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CNN Trends: Miracle 3-pointer shot by high school girls hoops player
John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin tell you what’s trending on the web this morning, and it’s all in the realm of sports. On today’s list is the basketball shot of the year—happening on the girl's high school court in Lafayette, Indiana.
CNN Trends: Joe Biden, reality TV star?
Trending on the web this morning is the story of a new quarterback with a familiar name coming to New Orleans. Nick Montana, son of Hall-of-Famer Joe Montana, commits to Tulane University. And a Joe Biden fan has created a petition on the White House website calling for CSPAN to launch a reality show following the Vice President around. "He said it would show the light-hearted side of politics even in the midst of contentious and divisive debate,” Zoraida Sambolin reports. "Reality TV gold," John Berman says.
Top celebrity meltdowns of 2012; Us Weekly Senior Editor Bradley Jacobs has the scoop
For celebrities, 2012 was a scandalous year which included custody disputes, drunk driving, rehab, cheating, and divorce. Many of these scandals are featured in the 2012 Us Weekly Celebrity Yearbook issue. Bradley Jacobs is the Senior Editor of Us Weekly, and he comes to “Early Start” with the scoop on the biggest celebrity scandals of this year.
Demi Moore hospitalized and in rehab makes number five, followed by Kristen Stewart cheating on Robert Pattinson at number four, Lindsay Lohan receiving bad movie reviews and getting her probation revoked at number three and Amanda Bynes' mugshot meltdown at number two. Halle Berry, fiancée Olivier Martinez and Gabriel Aubrey, Berry’s ex, top the list with their Thanksgiving Day fight over Berry’s four year old daughter, Nahla.
The year in science; CNN's John Zarrella counts down the biggest science stories of 2012
From finding god, to a potentially blood boiling leap from space, it was a stunning year for science. A year where daredevils met nerds and danger met discovery. On the cusp of the New Year, CNN’s John Zarrella looks back at the top scientific and technological breakthroughs of 2012. See if you can guess what made the top 10, or better yet, number 1.
Miss USA Wins Miss Universe; Olivia Culpo says pageantry 'just made sense' to her
American Olivia Culpo, a self-described cellist-nerd from Rhode Island won the Miss Universe contest Wednesday night in Las Vegas. She became the first American to win the pageant in 15 years. Culpo beat 88 other contestants for the crown. She was originally crowned Miss USA back in June and joins “Early Start” live from Las Vegas this morning.
Culpo says she was herself surprised that USA took home the title. “I kind of figured that USA could never win this pageant,” Culpo says. “So it was refreshing and I’m really honored.”
While beauty pageants are often criticized for being superficial, Culpo says she never considered it superficial. She entered pageantry to practice her skills for her future while studying acting and communications in school. “It just made sense.”
When Culpo was asked in the pageant if there was something that she’s done that she would never do again, she answered, picking on her siblings. She says she wasn’t nervous answering the question, but was disappointed she wasn’t asked a more difficult one. “I wish that there was a little bit more controversy in the question.”
CNN Trends: Fake viral video of eagle sweeping baby into air and photo of President Obama with little Spiderman
Trending on the web this morning is a viral video that looks too strange to be true. And it is. While it appears in the video that an eagle swoops out of the air…picks up a baby…and then drops him, it didn’t actually happen. It was orchestrated by students studying 3D animation design in Montreal. They made the baby and the eagle.
Also spreading all over the web is a picture of President Obama playing with a kid in a Spiderman costume in the Oval Office. The photo was posted on the President's Twitter and Facebook accounts yesterday.
CNN Trends: Top trends of 2012
The top trends of 2012 include Whitney Houston, Hurricane Sandy and, of course, “Gangnam Style”.
Plus, NASA wants the last laugh on the end of the world. The space agency brags about the world not ending, early, by releasing its "Told Ya So" video a week before the Mayan calendar allegedly predicts doomsday on December 21.
And, one more viral cover of “Gangnam Style”, with a string section. A TV and film major is playing the violin and dancing at the same time.
Round four for Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez, John Berman talks with Pacquiao ahead of the big fight
For the fourth time in the past ten years, boxers Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez will face each other in the ring. The brawl goes down in history tomorrow night in Las Vegas.
While Pacquiao is a fighter by trade, there are many sides to the Filipino champion. “Early Start” anchor John Berman learned all about them when he spent time in the Pacquiao camp recently, talking to his trainers and the boxer himself.
“Manny Pacquiao has won titles in eight different weight classes,” Berman says. And though it won't be the first time Pacquiao fights Marquez, round four is no less important. “All of have been close, all have been tough victories for Pacquiao.” It's a rivalry practically unmatched in sports.
Pacquiao wants this fight to be a knockout. “I want this fourth fight to be the answer of all the doubts that is in his mind,” Pacquiao says. “His fans, they’re still claiming that they won the fights.”
Pacquiao’s fans don’t doubt him. The fighter dabbles in singing, acting and politics. “Pacquiao is a legend back home in the Philippines,” Berman says. “He was elected to Congress there in 2010.”
“I like politics to serve people,” Pacquiao says. “I know a lot of the people in the Philippines live in poverty, and I want to help them.”
CNN will air the fourth and final installment of HBO's 24/7 Pacquaio-Marquez 4 at midnight on Friday.
Instagram blocks photos from Twitter in bitter digital battle; BuzzFeed.com Tech Editor Matt Buchanan calls it “the social media cold war”
Users of both Instagram and Twitter are civilians caught in the middle of a digital battle today. Photo sharing site Instagram is blocking its photos from appearing on Twitter. That means only a link will appear when you try to post a picture from Instagram and send it to microblogging site Twitter. To see an Instagram image, users will have to leave Twitter and go to Instagram's site in order to access it.
The move comes after Twitter stopped allowing Instagram users to find friends through Twitter data, which followed Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram. BuzzFeed.com Tech Editor Matt Buchanan calls this “the social media cold war”. He comes to "Early Start" with more on the battle.
Instagram, which is growing rapidly and recently passed 100 million users, is “less dependent on Twitter than they might have been in the beginning,” Buchanan says. “And they also have Facebook’s might behind them,” which has 1 billion users. “They’re definitely going to be able to survive.”
Twitter has more at stake now that it has evolved “more into a media rich stream,” he says. “Losing Instagram definitely hurts Twitter here.”
CNN Trends: Monday, December 3, 2012
In the Middle East, a thick moustache is seen as a sign of prestige. A Parisian cosmetic surgeon claims that the trend has spread. He says he has been busy collecting hair from other parts of the body to carry out moustache transplants.
Hugh Hefner is giving marriage a second try with his fiance who left him five days before their last wedding day. The 86 year old Playboy publisher will marry Crystal Harris on New Year's Eve at the Playboy mansion. Hefner is sixty years older than his bride to be.
The iPhone revolution is now influencing the names of the future generation. babycenter.com says that names like Apple, Siri, and Mas are rising up the popular baby names chart. Both Apple and Siri rose 15% and Mac went up 5%.
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