Scams

I come to you, dear readers, with a heavy heart... apparently my last offering to the Blogger gods was not accepted, because after weeks of being perfectly well-behaved, the rackedy-frack system is just not letting me upload videos today.

So I'm afraid I will have to try to make do with the old-fashioned written word and occasional graphic...

One of the clips I intended to upload today was a report that Entertainment Correspondent Lola Ogunnaike did for American Morning on Tuesday. She had received a message on her Blackberry warning her that her life was in danger. This is from her online article:

I received a really disturbing e-mail the other afternoon.

"Do you know the person pictured in the following video," it read. "If so, please contact me immediately. Your life might be in danger." The sender claimed to be a Detective James Nicholas, Director of Crime Prevention for the Universal Crime Network.

The e-mail included a link that showed a "crime scene" video -- shown on what would appear to be a sister-station to CNN -- about a series of murders that had been linked to a music video by singer Ashanti. 

Again, from her article:

It's not everyday that I get death threats, so naturally I freaked, clicked on the link and up popped a news report about a series of copycat murders that had been inspired by the R&B singer Ashanti's video "The Way That I Love You," a song about a woman who discovers her boyfriend has been unfaithful.

Clutching a butcher knife and dressed in beaded gown, she cries and croons about betrayal. The cheater ends up dead in bathtub.

Jealous lovers, according to the report, were on a rampage -- and the next victim, it suggested, would be me. On the wall of one of the crime scenes were the words "Lola Will Die," written in what appeared to be blood.

Sadly (and yet, of course, thankfully!) this whole thing was a publicity stunt to promote Ashanti's latest record. People could send "Gotcha-grams" to their friends (?) and even choose the method of death used in the clip shown.

The saying is that there is no such thing as bad publicity... but this one seems to have backfired; the site has been removed and Ashanti now says she has regrets about it. Good to know...!

You can read Lola's full article on CNN.com.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The lone video I did get to upload was a very short clip also from Tuesday's American Morning: Ali Velshi does a Clint Eastwood impression. Well, at least I can leave you with a laugh!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Where in the World...?

SATURDAY: Wolf Blitzer, John King, Gloria Borger, and Candy Crowley were all reporting from Washington DC, covering Hillary Clinton's speech suspending her campaign.

SUNDAY: Atika Shubert reported from Jerusalem.

MONDAY: Susan Roesgen was in Columbus, Indiana, covering the floods; White House Correspondent Elaine Quijano was traveling with the president and reported from Ljubljana, Slovenia; Anderson Cooper was in Ruhengeri, Rwanda, working on Planet in Peril 2; Campbell Brown filled in as host of AC360 all week; John King, Dana Bash, and Jessica Yellin all reported from DC. 

TUESDAY: Jamie McIntyre interviewed Defense Secretary Robert Gates at the Colorado Springs Air Force Academy; Nic Robertson reported from London about the air plane crash in Sudan; Frederik Pleitgin and Elaine Quijano reported from Berlin during President Bush's stop there.

WEDNESDAY: Susan Roesgen was in Lake Delton, Wisconsin, where the lake had completely disappeared; Sean Callebs was in Des Moines, Iowa, covering the flooding there; Dana Bash was with the McCain campaign in Philadelphia; Michael Ware had a major exclusive from Baghdad.

THURSDAY: Dana Bash was in NYC; Elaine Quijones was in Rome with the president; Sean Callebs and Dan Simon were in Little Sioux, Iowa to cover the tornado that touched down nearby at a Boy Scout camp; Susan Roesgen was in East Bristol, Wisconsin, reporting on the flooding, while Gary Tuchman was in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

FRIDAY: Michael Ware (above) reported on major developments for the future of our troops in Iraq; Dana Bash was in Penberton, NJ to sit down with John McCain for an interview. (The rest of the day was primarily focused on the sad and untimely death of Tim Russert.)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

That's all for me today. Sorry about the lack of videos. 

A couple of, as they say, programming notes: Sunday on Fareed Zakaria GPS, there will be a discussion about Iraq that promises to be excellent. Well, just check out the guest list:

This week on the show: the subject of Iraq. Two controversial scholars, Michael O'Hanlon and Ken Pollack of the Brookings Institution, have just returned from Iraq and we'll be hearing their assessment of the current situation. Michael Ware, our correspondent in Iraq, will put his two cents in, as well as New York Times war correspondent Dexter Filkins. Don't miss what promises to be a fascinating and original discussion.

I am planning to post several of Michael's clips on Monday... he had a couple of exclusives reports this week that were just incredible. (Yes, I'm biased; doesn't mean I'm wrong!)

Enjoy the weekend!

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

Ratings At A Glance

Ratings for the week June 2 - June 6, 2008

	8PM^Adults 25-54 FOX 472,000 1 CNN 290,750 1 MSNBC 477,500 1
	9PM^Adults 25-54 FOX 381,750 1 CNN 412,250 1 MSNBC 297,000 2
	10PM^Adults 25-54 FOX 274,250 1 CNN 456,000 1 MSNBC 298,000 1

This week was a good week for CNN. They not only won the 9PM and 10PM timeslots, they also had the highest average Adults 25-54 demographic for every hour between 5PM and 12 MIDNIGHT except for 8PM which went to MSNBC. (Although FOX can claim victory on the average total number of viewers each hour, FOX didn't win a single timeslot in the demo.)

¹ 4 day average. Tuesday primary coverage excluded.
^{^} Courtesy Nielsen Media Research; Demographics where noted; Live + Same Day (LS) Fast Track Nationals.

FOX	739,333
CNN	1,413,333
MSNBC	1,052,667

June 3rd was the last night of primary coverage in the 2008 election cycle. Here's the breakdown on ratings that night 8PM - 11PM in the Adults 25-54. CNN had the highest average in the demo as well as total viewers for the same time period. CNN's ratings peaked during the 10PM hour with 1,890,000 viewers in the Adults 25-54 demographic and 4,523,000 total viewers.

Tim Russert 1950 - 2008 photo credit: Alex Wong / Getty via Time.com

Our condolences go out to Tim Russert's family, friends, and coworkers at NBC.

Tom Brokaw broke the news on Russert's passing this afternoon. CNN's programming since the announcement has been filled with memories from those who knew and had worked with him. Below are a few links to the stories and videos that have been posted on CNN.com:

• Tom Brokaw announcement
• Russert's advice to his son
• Newsman Tim Russert dies at 58
• Larry King remembers Russert

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

Random CNN Tidbits This Friday-Eve

Wednesday night, the Webby award gala was held and even though the AC 360 blog did not win, CNN did not come up empty. Ali Velshi and Mitch Gelman, senior vice president and senior executive producer of CNN.com were there to accept the award. To see pictures of Ali and others at Wednesday night’s festivities you can click here to check out pictures on the Huffington Post.

This past weekend on “This Week in Politic” Tom Foreman paid tribute to the candidates of the Democratic presidential race who were lost along the way. So for all you Democrats who may have lost your favorite candidate along the way, this is for you.

Speaking of politics, there has been a lot of chatter out in the cyber world today that Lou Dobbs was considering running for Governor of New Jersey. Well Lou had a little something to say about it during Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer. So New Jersey it does not look like Lou is rushing to run and I know you were all excited about getting those “Dobbs for Governor” lawn signs. Maybe someday, like Lou says “never say never”

This week on American Morning Lola Ogunnaike did a piece on minority presidents feature in Hollywood. At the end of the piece, Kyra Phillips brought up the fact the John Robert’s ringtone is from one of his favorite shows 24 (it is one of mine as well). I get the impression if John could vote for “President Palmer” he would.

I thought I would end my post tonight with a clip from Wednesday’s Tuesday’s American Morning opening. I love this clip because I find this happening to me more often lately so thanks to Kyra for letting me know I am not the only one. Just a note of reference, Friday is Kyra's last morning on American Morning, Kiran Chetry will be returning to AM on Monday. Kyra you have been a great addition to American Morning and have given us at ATC a lot to blog about. Kyra will most likely be returning to her post as co-anchor of the afternoon edition of NewsRoom with Don Lemon. Seems like everyone will be back to their normal places come Monday

Have a great weekend everyone and to all the dad's out there...

Happy Father's Day! ~ Sapphire

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

Getting To Know.....Ali Velshi

1. When is your book, GET RICH, SLEEP WELL: Making Money in Good Times & In Bad, going to be released?
Velshi: I’m hoping to have it released this fall. Maybe toward Christmas. I won’t sleep well until its done. But since I hardly sleep, anyway…

2. From the title, it sounds like the book is recession proof. How is this book going to help someone in their 20s compared to someone in their 50s?
Velshi: Recession-proof investing - that’s the idea behind the book – that people can invest their money without worrying about it. There’s no way to eliminate risk in investments, but there is a way to take on an amount of risk that is suited to your age and personality. That’s what I’m aiming to help people with.

3. With all the work that you do for CNN- Your $$$$, American Morning, your podcast.... when did you find the time to write a book?
Velshi: I don’t, really. There are children graduating from kindergarten who weren’t born when I first started writing it.

4. Where do you get your great sense of style? Do you have a favorite designer?
Velshi: I have a definite sense of what I like – I’m not sure it’s a style with mass appeal (can you imagine what New York City would look like with all those stripes?). So I tend to start with shirts – I have them made by a tailor. Then I pick ties – I have more ties by Zegna than by anyone else. Suits, I choose last (also from the same tailor.). Think of all the money I save not having to go to a hairdresser.

5. What's on your iPod? What's in your Netflix queue? What was the last book you read (or the one that you're currently reading)?
Velshi: I’m glad you raised this issue. I’m thinking of giving up Netflix. I’m on the 2-movie-a-month plan, and I never actually watch two movies in a month. Some titles from my queue (“A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash”, “Wall Street”, “Million Dollar Baby”) Sensing a theme here?

6. Please tell us a little about the off camera Ali. Your family, hobbies, favorite authors, favorite episodic television, things in your life that you are the most proud of, etc.
Velshi: My parents live in Toronto, where I grew up. When I have some free time, I ride a motorcycle (1400cc cruiser), enjoying traveling to out-of-the way, exotic places. I watch a lot of dramatic series on TV (Rome, Tudors, John Adams), plus “House” and all the “CSI” versions.

7. What are the essentials when traveling to cover a story?
Velshi: I have one bag with every electronic gadget one could ever need. And that bag will fit under the seat of a commuter airplane. In it: my slow-as-molasses company-issued laptop, Ipod, an iGo power thingy with every adapter conceivable to charge my stuff, an inflatable airplane pillow (and eyemask, but don’t tell anyone), basic toiletries, various forms of toothpaste, mouthwash, and scientifically enhanced breath fresheners (I’m a little obsessed), Ambien (I’m the world’s WORST sleeper), some kind of crunch power cereal in a pouch and this little packet of artificially sweetened powder that you can empty into a water bottle (like, at a hotel) so you can get some nourishment if a donut store isn’t nearby. Oh, and a reporter notebook and a cross pen.

8. When did you decide that you wanted to be a journalist? What attracted you to this professional? If journalism wasn't your initial career goal, what was?
Velshi: I studied religion. And I decided very late in my university career that I wanted to be a geological engineer. Clearly there was nothing behind Doors 1 OR 2.

9. What's your favorite must have gadget?
Velshi: Blackberry. And the next 4 on the list are blackberry. Nothing else even comes close. I can go WEEKS without touching my iPod. Can go minutes without my Blackberry.

10. Live television can be unpredictable- can you tell us about an on air moment that didn't go quite as planned or went awry?
Velshi: Years ago I was reporting on record low mortgage rates. I was in Chicago, right in front of the Chicago River by the Tribune Building. I was standing on two camera cases while delivering my report. I was gesticulating and suddenly the top box just slipped out from under me and I literally dropped right out of the shot while live on TV. I’m told that the director was laughing so hard he didn’t actually switch the shot back to the anchor, so when you watch the video, you can actually see me re-appearing in the frame while the anchors ask if I am okay. When I stood up again, I was about a foot shorter.

11. What is your guilty pleasure?
Velshi: Food. I eat like every day is the last day eating is allowed. Its not a good thing when you like to wear vests. Getting dressed these days is like stuffing a sausage.

And to the hairless profit of doom we offer our thanks, gratitute and this little tribute.

Until next week. ~ Phebe

If you want to read more of our 'Getting to Know' posts just click the link on the left sidebar. There are interviews with TJ Holmes, Kyra Phillips and Rick Sanchez. Also included is a question & answer with Phil Kent from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

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

Weatherman: Scientist or Journalist?

Photo from CarterEvans.com

Carter Evans is now with CNN. Here's an excerpt from a recent press release:

Correspondent Carter Evans will join CNN Newsource as a correspondent for “Money Matters,” a market-exclusive, multi-platform financial news service produced in conjunction with CNNMoney.com, it was announced today by Paul Crum, executive director of news operations, administration and affiliate services for CNN/U.S.

According to CNN polls, Americans consider the economy to be the most important issue affecting their lives today. CNN Newsource has marshaled expert resources to provide in-depth, customizable coverage of the economy for its affiliates, and Evans will offer markets specific information from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

“Carter is a smart business journalist with a diversified background in television and radio, both local and national,” Crum said. “The addition of Carter brings another well-rounded journalist to CNN Newsource, enabling us to give our affiliates around the nation the market news they want, when they want it and how they want it.”

For more information on Carter Evans, you can visit CarterEvans.com

	CNN anchor T.J. Holmes interviews Morehouse College senior Travers Johnson on April 22 at the Atlanta University Center. Johnson was one of the winners ofthe Campus iReporter contest for the Black in America HBCU tour. Credit: Jeremy Freeman/CNN

CNN & NABJ have announced the winner to the Campus iReporter contest. Below is an excerpt from the press release and the winning iReport.

CNN, together with the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), announced that Travers Johnson, a senior from Morehouse College in Atlanta, is the grand prize winner of CNN’s “Campus iReporter” contest. The contest ran in association with a tour of eight historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) to promote CNN’s Black in America multiplatform programming initiative.

Johnson won a trip for two to the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans over the Fourth of July weekend for “To Be Young, Gifted and Black in America,” an iReport about whether it is a good time to be young and black in America.. His iReport was submitted through www.iReport.com, CNN’s first uncensored, unfiltered, unedited, user-generated community Web site.

More than 11,500 students from eight HBCUs participated in the tour, which included Florida A&M, North Carolina Central University, North Carolina A&T, Hampton University, Howard University and the Atlanta University Center, which includes Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse and Spelman Colleges.

As part of the “Campus iReporter” contest, students from each school shared their firsthand accounts of the black experience through video, photo, audio or text submissions. NABJ chose one “Campus iReporter” from each school to win a digital video camera. Those winners were then eligible to submit additional footage to compete for the grand prize, also chosen by NABJ.

Reports about Sen. Obama and Sen. Clinton's secret meeting last week caught Jon Stewart's attention & this was his response to CNN's coverage. (Brianna Keilar is featured in the clip.)

On Tuesday's CNN NewsRoom, we got to see her reaction to The Daily Show clip.

Thanks to Phebe & Cyn for the clips!

VMan.com recently did an interview with CNN's Rob Marciano. Below are a few of the great photographs and an excerpt from the article. To view the full interview, visit VMan.com.

How did you get into meteorology?

I've been a lifelong weather geek. I would drive my parents crazy. I knew exactly when every weather guy was on every channel, and I would switch back and forth trying to get them all. I learned early on that meteorology isn't an exact science—telling your teacher you didn't do your homework because the weatherman said it was going to snow doesn't really work.

Do you consider yourself more of a scientist or a journalist?

I studied meteorology in college at Cornell and struggled through all the math and physics prerequisites. When I'm not reporting on stories now, I'm getting the facts right, making sure everything is triple- and quadruple-checked. But in the end, we're telling stories on TV. I wouldn't go so far as to call it an art, but it's definitely a craft.

How did you decide you wanted to do weather in front of the camera?

I did a cost-benefit analysis—no, kidding. What I get to do, which my colleagues in science and governmental agencies don't, is have fun. It is fun to get on TV.

Photo credit: Sebastian Kim, Styling: Brian Molloy

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

The Forecast Calls For...

Birthday Boy Miles O'Brien had a report on Saturday's NewsRoom where he spoke with the combined crews of Discovery and the ISS inside the new Japanese spacelab. Very cool stuff if you're a space geek:

On Sunday's Fareed Zakaria GPS there was a painfully funny piece about how expensive it is to buy the White House:

Also, in a preview for an upcoming show, Fareed talks to Salman Rushdie:

And just a shout-out to the graphics teams... yes, we notice when you get confused!

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

Mama For President

If you’re still wondering what the differences are between the two presumptive nominees for president, the CNN Special The Next President may help. The program aired this past Saturday and Sunday at 8PM EST and was anchored by Campbell Brown & John Roberts. The program takes a look at the policy differences between Sen. Obama & Sen. McCain. (Could they be any more different?)

The program included reports by: Ali Velshi- economic plans Sanjay Gupta- health care Bill Schneider – age difference Erica Hill- Who is John McCain? Barbara Starr – national security Anderson Cooper- Who is Barack Obama?

Mama for President: Good Lord, Why Not? Yes, there could be another name showing up on the general election ballot this year. Mama. This is a short clip from Saturday’s This Week in Politics to introduce you to the latest contender.

In the book, when she discusses a potential debate, she puts CNN on notice:

But I should warn you that I have been known to have a bit of temper. In spite of that, I will try to hold back before things get physical. The last thing this country needs is to see the potential leaders of the free world rolling around on the floor live on CNN. I won’t impose any ground rules for our debates except for a glass of bicarbonate on my desk and two or three emergency bathroom breaks if needed. When it comes to debating our nation’s most pressing issues, I have answer for questions no one’s even thought of. So tell Anderson Cooper, Wolf Blitzer, and all others to fire away!

(Credit: Excerpt from Mama for President: Good Lord, Why Not? By Vicki Lawrence)

The second episode of The Global Wire has been posted on the web. In this episode, CNN’s Frank Sesno talks to former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

You can watch the latest episode from The Global Wire website or on BlipTV. The transcript of the program is also available.

Happy Birthday to Miles O'Brien who will be celebrating his birthday on Monday, June 9th.

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