Live Blog from the Anchor Desk 3/26/08
Anderson anchors from Los Angeles again tonight.We'll start with some stunning new poll numbers analyzing which democratic candidate has been hurt more these past few weeks. With all the nasty bickering and the controversy over Barack Obama's pastor, you might be surprised to learn that it's Hillary Clinton whose seen her numbers drop the most. A dramatic new survey just a few hours old. We'll crunch the numbers and have complete analysis. We'll start posting comments at 10p ET and stop at 11p ET.
Erica’s News Note: Short… but not exactly sweet
A shorter post today as I have a few other projects I’m working on, but a little something is still better than nothing!
An update on a story that made me ill when I first read it last year; tough to forget the young father accused of microwaving his infant daughter. Today, Joshua Mauldin was sentenced to 25 years in prison, after being convicted of felony injury to a child. Mauldin claimed he was insane when he punched his then 2-month-old daughter before putting her in a hotel room safe, then a refrigerator, and finally in the microwave which he turned ON for 20 seconds. The little girl suffered second and third degree burns and ultimately lost part of her left ear. Her foster mother says Ana – now 1 – screams each day when her wounds have to be cleaned, and is in physical therapy five days a week.
Mauldin could have been sentenced to life. See here:
Fighting (again!) about who should take the trash out or walk the dog? Relax, those squabbles may be good for you. A recent study found couples who let it out are healthier than those who keep it all bottled up. Women especially can benefit from expressing their anger and frustration. But don’t think this is your OK to nitpick – experts also recommend a healthy dose of humor goes a long way.
Another healthy lifestyle move? Slimming down… but not just for the usual reasons. Turns out, avoiding that spare tire can also help stave off dementia, including Alzheimer’s. Check out the article.
-Erica Hill, 360 Correspondent
Erica Cam: Behind the scenes
What’s on tap for 360° tonight? Check out Erica Hill's web-only preview, and find what Randi Kaye has in store for tonight.
Afternoon Buzz
You may be grounded if you've got a ticket to fly with American Airlines today. Our advice: call the airline. In the battle for the White House, are pledged delegates now up for grabs? Oh, yes. They're different than superdelegates. As if this race isn't complicated enough, right? And, will some NFL players have to see a barber? Here's your Afternoon Buzz.
Top Stories
American Airlines flights grounded
American Airlines said it canceled hundreds of flights amounting to more than 10% of its schedule for Wednesday as it...
Ultimatium for Iraq's Shiite militas
A day after launching a huge operation that ignited heavy fighting in two of Iraq's largest cities...
Bhutto bomb suspect freed
A man with suspected links to a suicide bombing that killed 150 people at a rally last year for Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was ordered freed from custody Wednesday for...
New home sales drop to 13-year low
Sales of new homes fell in February for the fourth straight month, pushing activity down to...
Ford sells Jaguar/Land Rover brands to...
Ford Motor Co.'s long-awaited sale of its Jaguar and Land Rover brands removes a financial drain and major distraction for the U.S. auto maker.
Raw Politics
Pledged delegates up for grabs?
For the second time in three days, Sen. Hillary Clinton told reporters that the pledged delegates awarded based on vote totals in their state are not bound to abide by election results.
Polls: Dems ready to defect to McCain
A sizable number of Hillary Clinton supporters may break ranks to back John McCain in November should Barack Obama capture the Democratic nomination, a new Gallup poll suggests.
McCain's foreign policy vision
Sen. John McCain emphasized the need to collaborate with democratic allies in his foreign policy speech Wednesday.
Crime & Punishment
Dad faces son's alleged killer
Jamiel Shaw Sr. thought he'd see a "monster" in court when he turned up to see the gang member accused of gunning down his son just yards from his home. But instead, the father said...
Sambora arrested
Bon Jovi's Richie Sambora has been arrested for investigation...
What YOU will be TALKING about TONIGHT
Craiglist Ad lists baby for sale
A Lebanon, Oregon couple say they were the victims of a sick joke after someone used their name to list a baby for sale.
NFL to consider hair length rule
Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu might not have to worry about getting tackled again by his hair.
Actor Richard Widmark dies
Richard Widmark, who made a sensational film debut as the giggling killer in "Kiss of Death" and became a Hollywood leading man in "Broken Lance," "Two Rode Together" and 40 other films, has died after a long illness.
Put down that stone...
I don’t know what to say about all these sex scandals. Spitzer and then Patterson here in New York, McGreevey next door in New Jersey, and now the mayor of Detroit, and of course the granddaddy of them all - my old boss, Bill Clinton.
When that happened, so many of my White House friends were ready to condemn a man to whom they'd professed loyalty only a day before. But not me. Cause I don't like to judge. I was raised as a Christian and was always taught to judge not lest we be judged. And now, as a criminal defense attorney I presume folks innocent until proven guilty.
Even as a journalist, my job is to report the facts. Not to judge them. So here’s what I think. If public officials break the law for sex or for any other reason, then we should hold them accountable. But if the mayor, governor, or even the President has some problem in his life that is purely personal, it’s none of our business.
Like the man said; “let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”
– Jami Floyd, “In Session” Anchor/360° Contributor
Beat 360° 3/26/08
What's goin' on Bloggers?
Happy Wednesday! It’s time for ‘Beat 360°.’ Everyday we post a picture – and you provide the caption. Our staff will get in on the action too.
Tune in every night at 10p ET to see if you are our favorite! Can you Beat 360°?
Here is today’s “Beat 360°” pic of the day: A supporter of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton holds up a cardboard cut-out of Clinton in a boxing pose at a campaign rally
Have fun with it.
Make sure to include your name, city, state (or country) so we can post your comment.
– David Reisner, 360° Digital Producer
UPDATE: See last night's winner!
Bernstein: Hillary Clinton: Truth or Consequences
Hillary Clinton has many admirable qualities, but candor and openness and transparency and a commitment to well-established fact have not been notable among them. The indisputable elements of her Bosnian adventure affirm (again) the reluctant conclusion I reached in the final chapter of A Woman In Charge, my biography of her published last June:
“Since her Arkansas years [I wrote], Hillary Rodham Clinton has always had a difficult relationship with the truth... [J]udged against the facts, she has often chosen to obfuscate, omit, and avoid. It is an understatement by now that she has been known to apprehend truths about herself and the events of her life that others do not exactly share. " [italics added]
As I noted:
“Almost always, something holds her back from telling the whole story, as if she doesn’t trust the reader, listener, friend, interviewer, constituent—or perhaps herself—to understand the true significance of events…”
The Bosnian episode is a watershed event, because it indelibly brings to mind so many examples of this tendency– from the White House years and, worse, from Hillary Clinton’s take-no-prisoners presidential campaign. Her record as a public person is replete with “misstatements” and elisions and retracted and redacted and revoked assertions...
Morning Buzz
Good morning folks....There are only a few headlines to chew over in Top Stories today. So grab your coffee and head right to Raw Politics... But definitely scroll down to What YOU will be talking about TODAY and read about an outrageous story about a Walmart employee involved in a traffic accident and who is now being sued by Walmart for medical bills...Randi Kaye will have that story tonight on AC360.
Top Stories
Floods in Arkansas...
Volunteers armed with sandbags held back water springing up from under a rural levee Tuesday as the White River continued its highest surge in a quarter-century through eastern Arkansas.
Iraq PM gives deadline...
Iraq's prime minister on Wednesday gave gunmen in the southern oil port of Basra a three-day deadline to surrender their weapons and renounce violence as clashes between Shiite militia fighters and Iraqi security forces erupted for a second day.
Pilot suspended after gun fires in cockpit...
A US Airways pilot who accidentally discharged his handgun in the cockpit during a flight has been suspended from the federal program that permits pilots to carry firearms and has been removed from flight duty pending the outcome of an investigation, the Transportation Security Administration said Tuesday.
Raw Politics
Clinton seeks to soften impact on Bosnia statement...
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton tried Tuesday to put a softening spin on her misstatement that she ran from sniper fire at an airport in Bosnia as first lady, saying the comment was a mistake that “proves I’m human.”
Presidential hopefuls mum on social security & medicare...
With the presidential campaign going full tilt, a new government report on a big national problem is usually followed by volleys of rhetoric from the candidates. But on Tuesday, when the annual report on the precarious state of Medicare and Social Security came out, the reaction was not exactly deafening.
Obama posts tax returns...
The 2000-through-2006 tax returns for Sen. Barack Obama and his wife were posted on his campaign Web site Tuesday, part of an ongoing effort to paint Sen. Hillary Clinton as a secretive politician who has failed to disclose key information.
McCain: Life experience shapes views...
On Sept. 28, 1983, a freshman Republican took to the House floor and did something unexpected: He opposed President Ronald Reagan's plan to keep U.S. troops in war-torn Lebanon.
Meghan McCain offers her own straight talk...
Meghan McCain, who blogs about life inside her dad's presidential campaign, is not terribly interested in matters of policy, but she is acutely attuned to matters of footwear.
Obama and the "L" word...
Sen. Barack Obama offers himself as a post-partisan uniter who will solve the country's problems by reaching across the aisle and beyond the framework of liberal and conservative labels he rejects as useless and outdated.
Obama foreign-policy views draw criticism...
Barack Obama is drawing fresh fire for pledging to hold direct talks with foreign adversaries, an approach both Hillary Clinton and John McCain say they will hit hard.
Chelsea: "I do not think that is any of your business"
Chelsea Clinton had a quick retort Tuesday when asked whether her mother's credibility had been hurt during the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
Keeping Them Honest
250 sick in Colorado...
Crews started pumping chlorine through this southern Colorado city's water system Tuesday to rid it of salmonella bacteria that has sickened nearly 250 people.
Cigarette company paid for cancer study...
In October 2006, Dr. Claudia Henschke of Weill Cornell Medical College jolted the cancer world with a study saying that 80 percent of lung cancer deaths could be prevented through widespread use of CT scans.
Crime & Punishment
Parachute from D.B. Cooper found?
The FBI is analyzing a torn, tangled parachute found buried by children in southwest Washington to determine whether it might have been used by famed plane hijacker D.B. Cooper, the agency said.
What YOU will be talking about TODAY
Walmart sues employee involved in traffic accident...
Shank suffered severe brain damage after a traffic accident nearly eight years ago that robbed her of much of her short-term memory and left her in a wheelchair and living in a nursing home.It was the beginning of a series of battles - both personal and legal - that loomed for Shank and her family. One of their biggest was with Wal-Mart...
Program NOTE: Randi Kaye has this report tonight on AC360
Family ties..Obama related to Pitt? Clinton to Jolie?
Perhaps, now the candidates will play nice.For all their insistence on how unlike they are from one another, the three U.S. presidential candidates share some noteworthy family connections, the New England Historic Genealogical Society has found.
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Anderson Cooper's birthday surprise
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