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February 12, 2008
Morning Buzz
Posted: 07:01 AM ET

Good morning folks!!! Another political primary day. Today is the battle is along the Potomac. Voters in DC, Maryland and Virginia will head to the voting booths. Will Barack continue his sweep? OR will Hillary rally back? AND will Huckabee continue to be a “nuisance,” as some political pundits are saying…. SOOO watch CNN tonight for full coverage!!!

In Top Stories a new study out about how the U.S. military is deficient in meeting “the threat of Islamic insurgencies”…AND the steroid controversy continues…baseball player John Rocker is admiting steroid use…so we are Keeping Him Honest!!!

AND thing are looking really gloomy on the real estate front and it ain’t because of sub-prime mortgage rates! If you are living in Oklahoma or Florida, you may want to move!! Folks in those states have been repeatedly hit by natural disasters over the last 30 years. AND are you living in a miserable city? There is a new study out of the worst cities to live in…so scroll down and check out What YOU will be talking about today…There are lots of headlines to get through this morning… including why Dolly Parton is postponing her tour….so grab your coffee and let’s get started…. Top Stories
U.S. vs. Muslim insurgents…
The U.S. military is seriously deficient in meeting “the threat of Islamist insurgencies,” says a Pentagon-commissioned study released Monday.
Outcry over U.S. marine arrest…
Condemnations rang out from several corners in Japan Tuesday after a 38-year-old U.S. Marine was accused of raping a 14-year-old local girl on the southern island of Okinawa.
Terror plot…
Danish authorities have arrested several people who allegedly were plotting a “terror-related assassination.”

Immigrants flee…
The signs of flight among Latino immigrants here are multiple: Families moving out of apartment complexes, schools reporting enrollment drops, business owners complaining about fewer clients.

A changing face…
If present trends continue, within two decades the nation’s foreign-born population will surpass the historic 19th-century peak of nearly 15 percent of all residents, according to projections released Monday.

Repeated disasters…
When it comes to bad weather — or just bad luck — some parts of the USA seem to attract disaster.

Raw Politics
What is at stake?
Presidential candidates in both parties have a lot at stake in these Potomac primaries.Coming off his sweep in five weekend contests, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois will be aiming for a political hat trick over Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York.

Battle along the Potomac…
Democratic presidential hopefuf Barack Obama offered himself as “something new” at a pair of spirited, arena-size rallies in Maryland yesterday, while his primary rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton, portrayed herself as a “battle-scarred” fighter for the middle class at more intimate events held across the region on the eve of today’s primaries.

Obama favored in Potomac primaries…
A new battleground looms in a state where picnickers still flock to venerated fields of Confederate glory. The campaigns of Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama are gearing up for today’s presidential primary in Virginia, a key Southern state rife with knotty demographics and shifting party loyalties.

Bid hinges on Texas and Ohio…
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and her advisers increasingly believe that, after a series of losses, she has been boxed into a must-win position in the Ohio and Texas primaries on March 4, and she has begun reassuring anxious donors and superdelegates that the nomination is not slipping away from her, aides said on Monday.

New Poll: Dems happy with choices…
Democratic voters haven’t settled on a nominee but are enormously excited about both their prospects. Republican voters have made a choice but aren’t thrilled with him.

Crime & Punishment
L.A.P.D cannot police itself…
Los Angeles Police Department investigators routinely fail to fully investigate citizens’ complaints against allegedly abusive officers, often omitting or altering crucial information in ways that help exonerate the officers, according to a report to be released today.

Ex cop takes the stand…
A former police officer accused of killing his pregnant lover sobbed on the witness stand Monday that he accidentally struck her when she wouldn’t let him out of her house.

Keeping Them Honest
More Sterioid use in MLB…
John Rocker claims he flunked a drug test ordered by Major League Baseball in 2000 and that he, Alex Rodriguez and other Texas Rangers were advised by management and union doctors following a spring training lecture on how to effectively use steroids.

Medication mix up…
When Tabitha Jones picked up her stepson’s medicine at a Walgreens store near Nashville in 2004, she had no way to know the pharmacy was so busy that its manager had asked for more staffing months earlier to “decrease the pharmacist’s stress.”

What YOU will be talking about TODAY
Dolly Parton postpones tour….
Dolly Parton’s breasts may be two of the wonders of the entertainment world, but the country music icon says they are a pain in her back.

Patty Hearst at Westminster dog show…
Far, far removed from the days when her image as a machine gun-toting revolutionary captivated a nation, Patricia Shaw Hearst was in more genteel surroundings Monday. She was tending to Diva at Madison Square Garden, petting her soft head on dogdom’s biggest day.

Do you live in a miserable city?
Imagine living in a city with the country’s highest rate for violent crime and the second-highest unemployment rate. As an added kicker you need more Superfund dollars allocated to your city to clean up contaminated toxic waste sites than just about any other metro.

11 Comments
11 Comments
Marcia   February 12th, 2008 7:36 am ET

Having lived in the Detroit Metro area all my life I have seen good times and bad and I have to tall you things are bad right now. Having based the economy the auto industry was really a big mistake which many people are just now realizing, but it may be too late. Don’t get me wrong I love the city of Detroit, its the government that doesn’t have a clue.

For as long as I can remember the people who live in Detroit have been put on the back burner in favor of building up Riverfront and the like instead of working with what they already have. Now with the recent text messaging scandal the focus again had been put on the negative and the current mayor is to blind to see what it is doing to the city. Maybe one day government officials will realize that its the people who made Detroit and not some riverfront establishment. Show the people they are important and things will change.

Marcia
Warren MI

Syd T.   February 12th, 2008 8:08 am ET

I believe that Senator Barack Obama will continue his sweep of the states tonight, primarily because he’s doing such an excellent and outstanding job, running a very tight and efficient campaign ship. Regardless of what the nay-sayers, and those full of hatred for Obama might think, there are indeed much higher powers who have definite plans for Senator Obama to take the Whitehouse in January 2009.

Senator Obama is right on course. Big changes from a great man and true architect are coming to America and the world. Real hope to the many, is very much alive and well right now!

Chris from Houston   February 12th, 2008 9:15 am ET

Has America forgotten the Bill once lied to me then has the audacity to make me, an adult, question whether I knew what the definition of sex was. Because of those lies, when he says he did all he could for my African American community , I cannot believe him. Not only did he hurt me then–he hurts Hillary now. And those statements about Obama not being qualified, well from and African-American insiders’ position—we always hear that argument when racism decides to rear its’ ugly head. That’s why the community has shunned Hillary. Saying that a black person is not qualified is part of the lexicon that Blacks associate and identify with racial bias. This is a fact and know one wants to talk about that.

Debbie, Denham Springs, LA   February 12th, 2008 10:09 am ET

I live for the Westminster dog show. I think the beagle will win. And you know, if there’s a poodle there, it will always win at least one category. It ain’t Westminster if a poodle doesn’t win at least once.

About Obama: I hope he continues his sweep. I think his momentum is unstoppable at this point.

Jess, Paris, KY   February 12th, 2008 10:33 am ET

I have to say, primary day still excites me. I wondered a month or so back if my enthusiasm for primaries would still be here, and it is! I will be eagerly waiting for results tonight.

Have a good day everyone!

Cindy   February 12th, 2008 10:39 am ET

I think Obama will continue his roll. Hillary has a long row to how in my opinion to stop him. It seems to me that he has stolen her thunder so to speak that she had in the beginning. Maybe by changing her campaign manager she can get some fresh new ideas to get rolling with. If not she may lose this thing big time and the super delegates won’t be needed.

So no show tonight huh!? Well I guess the election program it is then! And can I say can we PLEASE get more news on 360 and WAY less politics. I know Anderson said he liked this much politics but he isn’t the one having to actually watch the show! I’m just sayin…LOL And honestly I have been having to get my news from another show…which I won’t name here! So PLEASE 360 give me some news so I don’t have to go elsewhere!

Cynthia, Covington, Ga.

bob b   February 12th, 2008 10:52 am ET

Since John McCain appears to have the republican nomination in the bag, there’s no need for young republicans to vote in the republican primaries. Instead, young republicans are voting in the open democratic primaries for Barack Obama, in an attempt to knock Hillary Clinton out of the race. According to my son who is a graduate student, Clinton is seen as the only real threat to McCain, and young Republicans are using Obama to get rid of her. Every time I hear Obama brag about young Republicans voting for him in the democratic primaries, I cringe. Is he really so naïve and clueless that he doesn’t realize he is just being used? These young people have no intention of voting for Obama in November. And if college students are clever enough to figure out how to manipulate public opinion by using Obama, what do you think world leaders would do with him? If I, as a parent, can get these young people to admit to me what they are up to, then I am sure the media has known it all along. But many in the media are gleefully going along with this game and outright pretend to believe that there is something miraculous about Obama’s popularity. I don’t believe for a minute that all of the analysts and commentators are that stupid. People in the media are just using Obama to serve their own interests too, and without conscience.

Bob B.
Concord, Ohio

norma young   February 12th, 2008 11:00 am ET

As an avid CNN watcher, I am dismayed at the obvious bias of some of your people on issues surrounding the campaign. As a news junkie, I am not the least bit interested in the personal choice of reporters and news gatherers. I only want “the facts, maam”. It is unacceptable that the media should attempt to influence (rather succesfully) the outcome of any voter pool or section of the country. I am particularly unimpressed by the very beautiful young black woman who is so obviously an obama promoter. She is so opinionated and one-sided that you lose me everytime she is given so much ‘floor space’. I am 77 and have a very good mind of my own and I certainly know when someone is trying to manipulate me. Stop it! You, anderson, have always been the most impressive and straight-forward young reporter I have seen. Bravo! Wolf, on the other hand has drifted significantly away from reporting to trying to influence outcomes (he thinks of it as interpreting the news) Please, everyone…just the fact…please.

Cindy from Texas   February 12th, 2008 11:37 am ET

Bushenomics! at work. Obviously Pres.Bush has never every dealt with foreclosures. When your house is “in foreclosure”, that means you are already behind on the note by better than 3 to 4 months, so putting it off for 30 days is a joke. If you can’t come up with the money before that, then 30 days isn’;t going to help. Almost cruel joke at that. Only makes the numbers look better for the statistics for that month.

Kelli   February 12th, 2008 12:04 pm ET

Depends what you consider miserable. SF is a very beautiful city, however the average price of a fixer-upper home is @$1 million dollars! We are also in the top 5 for nightmarish commutes!

Bonnie/ New Port Richey, FL   February 12th, 2008 12:22 pm ET

Anderson,
Didn’t know where to post this so I am putting it to you.
We know everything we need to know about the candidates and get the same information over and over again. However I have never heard anyone ask or seen any of the newschannels do a segment about, the advisors to the candidates and those who will be advising whoever becomes President. I would like to know who these people are, what their credentials are and their records. Who are these people behind the President who are helping make all the policy decisions that are credited to the President.

If you get to be one of the moderators of the future debates I would love to have you ask them the question and do a segment on 360.

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