Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Monday, Reza Aslan spoke to Roland Martin about President Obama's outreach to Muslims worldwide:

Tuesday morning, Reza spoke to Carol Costello about the new image America has abroad:

On the way back to the US, Obama made a "surprise" stop in Iraq. At 11amET, Tony Harris spoke with Frederik Pleitgen in the Baghdad bureau:

Wolf Blitzer introduced a piece from Chris Lawrence about Obama's trip to Iraq; the piece includes comments from Fawas Gerges:

Wednesday morning, former Time magazine Baghdad Bureau Chief Bobby Ghosh appeared on American Morning and told Kiran Chetry that he thought Obama should have skipped Iraq and visited Afghanistan instead:

Within a few hours, the president was home in DC and reporters were scrambling to cover a new story -- Somali pirates had seized a ship flying the American flag. Fredericka Whitfield spoke with Nic Robertson, who got to visit the roof in London for a change of scenery:

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

Where in the World...?

SATURDAY: Drew Griffin was in for TJ Holmes on Saturday Morning. Domestic took the International feed for part of the overnight hours to report on North Korea's missile launch and President Obama's speech in Prague.

SUNDAY: Ed Henry and Suzanne Malveaux were both in Prague with the President. Richard Lui was in for TJ on Sunday Morning. Domestic took the International feed for part of the overnight hours to report on the earthquake in Italy and President Obama's speech in Ankara.

MONDAY: Suzanne and Ed were in Ankara; Frederik Pleitgin is in Baghdad this month; Paula Newton was in L'Aquila, Italy to cover the earthquake, as she would all week. Carol Costello was in for John Roberts; Betty Nguyen was in for Heidi Collins; TJ was in for Rick Sanchez.

TUESDAY: Suzanne and Ed were in Istanbul; Larry King was in New York. Carol was in for John Roberts; TJ was in for Heidi; Christiane Amanpour was in for Anderson Cooper.

WEDNESDAY: Barbara Starr was in Manama, Bahrain to cover the ship seized by Somali pirates; Nic Robertson was in London in the morning (discussing the pirates; above) and Manchester in the afternoon (discussing the terror-cell arrests; clips on Monday); Sanjay Gupta had been in Quebec sometime during the week to investigate Natasha Richardson's death. Carol was in for John Roberts; Fredricka was in for Heidi; Don Lemon was in for Wolf Blitzer.

THURSDAY: John King was in Park Ridge, New Jersey filming his weekly "diner" segment. TJ was in for John Roberts; Don was in for Heidi.

FRIDAY: Stan Grant was in Mombasa, Kenya covering the Somali pirates. TJ was in for John Roberts; Betty was in for Heidi; Don was in for Rick.

That's all for me today. Enjoy your weekend, and for those of you who celebrate, all of us at ATC wish you a Happy Easter and/or a joyous Passover festival.

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

Look Who Is On The Catwalk

BA here! Cyn has the night off. She will return on Monday and will have her "Where in the World" segment for you as well.

CNN's Sanjay Gupta, potential candidate for U.S. Surgeon General, received an endorsement from someone who once filled that position. Here's an excerpt from the article the US News and World Report article:

Sanjay Gupta, CNN's on-air doctor now bidding to become President Obama's U.S. surgeon general, has won the endorsement of the most controversial doctor to hold that position: Jocelyn Elders. The former surgeon general who supported teen masturbation and condom use calls the TV doctor an excellent communicator. "This country needs a surgeon general," she told our Suzi Parker. "It needs someone to be able to stand up and be an advocate for the people of this country. You aren't the Congress's surgeon general. You aren't the president's surgeon general. You're the people's surgeon general."

With Gupta, she says, "I think he understands the problems." What's more, Elders, an advocate for universal healthcare, dismisses critics, saying Gupta can learn on the job. "He has enough well-trained, well-qualified public health people to teach him the things he needs to do the job."

John King had breakfast in Lansing this week. Below is an excerpt from a Lansing State Journal article about the stop at the Fleetwood Diner.

Lights, camera, breakfast.

John King, anchor of CNN's State of the Union with John King, sat down with three Lansing residents today at the Fleetwood Diner on South Cedar Street to tape a segment for the Sunday news program.

"We try to visit every week a community that is the neon light of our big issue," King said.

And this week that big issue is the economy and related topics such as the housing crisis, hardships for automakers and high unemployment in Michigan.

"This is exhibit A," he said of Lansing.

The show runs Sunday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. EST, said CNN senior producer Laura Bernardini. The footage from the diner will likely air at around 11 a.m.

Photo credit: Ryan Loew/Lansing State Journal

>

And in today's Lansing State Journal there was a follow up article:

Ralph Harmon Jr. said he typically shies away from reporters and their camera lenses.

But on Friday morning, on a spur-of-the-moment trip to the Fleetwood Diner on South Cedar Street for breakfast, he encountered a CNN news crew and decided he would accept their invitation to share his thoughts on today's dire economy.

"I'm angry enough," the 54-year-old said.

John King, anchor of CNN's "State of the Union with John King," sat down with Harmon and two other Lansing residents at the diner to tape a segment for the Sunday news program.

"We try to visit every week a community that is the neon light of our big issue," King said.

And this week that big issue is the economy and topics such as the housing crisis, hardships for automakers and staggering unemployment.

"This is Exhibit A," King said of Lansing.

In addition to shooting at the diner, King said he and his crew stopped at locations such as a local Saturn dealership and the General Motors Corp. Lansing Grand River assembly plant during their two-day visit to Lansing.

They also interviewed Gov. Jennifer Granholm, CNN Senior Producer Laura Bernardini said.

This week has been fashion week in New York. CNN's Alina Cho and Soledad O'Brien were spotted at Nanette Lepore's show. Here's an excerpt from an article on AM New York:

The front row of today’s bohemian chic Nanette Lepore show was filled with TV newscasters. There was the Today show’s Natalie Morales and CNN’s Soledad O’Brien and Alina Cho. Cho and O’Brien nudged each other and whispered that they loved a black mini dress with a very low back.

Photo credit: Jerritt Clark/WireImage

More pictures:

Photo credit: Left top & bottom: Jerritt Clark/WireImage; middle: Amy Sussman/Getty Images; right: Katy Winn/Getty Images

Going to fashion week isn't all fun and no work for some. In a report that aired on American Morning, Alina Cho spoke with designer Jason Wu:

Cho also took a lesson on walking the cat walk.

ONN TV's Kevin Cook recently spoke with Ali Velshi in Chicago.

To wrap things up tonight, a few more clips from American Morning, Jim Acosta reported on the elimination of the muscle car from GM's line up.

John Roberts wants to walk while doing American Morning:

I want to see Alina or Kiran try that in heels!

This report from Carol Costello on dating and debt. The conversation turned into a debate about public displays of affection.

President Bill Clinton was interviewed by CNN twice this past week. First, John Roberts spoke to him in Austin, Texas.

Then Larry King interviewed the former president.

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

Stocking Stuffers

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care… but we forgot to check them to see what was there! Yes, there are a few clips left in our stocking… First, on Reliable Sources, Howard Kurtz interviewed Whoopi Goldberg last Sunday.

First, it was an anchor without a tie, now it’s a journalist without pants! Ed Henry was in Hawaii this past week reporting on the President-Elect's vacation. Yes, Ed has no pants. This first clip is from Monday's Campbell Brown No Bias No Bull:

Later on in the week, Ed decided to get even with the anchors- this clip is from American Morning:

The Washington Post even took notice of the wardrobe change.

It's prime time and CNN's Ed Henry is standing on the white sand of Waikiki Beach, reporting live on President-elect Barack Obama's holiday vacation in Hawaii. With the volcanic mountain Diamond Head in the distance, Henry is flanked by palm trees, bikini-clad babes and surfer dudes.

"Ed, are those your producers over your right shoulder, like sunning themselves and deciding what books to read?" anchor Anderson Cooper asks.

"No, my producers are working very hard," Henry replies.

"Okay, yeah, I think you're in board shorts and have a mai tai nearby," Cooper says, prodding the cameraman to zoom out.

And voilà! Below his blue dress shirt, Henry's sporting teal swim trunks with orange stripes.

"I kept my shirt on because I don't have the pecs of either Anderson Cooper or Barack Obama," Henry, the network's self-deprecating senior White House correspondent, said later in an interview.

"No offense to the people of Crawford, Texas, but taking the presidential retreat from Crawford to Honolulu is change anyone can believe in," Henry says, borrowing a phrase from Obama's campaign.

Henry says that when he calls his colleagues in Atlanta, New York or Washington, "they start cursing at me. I called one of our producers and I said, 'Aloha!,' and she said, 'Bleep you! Don't 'aloha' me.' " On Tuesday, when Obama's staff released a report about contact his aides had with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, television correspondents were reporting around the clock. Henry said he did 20 live shots that day for CNN and its sister networks. On such days, the seriousness of the news regarding the president-elect contrasts with the seaside location where reporters stand. And that raises the question of attire.

And what's the holidays without a Yule Log... CNN had some fun with one Christmas Day on American Morning.

Did you catch Joe Johns dancing as they went to commercial?

One last item in tonight's stocking... this is one of my favorite Christmas sights: 34th Street in Baltimore:

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

Light Christmas Post

So there is not alot of news on Christmas Day which works well for me since it is a travelling day for me. So I capped a few pics from CNN this morning. The regular anchors had the day off and Joe Johns, Carol Costello, Alina Cho and Richard Lui filled in. Unfortunately the blogger gods were being naughty today so I have no clips.

If you are home Christmas night CNN is airing the following programs

7:00PM - Obama Revealed

9:00PM - Larry King Live with Jack Hanna

10:00PM - Planet in Peril: Battle Lines

Hope everyone has had a very Merry Christmas with family and friends ~ Sapphire

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

Saturday catch-up

Just some interesting pieces you may have missed this week while racing around shopping/wrapping/cooking:

Morgan Neill reports on the Russian warships visiting Cuba, and also an offer to release political prisoners:

Arwa Damon updates the recovery of little Youssif, the boy who was doused with gasoline and set on fire by masked assailants in Baghdad:

Cal Perry did a piece for BackStory on how they get around the crowded Beirut streets in order to do stand-ups:

Richard Quest tells the story of one of the most common sights for travelers -- the Gideon Bible:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Where in the World...?

SATURDAY: Don Lemon was back in Atlanta after spending Friday in Chicago.

SUNDAY: Alina Cho was in for Fredricka Whitfield.

MONDAY: Brianna Keiller, Ed Lavendera, and Jessica Yellin were all in Chicago, covering the transition and the governor; Nic Robertson reported from London on President Bush's visit to Afghanistan; Carol Costello was in for John Roberts; TJ Holmes was in for Kyra Phillips; Betty Nguyen was in for Tony Harris (Tuesday also).

TUESDAY: Candy Crowley interviewed President Bush at the White House.

WEDNESDAY: Gary Tuchman was in Springfield, Illinois to cover the State Supreme Court decision on the governor; Jill Dougherty is in Baghdad; Carol was in for Kiran Chetry; Don Lemon was in for Tony (also Thursday and Friday); Joy Behar was in for Larry King.

THURSDAY: Gary was in Fenton, Missouri at a Chrysler plant as it went into the temporary shutdown.

FRIDAY: Gary was in Chicago for the latest on Governor Blagojevich; TJ was in for Heidi Collins.

Okay... back to the Christmas shopping!

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

Another loss

Another loss to CNN: Jamie McIntyre is leaving the network. On Friday he appeared on The Situation Room with his final report, about a health risk for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan -- the use of "burn pits" -- and at the end of the clip Wolf thanks him for his work with the network:

Politico.com posted a copy of Jamie's farewell email to the CNN staff:

After 16 years of covering the U.S. military for CNN, the time has come for me to leave the beat. 

Although I was never bored, CNN and I both agreed it was time for a change.

We were unable to reach an agreement on another assignment, so after a friendly discussion, I decided to pursue other opportunities. 

I leave with no regrets, and nothing but pride for the things we accomplished, and admiration for the people I worked with over the years.

I began at CNN in 1988, as a weekend freelance reporter, so my association with the network spans 20 years.

Before replacing Wolf Blitzer at the Pentagon in 1992, I had hardly traveled outside the Washington area. Since then I have circumnavigated the globe more than once and visited more than 60 countries.

It has been a special honor to cover the men and women of the U.S. military, and see, close up, the dedication and sacrifice they make to defend the nation. 

If I start mentioning names I will leave too many people out, but I have to express special gratitude to three CNNers in particular:

Tom Johnson, who was a rock of journalistic integrity in every confrontation with the Pentagon, the late Bill Headline, who hired me and stuck by me when many questioned why the weekend feature reporter was being assigned to the Pentagon, and my editor Sheila Kanzler, who was with me from day one and never missed air, even when I gave her a script with less than 10 minutes to turn it into television.

I’ll be around for a little while longer to tie up loose ends, and wrap up some projects.

Life is all about timing, and this just seems like the right time to see what else is out there. 

I hear there’s a ton of money to be made in stand-up comedy.

Well, Jamie always did strike me as a stand-up guy... But his work and his classiness will be sorely missed by many viewers. ATC wishes him the very best in his future endeavors. 

(If this keeps up, we may have to change the name of the blog to "All Things CNN...and Beyond"!)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Colin Powell is a guest on tomorrow's Fareed Zakaria GPS. Previews of the interview have been posted on CNN.com. In this one he talks about the future of the Republican party, conflicts within the Bush cabinet, and the "don't ask, don't tell" policy:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Where in the World...?

SATURDAY: Candy Crowley was in Chicago covering the transition.

SUNDAY: Nic Robertson was on a NATO ship chasing pirates in the Gulf of Aden.

MONDAY: Nic was in Salalah, Oman, still covering the pirates; Phil Black was in Athens to cover the riots; Jessica Yellin was in Chicago to cover the transition; Gary Tuchman was in Chicago to cover a sit-in by laid-off union workers. (And Chicago was about to become an even hotter assignment...)

TUESDAY: Drew Griffin was in Chicago to cover the arrest of the Illinois governor.

THURSDAY: Don Lemon was in for Heidi Collins.

FRIDAY: Don was in a very cold Chicago (above) to interview Jesse Jackson Jr.; Carol Costello was in for John Roberts. 

A fairly quiet week in WITW...hopefully a lot of the reporters and crews are getting their holiday shopping done. You never know what may happen next week! Stay warm, everyone!

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

Explaining Terror

Peter Bergen was on all day Friday, trying to explain who might be behind the Mumbai attack, and why. Also, what do we do next?

First, speaking to Joe Johns during the 6am hour:

With Carol Costello, 8am:

Fredricka Whitfield, 9am:


Tony Harris, 11am:


And with Wolf Blitzer at 4pm:

Nic Robertson filed this report after the assault on Chabad House:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Every now and then I grouse about something that the graphics department does, but this one really blew my mind: I was watching the coverage when I was suddenly distracted by the sight of the Cartoon Network logo included with the "Terror in India" slug. See it below Fredricka's left hand? Could anything be less appropriate during this horror?

... uh ... never mind. Sorry, graphics guys! I should have known that even in the midst of the insanity that must be the behind-the-scenes reality during breaking news coverage, you wouldn't have made that kind of a blunder! My apologies!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Where in the World...?

SATURDAY: Ed Henry and Jessica Yellin are still in Chicago.

MONDAY: Suzanne Malveaux and Candy Crowley were in Washington; Nic Robertson reported from London on the Michael Jackson trial; Joe Johns was in for John Roberts all week; Betty Nguyen was in for Heidi Collins Monday and Tuesday; TJ Holmes was in for Rick Sanchez through Wednesday and again on Friday; Miles O'Brien was in for Wolf Blitzer through Wednesday; Soledad O'Brien was in for Anderson Cooper Monday and Tuesday.

TUESDAY: Gary Tuchman was in Lansing, Michigan; Tom Foreman was in for Campbell Brown Tuesday and Wednesday.

WEDNESDAY: Suzanne was in New York; Carol Costello was in for Kiran Chetry through Friday; Fredricka Whitfield was in for Heidi Collins through Friday; Kitty Pilgrim was in for Lou Dobbs. In mid-afternoon, the terrorist attack in Mubai begin, and Andrew Stevens began reporting from that city; Nic Robertson was in London, where he had reported on the al Qaeda threat to NY subways in the morning but stayed to report on the new attack; Jim Clancy of International was on-set in Atlanta; Erica Hill hosted live coverage through the AC360 timeslot. Domestic carried the International feed all night.

THURSDAY: American Morning started a half-hour early; Christiane Amanpour was in New York; Peter Bergen in Washington; Paula Newton and Phil Black in London; Sarah Sidner on the scene in Mumbai; Reza Sayah in Islamabad; International's Michael Holmes on the set in Atlanta. Kyra Phillips stayed on the air through Rick Sanchez' timeslot and the first 90 minutes of The Situation Room, after which, Domestic picked up the International feed for the rest of the day until the "Heroes" special programming began.

FRIDAY: Matthew Chance and Nic Robertson were in Mumbai; Wolf Blitzer hosted TSR from Miami.

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

At The AM Desk ~ August 2008

It is time for the next installment of "At the AM Desk" For the month of August, John Roberts was off 6 days. While John was off, Rob Marciano sat in the co-anchor chair. Kiran Chetry was on all but one day. Carol Costello filled in for Kiran on her day off. The last week of August also had JR in Denver covering the Democratic convention and Kiran holding down the fort in New York.

(click to enlarge calendar)

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

Georgia Update, International Style

This has been another crazy-busy week, so I thought I'd keep things simple and give a look at how the International coverage of the crisis in Georgia has been progressing all week.

On Sunday, the latest cease-fire/pullout announcement said that Russian troops would start leaving Georgia the next day. Michael Ware reported from Tbilisi:

By Tuesday, it was clear that yet another deadline had come and gone with no sign of actual troop movement:

Yesterday, though, things actually did seem to be happening. In three clips throughout Your World Today, Michael documented where troops were pulling back, where they weren't, the disputed "buffer zones" that Russia intends to put in place inside sovereign Georgian territory (and who's gonna stop them?), and finally some further details about rumored ethnic cleansing and internment camps:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Where in the World...?

SUNDAY: Candy Crowley was on Late Edition from Los Angeles, while John King was on the DC set; Jill Dougherty hosted GPS.

MONDAY: Zain Verjee was in Brussels, Belgium with the NSA; Morgan Neill (above) is back in Havana, and covered Hurricane Fay; Tom Foreman was on Marco Island, Florida covering Fay; Reza Sayah reported from Pakistan about the Musharraf resignation; Candy Crowley was in The Situation Room; Rob Marciano co-hosted American Morning; Heidi Collins and Kyra Philips were both solo on their editions of Newsroom; Ali Velshi was off all week; Campbell Brown hosted AC360.

TUESDAY: John King was in The Situation Room and on AC360 to discuss the "Revealed" special; Campbell Brown hosted AC360.

WEDNESDAY: Suzanne Malveaux was on the set for American Morning to discuss the Veep guesses and "Revealed"; Zain Verjee was in Warsaw, Poland; John King hosted Ac360.

THURSDAY: Cal Perry was in Madrid to cover the plane crash; Candy Crowley was in Chicago; John King hosted Election Center and AC360.

FRIDAY: Carol Costello co-hosted American Morning; John King, now in Denver for the convention coverage, hosted Election Center and AC360, which turned into a marathon assignment as news of Obama's VP choice leaked out.

Enjoy the weekend, and the closing ceremonies for the Olympics. See you Monday!

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