American Morning
Meet AM: Eric Brodsky – TPM
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/04/24/eric.brodsky.cnn.art.jpg caption="Eric Brodsky, Technical Production Manager, manages all the shots coming into our control room in the morning."]
Each Friday in “Meet AM,” we’ll introduce you to the people who get American Morning to air.
Today, we’d like you to meet Eric Brodsky. Eric is the technical production manager here at AM, also known as TPM. This means that he is the one who coordinates all the live shots you see on our show, whether it’s Candy Crowley reporting in the field, or a guest in our Washington studio. Eric’s been with us for four and a half years.
How did you end up doing what you do?
I worked at NBC for 3 years as a Production Manager booking studios and setting up remote locations. I transitioned to a TPM when I moved to MSNBC. The biggest difference between the two jobs is that a production manager is in the field and as TPM you are in the control room managing all the live shots. I got the chance to make the switch to CNN and haven’t looked back. Working on the morning news has always been something I wanted to do. It’s great to be able to work on a show that sets the trend for the newsday.
Taliban 'not going anywhere'
There are new developments in Pakistan today. Taliban fighters have moved out of the contested Bruner district 60 miles west of Pakistan’s capital Islamabad. It appears to be a victory for the Pakistani government. But can Taliban militants be trusted to keep their pledge to return to the Swat Valley and stay out of Bruner?
Former CIA officer Gary Bernsten says the Taliban “isn’t going anywhere.” He joined John Roberts on CNN’s “American Morning” Friday.
John Roberts: Would you trust the Taliban to move back and play nice in the Swat Valley?
Gary Bernsten: Not at all. And clearly they may pull back just slightly for reasons of propaganda and to get the film footage. They're not going anywhere. These guys have a desire to seize control of Pakistan. That's the Taliban and other militant organizations. There are at least 25 to 30 militant organizations in Pakistan.
Bo Obama 'loves to chew'
Bo Obama is apparently Issue #1 among third grade voters.
The first dog was a hot topic at the White House yesterday, when Michelle Obama held what she's called her “first press conference” with the children of White House staffers. The kids were invited there in honor of Take Your Child to Work Day.
One of the first questions to the First Lady was about how Bo was adjusting to his new home.
Michelle Obama described him as "a crazy dog." Bo "loves to chew on peoples' feet," she said. Mrs. Obama told a story about the night before, when Bo was apparently barking loudly in the White House residence.
"Everybody was asleep, and we hear all this barking and jumping around. The President and I came out and we thought somebody was out there. It was just Bo. And he was playing with his ball, and it was like there was another person in the house."
The first lady says that she's spending a lot of time walking and training Bo these days, but of course, he's still a puppy.
McCain warns against torture prosecutions
The Defense Department will release "a substantial number" of photographs of alleged prison abuse in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.
The new photographs could change the course of the political uproar over allegations of torture during the Bush era. Yesterday, Attorney General Eric Holder went before Congress and weighed in on holding accountable the people who approved techniques like waterboarding.
“I will not permit the criminalization of policy differences. However, it is my responsibility, as the attorney general, to enforce the law. It is my duty to enforce the law. If I see evidence of wrongdoing, I will pursue it to the full extent of the law.”
Former Presidential Candidate and Senator John McCain (R-AZ) has called waterboarding “torture” in the past, but he disagrees with prosecuting any former Bush administration officials. He spoke with Kiran Chetry on CNN’s “American Morning” Friday about any such prosecutions, saying they would set a “terrible precedent for the future.”
Kiran Chetry: What do you say to the Bush administration officials who call waterboarding “enhanced interrogation” and say it doesn’t cause any real harm?
John McCain: Well, I disagree. And that’s why we passed a thing called the “Detainee Treatment Act,” which prohibits cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment. And the Geneva Conventions, which is for the treatment not only of uniformed but also enemy combatants, prohibits such treatment as well. But the point is, now, it's time to move on. The president went to the CIA and said people who were engaged in that would not be held responsible... We should move on. And to go back and hold people criminally liable for their best legal advice they gave to the President of the United States is unacceptable to me.
Army of volunteers saves lives with clipboards, high spirits
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/04/24/art_andrea_ivory.jpg caption="Breast cancer survivor Andrea Ivory is on a mission to educate Florida communities about the disease, one door at a time."]
WEST PARK, Florida (CNN) - "We are an army," says Andrea Ivory of the group gathered with her early on a Saturday morning.
Armed with clipboards, leaflets and high spirits, the energetic Ivory leads them into the neighborhood, where they start knocking on doors. The mood is lighthearted, but their mission is serious: to save lives, one house at a time.
They're volunteers from the Florida Breast Health Initiative, or FBHI, and they are waging war against breast cancer. It's an effort started by Ivory, 50, herself a survivor of the disease.
Every weekend in the spring and fall, she and her volunteers - who include college students, senior citizens and suburban moms, all wearing matching T-shirts - fan out across low-income communities in southern Florida, educating women about breast health.
They especially seek out uninsured women age 35 and older, who statistics show are twice as likely to be diagnosed with late-stage breast cancer, and thus more likely to die from the disease.
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