American Morning
Is Obama the first 'hip' president?
He sits courtside in all black, posts video on YouTube, goes on Leno, and he fought for the right to carry his Blackberry. But does that all make President Obama hip? And does it help the president politically?
John Leland is a reporter for the New York Times and wrote the book "Hip: The History." He joined Alina Cho on CNN’s “American Morning” Monday.
Alina Cho: You call President Obama the first hip president. You wrote, “He’s white and he’s black. He’s an elitist and he’s regular folk. He’s not pinned down to a perspective.” Why is being hip important? Why is it noteworthy?
John Leland: He is the first president certainly to make this question relevant. Is this guy hip or not? He looks good courtside as you say, looks good in all black. In my book, I talk about where this idea of hip comes from and it seems to come from these western African words hipi or hepi “to see” or “to open your eyes.”
Cho: How is he different from all the others?
Leland: Because he has his eyes open in ways the others do not. He has an awareness of different parts of American culture that we haven't seen from a president before.
CDC: Travel warning to U.S. not warranted
Health officials around the world are working to contain what appears to be a spreading swine flu outbreak. As many as 103 deaths in Mexico are thought to have been caused by swine flu. The United States stepped up preparations for a possible epidemic of the virus after 20 cases were confirmed.
The European Union’s health commissioner Monday called on people to avoid traveling to both Mexico and the United States due to concerns about swine flu. “They should avoid traveling to Mexico or the USA unless it is very urgent for them,” said Andorra Vassiliou.
Dr. Richard Besser, acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told CNN he disagrees with the warning against traveling to the United States. He spoke to John Roberts on CNN’s “American Morning” Monday.
John Roberts: Dr. Besser, you probably heard the warning from the health commissioner of the European Union warning against all nonessential travel to the United States. Given the fact that we've had 20 mild cases in this country, is that a prudent warning?
Richard Besser: It's very important that people look at travel in a situation where there's an outbreak taking place. We've posted recommendations regarding travel to Mexico and notified people about an outbreak taking place there. And we'll continue to look at those. You know, it would be my recommendation to a family member if they had nonessential travel to Mexico that they really reconsider that at this time.
Roberts: The EU health commissioner is warning against travel to the United States. That could have a huge economic impact. Is that the right warning to send at this time?
Besser: I don't think that's warranted. At this point, we've identified 20 cases of swine influenza in this country. Thankfully all of those people have recovered; only one of those people has required hospitalization. We are looking very hard for cases of swine flu. I expect we're going to find some and we'll find some of increasing severity and more of the mild cases. At this point, I would not put a travel restriction or recommendation against coming to the United States.
Fast Forward
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Here are some of the stories that will be making news later today:
More bad weather is expected in the Midwest today after a weekend of intense storms and even tornados. Heavy rain and thunderstorms are triggering flooding from Oklahoma to Wisconsin. Our weather experts in the CNN Weather Center will be closely monitoring these storms for you all day.
Vice President Joe Biden will be in Chicago today discussing how the recovery act is creating jobs. At 11:15am ET he'll make remarks at Serious Materials – a factory that was able to re-hire 250 employees thanks to recovery act spending.
And we're keeping an eye on reports out of South Korea saying Kim Jong Il may be grooming his third son to be his successor. South Korea's Yonhap news agency is reporting that Kim Jong Un has been assigned to the country's National Defense Commission. And that could be indicative of a greater role for him in the future.
What’s on Tap – Monday April 27, 2009
Developing now…
Health officials around the world are working to contain what appears to be a spreading swine flu outbreak. It’s now confirmed that the virus has spread overseas to Spain. Classes at one private Catholic high school in New York City are canceled today and tomorrow, after the CDC confirmed that eight students came down with the virus. America’s biggest city now trying to stop an outbreak. There are 20 cases and counting across the U.S.
We’re here to help you understand this deadly virus, what you can do if you feel symptoms and what you need to do to prevent them. Dr. Sanjay Gupta is answering your questions all morning long at twitter.com/amfix.
We Listen!
Here’s your daily recap of the best feedback we got from YOU today. Continue the conversation below. And remember, keep it brief, and keep it clean. Thanks!
American Morning viewers remained divided regarding the torture memos released by President Obama. Those for exposing the information and prosecuting the former administration felt that “no matter how misguided the terrorists are, they are human beings and when they are in our custody, we still uphold the law of our land.”
- Bernadette: With all due respect to Sen. McCain his political career has been based on the fact that he was captured during the Vietnam War, held prisoner and tortured. We have been constantly reminded of his sacrifice and suffering at the hands of our then enemy. To my way of thinking he is covering his political rear end, the Bush/Cheney administration and his Republican party. It seems that when we do the dirty stuff to others and hide behind legalities it is okay, but when other countries do it to us we have to retaliate! Doesn't seem like quid pro quo to me.
- Tony: Terrorism is not only fought by guns and bombs but also on moral ground. Torture of human beings in the custody of our authorities is illegal in our country as well as immoral by any religious or human rights standard. No matter how misguided the terrorists are, they are human beings and when they are in our custody, we still uphold the law of our land. If they are actively fighting us, we kill them just as the enemy at war. People who used their authority to break this country's law and perpetrated torture of detainees not only fueled the hatred against our nation but also made us indistinguishable from the rogue terrorist states. What sets US apart from the dictatorships and terrorist organizations is that we lead our lives in freedom and no one is above the law of the land, not even the presidents and their staff. Authority corrupts and absolute authority corrupts absolutely. Bush administration officials governed as if that during war times they have absolute authority. Now they do not want to be tried for breaking the law of the land. Only the constitution is absolute authority in our nation and every citizen has rights and obligations to uphold its authority.
- Linda – Lou: People can come and attack our country killing thousands of people, take into custody civilians cut them, drown them, break bones, drag their bodies through town, cut their heads off and we should be against torture? I AM NOT OPPOSED TO TORTURE to gain information that will better position our troops in times of war. Should we invite them to tea?
- Jeremy: This torture or water boarding issue is getting blown way out of proportion. Does everyone remember that a lot of these terrorists they were dealing with were and are fine with chopping off heads and blowing people up on TV to show everyone? Should we just ask them nicely to tell us when the next attack will be or maybe we could say please?
Where do you stand on the issue of torture? Are we no better than our enemies if we implement such actions to gain information? Is the issue of torture “getting blown way out of proportion” as the first last viewer believes, or is there a double standard for the United States as viewer one believes when she says that “It seems that when we do the dirty stuff to others and hide behind legalities it is okay, but when other countries do it to us we have to retaliate!” Give us your opinion on this controversial issue.
McCain: It's torture but we need to move on
We had a chance to talk to Senator John McCain today on the show.
He was and still is a fierce opponent of interrogation tactics used during the Bush administration. Tactics like waterboarding, which he says is torture. But this POW also says getting bogged down in a politcal blame game over the past gets us nothing.
He also weighed in on what it was like in the final weeks of the campaign when the chance of victory seemed to be slipping away. And, of course, we had to ask him about his daughter Meghan, the "new" voice for the GOP.
I'm taking a long weekend. See you Tuesday!
Kiran
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