Anderson Is The Best! Undoubtedly!

October 2, 2012 -- 11:05 AM

Anderson Cooper talks reality TV and war zones


(CBS News) With host or correspondent gigs on three ongoing shows, Anderson Cooper, a CBS "60 Minutes" correspondent, host of the talk show "Anderson Live," and CNN's "AC360," is busy man these days.

The journalist made time to stop by "CBS This Morning" on Tuesday to talk about his upcoming season of "Anderson Live" and to touch on some people and events making news, in both the pop culture arena and overseas.

He spoke about Arnold Schwarzenegger's recent press tour and newly released memoir, saying the interviews were "really damaging to him" and that they reflected the "height of narcissism."

Cooper also touched on growing up with a famous mom, Gloria Vanderbilt -- and "CTM" co-host Norah O'Donnell recalled wearing jeans designed by the famed socialite.

Cooper joked that "when my mom first became famous in that way," he and his brother "had a game of counting how many women's butts we saw with my mom's name on it."

He recently had the cast of "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" on his show, and while he admits that he is a recovering reality TV junkie, he said that the taping with the cast was so stressful, "I had to take an Ambien to fall asleep ... you want that hour of your life back."

Cooper explained his balance of indulging in trashy TV while maintaining his fulltime interest in hard hitting foreign news.

"I'm interested in stories," he said. "I'm passionate about foreign news and international reporting ... but we all have different sides to us and I like some cheesy reality shows ... the profession has evolved to the point where we can show ourselves as multi-faceted and that's OK."

For his part, however, "CTM" co-host Charlie Rose, said he will continue to abstain from the Housewives series and the new hit reality show, "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo," one of Cooper's guiltiest pleasures.

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