All of us who work on "News To Me" are pretty pumped about this weekend's show!  Producers Mike and Teague have been putting in serious hours creating what we think will be really compelling TV.  It's a story we have been "teasing" for over a month now and one that we have been working on for several months: The great Georgia Bigfoot Hoax.  No need to get into the background of the hoax here... we'll do that this weekend on "News To Me," but if you are a skeptic, suspicious, paranoid, wearing a tin-foil hat or someone who makes fun of those kind of people you will really dig the first two blocks of the show.

Interestingly enough, seems like the whole "News To Me" crew has memories associated with Sasquatch.  Do we believe?  Not necessarily, but buried deep in our grey matter we all have something that clicked when we started working on this story...

Eric Lanford:
In a previous life, as host of a different TV show, I actually went HUNTING for Bigfoot.

Coordinating Producer Michael Kane:
When I was an “Indian Guide” – that was a youth group in the ‘70s for losers who were too wimpy to make it as a Boy Scout – we went on a hike up to the top Atlanta’s Stone Mountain, the largest exposed slab of granite on Earth.

The trail to the top is pocked with large holes and craters. One of the older boys pulled me aside to warn me that some of those craters were actually Bigfoot tracks. I believed him, swallowed hard and soldiered up the mountain in a cold sweat. The mountain still haunts my dreams.

Producer/Editor Teague Kennedy:
Round about 1994 I was driving down a dirt road just after dark in search of a campsite in a woodsy area in central Florida. I had seen no people or cars since entering the forest perhaps 15 minutes earlier, when up in the distance I saw in my headlights what looked to be a naked man running through the woods. Needless to say we didn't pitch tent in the area. True story.

Associate Producer Charles Gilbert:
When I was 14, my friends and I thought we saw Bigfoot’s print in some dirt behind a house in our neighborhood. The footprint was huge. Then we looked closer. We noticed that it wasn’t Bigfoot’s print. It was mine. I am 6’ tall and I wear a size 15 shoe. Damn I felt dumb.

Corey the intern:
I got scared by watching "Harry and the Hendersons" when I was a little kid. Seriously, Bigfoot has never really interested me. I'm more fascinated by UFO pictures experts can't explain.

Associate Producer Grayson Thagard:
My Grandpa Red used to take me and my little brother out on his air boat into the Florida Everglades. "The glades" was a creepy place at dusk when the shadows got long, especially for a 7 year old. As we skimmed along the shallow water Grandpa saw something out of the corner of his eye and all of a sudden he shut down the giant fan pushing the air boat. In the absence of that roar we clearly heard what can only be described as a moan coming from the thick vegetation about 20 yards away. Grandpa told us in a whisper, that it was the sound of a Skunk ape, the "Bigfoot" of the swamp. It was a typical sweltering Florida July but I clearly remember hearing the sound again and suddenly being ice cold. That was my last trip to the Everglades.

Associate Producer Aaron Rustom:
When I was about 10 or 11, my best friend’s dad took us out to their cabin in East Texas so we could go fishing. As we got closer to the cabin, my friend’s dad started telling us about the “Alabama-Coushatta” tribe, who were native to the area, and the creature who lurked among them… a creature named "Sasquatch." He also told us we would be okay, if we kept "stink bait" in our pockets. Stink bait is used on trot-lines to catch catfish. And as the name implies, it stinks! It stinks so bad that even Bigfoot is repulsed by the odor. That whole weekend, every noise, every crackle, every time the trees blew, we rubbed more stink bait on us.

The funny thing is… there actually have been Bigfoot "sightings" in that area!

Ok, so those are OUR Bigfoot memories... do you have a bigfoot / ufo / ghost / unexplained mystery / story? Tell us! It IS Halloween after all!

In the meantime, sleep tight... we'll see you tomorrow at 9:30pm Eastern and Pacific on Headline News!

(Above) This is what it looks like from Eric's side of the camera when we're shooting "News To Me."

Once again we were in downtown Atlanta for this weekend's show. This time, above ground.

More behind the scenes shots from this weekend's episode of "News To Me" (including Eric laying down on the job) after the jump »

Back in April of LAST YEAR Eric introduced you to Brett Rounsaville... aka: The Amtrekker. That's Brett on the left in the pic above, followed left to right by yours truly, Betty Ann Abblitt and Ginger Abblitt (more about Betty Ann and Ginger later). Brett was traveling across country, relying on the kindness of strangers to cross 50 experiences off a list he'd created. Things like: "Tell Donald Trump you're fired", "enter a hot dog eating contest", "see a freak show" and 47 other equally strange and wonderful things. The catch? He could not return home until after he'd completed the list. And he didn't.

We've been keeping track of Brett since we featured him on "News To Me." A few weeks ago I noticed that he only had a few things left to do on his list: "Make moonshine," "Scuba dive in the Atlantic Ocean," and "Ride a horse through a covered bridge." I don't know anything about Scuba or Moonshine... but I knew of a couple covered bridges around Atlanta. And how hard could it be to find a horse? So I shot Brett and email and said I thought I could help him out. Turns out he was going to be in the Southeast to do the scuba diving, so getting to Atlanta after that would be doable.

Now I had to find a horse.

Actually finding horses wasn't tough, but my budget for getting Brett across a covered bridge on one wasn't even enough to get me something off the Dollar Menu, and horse rental (I learned) ain't cheap. I called university equestrian teams, police departments with mounted units, I called UPS to see if "Big Brown" was available (true... I really did). The calls went something like this, "Hi, my name is Grayson and I have a friend who has a list of 50 things he has to do before he can go home. Can we borrow your horse? Oh, and can you trailer it out to a covered bridge in Mableton? For free? This Tuesday?" The most popular response was, "I'm sorry, you need a horse for what? Who is this?" Which was quickly followed by, "I don't think we can help you."

I sent Brett a dejected email saying I wasn't sure this was going to happen after all but he was already en route to Atlanta. There was no turning back. He'd set things in motion for a huge homecoming and end-of-Amtrekker party in California on October 25th and that was only a week away. What had I committed myself too? What if I screw this up? What if Brett doesn't finish his list because I over estimated the ease of finding a horse? Keep reading for more pictures and the rest of the story. »

Here are all the links to all the sites, people and videos you saw on "News To Me!" Start clickin' and be sure to tell 'em Eric Lanford sent you!

Witness to devastation:
Track the next storm at hurricanetrack.com

Stuff White People Like:
Get the full list at stuffwhitepeoplelike.com
Also check out Stuff Educated Black People Like & Stuff Asians Like.

St. Louis fire truck crash:
Watch the raw footage on YouTube.

Ballpark plane crash:
The full clip is on LiveLeak.

Pee Wee Pundits:
Watch the full short film at iReport.com.

Post Secret:
Maybe you have a skeleton in your closet that needs to come out... visit PostSecret.com to find out where to anonymously send your deepest, darkest secret for all the world to read.

Who's the bald guy with the scarf who did the "mirror" with Eric?
Did he look familiar to you? That was world famous pianist Andrew Shapiro! Check out his website for information about upcoming shows and his new CD "Numbers, Colors and People."

Haunted Earth:
To see all of the ghost hunts visit haunted-earth.org/h

Lawn of the Dead:
Get a look at ALL the scary stiffs in Randall Cook's Alabama front yard on his profile page at iReport.com.

Thanks for watching! We'd love it if you'd leave us a note just to let us know you were here. "Hi," would be plenty... but if you'd like to write more that's cool too!

Have a great weekend!

If you are a "News To Me" newsletter subscriber, you know why we aren't going full-out Halloween this weekend (it has something to do with Eric's irrational fear of carved pumpkins), but we couldn't let the holiday go completely un-noticed. So Producer/Camera guy Teague brought along this creepy prop for Eric to don in our opening shot. I'm sure the residents in this upscale Atlanta neighborhood were thrilled to see a dude with a claw walking down their street, coincidentally named Elm (no, not really)!

Later on in the day we were approached by a guy in short sleeves and a scarf wanting to know what we were shooting. We get asked that a lot. So we started talking, introductions were made, short sleeves and scarf said his name was Andrew Shapiro and he was in town giving a talk at Emory University about his music. So while we talked I Googled him on my Treo (is that rude by the way? I think if it were just the two of us talking then yes, but there was a group of us and it was possible to discreetly run "Andrew Shapiro music" through the Google without looking too distracted) and it turns out he's a pretty famous! Keep reading to see our pictures with Andrew AND some other behind the scenes shots that you MIGHT see in tomorrow's show.

more pictures »

Thanks for watching "News To Me!" Was there something you wanted to get more information about? Well it just so happens that we have anticipated your need and have put together a handy list of links you can click to get the raw footage, the unedited video and the rest of the story.

Here goes:

Who won? iReporters debate the final debate:
iReport.com
kburkitt – Undecided Voter leaning towards Obama
chzman – Passion is not anger
Thetalesend – Who won the debate no one they were both Jerks
NakedBoyNews – "Joe Plumber" WON Final Debate
psburton – The Final Debate, a draw at best
dpkronmiller – THE FINAL DEBATE – OBAMA WON McCAIN GOT ANGRY
sankofa1867 – final debate

Toronto explosion:
liveleak.com (careful, there are some bad words used in this video)

"Real" live dinosaur loose in a museum:
MySpaceTV

Solar boat race:
See Remco van Schellen's full report on iReport.com

The Reel Geezers:
Visit their official site at ReelGeezers.com
Watch Eric's interview again on CNN.com

Tree VS. Car:
The original video that brought this story to our attention is on iReport.com

Most Popular on CNN.com:
Car rams bus stop
Dozens flee van rollover
And of course... Lingerie football

London little "people:"
little-people.blogspot.com

Faces in places:
facesinplaces.blogspot.com

Strictly no photography:
strictlynophotography.com

Deleted images:
deletedimages.com

iReporter office pranks:
iReport.com

Thanks again for watching! Did we miss anything? Is there a story you think we need to be covering? Did that Chia-Pet your bought as a gag gift but kept for yourself to see if it would really work fill out really well? Let us know. Tell us what it is. Send us a picture!

Saw something on this weekend's "News To Me" that you want more information about? You are in the right place my friends. Every weekend we post a list of all the HOTLINKS from "News To Me."

Here's this weekend's batch:

Nepal plane crash

Pulled from a burning car

Barack Obama yard-sign watch
See the story again on CNN.com

Eric talks to the founders of Jib Jab
Visit Jibjab.com
Watch the "Time for Some Campaignin'" video
Check out the special "News To Me" behind the scenes tour of the Jib Jab offices

Run the Appalachian Trail with Karl Meltzer at whereskarl.com

Bigfoot hoaxers on "News To Me" in two weeks!

Elk Bugling contest raw video from iReport.com

Insane skateboarding video featured on adamkimmel.com
See the story again on CNN.com

The duct tape camper official site
Watch the duct tape camper instructional iReport

Best of CNN.com:
Snake in the pants
Fearless dog saves family
Haunted high school

Pull Ya Pantz Up music video

Let us know what you thought of "News To Me" this weekend! We love comments. Thanks for watching!

What's up, everybody? I'm Corey Enlow and I'll be working as the intern for "News To Me" this fall. I thought I'd go ahead and introduce myself (I have been here for a month already, after all) and just say I feel privileged to be working here. The whole experience of coming to CNN Center every other day has felt a bit surreal, and I’m still getting used to the position.

If anybody's interested, I’m a 23 year old Mass Communications major and a senior at the University of West Georgia. I’ll be graduating (finally) this December.

I'm pretty excited because my first story idea will be in the show this coming weekend: the Obama sign kid. Since starting this internship, my friends and family have been helping me out by sending me videos and story ideas for the show. It was my Mom in fact who showed me an article in the Wall Street Journal about an online community, which watches vigilantly for the thief who has been stealing the Obama/Biden signs from the yard of Preston Fosback. I thought, "SCORE! This would be perfect for the show," and everyone on the show agreed.

I'll get back to transcribing Eric’s interview (which is not fun) with an L.A. Times reporter about internet hoaxes that get out of control for an upcoming show and let you get back to doing whatever you’re doing (which I hope is fun). I’m looking forward to contributing more to this blog and to "News To Me" in the future.

iReporters play a huge part in this weekend's show! Thanks for cranking up those cams and letting us hear what you thought of the Vice Presidential debate, and for taking us along for the ride as you went searching for gas in the Southeast United States! The links to those full iReports and the rest of the stories you saw on "News To Me" this weekend are below.

Clearly you have opinions, clearly you have cameras, and clearly you want your voice heard! So your challenge this weekend: speak up and let us hear what you thought of "News To Me!" You are already sitting in front of your webcam... why not fire it up and review the show? There's a special "News To Me" iReport link below. Click it and let your inner critic come out!

Meanwhile, the raw footage from and direct links to everything on this weekend's show are right here keep reading »

From left to right above... Teague Kennedy, Chris Linder, Eric Lanford.

Originally our plan was to shoot this weekend's show in and around Centennial Olympic Park which is conveniently located right across the street from CNN Center. Pretty, green, lots of fountains. What we didn't count on was a huge contingent of college football fans swarming the park for the annual Atlanta Classic game (Florida A&M beat Tennessee state 28-21) taking place at the Georgia Dome right next door.

So we went underground keep reading »