Tomorrow Buzz: debating the Middle East
Lisa Ort
AC360° Producer
Here’s a look at some of the stories on our radar for tomorrow:
RAW POLITICS:Sen. Obama will be in Virginia with an invitation-only town hall meeting in Martinsville and a town hall meeting in Lynchburg that is open to the public. Sen. McCain hosts a town hall meeting in Las Cruces, NM.
MIDDLE EAST DEBATE: The United Nations Security Council is scheduled to hold an open debate on the current situation in the Middle East.
TED STEVENS FALSE STATEMENTS CASE: A court hearing to discuss Sen. Ted Stevens’ request to move his trial to Alaska is scheduled. Stevens is accused of making false statements on his Senate financial disclosure forms.
ALVAREZ SENTENCING: Formal sentencing is scheduled for Juan Manuel Alvarez who was convicted of murder for causing the train crash in 2005 which killed 11 people. He faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.
ATLANTIC CITY AIR SHOW: “Thunder Over the Boardwalk” includes performances from military and civilian planes.
WORLD AIR GUITAR CHAMPIONSHIPS: Contestants from around the world compete for the championship title in Oulu, Finland.
Live Blog from the Anchor Desk 8/19/08
For what’s in the program at 10p ET take a look at tonight’s Evening Buzz.
Anderson is off tonight. Campbell will be filling in. You can get a behind the scenes look at her on our live web camera from the 360° studio. LINK TO THE BLOG CAMERA
And don’t forget to watch Erica Hill’s webcast. LINK TO THE WEBCAST
We’ll start posting comments to this blog at 10p ET and stop at 11p ET.
Evening Buzz: ??? for Vice President
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/POLITICS/06/22/campaign.wrap/art.obamamccain.gi.jpg]Maureen Miller
360° Writer
It's VP decision time. Any day now we expect Senators Barack Obama and John McCain to name their running mates. Tonight, Republican sources tell CNN that two key McCain aides have been calling activists to get their feedback on several possible VP picks, including former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge. "If he picks Ridge, the convention blows up, you will have a base completely demoralized," said one activist. "And it will be viewed that he is ceding the future of the GOP to a liberal Republican. It would be a disaster," the activist went on to say. The republican base doesn't like Ridge because he's pro-choice. But do you think McCain is planning a VP surprise? Would a McCain-Ridge ticket interest you?
As for Obama's VP pick, Senator Joe Biden is trying to weaken the buzz surrounding his name. He told reporters outside his Delaware home today, "You got better things to do guys. I'm not the guy." But he could be just playing around. We'd like to know who do you think Obama will pick as his vice presidential nominee.
Also tonight, a story we've been following for months, the so-called Terror Watch List.
Beat 360° 08/19/08
Howdy 360° bloggers! Are you ready for today's ‘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: Garrett Gambari, left, control room operator, explains the controls to Republican presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain, during a tour of the Chevron Genesis Oil Rig Platform in the Gulf of Mexico near New Orleans
Have fun with it.
Make sure to include your name, city, state (or country) so we can post your comment.
________________________________________________
But wait!… There’s more!
When you win ‘Beat 360°’ not only do you get on-air prime-time name recognition (complete with bragging rights over all your friends, family, and jealous competitors), but you get a “I Won the Beat 360° Challenge” T-shirt!
Good luck to all!
Stats show perils of living in east Congo
Todd Pitman
Associated Press Writer
Imagine living with a 50 percent chance of being enslaved or threatened with death by an armed group. One-in-three odds of being tortured or wounded. A 12 percent chance of being sexually assaulted multiple times.
In some of the roughest parts of eastern Congo, such a life doesn't take much imagination.
These numbers are real for civilians in the country's three worst war-battered provinces, according to a new report based on rare polling data carried out by an international human rights group and the research centers of two prominent American universities.
Titled "Living With Fear," the report, released Tuesday, offers hard evidence on what many people in Congo already know: two years after the massive Central African nation held its first free elections in half a century, life is as dangerous as ever for many in the east despite the presence of one of the largest U.N. peacekeeping forces in the world.
Erica’s News Note: Tuesday, Tuesday
Erica Hill
AC360° Correspondent
Ever wonder what really happens on the campaign trail? Not the sound bites or the town halls, I’m talking about the behind-the-scenes moments most of us will never experience. Lucky for you, the Best Political Team on TV is also online. Two of our producers who are on the road with the McCain and Obama campaigns have some little known stories for you, offering insight into the two men vying for the White House.
The “big foot” two men claim to have found recently in the North Georgia mountains is – brace yourselves – a hoax. Hard to believe, since their photo of the creature looked oh so real… the super white, even teeth, the stuffed-animal like fur and that wacky appendage draped across the “body” were so convincing – almost as convincing as they were at last week’s press conference.
Now we have that “scientific proof” that press conference lacked, and it confirms what many thought form the beginning. “Big foot” was actually a rubber body and a costume.
How pathetic. A man captured on surveillance video wrestles an 85 year old woman to the ground in an elevator, steals $900 and her cane before leaving her there. NY police think this man could be connected to other elevator attacks, and they’re asking for your help. The victim is in the hospital.
This is ridiculous. A grown man attacks an elderly woman in an elevator? Cowardly, pathetic, wrong and just plain sad.
What the people of Pakistan want
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S. Asif Alam
President and Founder of Association of Pakistani Professionals
There are no easy answers to the current chaos in Pakistan. Being a country in crisis, it now demands the application of principles rather than just politics.
The principles are these: The promotion of democracy, the independence of the judiciary, the freedom of the press. They are the ideals upon which great nations are made.
Images of Pakistani's fighting for these principles in their country leaves us without a doubt as to what the people of Pakistan want. Democratic ideals are indigenous to the people of Pakistan. After all, this was a nation founded upon the ideals of democracy by a lawyer, Mohammed Ali Jinnah.
Today, polls have consistently shown very little support for extremism and terrorism by the Pakistani people. A recent poll from the International Republican Institute finds 74% of Pakistani's being concerned about extremism. Much like the United States, economic issues are the first priority in Pakistan.
The Shot: Plane in power wire
A small commuter plane gets caught in dozens of power wires shortly after takeoff.
College chiefs urge new debate on drinking age
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College presidents from about 100 of the nation's best-known universities, including Duke, Dartmouth and Ohio State, are calling on lawmakers to consider lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18, saying current laws actually encourage dangerous binge drinking on campus.
The movement called the Amethyst Initiative began quietly recruiting presidents more than a year ago to provoke national debate about the drinking age.
"This is a law that is routinely evaded," said John McCardell, former president of Middlebury College in Vermont who started the organization. "It is a law that the people at whom it is directed believe is unjust and unfair and discriminatory."
Other prominent schools in the group include Syracuse, Tufts, Colgate, Kenyon and Morehouse.
But even before the presidents begin the public phase of their efforts, which may include publishing newspaper ads in the coming weeks, they are already facing sharp criticism.
