Uh, I'm Anderson Cooper, I work with CNN, and, um... yeah, this is my third time on Jeopardy!
Could you tell us about your charity?
Yeah, I'm here for the--The Trevor Project, which, uh, does suicide prevention efforts among gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered youth.
Do your previous Jeopardy! appearances give you an advantage?
I've been on Jeopardy!, uh, twice before. The first time, I did really well. I was against Maria Bartiromo and Kweisi Mfume in a Power Player, and I destroyed them, and that made me really confident. It really--you know, I wasn't cocky, but I was really confident. My second one, I went into it really confident, and I got destroyed. I was crushed by Cheech Marin. Uh, and I kind of thought Cheech Marin... I mean, I've seen his Cheech and Chong movies. You know... I thought his synapses wouldn't be firing all that quickly. The guy's really smart, and really quick. He had--he had the buzzer down. And he--and he blew me--he destroyed me. And so, it's one thing to lose on Jeopardy!--it's another thing to be crushed by Cheech Marin. So I've never lived it down.
Which competitor is the bigger threat?
Tom Friedman of The New York Times I'm petrified of. I mean, Pulitzer Prize winner... you know, he's--you know, he's been everywhere in the world. Um... my only hope is because he hasn't played that I have some sort of advantage, but he's much smarter than I.
Does having traveled the world give you an advantage?
I don't know, I'm not sure. I mean, I've--I've traveled a lot, but unless there's a category of, like, OBSCURE AFRICAN COUNTRIES WHERE I'VE SPENT A LOT OF TIME, um, I don't know. I-I--yeah, I don't think it does, because I'm not very good... like, there was one clue before--in the game before about capital that was the fjord of a river, and I didn't know it was Oslo, so...
...
Did you wake up this morning expecting to win your game?
Um, I didn't. I was really nerv--and when I heard, y'know, it was Kelly and Tom Friedman, I was like, "Oh, my Lord, I'm not gonna do well at all." But, uh, uh, I was--I was--I was very happy. It's much nicer to win. I lost last time I did against Cheech Marin, so it was nice to actually win.
Was there a turning point for you during the game?
I just--I--you know what? I felt pretty confident after the rehearsal. Um, we do a rehearsal before the show. And Kelly was really good in the rehearsal. Tom had some problem with the buzzer, I think. But, I don't know. I felt, like, kind of in the groove with the buzzer and I knew the answers. And that helped. I mean... and--and some of wasn't--it was just kind of the phrasing of the questions, that I think because they hadn't played before, maybe--or maybe they haven't watched the game a lot, maybe they had trouble kind of figuring out what you were trying to actually answer.
What was the best part of your Power Players experience?
The best part? Uh, was winning, I gotta tell you. I gotta say, it's so much nicer to win than to be, uh, to not. But, um... you know, it's... there's nothing better than seeing the categories... and even with the categories, you don't know whether or not you're going to know anything, but starting to see that you know the answers, and... and that you're actually clicking in at the right time, that--it just feels nice. It's like, you actually enjoy it. It's kind of fun.
What impact would $50,000 have on your charity?
Um, I think $50,000 will have a--you know, a nice impact on the--on The Trevor Project. And, and, uh--it's not a huge organization. And, uh, you know, every little bit helps. |
"He anchors his own prime-time news show, a syndicated daytime talk show, and also appears as a correspondent on 60 Minutes. Here's busy CNN newsman..."
2012 Power Players Week winner: $50,000.
Playing for The Trevor Project.
Anderson Cooper is the anchor of CNN's Anderson Cooper 360°, a nightly newscast that goes beyond the headlines – keeping politicians and policy makers honest and in-depth reporting representing all points of view. The show airs weeknights at 8 and 10p.m. ET on CNN. Cooper has covered nearly all-major news events around the world, often reporting from the scene. Most recently, he covered the uprisings in the Middle East, the aftermath of both earthquakes in Japan and Haiti, as well as from the gulf following the BP oil spill. During most of 2007 and 2008, Cooper traveled around the world for Planet in Peril, a high definition documentary about issues threatening the planet, its inhabitants and its natural resources.
Cooper, who has covered numerous stories about bullying, teamed up for a multi-platform initiative with Cartoon Network and Time Inc. again this year and moderated a second town hall aimed to take a stand to help stop the alarming bullying crisis. He has also played a pivotal role in CNN's political coverage and has anchored from conventions and moderated several presidential debates. This past October Cooper moderated CNN's Republican debate from Las Vegas.
In addition to Anderson Cooper 360°, Cooper is the host and executive producer of Anderson, the nationally syndicated, daily one-hour daytime talk show. Cooper also provides reports for CBS's 60 Minutes. Dispatches from the Edge, Cooper's memoirs about covering the South Asia tsunami, Hurricane Katrina and other news events, topped the New York Times Bestsellers List and other bestseller charts.
Before joining CNN, Cooper was an ABC News correspondent and host of the network's reality program, The Mole. Cooper anchored ABC's live, interactive news and interview program, World News Now, as well as providing reports for World News Tonight, 20/20 and 20/20 Downtown. Previously, he was a New York-based correspondent for ABC News, reporting primarily for World News Saturday/Sunday.
Cooper joined ABC from Channel One News, where he served as chief international correspondent. During that time, he reported and produced stories from Bosnia, Iran, Israel, Russia, Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa and Vietnam. He also reported national stories that were broadcast over the Channel One News school television network and seen in more than 12,000 classrooms nationwide.
Cooper and Anderson Cooper 360° have won several major journalism awards, including multiple Emmy awards. Cooper has also earned a National Headliners Award for his tsunami coverage, an Emmy Award for his contribution to ABC's coverage of Princess Diana's funeral; a Silver Plaque from the Chicago International Film Festival for his report from Sarajevo on the Bosnian civil war; a Bronze Telly for his coverage of famine in Somalia; a Bronze Award from the National Educational Film and Video Festival for a report on political Islam; and a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding TV Journalism for his 20/20 Downtown report on high school athlete Corey Johnson.
Cooper graduated from Yale University in 1989 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science. He also studied Vietnamese at the University of Hanoi. Cooper is based in New York City. |
