Hanging with Mr. Cooper

It’s hard to ignore that the world is in grave danger. It’s even harder to ignore when the news is coming from Anderson Cooper. The handsome CNN correspondent was at The American Museum of Natural History Monday night to host the premiere screening of Planet in Peril, a two-night broadcasting event airing on CNN this month. Along with fellow CNNer Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Animal Planet’s Jeff Cowrin, the three spanned the globe to unveil how the planet’s natural resources are being destroyed, often by human hands. “There’s no agenda, it’s just about the facts,” Anderson said. “We really just wanted to go to places to figure out why change is happening and inform people about it.” The documentary is heavy matter, but Anderson’s clunky attempt to repel down a glacier in Greenland brought a much-needed chuckle to the night. “After a while, I got the hang of it,” he reassured me afterwards at the screening’s cocktail party. When I told Anderson the special left me wanting to do my part to help save the planet, he explained that wasn’t their sole intent. “We want to let people make up their own minds,” he shared, adding viewers can seek more information at the CNN website. “If they want to get involved, they can make the next step on their own.”