Tonight on "60 Minutes:" ELIAN GONZALEZ, NEIL ARMSTRONG

CBS News/"60 Minutes" ^ | 7/02/06 | N/A

[paulat]

Sunday, July 2, 2006

ELIAN – Elian Gonzalez has never spoken before about the battle between the U.S. and Cuba that he was in the middle of five years ago when he was just 6. He does now in an interview with Bob Simon. Draggan Mihailovich is the producer.

AL QAEDA’S TOWN – When terrorist insurgents led by Al Qaeda took over the Iraqi town of Tal Afar, the U.S. military had to devise a way of retaking it. Their methods have become a blueprint for the war on terror. Lara Logan reports. Josh Yager is the producer.

FIRST MAN - Neil Armstrong talks to Ed Bradley in the first television profile he has ever agreed to do, revealing his personal feelings about landing on the moon, his family and the fame he shuns. Mitchell Weitzner is the producer.

[paulat]

Wow...a "60 Minutes" I might actually watch! Who'd a thunk?!

Another thought...9/11 makes earlier stories seem much farther away....

It seems like Elian's story happened 10 years ago.

[dirtboy]

He does now in an interview with Bob Simon. Draggan Mihailovich is the producer.

Shameless. The kid is still underage. He's still in a totalitarian state. But 60 Minutes will be there to fawn over Castro and not ask the tough questions of Elian's keepers.

[Tax Government]

Oh good. We get to hear US army strategy for retaking Al Qaida-held towns. Mr. Attorney General, an investigation and indictment, please. /sarc off

[Steel and Fire and Stone]

The only Elian Gonzalez story that will be worth hearing will be the day he's fully independent of Cuba's control, be it in America or perhaps even a visit to Europe. This will inevitably be a Castro puffpiece, which CBS will be only to eager to oblige.

SFS

[pollywog]

Shameless. The kid is still underage. He's still in a totalitarian state. But 60 Minutes will be there to fawn over Castro and not ask the tough questions of Elian's keepers

I agree!!!!!!! What a JOKE!!!!! I wouldn't watch this or support it if my LIFE depended on it. The Drive by Media is so far to the left!! Pathetic!!!!

[kjo]

I haven't seen this show in over twenty years and I won't watch this one. I have seen the CBS take on America and Bush: they aren't fond of either.

[Enchante]

Interviewing 11 year old Elian Gonzalez...... this is See-BS participating in Castro propaganda (what else is new?)..... no way can the interview be conducted freely, even if the kid weren't thoroughly brainwashed by the commies. Will they bother to present a full explanation of why his mother thought it worth risking their lives to escape from Castro's hellhole? I seriously doubt it, this will be a one-sided love letter to the Castro regime. Oh, yes, I'm sure that Elian has a wonderful life now as a national hero (sic), but that is in no way representative of what life is like for 11.3 million Cuban prisoners of Castro. There are TWO prison camps on Cuba - one is the tiny camp for terrorists at the tip of the island called Guanatanamo Bay. The other is all the rest of the island's 111,000 sq. km. which is one large prison camp run by Castro's commie pukes.

[Steel and Fire and Stone]

I used to watch "60 minutes" growing up. CBS managed to turn an entire generation against the show by allowing the leftist ideologues to skew the content. Do you realize how good, and how successful this show could be if it were unbiased, i.e. if someone like Brit Hume or Tony Snow were running it? Instead, CBS gave away the franchise.

SFS

[clintonh8r]

I know BS when I CBS.....

[bybybill]

Oh this ought to be fair and balanced, right?

[bybybill]

They always skewed the content, you just grew up and can see through the BS,just like the rest of us.

[Clint N. Suhks]

Their methods have become a blueprint for the war on terror.

Oh goody!

Let's give away some more information that will help the enemy.

[A knight without armor]

60 Minutes is interviewing an eleven year old!!? Why? Why now? Perhaps eleven years old is some age of consent in Cuba or something. He is not old enough to have a mature perspective and if so I doubt he has the freedom to tell it fully.

[Tall_Texan]

One of America's darkest hours - selling this child back into slavery. Damn you, Bill Clinton and Janet Reno. What shame you two brought to our country.

[Fido969]

60 Minutes will be there to fawn over Castro

You've got it.

Same sh!t, different day.

[LdSentinal]

5 years ago? It was 6 years ago.

[Paladin2]

Do you get paid to do SeeBS's advertizing?

[llevrok]

One immigrant we should have helped - but extradited / kidnapped him instead so he could live under communism

Go figure.

[Paladin2]

It's OK, they are just preparing the country for H! and her appointment of Janet Reno as SECDEF (the firepower at Waco was tremendous - I heard about it on the radio and stopped into a Sears store in time to see it on a wall full of TVs)).

[paulat]

5 years ago? It was 6 years ago.

You are quite right. Elian was seized on April 22, 2000.

[paulat]

Do you get paid to do SeeBS's advertizing?

That is such a stupid comment....

[Paladin2]

How are you going to make it (60 min.) go away by watching it? Reports will be available later. Watching it just encourages them.

[stephenjohnbanker]

absolutely!

[paulat]

How are you going to make it (60 min.) go away by watching it?

I am not an Arbitron or Nielsen participant. I do not have cable. As far as I know, no one will know whether I watch it or not.

Reports will be available later.

Transcripts often don't do a live interview justice. I want to see and hear the tone and tenor.

...that said...I haven't watched "60 Minutes" since right after 9/11. Today's lineup made me interested in how they would handle it.

[BunnySlippers]

Since Castro has showered Elian and his father with favors I have to believe he hates the US. Right in line with CBS.

[Larry Lucido]

George Costanza: "It's like I'm Neil Armstrong. I turn around for a sip of Tang and you jump out first."

[Rome2000]

In 15 years EG will be a regular on "Fox & Friends" while "60 Minutes" will be as gone as Dan Rather.

[Dr. Eckleburg]

Bob Simon is the only guy I watch on "60 Minutes."

Days after 9/11, I remember him saying something to the effect that "when men half-way around the world start falling dead while standing in line at a movie theater, you'll know the war on terror is being waged and won."

Somehow I was comforted by that thought.

[paulat]

LOLOLOL!!!!! You always make me laugh!!!

[bmwcyle]

60 minutes who?

[lowbridge]

Shameless. The kid is still underage. He's still in a totalitarian state. But 60 Minutes will be there to fawn over Castro and not ask the tough questions of Elian's keepers.

And even if they do ask the tough questions, Elian has been in Cuba long enough to know how to answer the hard questions the correct way so as to not make Castro unhappy.

60 Minutes: "Elian, people say that you are living in a prison, Castro is a dictator, and you want to go back to Americaa. now is that true?"

Elian: "No! No! Uncle Castro is a beautiful man who saved me from that imperialst country, America! I wish to live here the rest of my life under Uncle Castro's guidance and protection! I have lots of freedom here! I hate America!

And of course the 60 minutes cast and crew will play dumb: "What? Elian answering our questions under duress? No way! He spoke freely!"

[paulat]

Bob Simon is the only guy I watch on "60 Minutes."

I've always liked Bob Simon, too.

Just because Dan Rather is a skank doesn't mean you can't watch the others with a HUGE grain of salt....

[paulat]

One of America's darkest hours - selling this child back into slavery. Damn you, Bill Clinton and Janet Reno. What shame you two brought to our country.

I agree...from the duo who brought you Waco....

[Dr. Eckleburg]

[winner3000]

Does anyone think that if the brainwashing of Elian had not been complete, that he would be allowed by Castro to be on 60 Minutes? Get ready for a total propaganda piece.

[paulat]

Does anyone think that if the brainwashing of Elian had not been complete, that he would be allowed by Castro to be on 60 Minutes? Get ready for a total propaganda piece.

That's why people who say we should NEVER watch this stuff baffle me.

We SHOULD watch it, and publicly laugh at their stupidity.

Elian isn't funny...he's a child...but you know what I mean....

The other side HATES it when we SEE what they're doing and laugh at it....

[GOPJ]

They should ask Neil Armstrong how we could land a rocket ship and take off without any structure to hold up the rocket... And yeah, I know the moon's got a sixth our gravity ...

[paulat]

They should ask Neil Armstrong how we could land a rocket ship and take off without any structure to hold up the rocket... And yeah, I know the moon's got a sixth our gravity ...

The Lunar Lander WAS the structure....

How old are you?

[OldFriend]

Ugh, Bob Simon. Might as well be an assistant to danrather, babawawa and other assorted sycophants who just love fidelcastro.

[GOP_Proud]

I'll wait for the interview in 7 years when he's 18 (or whenever he can make a break for it)and he's back on US soil.

[sine_nomine]

I agree.

[chmst]

I expect we will see his father portrayed as a simple hard working stiff, a waiter in a restaurant that caters to foreign tourists. Be aware that he is a member of the secret police with a super primo gig. I've eaten in restaurants in East Berlin ('79 to '86). We would leave tips that consisted of all our loose change and small bills because it was like play money and too much of a hassle to exchange back into real money. The tips were about what an average worker would make in one to two weeks. If they show his home, look around at the TV, stereo, boom box, etc. and ask yourself how a simple working stiff could accumulate all of this in a place like Cuba.

[SuziQ]

I know BS when I CBS.....

LOL!! VEY good!

[SuziQ]

How old are you?

I was wondering the same thing. Apparently he's never seen pictures of the moon with the structure still sitting there.

[paulat]

I was wondering the same thing. Apparently he's never seen pictures of the moon with the structure still sitting there.

LOL!! I'm showing my age. I no longer engage in lengthy dialog...I simply ask, "How old are you???"

It cuts to the chase....

[paulat]

I expect we will see his father portrayed as a simple hard working stiff, a waiter in a restaurant that caters to foreign tourists. Be aware that he is a member of the secret police with a super primo gig. I've eaten in restaurants in East Berlin ('79 to '86). We would leave tips that consisted of all our loose change and small bills because it was like play money and too much of a hassle to exchange back into real money. The tips were about what an average worker would make in one to two weeks. If they show his home, look around at the TV, stereo, boom box, etc. and ask yourself how a simple working stiff could accumulate all of this in a place like Cuba.

I think you're EXACTLY right...plus...if the kid's as cute as he was back then...you've got a new Spanish-speaking superstar...by the time he's 18, he'll be marketed all around the world!

[SERKIT]

CBS will probably show forged documents showing "conclusively" that Neil Armstrong never landed on the moon, and will ask him the location of the NASAbsoundstage where the "crime" occurred. Is Mapes producing this segment?

[paulat]

CBS will probably show forged documents showing "conclusively" that Neil Armstrong never landed on the moon, and will ask him the location of the NASAbsoundstage where the "crime" occurred. Is Mapes producing this segment?

LOLOL!!! First of all...notice how the CBS lingo is PROMINENTLY posting the producers' names. I think the reporters rose up and demanded that THEY not take all the heat for any problems....

Second of all...what would Neil say about this Mars shot?:

[SERKIT]

Rep Jackson-Lee, D-TX, should be a guest on 60 Minutes and ax Neil Armstrong if he planted that McDonald's sign on Mars in 1969.

[Amos the Prophet]

Shameless. The kid is still underage. He's still in a totalitarian state. But 60 Minutes will be there to fawn over Castro and not ask the tough questions of Elian's keepers.

_________________________

Correct, such as the claim by a Cuban doctor who escaped through Haiti that Elian suffered broken bones and severe bruising from the tender endearments of his so-called father.