Updates: Snow, Quest, & Cafferty

How about a few updates tonight?

Jack Cafferty’s remarks have occasionally gotten him into trouble. But has CNN ever been sued for $1.3 billion before? The following is an excerpt of a report from Reuters:

A Chinese primary school teacher and a beautician have filed a suit against CNN in New York over remarks they say insulted the Chinese people and are seeking $1.3 billion in compensation -- $1 per person in China, a Hong Kong newspaper reported.

In New York, Liang Shubing, the beautician, and Li Lilan, a Beijing-based elementary school instructor, claimed Cafferty's words insulted all Chinese people and "intentionally caused mental harm" to the plaintiffs, the Ta Kung Pao newspaper reported on Thursday.

"The $1.3 billion averages out to $1 per Chinese person, so it isn't much," the newspaper quoted a lawyer as saying.

Cafferty has been doing his best to stay out of any further trouble this week, but sometimes his viewers’ comments have the potential to put him into hot water:

The Guardian reported that Richard Quest has entered drug rehab.

"At this time, CNN's primary concern is for his health and wellbeing. We look forward to Richard returning to CNN International," [CNN] said in a statement.

A CNN spokesman declined to "speculate" on when Quest would return to the network he joined in 2001. He began his career as a BBC news trainee in 1985 and spent 16 years at the corporation.

And finally tonight, Tony Snow has been released from the hospital and was on The Situation Room today with Wolf Blitzer. Snow wasn’t hospitalized for exhaustion as was originally reported.

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Raw Politics

What won't Senators Clinton, McCain, and Obama do in order to boost their chances of becoming President? I just couldn't believe the news on Monday that all three of them were appearing on WWE Raw. Here's a clip of Wolf Blitzer in The Situation Room Monday afternoon discussing the appearance:

I don't have anything against professional wrestling, but I do find the idea of campaigning on WWE just a bit bizarre.

It wasn't that long ago that CNN aired a Special Investigations Unit program on professional wrestling. Remember Drew Griffin's reporting in Death Grip: Inside Pro Wrestling? He interviewed WWE Chairman Vince McMahon:

For more information, Drew Griffin talked about his interview with Vince McMahon with Pro Wrestling Blog v2.0..

Another item that I fit into the bizarre category on Monday: CNN has a new conservative commentator.... Tony Snow. I had never heard of Tony Snow prior to him becoming the president's press secretary in 2006. Finding out that Fox News was on his resume didn't impress me much. I'm curious to see how CNN fits him into the Best Political Team on Television. Here are a few blurbs from the CNN Press Release:

“In the White House, Tony brought a remarkably human touch to the discussion of public policy, which he will continue to do as part of the Best Political Team on Television,” Klein said. “He will contribute a unique breadth of political and journalistic expertise to what is already the most provocative and wide-ranging political analysis on the air.”

“I’m delighted to be able to join CNN during the most exciting and unpredictable political year in memory,” Snow said. “The big challenge in 2008 is to develop deep, creative and aggressive analysis of both political parties, their candidates and campaigns. I’m eager to get started, since this race is sure to shape American politics for years to come.”

An additional note on Snow, the AP has reported that he cancelled a speaking engagement today and was admitted to the hospital for exhaustion. Hopefully, he'll have a speedy recovery.

Let me throw in one last item to tonight's ode to the bizarre. What do all these statements have in common?

• iReporter films mysterious lights in sky
• Baby falls 20 feet onto postal worker
• Blind man grabs, pummels intruder
• Rep calls workers 'illiterate peasants'
• Russian missile obliterates spy plan
• Pacing man stuck 41 hours in elevator
• Synchronized swimmers faint in unison
• Citizen tickets cop for $540 violation
• Mom delivers her own baby at 80 mph
• Drinking, movies lead to FLDS exile

These are all headlines from CNN.com and at the time of writing this post, they are all available for purchase on CNN T-Shirts.

Take a close look at the Latest News section of the CNN.com front page and you'll find a new icon next to several of the stories. Click the T-Shirt and it will take you to a beta site where you can specify the color and size of your T-Shirt.

For $15.00 plus shipping and handling, this headline can be yours. The list of headlines that are available for purchase are updated through the day. To see the current list, visit: http://www.cnn.com/tshirt/allshirts/index.html

Thanks to the reader who sent us the tip about the new feature.

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