Live Blog from the Anchor Desk 6/2/08
After six months and 61 contests, the Democratic primary season ends tomorrow with contests in Montana and South Dakota but will there be a nominee? Barack Obama is just 42 delegates shy of the 2,118 now needed to clinch the nomination. There are not enough pledged delegates at stake tomorrow to put Obama over the top, but don’t forget about the superdelegates.
And Bill Clinton is fighting back against the man who wrote an article about him in Vanity Fair. He called the reporter sleazy and charged he didn't use a single name or cite a single source for the accusations he makes in the article. But Clinton didn't just target the author, he also went after Barack Obama, calling it “...another way of helping Obama. They had all these people standing up in this church cheering, calling Hillary a white racist, and he didn't do anything about it.” We’ll talk about that and the fact that Sen. Obama has resigned from that church with the best political team on television.
Be sure to check out our live web camera from the 360° studio. The shot features Anderson and Erica behind the scenes on the set. We’ll turn the camera on at 945p ET and turn it off at 11p ET. LINK TO THE BLOG CAMERA
We’ll start posting comments to this blog at 10p ET and stop at 11p ET.
Deciding on a treatment plan
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
CNN Chief Medical Correspondent
We now know Sen. Ted Kennedy flew down to Durham, North Carolina, over the weekend, and underwent awake brain surgery at 9 Monday morning at Duke. The operation was “successful,” according to his surgeons, and a significant amount of his malignant glioma was removed. The whole thing was a bit of a surprise given that his doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital hadn’t publicly raised the possibility of an operation. They mentioned only chemotherapy and radiation as his options. Clearly, over the last couple of weeks, the senator and his family decided they wanted more. They wanted to fight this tumor, and they talked to experts all over the country and finally decided on Dr Allan Friedman at Duke University Medical Center to help them in his battle.
Read the rest of this blog...
Bo Diddley: Elvis "ripped off my leg-wriggling"
Editor's note: Bo Diddley died of heart failure today, according to a statement released by his family.
Tim Lister
Executive Editor
Nine years ago, I was producing a CNN show called ‘World Beat’ – and we had the good fortune to sit down with Bo Diddley. He was about to turn seventy but still had extraordinary vigor and a busy touring schedule. He also had opinions.
It wasn’t difficult to get him started. All you had to do was suggest: “Some people think Elvis Presley founded Rock ‘n’ Roll.” Diddley’s response was immediate and unequivocal: “You ask Chuck Berry, he'll tell you the same thing. Ask Little Richard, Little Richard will tell you the same thing, ask Fats Domino, any of us. We will tell you that he did not do it and go back in the history books and see if you can find anybody before me. That's all I gotta say.” Diddley also said he remembered Presley visiting the Apollo Theater in Harlem where he was a regular fixture – “and then [he] ripped off my leg-wriggling.”
FULL POST
Cyclone Nargis: Facts, Figures, Feelings
Naida Pasion
Director Of Programs
Save the Children
It’s been 24 days since Cyclone Nargis wrought havoc across the Irrawaddy Delta and Yangon in Myanmar. Since the day we mounted our response to the cyclone, we have kept track of our progress, expressed in numbers of people reached, the townships and villages we covered, and the aid we provided.
Each day, as we consolidate reports from our various relief teams providing assistance in the Irrawaddy and Yangon, the question always at the forefront is: How many people have we reached? Every time I look at the figure at the bottom of our report that notes “population covered” I always feel triumphant. It’s like winning an election, consistently increasing our lead against hunger, disease and homelessness as we go deeper into unreached areas in the Irrawaddy Delta as well as in Yangon.
Today, we have reached a milestone: We passed the 200,000 mark in our coverage. We have reached 209,000 men, women and children — 20 times the number on the first day, 20% of the estimated 1 million people helped by local and international NGOs. We have delivered 628,000 kilograms of rice, 67,000 packets of oral rehydration solution, 136,000 yards of tarpaulin, among other items, across 17 townships in Yangon and Irrawaddy Delta. And this is just a partial report from the field.
FULL POST
Erica’s News Note: It’s a Monday
Erica Hill
AC360° Correspondent
When I saw the headline this morning about higher rates of cancer among children in the Northeast, I immediately thought of two things: (1) my son and (2) A Civil Action, the book (and later a movie starring John Travolta) about the community of Woburn, MA and the unnaturally high numbers of people – especially children – who developed leukemia. If you’ve never read the book, I highly recommend it with one caveat: it may make you angry, appalled and very, very frustrated.
The study from the CDC is based on data representing 90 percent of the US population. While the initial headline is scary, there is some “good” news here, mainly the fact that cancer does remain relatively rare in children (if only it was extinct!). As for the high rates in my area of the country, one reason could be because of more reporting and better care.
__________
I admit I am not a fashion plate when I fly, but I do try to look respectable and to avoid looking disheveled. I go for easy on-off shoes (flats, usually…plus I feel a little more put-together in shoes as opposed to sneakers), and clothes that wear well and can stand-up to the demands of an 18 month old. I’m not a fan of flying in p.j.s, even for my son. Call me old-fashioned, but I believe that you should look nice when you fly, not like you (a) just rolled out of bed or (b) just came from the gym. Apparently, some people feel so strongly about the lack of appropriate attire on board and in the terminals they’ve put together some rules for us.
__________
The man who designed the Pringles can – c’mon, you know that cylinder of chips all too well! – has been buried in his creation.
Two minute warning at the political Super Bowl
David Gergen
Fmr. Presidential Adviser
CNN Sr. Political Analyst
In these final weeks of the Democratic primary process, Hillary Clinton has not only piled up votes, but she has also amassed some powerful arguments for her candidacy. Since March 5, she has won more than half of the contests and beaten Barack Obama in the popular vote, 6.8 million to 6.2 million. Moreover, she has consistently been outshining Obama as a fall candidate against John McCain in a number of key states - Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania most prominent among them. So, there is more than just vanity behind her efforts to pull off a last-minute upset.
Even so, Obama can well argue that he has even more powerful arguments to claim the party crown. Yes, she has won the second half of the game, but think about it this way:
FULL POST
Beat 360° 6/2/08
Hey Bloggers!
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 the 'Beat 360°' pic of the day: Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama peers through a kaleidoscope while shopping for his daughters and wife May 31, 2008 in Rapid City, South Dakota.
Have fun with it.
Make sure to include your name, city, state (or country) so we can post your comment.
David M. Reisner
360° Digital Producer
UPDATE: Check out our Beat 360° winners!
Crude awakening: ‘Drilling’ for gas
David M. Reisner
360° Digital Producer
Bloggers,
It was only a matter of time…
With oil at record high’s and gas prices hitting $4 a gallon, people have taken to drilling for oil… from other people’s tanks.
That’s right; while the price at the pump has already forced some people to curtail their summer plans and stay home… others are looking to their own backyards, to steal gas.
Gasoline prices surged just before Memorial Day weekend and on Monday hit a new record national average $3.937 for a gallon of regular, according to a survey of stations by AAA and the Oil Price Information Service
Although tank puncturing isn’t on the radar of many law enforcement organizations, ‘AAA Mid-Atlantic’ issued a press release last month that cited a case in April in Bethesda, Md., involving a thief who broke the fuel line underneath a car and sapped five gallons of gas… Montgomery County police said a bus in the same parking lot had 30 gallons of diesel stolen.
Suggestions from AAA?
FULL POST
Memo to Obama Campaign: Why Fight Over Four Delegates?
Lanny J. Davis
Former special counsel to President Clinton
Supporter of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign
The thousands of Clinton supporters in the streets on Saturday in front of DC's Marriott Hotel, many of them from Florida and Michigan, were angry in the beginning of the day. At the end of the day, they were even angrier – with the prime focus of their ire Senator Barack Obama.
And the difference between a happy vs. an angry outcome was – I am not making this up – just four Michigan delegates, a forced switch of just four delegates from Senator Clinton's to Senator Obama's total.
This decision was made by a divided DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee over the strong objection of Senator Clinton's representative on the committee, Harold Ickes. It was made with the support of Senator Obama's campaign and his representatives on the Rules Committee.
Put aside the merits of the arguments on both sides and let's just look at the politics.
Senator Obama says at this stage he wants to promote party unity. The DNC Chair Howard Dean says the same thing. The party "leaders" we hear about more and more in the media say the same thing.
Yet when it came down to the crucial moments during Saturday afternoon's deliberations of the Rules Committee concerning the seating of the Michigan delegation, Senator Obama and his supporters on the committee drew a bright line over four delegates. Why?
Beats me.
The Native American vote - "gonna make a difference"
Program Note: See Randi’s full report on the Native American vote tonight on AC360° at 10p.
Randi Kaye
360° Correspondent
It was my first trip to Montana… and it was just as beautiful as I had imagined it would be. Rolling hills. Open plains. Lots of horses. That was until we arrived at the Crow Reservation in Crow Agency, Montana. This is where about 8000 members of the Crow Tribe live and it is one of the poorest areas of the country. We meet Darrin Old Coyote, our guide, and it doesn’t take long to see why these people want a president who is willing to help them.
Old Coyote tells me some families on the reservation are having to choose between food and fuel. They are jobless and hopeless. Why? Old Coyote says, “We as Indian people feel like a third world country in the U.S. A lot of our problems are basically forgotten.” Old Coyote says they want a president who will acknowledge their hardships, and on this reservation, that appears to be Barack Obama.
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