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CNN's Anderson Cooper Says There Are Still Many Uncertainties Surrounding Next Monday's Democratic Debate Held at the Citadel

During Interview On ETV Radio's "The Big Picture on the Radio"

For Immediate Release
July 20, 2007

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Columbia, SC... During an interview on Friday with ETV news and public affair's Managing Editor and Host Andrew Gobeil, on "The Big Picture on the Radio," CNN's Anderson Cooper spoke candidly about the uncertainty of many aspects--including the format--of the Democratic presidential debate that will take place in only three days at The Citadel on Monday, July 23.

Cooper will host the groundbreaking debate, which involves the candidates answering questions posed by citizens from all across America.  The twist to this town-hall format?  The questions are in the form of Internet video clips submitted to YouTube, which has partnered with CNN on the program.  Following are excerpts from Cooper's interview:

• "The actual format?  To be honest, we're still working on it... We don't want this to be just a traditional debate and then throwing to a YouTube video.  We very much want the spirit of the videos to inform and really infuse the entire evening. So how we're going to make that happen I'm not quite sure, but that's the number one goal, at least on my part..."

• "YouTube obviously has a reputation of everything being people in...chicken costumes dancing and doing silly things, and certainly we've seen some of that.  There is somebody in a chicken costume, actually, who asks a question.  But the majority are very serious, some of them are intensely personal."

• "I was actually kind of concerned when I first heard about the debate. I didn't really see how it would work, and then once I started watching the videos, all my concerns really sort of fell away because... it really provides a new dimension to a debate. You're not only getting a question from a person, you're sort of getting a little window into their life for 30 seconds.  You're in their living room or their bedroom or wherever it is that they've chosen to ask the question from.  There is another dimension to it when you actually see the person in their own environment."

• Cooper said that the Democratic Party was fully behind the debate format, considering the fact that candidates were all using Internet tools such as YouTube, MySpace and Facebook to get their message out.  Still, he noted the apprehension of all involved on how the debate would actually play out:  "I think there is concern among the candidates, probably--and certainly... among the campaigns there's some nervousness. They're not really sure what to expect and frankly I'm not sure what to expect Monday night.  But I think that's a good thing. I think it's a good thing when you have candidates kind of off their traditional stump speeches and off their talking points, and I think we want to try to encourage that as much as possible."

• "We're really trying (to let) this be a bottom-up process in which it’s the videos we've gotten telling us what to ask the candidates.  So we don't have some quota of, well we need X number of questions about South Carolina or we need X number of questions about the war in Iraq... It's a complete reversal of how we would normally do this."

• However, earlier in the conversation, Cooper jokingly cautioned about the new format becoming the dominant method:  "We're hoping this whole democratization of the process doesn't spread very far, because we (moderators) will all be out of jobs."

• As far as Palmetto State residents' participation: "We have received...a lot of questions from people in South Carolina, which is fantastic and I think you'll certainly see people from South Carolina asking questions via YouTube."

Later in the interview, Gobeil asked Cooper about Republican candidate John McCain's campaign, which has been reportedly facing financial issues.  Cooper replied that despite the problems McCain is experiencing, "It would be foolish to rule him out at this point in the race... Money troubles aside, I think it's going to be a different campaign and maybe that's not such a bad thing."

The Big Picture on the Radio can be heard Fridays at 9 a.m. on ETV Radio's four news formats: 88.1-WRJA Sumter, 89.1-WLJK Aiken, 89.9- WJWJ Beaufort, and 90.1-WHMC Conway. The program can also be streamed from www.myetv.org.

The Big Picture can be seen on ETV Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., with encore presentations on Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 1 p.m.

South Carolina ETV is the state's public educational broadcasting network with 11 television and eight radio transmitters, and a multi-media educational system in more than 2,500 schools, colleges, businesses and government agencies. Using television, radio and the web, SCETV's mission is to enrich lives by educating children, informing and connecting citizens, celebrating our culture and environment and instilling the joy of learning.

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For more information, contact Rob Schaller at (803) 737-6556 or rschaller@scetv.org.