LOS ANGELES - The reimaging of Anderson Cooper began in earnest this week with the CNN anchor making himself available to TV critics a few weeks before the Sept. 12 launch of his syndicated daytime talker, "Anderson," which airs locally on WCCO, Ch. 4.
It's clear that his team wants to show off Cooper's warmer, funnier, more personable style. In our cocktail conversation, Cooper deftly avoided political hot potatoes -- the Republican primaries, the Murdoch story -- and dug into more trivial matters, such as his stint on ABC's "The Mole." Why did he host it?
At the time, Cooper said, he was working for ABC's "20/20," doing stories that had him hanging out in seedy parking lots trying to talk to prostitutes. Cooper said he had had enough. When he was offered "The Mole," he said he figured it had as much to do with journalism as his "20/20" gig did.
He changed his mind when 9/11 hit. The day after that tragedy, he was offered an assignment in Afghanistan. He took it.
If Cooper can be as unguarded and open as he was with critics, he may have a hit on his hands.
