the CNN Political Ticker at www.CNN.com/ticker. CNN.com Live will have extended coverage of the results, with CNN.com’s Melissa Long anchoring coverage from the CNN Election Center in New York and CNN.com’s Nicole Lapin anchoring from Atlanta.

CNN Radio will provide live anchored coverage with Lisa Desjardins anchoring from New Hampshire. CNN Newsource will provide its affiliates access to on-site reports from correspondent Sean Callebs and Newsource RunningMate exclusive correspondent, Samantha Hayes.

Each month in 2008, CNN Student News will be “Talking Democracy” by introducing an election-year topic in the show and online. From caucus to convention and primary to poll, CNN Student News will break down these election-year concepts. Teachers, parents and students can find the CNN Student News program and its curriculum materials online at http://www.cnnstudentnews.com/ and on Headline News from Monday through Friday at 4 a.m. (ET)


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

A Cocktail of Politics with a Side of Larry King

CNNpolitics.com

CNN is branching out again with the new CNN political site. This site is solely dedicated to bringing the news in regards to politics as it happens. You can check out the new site by clicking here.

Election Express
The CNN Election Express bus is hitting the road. Here is a video that air on CNN Newsroom with Tom “Mr. Raw Politics” Foreman giving the viewers a tour of this amazing bus.

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Larry King Upcoming Shows

Larry King has had some fantastic guest this week including Reba McIntyre, Chef Gordon Ramsey, Jenny McCarthy and Holly Robinson Peete. But this is just the beginning. In the next little while Larry will have a lot of great guests (unless breaking news warrants a change in schedule).

Upcoming Guests
* October 1: Financial guru Suze Orman
* October 2: Whoopi Goldberg and Jenna Bush
* October 3: Olympic skating champion Dorothy Hamill
* October 5: Rock superstar Kid Rock!!
* Vicente Fox
* Former President Jimmy Carter

* Stephen Colbert

* Joel & Victoria Osteen
* Donald Trump

* Bill Cosby

* Valerie Plame & Ambassador Joe Wilson

* Criss Angel

* Eric Clapton

* Jerry Seinfeld

* Terri Irwin

* Judge Judy

Another Look at the New Hampshire Primary Debates

The Debates
Did you get to see both CNN Presidential Primary debates held on June 3rd and June 5th from New Hampshire? If not, don’t fret, there are plenty of ways that you can still see the debates. CNN has provided both debates online for you to view. You can also find the debates on Saint Anselm College’s website and on BlipTV.


The Set at Sullivan Arena
CNN transformed Saint Anselm College’s Sullivan Arena, typically used for ice hockey, into a set fit for a future president. A small bit of irony in all this, is that the place where teams body check each other into boards, will now host an event in which candidates are sure to body check their opponents. blogged Brian Lawson.

Crews worked around the clocked to make sure that the set was ready; an effort that involved the college’s staff, students, and the CNN staff. WMUR has posted two slide shows (setting up and preparing) showing the transformation.

On the Thursday before the debate, Laura Rossi blogged: As I stood watching all the action, there were three rounds of lights raised to the ceiling, a podium set up, and the 40-foot backdrop frame completely assembled in front of my eyes. Several large red and white vinyl cubes sat like gigantic blocks waiting to be added to the skeleton-like frame. She also posted a podcast of an interview conducted with CNN’s Vice President of Weekend Public Affairs programs, Lucy Spiegel, about the stage and her role in the debate planning process.

In another podcast that same morning, Doug Minor, talks with CNN’s lighting designer, Mike Poley (from the DC Bureau) about the setup of the area for the debate.

A Student’s Perspective
An excerpt from a blog post on Saint Anselm College’s website:
Some 51 Saint Anselm College students have been working closely with CNN on debate preparations since late last week. These students and their 10-hour plus work days have played a critical role in making the debates a reality. Students have worked with CNN's news anchors, correspondents, set designers, marketing and public relation staff, and others running errands, standing in for set checks (lighting, sound, video), moving sets, and many other important roles.

In the meantime, they've got to know many of CNN's on-air talent and executives and received an insiders view of all the work that goes into staging a major event like CNN's Presidential Primary Debates.

Cory True '09, a junior politics major from Augusta, Maine (and guest student blogger), had the opportunity to interview two students about their experiences working the debates. The interviews have been posted in a podcast.

Cory also posted about his experience as a CNN "Runner":

• "Running" for CNN - Day 1


• "Running" for CNN - Day 2


• "Running" for CNN - Day 3

Stephanie Zanotti, a student, also blogged about her experience as a “Runner”, posting: At a CNN reception following Tuesday night’s debate I was fortunate enough to chat with Wolf Blitzer. Our conversation was the perfect way to end one of the most exciting events of my life. I described to him the immense appreciation I now have for what goes on behind a major media event, TV shows, and even commercials, Wolf replied “I hope it doesn’t spoil the magic for you.” When I responded “No, it greatly enhanced it” he answered, “Then we’ve done our job haven’t we?”

I admire the way that Saint Anselm College handled the pressures of hosting a news event that would be seen around the world. The college, community, students, and CNN staff have provided those of us who were sitting at home an insight to the sights and sounds surrounding an important step in the election process. More than just documenting an event, they’ve provided the world with a behind the scenes view of a little piece of American history.

If you want to see more pictures from the debates, photos from students and CNN staff have been posted on Flickr. Also, the CNN All Access podcast gives you a behind the scenes look with Kate Lunger, Senior Producer, CNN Special Events, as they setup for the debate on Sunday.

CNN Express

In past elections, the CNN Express bus has made many appearances at political events on the way to election day. Its frequently manned with various CNN journalists to travel around the country. Well, this year, CNN has a brand new CNN Express bus and were providing tours of it while it was stationed at the New Hampshire debates.





It looks so nice and new now, but I want to see the pictures of the inside of the bus 502 days from now (the day after the 2008 Presidential election).

One more item before I leave you tonight, can you name this CNN journalist?