Nic Robertson visits an opium den in Kabul as government officials try to prevent an addiction epidemic from bringing on an epidemic of HIV/AIDS:
Cal Perry reports by phone on the release of Muntazer al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at then-President George Bush last year and has been jailed ever since:
A second report from Cal and we now have video of him with the family; however, there is no homecoming for the released journalist, who was immediately flown out of the country for the sake of his security and for needed medical treatment:
Ben Wedeman talks to Egyptians about al-Zaidi, who worked for a Cairo-based television station:
Here's a look at some upcoming interview highlights, courtesy of the CNN Pressroom:
CNN Continues to Deliver More Newsmakers
CNN continues to deliver more newsmakers with a stellar lineup of A-list interviews, including:
Sunday, Sept. 20: John King’s wide-ranging interview with President Barack Obama will air during the 9 a.m. (ET) hour of State of the Union with John King.
Sunday, Sept. 20: In Fareed Zakaria’s exclusive interview with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, the Russian president laid out his problems with the U.S. missile defense shield plans. The interview airs on GPS at 1 p.m. (ET).
Monday, Sept. 21: Christiane Amanpour launches Amanpour. on CNN International with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke discussing the issues underlying the powder keg that is Afghanistan -- the war there, the growing power of the Taliban, the fraud charges surrounding the recent election, and the tough road ahead. [Amanpour. will air on Sundays at 2 p.m. ET on Domestic starting September 27th; I will be including a recap of the program in my Monday posts.]
That's it for me today -- sorry I had to use the embedded clips, but I'm still having cable issues... and sadly, it's Time-Warner Cable giving me these headaches!
Hi, I'm back with Out of the Box. I hope you all are having a great week! Let's get started...
David Gergen to speak in Minneapolis
This Friday, David Gergen will speak at a the "Summit of Leadership in Crisis". They will be discussing leading during times of troubles, including domestic and foreign issues. For more information on the summit check out their website.
Fashion Week in Pictures (CNN Edition)
Alina Cho, along with Soledad O'Brien and Betty Nguyen attended several events at fashion week. Here are some photos of Alina Cho.
Another picture of Alina Cho on the Life.com website. Thanks to Julie for finding these items. Have a great week everyone!
Ratings for the week September 7, 2009 - September 11, 2009
8PM^
Adults 25-54
FOX
818,750 1
CNN
179,250 1
MSNBC
434,667 2
HLN
277,800
9PM^
Adults 25-54
FOX
891,800
CNN
381,000
MSNBC
331,333 2
HLN
203,400
10PM^
Adults 25-54
FOX
707,000 1
CNN
232,400
MSNBC
337,500 1
HLN
215,600
FOX won all of the prime time slots Monday - Friday and comes in first in all of the prime time weekly averages.
CNN once again came in fourth place in the Adults 25 - 54 demographic during the 8PM hour after four nights in fourth place and one night in second place (Wednesday night which is excluded from the four night average). At 9PM, they came in second place after three third place and two second place finishes. CNN sank to third place at 10PM after three third place and two fourth place finishes.
MSNBC came in second for the week at at 8PM after four second place and one third place finish (Monday's second place and Wednesday's third place finish are excluded from the average). For the 9PM hour, they placed third with three second place (Monday night excluded) and two third place finishes (Wednesday night excluded). At 10PM, MSNBC rose to second place for the week after four second place finishes (Monday night excluded) and one fourth place finish.
HLN came in third place after four third place finishes and one four place finish at 8PM. During the 9PM hour, they came in fourth place all five nights. At 10PM, they also came in fourth place after one second place finish, two third place finishes, and two fourth place finishes.
1 4 night average used. FOX & CNN at 8PM - Wednesday night President's Prime Time Speech; FOX at 10PM - Friday night special programming; MSNBC at 10PM - Monday night special programming
2 3 night average used. MSNBC at 8PM & 9PM - Monday night special programming at 8PM and 9PM. Wednesday night Presidential speech at 8PM and Olbermann at 9PM.
^ Courtesy Nielsen Media Research; Demographics where noted; Live + Same Day (LS) Fast Track Nationals.
As part of AC360's week in Afghanistan, Michael Ware spent a week in Kandahar. Not in a military embed, but just him and his crew -- producer Thomas Evans and cameraman Samad Qasiri -- dressing like the locals and trying not to attract too much attention.
They produced three prepared pieces in addition to giving a lot of analysis throughout the week. Here are the three pieces, including one where a pick-up truck carrying Michael and Samad hit an IED:
On yesterday's Fareed Zakaria GPS, Michael discussed the situation on the ground in Afghanistan as well as possible avenues for America to take now. In the second segment, he discusses the IED incident:
MONDAY: Michael Ware was in Kabul; Anderson Cooper and Peter Bergen were at Patrol Base Jaker in Helmand Province; Rob Marciano was in Cocoa Beach, Florida; Jill Dougherty was in Cincinnati; Gary Tuchman was in Claremont, North Carolina. Suzanne Malveaux was in for Wolf Blitzer; Lisa Sylvester was in for Lou Dobbs; John Roberts was in for Campbell Brown; Erica Hill co-hosted AC360 from New York.
TUESDAY: Wolf was in New York.
WEDNESDAY: Ivan Watson was in Istanbul. Fredricka Whitfield was in for Heidi Collins; Campbell was pre-empted for the president's speech.
THURSDAY: Ali Velshi was in Scranton, Pennsylvania; John King was in Portland, Maine. Carol Costello was in for Kiran Chetry; Kitty Pilgrim was in for Lou.
FRIDAY: Ali was in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Carol was in for Kiran; TJ Holmes was in for Rick Sanchez; Kitty was in for Lou; John King was in for Anderson.
SATURDAY and SUNDAY: ...everyone was where they were supposed to be!
It was a terrific week of coverage from Afghanistan, something no other network could do at such length. Anderson has tweeted that he is back home, Sanjay and his producer both tweeted from Dubai yesterday on their way back. Neither Michael nor Tommy tweet, but hopefully they are heading somewhere for some well-deserved rest as well!
And now I'm off to watch the Bills on Monday Night Football!
John King was in Maine this week when he taped the preview for this week's State of the Union.
On this morning's program, we got see updated music and graphics for the program. The first guest was Press Secretary Robert Gibbs to discuss the tea party protests in DC, health care, and Representative Wilson's outburst during the President's speech. Gibbs was also asked about the House Democrats who have taken money from health care PACs and whether or not the attacks on the President's policies are because of his race.
Next, Senator Susan Collins (R), Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D), Senator Dianne Feinstein (D) talked with King about health care reform and the war in Afghanistan.
The American Dispatch was from Maine. King took a look at the impact of the large number of independent voters in the state. (And demonstrated this with lobsters- watch the video for details of his lobster bucket math.)
Reliable Sources with Howard Kurtz started at 10AM. His first panel included Sam Tanenhaus, David Brody, and Ceci Connolly and they discussed political pundits and the coverage of Obama's health care plan as well as the President's speech to students.
Next was Ana Marie Cox and Chris Stirewalt to discuss the Beck vs Olbermann battle and the Van Jones controversy
Gail Shister and James Poniewozik discussed CNN's coverage of the Coast Guard's exercise on the Potomac and Jay Leno's debut at 10PM.
The 11 AM Sounds of Sunday started off with a discussion with Ed Gillespie & Donna Brazile. King asked them about Rep. Wilson's "you lie!" outburst, the protests in Washington, the health care public option, and the public's concern about the cost of health care reform.
This week's CNN Diner segment was from Portland, Maine. King talked with Judy Colby George, Bob Gregoire, & David Unger about health care reform and their thoughts on 9/11 – eight years later.
The next panel included Ed Henry, Gloria Borger, and Dana Bash. They covered the health care reform legislation, swine flu vaccinations, Rep. Wilson's outburst, and the war in Afghanistan.
The Last Word went to Rep. Eric Cantor (R). King asked Cantor about health care reform, troops in Afghanistan, Rep Wilson's outburst, and whether Rep. Cantor was disrespectful during the President's speech by working on his blackberry.
John Roberts was interviewed by Mediaite Office Hours on 8/27. Here is the interview from mediaite.com
James Carville and his wife Mary Matalin are co-chairing a committee to bring the Superbowl to New Orleans in 2013. Click here for the article from nola.com.
Ladies' Home Journal's October edition talks with Jill Dougherty on her fight against breast cancer. Here is TVNewser's post with a summary of the article.
Jamie Kraft has been named the new executive producer of American Morning. Previously Jamie had been American Morning's senior broadcast producer and has also worked on AC360. Prior to that Jamie was with CBS and 60 Minutes. Here is the article from Broadcasting & Cable.
Ali Velshi spoke with TVNewser about his trip on the CNN Express. Click here for their full article.
Ali Velshi also spoke with the Wisconsin State Journal about speaking with students at UW - Madison.
Reza Aslan has a new article in The Daily Beast titled Osama vs D.C. Lobbyists. Click here for his article.
