Ed Rollins: Dobbs and CNN were no longer in sync

Ed Rollins has an editorial on CNN.com today about the departure of Lou Dobbs and how it relates to the overall vision of CNN and the changing news business. Part of it reads:

In this past week of very important news -- when the president presided over the memorial service for the slain soldiers of Fort Hood and departed on his first Asia trip, and the attorney general made the controversial decision to treat the mastermind terrorist of 9/11 as a criminal to be tried in a Manhattan civilian courtroom -- the story of the departure of longtime CNN anchor Lou Dobbs still jumped out.

CNN did its usual first-rate job of covering those other stories, but the Dobbs departure is still somewhat of a mystery. It is a hard story to cover, because Lou is family. And it's far more than a story about changing anchors. It's a story about the direction of the "news business" and cable television's role in that business.

To read the rest of the column, click here.

Also, Lou is scheduled to appear on The Daily Show tonight.


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State of the Union for September 6, 2009

John King was live from the Minnesota State Fair this morning on CNN's State of the Union.

But before we get to this morning program, here's the behind the scene's video which was taped in DC with King talking about Sunday's program.

Some of you may have noticed that a longer version of the video was originally posted to the CNN Political Ticker, but has since disappeared. The original had John King speaking on fast forward part way through and then repeated the entire discussion.

Senator Amy Klobuchar (D) and Senator Ben Nelson (D) (via unsynchronized phone/ video) discussed health care legislation and what they want to hear from the President when he addresses Congress on Wednesday night. They also discussed the swine flu and regular flu vaccinations and the troop levels in Afghanistan. King asked the Senators about the latest poll numbers in the Cook Report that show that the President's numbers on the economy, health care, and the budget deficit have fallen below 50% - could these mean that the Democrats are in trouble in 2010? Sen. Klobuchar did her best to get King to try a piece of chocolate covered bacon (he politely declined).

Nelson expresses support for using trigger on public insurance

Dems give Obama advice for big health care speech

Klobuchar on a health care bill: 'I would like to see us at 60′

Minnesota's Governor Tim Pawlenty (R) joined King at the fair to discuss health care reform. He doesn't think there should be a public option or that the "trigger option" should be used either. King asked the Governor to comment about George Will's recent comments that it is time to pull out of Afghanistan. The Governor thinks that we should commit more troops and finish the mission. King questioned Pawlenty about his travels around the country (even though he is still Governor); Pawlenty declined that he was already running for President. King also questioned whether Pawlenty would have been a better choice for Senator McCain's running mate (instead of Gov. Palin). And Pawlenty was pushing bacon flavored lip balm.

Pawlenty: With trigger, Dems 'will shoot themselves in the foot'

The swine flu has caused the Minnesota Fair to cancel the 4-H musical this year. Earlier in the week, King spoke with Dr. Thomas Frieden, Director of the CDC. Some states are seeing a number of cases confirmed cases of H1N1, which is early compared to the typical flu season. It takes 6 months to create a vaccine for a new strain of the flu virus. Dr. Frieden is confident of the safety of the new vaccine and his own children will be receiving the vaccination when it becomes available in October.

In H1N1 fight, 'challenges are really significant,' CDC head says

King was talking to people at the fair about health care:

John King's American Dispatch this week was from a dairy farm in Waterloo, Wisconsin. The farm is part of a co-op. Wisconsin already has a dozen health care co-ops. (King even learned how to milk a cow.)

Farmers say co-ops work for feed, seed and health care

At the top of the hour, Howard Kurtz took over with pre-recorded Reliable Sources back in the Washington, D.C. studio.

The top story this morning was Diane Sawyer taking over in January for Charlie Gibson on World News. Tina Brown, David Zurawik, and Rome Hartman discussed the succession.

Kurtz spoke with Lara Logan about being an embedded reporter in Afghanistan. They also discussed the AP's decision to put out a graphic photo of a dead marine, Lance Cpl. Bernard. Kurtz asked Logan about there not being a news bureau in Kabul (like there had been in Baghdad). Logan responded that soldiers don't have basic necessities like water and electricity- the news media isn't a priority for them. They also discussed her decision to go back into Afghanistan now that she has a 8 month old child (and she's leaving again tomorrow to return).

Kurtz talked with Dr. Daniel Ellsberg, the man who leaked the Pentagon papers on the Vietnam war. A new movie about the incident, The Most Dangerous Man in America, is being released. He thought at the time that he was breaking a law when he released the top secret documents to the press and fully expected to go to prison for the rest of his life. Dr. Ellsberg sees a lot of parallels between Vietnam and Iraq.

Kurtz talked with Michael Lewittes about GossipCop.com which patrols the celebrity news stories and separates the fact from fiction.

John King was back live at 11AM with the Sound of Sunday (and the beginning of the hour of pundits).

The commentator panel had Ed Rollins (R) and Joe Trippi (D) (both via video link - neither were at the fair with King). They talked about health care reform (both the legislation and the speech that the President will give to Congress on Wednesday), and what the poll results from the Cook Report indicate for the balance of power in Congress. In response to Van Jones' resignation, Trippi commented that conservative talk radio is gunning for a failed Presidency.

Trippi: GOP trying to turn Obama into another Jimmy Carter

The CNN Diner segment this week was at the Minnesota State Fair (where there is lots of food on a stick) with Susan Reynolds, Roger Akenbuom, and Dave Theisen.

Dana Bash, Ed Henry, and Candy Crowley joined King via video link from Washington, D.C. for the Correspondent panel. The panel talked about Democrat's expectation for President Obama's upcoming speech to Congress and the future of a public option for health care. They also discussed the troop levels in Afghanistan and the dilemma that the President faces with liberals pushing for withdrawal and Republicans backing an increase in troops.

Ed Henry did a bit of flip-flopping this week. Two weeks ago, during the Lightening Round when asked about getting "wee-weed up", Henry wouldn't comment:

KING: OK lightning round now, Ed Henry, Jessica Yellin, Dana Bash, here's one. We learn new things from our president all the time, including some language. Here's the president on a conference call the other day with his supporters. He said, "There is something about August going into September where everyone in Washington gets all wee-weed up. I don't know what that is, but that's what happens."

Put me in the "I don't know what that is" column. You're the senior White House correspondent.

HENRY: I was in New York visiting my parents. My mom told me when I was in school, never talk about wee-wee. We're not talking about it on "State of the Union."

Source: CNN Transcript, State of the Union with John King August 23, 2009 11AM hour

Now, this week, again during the Lightening Round, Henry brought up the topic of getting "wee-weed up".

KING: ... Here is Charles Krauthammer, as we begin the "Lightning Round." Charles Krauthammer writing in The Washington Post on Friday: "What happened to President Obama? His wax wings having melted, he is the man who fell to earth. For a man who only recently bred a cult, ordinariness is a great burden. And for his acolytes, a crushing disappointment, Obama has become a politician, like others."

Ed Henry, I'm assuming they don't like the Icarus analogy over at the White House.

(LAUGHTER)

HENRY: Oh, they clearly don't. And there is clearly one solution to all of this. He needs to get wee-wee'd up. As he said a couple of weeks ago, nobody knew what that meant. And I still don't quite know what it is. He accused Republicans in Washington of getting all wee-wee'd up. I think he needs to do that.

And what it probably means is, he needs to get fired up, he needs to go at it, be a little more aggressive. It's looking right now like he's a little passive watching all of this go by. So he needs to get wee-wee'd up.

Source: CNN Transcript, State of the Union with John King September 6, 2009, 11AM hour.

The noon hour brought a repeat of material from the 9AM hour ( 45 minutes later live programming resumed). The Last Word went to Minnesota Representative Keith Ellison to talk about health care and what the President should say on Wednesday night. He wants progressive leaders to walk away if a public option is not part of the bill. He also talked about a "civilian surge" in Afghanistan.

An added bonus from the website this week... take a look back at the first six months of State of the Union with John King:

Here are the links to this week's podcasts:

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

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.