I think this Anderson Cooper guy really does care about people

[NNN0LHI]

I admit I was very skeptical of him at first. Didn't even used to like watching him. He is far from perfect...just like everyone else. He has been just as hard on Dem's as Repug's throughout his Katrina coverage. Maybe a little harder on Dem's? But thats OK because this is not over with yet. He appears to be busting his rear end every single day. Long days too. This guy has a lot of vinegar. And he ain't no spring chicken either. I am guessing around 50ish? Even with his faults he appears to be OK.

Don

[eleonora]

1. he's 38

with premature grey hair :)

edit: he's 38 oops

[NNN0LHI]

3. Yea the hair got me. Thank you n/t

[Melodybe]

15. Yeah, its hard to believe he is Gloria Vanderbuilt's son

he has been a schill many times over, but Katrina changed him.

I think his being gay has a lot to do with it.

I just love him now.

[eleonora]

21. katrina is changing a lot of people

One of my friends who is a hardcore Bush supporter is finally questioning him. Somehing I never thought would happen.

[Atlas Mugged]

26. Oh, so THAT'S who he is!

Thanks for pointing that out.

I recently saw his mother on some morning show, promoting a book or something, and her face is a train wreck. I couldn't quit staring at it's bizarre plates and clefts.

[VPStoltz]

2. He's the guy who has been reporting from the site every day?

When I saw him in the past, I too just passed him off as another cabel whore. But he has really impressed me with his sense of the humanity and lack of it (thanks * you prick). On the other hand what is with that asshole who wears the bowtie?

[Left Is Write]

4. He's pretty young.

As a point of trivial interest - Gloria Vanderbilt is his mother.

[FreedomAngel82]

5. I think so too with this case

I saw him on Maher about a week ago and you could tell in his eyes. The eyes are through to the soul. I didn't like what he said on Maher about Iraq but I'm glad he's doing this story. Brian Williams has been doing pretty good with this as well.

[lostnfound]

10. Yes, kudos to both Brian Williams and Anderson Cooper.

Keep following your better selves, gentlemen. Stay with it.

[The Traveler]

6. Cooper has witnessed

horror. Pure. Simple. Horror. It has crushed his heart and ripped open his mind. In facing the horror, in speaking the truth about it, he has found himself. Boy toy no more. He is a man.

What discoveries shall he make? Where will he finally stand? Hard to say. Right now, he stands for and with the people. That is good enough for me. Watch him, tho ... this transformative process is not done with him.

[TomInTib]

7. and he's Gloria Vanderbilt's son...

probably doesn't need the gig.

[shireen]

29. don't assume they're wealthy.

I think Vanderbilt had to file for bankruptcy recently.

[fishnfla]

8. He's a broadcast journalist: How hard is it to be better than the rest?

He looks into a camera and reads what the telepromter has to offer. His shtick is the heart on the sleeve bit. Whatever sells, right?

Sorry to be cynical, but every whore on that idiot box is clamoring for one thing only: ratings. So he pimps it, out

[lostnfound]

9. I think he deserves some flowers. Their coverage tonight was excellent.

And Aaron Brown saying that the politicians sounded 'a little lame' after seeing the stories and pictures.

The interview with the FEMA union leader was excellent, and they asked him questions that were perfect leads into 'things were fixed during the Clinton years, and now it's like deja vu.' IMO that question was no accident -- 'so nothing's really changed since 1993?' They knew perfectly well what kind of answer they would get.

I am very pleasantly surprised.

[Lisa]

11. anyone else notice that he's aged visibly over the past couple of weeks?

Part of it might be from the long hours and difficult working conditions -- but his face looks thinner and more lined, and his eyes seem sad, yet intense.

[Lin]

14. yes, & he's developed a stutter. remarkable 3wk. chng. (eom)

[Catch22Dem]

12. More on Cooper...

Biography for Anderson Cooper

Birth name
Anderson Hays Cooper
Nickname
Andy
Height
5' 10" (1.78 m)

Trivia

• Former ABC News correspondent
• Son of Gloria Vanderbilt and Wyatt Cooper
• Graduated from Yale in 1989
• Regular anchor on CNN, especially in late night hours. <2003>
• Studied Vietnamese at the University of Hanoi
• Graduated from Yale in 1989 with a BA in political science.
• Has a dog named Ozzie.
• Graduated from Dalton School in Manhattan.
• During his senior year at Dalton, he left school and drove across South Africa in a truck. He contracted malaria while there & had to be hospitalized.
• Doesn't drink hot beverages.
• Waited tables at Mortimer's while growing up.
• Writes a monthly column for Details magazine.

[BrklynLiberal]

13. So he may have been born with a silver spoon but he did not take advantage

of it.

[grasswire]

16. he's a real journo

If you check his official bio on CNN's web site, you'll see that he has covered some long and difficult assignments overseas. He's the real deal, despite being a rich kid. I saw a photo of him with his family when he was about five years old and wearing a little cream-colored short-pants suit, very moneyed and proper. How nice that he grew up well.

[roguevalley]

17. his beloved brother committed suicide. his mom went through hell

as a child and made sure her sons were loved. he's a good person with a good heart. he was among the first to talk about the animal holocaust going on and he's enormously gentle with people and their sadness. I love him a lot.

[applegrove]

23. I read an article in VF where they talked about the suicide. Seems it

was the side effect of a drug for asthma. Now it is off the market. A tragedy. Not a suicide.

Before i read the article I had tried that pill. And forgot how bad it was the first time. Tried it again a few years later and spent a day in cyclical anxiety that only stopped when the pill wore off. I couldn't stop moving. I later was traumatized & suffer from PTSD. And least with PTSD you blow off the adrenaline in a short period of time. This pill was relentless all day long.

[JI7]

20. he said he would hate to be like Paris Hilton

he called her and people like her losers. you could tell how much distaste he felt for her. but knowing his background a little more it kind of makes sense. he obviously feels an obligation to do some good if you are given so much in life.

he also feels embarrassed about having hosted "The Mole".

[REP]

22. He and Aaron Brown Both Anchored the Long-Ago Excellent "World News Now"

World News Now was (and still might be) ABC's overnight news show. Original anchors were Brown and Lisa McRee (who was great!); then Thalia Assurias, Anderson Cooper and Beth Nissan when she was going through a phase of calling herself just "Nissan." Ian Shoales (Merle Kessler) was a regular contributor. Sigh. I miss WNN. And the World News Now Polka. And the temperature index.

[Buns_of_Fire]

24. Lord, I miss "World News Now"... The daily equivalent of "Weekend"

With Lloyd Dobyns and Linda ("...and so it goes...") Ellerbee. (ref: http://www.asne.org/print.cfm?printer_page=%2Findex.cfm%3FID%3D51 )

These guys were the precursors to "The Daily Show," back when networks were trying to figure out what to do with an eight-hour block of time in the wee hours (before infomertials for penile enlargement).

[REP]

28. I Remember "Weekend"

It was probably better than WNN, but it didn't have a polka (cartoons, yes). Remeber the piece on the ortilons?

Besides all the goofy stuff they did on WNN, the thing that really won me over was Lisa McRee, blonde and pretty, giving pretty fierce feminist commentary. I love Lisa, and she does a local (CA) show now.

[jillan]

18. #1 reporter on Katrina!

I never really watched him before Katrina. But he is the best reporter on what is going on there. He is the only reporter that has really gotten his hands dirty over there. And he is "staying the course."
He is still there. And I honestly believe that he is there because he wants to be there.

He really got to me when he was with some woman who came back to her home in Biloxi, and it was totally ruined. The lady found something of hers, and Anderson walked away to give her privacy. Any other reporter would have been in that woman's face asking 100's of questions, but he gave her the respect she deserved.

btw - I am so impressed with all of the scoop you all have on him:P

[SeattleGirl]

19. I've really liked his coverage also.

Did you see his "Reporter's Notebook" tonight? His dad was from NOLA, and he spent a lot of time there, so this has to be just tearing him up. The "Notebook" segment was very good, and I could hear the hurt in his voice.

[yankeedem]

25. Read this excellent article

Goes through a small biography and really gives you an idea of what he is about
http://newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/news/features/14301/index.html

[salin]

27. that was a great read - thanks for the heads up and link.