Tuesday, January 19, 2010

In Haiti: Anderson Cooper Carries Boy to Safety, Gupta Performs Surgery




Anderson Cooper and Sanjay Gupta played superheros on CNN over the weekend. First off, while covering the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake, Cooper put down his camera and microphone and pulled a bloodied young boy away from a chaotic scene in front of a storefront in Port-au-Prince.

Footage of the chaos shows Cooper amid a group of rock-hurling looters. The boy shown in the segment was apparently struck in the head by debris and began bleeding profusely. Cooper began helping the child walk away, but then decided to carry him to safer ground. Watch after the jump:


But he wasn't the only CNN journalist to step in to help. While Cooper used his muscles, Dr. Sanjay Gupta used his medical degree. The reporter literally performed neurosurgery on a young girl on a U.S. aircraft carrier after no qualified doctors could be found. She had a 0.4-inch chunk of concrete embedded in her skull. Assisted by Los Angeles surgeon Henri Ford, Gupta pulled off the surgery between his multiple reports for CNN.

"Someone got a hold of our international desk," Gupta later recalled. "They said there was an urgent call from the Carl Vinson. So I put a call in to them and there was something about a head injury."

Gupta and Ford said they believed the girl would make a full recovery.

"I was honored to help out," said Gupta afterward. "I have a profound respect for the capabilities of the US Navy and the medical team on board the Carl Vinson."

Tiger Woods may be in Mississippi sex rehab

Is Tiger Woods in sex rehab? That’s the question People is asking based on rumors and reports bubbling out of Mississippi. The elusive golf star has managed to stay hidden from the public eye since he crashed his car in front of his home in November and was subsequently barraged by a wave of reports about extramarital affairs. Now several web sites and a pair of local Mississippi TV stations, WJTV and WLBT, are claiming that Woods is being treated for sexual addiction at Pine Grove Behavioral Health and Addiction Services clinic. Officials at the Hattiesburg clinic won’t say whether Woods is currently a patient there. The clinic is considered one of the top facilities in the U.S. for the treatment of sex addiction. According to the Pine Grove web site, its program for sex addiction, called “Gentle Path,” usually lasts six weeks. Gentle Path Clinical Director Deborah Schiller told People, “We deal with patients who have suffered some trauma in their lives. Our concern is to help them heal and recover.”

Jay Tries to Make Nice, While Conan Rallies the Troops

Jay Leno is ready to move on. Conan O'Brien's fans…not so much.

Hours after Team CoCo staged a protest at the Universal Studios Monday, Leno took to his Jay Leno Show stage to play peacemaker.

Hundreds of O'Brien fans braved pouring rain outside The Tonight Show set, chanting "Jay Leno sucks!" as a fan dressed as Leno ran around. (No, that fan was not Jimmy Kimmel, who made it clear whose side he was on last week.)

O'Brien himself appeared on the roof to wave to fans, and his staff passed out pizza to the crowd below.

For his part Leno seemed all but ready to re-assume his position at 11:35 and asked his fans to take the heat off O'Brien…and put it on NBC.

"Don't blame Conan O'Brien," Leno said at the open of Monday's show. "Nice guy, good family guy, great guy…through all of this Conan O'Brien has been a gentleman. He's a good guy. I have no animosity towards him. This is all business."

Wyclef on Haiti Charity: Mistakes Were Made


His country facing a veritable apocalypse, Wyclef Jean took time out Monday to make an impassioned plea for help and yet another emotional defense of his charitable motives.

Days after The Smoking Gun posted financial records suggesting his Yéle Haiti Foundation may have enriched the former Fugee, Wyclef reiterated remarks from this weekend and insisted that all donations were going directly to help his homeland.

"Have I made mistakes? Yes," Jean said a press conference in New York Monday. "Did I use Yéle money for personal gains? Absolutely not. The books are open. We have a clean bill of health from an auditor."

The 37-year-old musician and his organization have been at the forefront of relief efforts in Haiti, rallying support from politicians and Hollywood bigwigs like George Clooney.

"We went inside the belly of the beast", Jean said. "I was the one carrying the little girls to the morgue. In reality, my people are dying. I have to go back for relief. I do not cry for myself, I cry for them."

Because the destruction is so severe, Jean called for a mass exodus from the capital.

"I am asking the world to move 2 million people out of Port-au-Prince," Jean said. "If I ask them to leave they will leave. We need to keep Haiti alive."

On the opposite coast, Larry King played host to a special two-hour telethon on CNN Monday, featuring appearances by Jennifer Lopez, Ryan Seacrest, Paula Abdul, Mick Jagger, Ben Stiller, Snoop Dogg,Nicole Richie, Joel Madden, Téa Leoni and Will.i.am, along with performances by John Mayer andSeal.

"Everybody pulling together, it makes me proud to be a human being" said Lopez.

Other celebs, including Benicio Del Toro, Susan Sarandon, Alyssa Milano, David Spade, Ashley Judd, Christian Slater, Jeff Probst, Jared Leto, Danny Glover and Pete Wentz, manned the phone lines.

The CNN benefit, a precursor to Clooney's all-star affair set to air on Friday with performances from U2,Justin Timberlake, Bruce Springsteen and others, raised about $5 million for the American Red Cross's relief efforts—$1,000 of that from Leto's winning bid for the suspenders King was wearing.

Meanwhile, John Travolta, Bette Midler, Usher and Josh Duhamel also pitched in.

Travolta is planning to personally fly aid into Haiti.

"I have arranged for a plane to take down some volunteer ministers and some supplies and some medics," Travolta told Entertainment Tonight. "My church has also arranged for 80 medics and 33 volunteers to go down. I hope that inspires others as well. It's needed."

Duhamel is participating in a two-mile beach run in Santa Monica on Jan. 23 that will benefit earthquake victims.

"If you're like me, you've seen the pain and suffering going on in Haiti right now, and really feel the need to help, to physically help-to actually DO SOMETHING, " Duhamel tweeted Monday. "Well, I think we can!"

The run will be used as a fund-raising vehicle for the American Red Cross. Those interested can RSVP at youthrun4haiti.com.

Usher has partnered up with the United Nations Foundation to send aid, encouraging young people worldwide to join in.

"If only 1 percent of the world's youth population raised $5 each, we could raise $150 million to support the United Nation's relief efforts," he said in a statement.

Amassed donations for Usher's initiative can be sent via www.ushersnewlook.org or by texting "CERF" to 90999 to donate $5 to the cause.

Finally, Midler announced that she will collect monetary donations from fans at her Las Vegas show match the amount she receives up until her final performance of The Showgirl Must Go On at Caesars Palace on Jan. 31.

Thus far, Midler has raised $38,742.62 for Doctors Without Borders.