Anderson Cooper Talks with Bono, Iman & K'naan About Somalia

Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Anderson Cooper spent 3 days this week in Africa reporting on the famine and its victims. Here are two interviews Cooper did with celebrities who are involved in the relief effort.

SUPERMODEL IMAN SPEAKS OF HER HOMELAND, SOMALIA

ENTERTAINER AND PHILANTHROPIST BONO AND HIP HOP ARTIST K'NAAN TALK ABOUT THE FAMINE IN SOMALIA

If you are interested in donating to a relief agency please go to Impact Your World at CNN.com.

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A Mixed Bag of CNN Goodies

CNN Newsroom anchor Heidi Collins served as emcee for the ASHP at the 42nd Annual Midyear Clinical Meeting in Las Vegas. Heidi served as emcee for the session in her role as spokesperson for National Foundation for Celiac Awareness. Collins exhorted pharmacists to learn more about celiac disease and the presence of gluten in medications.

To read about the Midyear Clinical Meeting, click here.

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Attention Nancy Grace Fans

According to Nancy's show page on CNN.com Nancy will be returning to her show from maternity leave on Monday January 7, 2008.

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Jon Klein recently had an interview with the New York Observer. A couple of things caught my eye.

*Mr. Klein suggested that Campbell Brown’s new 8 p.m. show, set to debut in February, would compete by being “more talk-oriented,” by featuring fewer “formal pieces,” and by on occasion capitalizing on Ms. Brown’s sometimes-comic sensibility towards the news, à la Comedy’s Central The Daily Show. “Jon Stewart should not corner the market on innovative uses of tape,” said Mr. Klein. “He wishes he had access to the amount of material we get in every day.”

*Under Mr. Klein’s direction, CNN documentaries have married high-profile CNN reporters with equally high-profile subjects—Christiane Amanpour and religious fundamentalism, Campbell Brown and political attack ads, Anderson Cooper and the environment. Mr. Klein said he encourages his reporters to draw conclusions in their documentaries—an upshot of which, he acknowledged, is that CNN docs increasingly “step on some vested interests, and they do respond.”

To read the entire article. Click here.

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Dr. Sanjay Gupta recently had an interview with the Detroit News where he talked about growing up in Michigan and his upcoming Impact Your World - Rescuing Youssif special. It is a great read and you can read it here.

~Well that is it for me until after Christmas. I want to wish all our reader a very Merry Christmas. All the best to you and yours during the time of peace on earth to all men!!!!~ Sapphire

Impact Your World Special and Year in Review

CNN to Air First "Impact Your World" Special

CNN release a press release about this upcoming special.

CNN announced that the first special from its “Impact Your World” initiative will air on Monday December 24th at 10pm ET and be about the story of Youssif, the Iraqi boy who was set on fire.
Born in Baghdad only seven months before the start of the war in Iraq, Youssif knew only a world of unpredictable violence. And yet, his family described him as happy and energetic with dreams of becoming a doctor. All that changed in January when three masked assailants doused Youssif in gasoline, set him on fire and left a scarred and traumatized boy.

Rescuing Youssif, the first television special related to CNN’s ongoing “Impact Your World” initiative, not only documents Youssif’s recovery but reveals how the network’s global audience embraced the story and offered money and support to speed his treatment. Impact Your World – Rescuing Youssif will premiere on Monday, Dec. 24, at 10 p.m., with replays on Tuesday, Dec. 25, at 1a.m. and 4 a.m. All times Eastern.CNN’s Baghdad correspondent Arwa Damon first brought the story of Youssif’s plight to the world in August, reporting that treatment at a local hospital was second-rate and painful for Youssif. Youssif’s mother, Zaineb, movingly described how the dynamic personality of her son took a disheartening turn. CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports on Youssif’s medical progress and provides insight into his emotional and physical recovery.

Response from CNN’s global audience was immediate and overwhelming. Online, the story became the single most-visited non-breaking news story in CNN.com’s 12-year history, with nearly 4 million page views within two days.

News of Youssif’s plight surfaced two months after CNN developed its Impact Your World initiative, a multi-platform effort to empower its global audience to make a difference in response to the stories they see online and on air. Through Impact Your World, more than 13,000 people from around the world contributed more than $300,000 to the Children’s Burn Foundation, allowing Youssif and his family to fly to the United States for treatment.
In addition, plastic surgeon Peter Grossman donated his services for the half dozen or more surgeries Youssif required for recovery. For Rescuing Youssif, Damon and Gupta remained in close contact with Youssif’s family in order to monitor the boy’s medical progress at the Grossman Burn Center in Los Angeles.

The documentary follows Youssif’s family as they experience a series of ‘firsts’ as they traveled and arrived in the United States, from learning how to use a toaster to seeing the ocean for the first time. It shows a Youssif breaking out of his shell and becoming, once again, a happy and energetic boy. And it reveals the generosity and concern of thousands of CNN viewers and online users.

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You know one of my favorite things about the

holiday season is those Year in Review lists. Everyone has them and CNN does not disappoint. CNN.com has come out with it's Year in Review lists for the Top Stories of 2007, the Top Showbiz Headlines of 2007 and the Top Health Stories of 2007 in a timeline format.

When you visit the Top Stories you can also vote for your top 10 stories. The stories you feel had the biggest impact on you personally or the world as a whole. Once you have voted it will compared your top 10 list with the total top 10 voted stories so far. I got three in the same order as all the other voters.

I am hoping that the other sections of CNN.com will be coming out with their own year in review.