On Friday, August 24, 2007, Dr. Sanjay Gupta joined Atlanta’s mayor Shirley Franklin for her monthly book club featuring his new book, Chasing Life. Once a month Mayor Franklin selects a particular book and invites the author in for discussion. Dr. Gupta spoke to a crowd of about 60 city employees.

They must really be hurting for Anchors right now, as Erica Hill from Headline News is anchoring CNN Newsroom right now.

Hey guys! Comments are not disabled. When I changed the template a bit something happened to the comments showing up on the main page. I'm not sure exactly what. To add a comment, you can click on the link provided (as pointed out by a note next to the link). I know it's a pain, but I'm working to fix this as quickly as possible. Thanks for your support!!! :)

Hurricane Coverage this weekend includes Susan Candiotti in Jamaica, Karl Penhaul in Haiti, and Harris Whitbeck in Cancún.

Jim Clancy

Kiran Chetry

Headline News morning show Robin and Company is looking to start a Podcast, but they need your help! What would you like to see? Visit http://www.cnn.com/robin and click the "Contact Us" link and let Robin and her crew know what you'd like to see. Whether it's behind-the-scenes video, funny bloopers, or anything that comes to mind, they want to know!

CNN.com's main anchor page has been updated. Paula Zahn's photo removed and replaced with Lou Dobbs' photo. Also, a new photo/bio for Carl Azuz and a new photo for Reggie Aqui.

Carl Azuz - CNN Student News

Reggie Aqui - CNN.com Live

CNN Pressroom - CNN, YouTube and the Republican Party of Florida today announced that they will hold their Republican primary debate on Wednesday, Nov. 28. Like the Democratic CNN/YouTube debate, this live two-hour forum will feature video questions submitted to YouTube that will be broadcast and answered by the candidates on CNN. CNN’s Anderson Cooper will moderate.

This debate will be held at the Mahaffey Theatre in St. Petersburg. Online users are currently able to submit their questions at www.youtube.com/debates.

CNN Worldwide, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner Company, is the most trusted source for news and information. Its reach extends to nine cable and satellite television networks; one private place-based network; two radio networks; wireless devices around the world; CNN Digital Network, the No. 1 network of news Web sites in the United States; CNN Newsource, the world’s most extensively syndicated news service; and strategic international partnerships within both television and the digital media.

YouTube is the world’s largest online video community allowing millions of people to discover, watch and share originally created videos. YouTube provides a forum for people to connect, inform and inspire others across the globe and acts as a distribution platform for original content creators and advertisers large and small. YouTube is based in San Bruno, Calif., and is a subsidiary of Google Inc.

Monday on Larry King Live, Larry King will spend the entire hour on legendary television icon Merv Griffin who passed away today. Nancy Reagan will be one of his guests during the hour.

Here are a couple of new bios from cnnenespanol.com's bios section. These are not listed at the regular CNN.com Anchors/Reporters section and the new photos/bios we reported back on July 28th are not at cnnenespanol.com either.

They've also removed quite a few bios from their section as well, such as Carmen Aristegui, Ana Maria Montero, Xanthe Tilden, and Luis Carlos Velez, just to name a few. I'm not sure if these anchors have been gone for a while and these needed to be updated, or if they quietly made some staff cuts at the network, or if they just removed them for no apparent reason like they did with the CNN Radio anchor/reporter bios recently.

Héctor Velázquez Mejía

Liliana González-Ramírez

The Screening Room is now available on Turner Classic Movies Europe. Click here for more.

CNN - CNN Newsroom anchor Betty Nguyen reports live from Freetown, Sierra Leone, in preparation for Saturday’s elections in the West African nation. She speaks with a man whose arms were amputated during the civil war, which ended in 2002. He explains how he will vote with his toes.

From CNN Newsroom
Aired August 10, 2007
11:00 hour – ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: A country scarred by war, its people raped, maimed and killed. Now Sierra Leone voters poised to go to the polls, casting ballots for a better life. CNN's Betty Nguyen reports from the West African nation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR (Voice-over): Sierra Leone is a picturesque place, where West Africa meets the Atlantic Ocean. It's home to more than 5 million people, many of whom are still trying to dig themselves out of poverty. Here in the nation's capital, children spend their days searching through piles of trash, just as the pigs do. Those lucky enough to find scrap metal will only earn a penny per pound. Ranked the second poorest country in the world by the United Nations, the scars from a decade of civil war are still visible.
Ahaji Jakar had his arms hacked off by rebels in 1999.

AHAJI JAKAR, BOTH HANDS AMPUTATED: I said to him, to them, I said, “Don't cut my hands, don't amputate my hands. I'm your brother. They said, no, I'm not your brother.”

NGUYEN: Amputees are a reminder that about a million people were murdered, maimed or raped in a political game of power and intimidation. Much of the world knows of these atrocities from the Oscar-winning movie "Blood Diamond." But what you don't see in the movie is how these amputees refused to let the rebels rob them of their political voice, once the war ended in 2002. With no hands to vote, Jakar shows us how he used his toes to cast his ballot.

JAKAR: Maybe I will write my S.

NGUYEN: But with a new set of arms and a new presidential election on Saturday, he can't wait to vote the old-fashioned way. In fact, the enthusiasm surrounding the election has spread like fever, creating an excitement that borders on euphoria.

(On camera): Unlike the election in 2002, which came on the heels of a bloody civil war, the fear that once ruled the streets of Freetown has now been replaced by peaceful political parties, more reminiscent of a carnival. But call it what you want, it is true that democracy is slowly taking root.

(Voice-over): Opposition party supporters stopped traffic and brought businesses to a virtual standstill as thousands filled the streets, dancing and sing. While they look to the future, Stephen Rapp is focused on the past. He's the prosecutor for the UN War Crimes Tribunal. It is his job to go after those who bear the greatest responsibility for the war and the horrors they inflicted.
And former Liberian leader Charles Taylor is the top prize. He's currently on trial at The Hague.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN RAPP, UN WAR CRIMES PROSECUTOR: But justice is a key part of all of this. If you don't have the rule of law, if you have a situation where people can come in and kidnap your daughter and make her a sex slave, chop off your son's arms, rape your wife, destroy everything you've built, you can't develop a future. And that's what happened in this country. And until you have a rule of law, which we're, I think, helping establish with these judgments, this country can't go forward. And that's why I think this process is so important.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: And justice is certainly what the people of Sierra Leone deserve, after suffering for so long. But for now, they'll have to find peace of mind, knowing that political change is on the horizon and the choice is theirs to make.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And Betty Nguyen joins us from Freetown, Sierra Leone. Betty, great to see you. The power of the vote, just fascinating, the idea of people voting with their toes. Tell us more about that process.

NGUYEN: Tony, it is truly remarkable to see people so passionate about voting in this election that they would go to those means. But there is another option this time around. They are letting people who are double amputees bring along a family member or friend who can actually make that mark for them. And I will tell you, though, Sierra Leone is one of the only countries in the world where election workers have been given a guidebook that says, should a voter come in who's missing their index finger, needed to make that mark, then you move on to the next finger, and so on and so forth. And if the right hand is gone, then you move on to the left hand. Truly remarkable.

HARRIS: Well, Betty, we saw the crowds in your piece. How about voter turnout, and I'm wondering how it might be impacted by that monsoon behind you.

NGUYEN: This rain has been going all day long. Hopefully it won't affect voter turnout tomorrow. Let me tell you this, 2.6 million people are registered to vote in this election. That is about 90 percent of the eligible population. That is amazing. They are out in the streets, they are wanting to vote, they are passionate about voting and they want political change. And they're going to do it, rain or shine.

HARRIS: Give folks a chance, a choice of freedom and they say yes. They say yes all the time. Betty Nguyen, joining us from Freetown.

NGUYEN: They take it.

HARRIS: Yes, they do -- from Freetown, Sierra Leone. Betty, great to see you. Thank you.

• Two new bios have been added to CNN.com: Reggie Aqui and Kate Bolduan (Thanks, Bill!)

• Hong Kong's set has arrived. You can view an opening from CNN Today HK featuring the new set at YouTube. I think it's great that they've finally gotten all 3 sets together so that when they switch to Weather it looks seamless.

• Carol Costello filled-in for Wolf Blitzer today on The Situation Room.

• Mike Galanos has become a correspondent for Prime News with Erica Hill on Headline News. He's come full-circle with this appointment basically because the two used to host the show together. You can view a video of his first Prime News report here.

The CNN Radio section on CNN's Anchors and Reporters Page took a big cut this week as they removed a bunch of anchors/reporters from the list. Not sure where they went but Cheryl Castro, Dave Kirschner, John Lorinc, Michelle Wright and others were removed from the site. Cheryl Castro was still anchoring the "Marketplace Update" this morning and Dave Kirschner filed a report during it.

In other news, Internet Corresopndent Jacki Schechner has left the network. Her bio has been removed from the site. While CNN is not commenting on personnel matters, if I find anything out I will let you know.

Lola Ogunnaike

Also... Jonathan Klein or Jon Klein... you take your pick. Looks like he's going with Jon now.