American Morning
Fast Forward
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Here are some of the stories that will be making news later today:
At 1:30pm ET, President Obama will speak about student loans and higher education. He'll specifically focus on how hard it is for many students and families to get a loan for college.
At 10am ET, former Vice President Al Gore will be talking climate change on Capitol Hill. The House Energy Committee has been focusing on the environment all week, examining energy legislation proposed by House Democrats in a new climate bill.
And Centcom commander General David Petraeus appears today before a House appropriations committee at 9:30am ET. He'll discuss supplemental funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It's likely he'll cite the spiraling cycles of violence in Afghanistan and Pakistan to bolster his case.
What's on Tap – Friday April 24th, 2009
Here are the big stories on the agenda today:
- Breaking now... The Defense Department will release "a substantial number" of photographs showing alleged prison abuse in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.
- Taking swipes at fees. Credit card companies are receiving millions of dollars in bailout money but they still nickel-and-diming customers to death. We want to hear your thought about the fees on your monthly bill. Call 877-MYAMFIX and share your outrage.
- Terror gaining ground. Pakistan on Thursday sent a small number of paramilitary troops to the Buner district, which was taken over by Taliban forces in recent days. The response by the Pakistani government comes one day after Washington said Islamabad gave in to the militants by agreeing to their demand to impose Islamic law in the region, and that Pakistan faced an existential threat to its existence if it failed to react to the Taliban threat.
- FAA: the bird strike files. The Federal Aviation Administration is reversing its course and said it will publicly reveal its records on bird strikes. The FAA said it will make its entire Bird Strike database available on a public Web site today, and is withdrawing a proposal to keep some data confidential. The FAA had argued that protecting certain information, such as the names of airlines and airports involved in bird mishaps would encourage airlines to participate in the voluntary reporting program.
- White house training. The first lady's take on the new White House puppy? He's "crazy." Michelle Obama says "Bo" the Portuguese Water Dog loves to bark and play… and also likes to chew on people's feet. Mrs. Obama says she spends lots of time walking and training Bo, the energetic six-month-old pup who arrived at the White House last week as a gift to the Obama daughters. Mrs. Obama gave her update on Bo during a White House program Thursday marking the annual “Take Your Child to Work Day.”
- Plus Size Teenwear. For years overweight teens had nowhere to shop. Not any more. The latest fashion? Plus size clothing for teens. Target and Forever 21 are tapping into a new growth market that is pleasing some teens and marketers but angering nutritionists. Is this a plus or minus?
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 were adamantly opposed to Bill Bennett’s commentary about the Obama Administration’s first 100 days:
- Maxwell: Who is this Bill Bennett and who cares about his "opinion" He is out of touch with 2009. We do not care about these old fat angry homo hating jesus freaks Republicans. Its time for a new Republican Party
- Cox: People like Bill Bennett and all the republicans spend all their time criticizing the president’s methods have only 8 years of failed economic and foreign policy as a track record and have no credibility whatsoever. They are the ones who need to lookout in the coming 100 days.
What do you think? Is the Republican Party out of touch? Is it time for a new Republican Party? What would that look like to you?
Small airport funding received mixed reviews, with pilots and those in rural areas supporting the measure while others “would like to see Mr. Porky Pig justify that to a mother of three that has real struggles!”
- Tim: Your story about the Murtha Airport was about wasteful spending on airport projects. As a resident of the US territory of Guam and a licensed pilot I can tell you without a doubt the airport money is needed here. Of the two runways, only one is operational due to large cracks and potholes! Please try to report more responsibly and realize some of the stimulus money going to these airports is warranted.
- Amber: I just finished watching a segment about the little tiny airport getting A LOT of money they obviously do not need. All the while, my husband works 14hr or more EVERY day but Sunday, I work full time myself, and we do good to stay just above the red, so far. I am starting school in the fall, and the pressures and stress we go through on a daily basis are real problems, not repaving a runway that is back up for one that doesn't get used very often. Don't even get me started on the $8M empty tower!! I would like to see Mr. Porky Pig justify that to a mother of three that has real struggles!
Should small airports receive a stimulus, as the first viewer believes, or do you feel more as viewer two states, that “Mr. Porky Pig [needs to] justify that [funding] to a mother of three that has real struggles”?
America's prisons a "national disgrace"
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There is a new push from Congress to try to overhaul America's prisons.
Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) calls our system a national disgrace. He says while we have just 5% of the world's population, we have 25% of the world's known prisoners. Also, drugs, corruption and violence are rampant inside of our jails and prisons.
Senator Webb is co-sponsoring a new bill to try to tackle these problems. Before launching this bill, his office collected facts about America's prison system.
According to his research, America has 2.3 million people behind bars. That’s five times higher than the world's average incarceration rate. Another 5 million people are either on probation or out on parole. That makes them a part of the criminal justice system. And the number of jailed drug offenders here in the U.S. has increased 1200% since 1980. That research also says four times as many mentally-ill people are in prison than in mental health facilities.
Senator Webb spoke to Kiran Chetry on CNN’s "American Morning" Thursday.
Kiran Chetry: You are pushing for legislation to fix our nation’s prisons. What are the biggest problems as you see them?
Jim Webb: Well, I've been involved in this issue for many years as an attorney and as a journalist. In fact, at one point, I spent a month going through the Japanese criminal justice system. When I came to the Senate in 2007, I decided to hold hearings on mass incarceration and on drugs policy and to try to figure out where the criminal justice system itself is broken. We've got 2.38 million people in prison. We’ve got 7 million inside that criminal justice system. And yet our neighborhoods aren't any safer, particularly with the violent gangs, transnational gangs, etc.
Air-pork?
What do you think? Is this wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars? Or is Rep. Murtha just doing his job?
Bill Bennett: Obama mystique will not last
President Obama hasn't shied away from controversy during his first hundred days, but a keen ability to rebound from criticism has some critics wondering why the outrage doesn't stick. CNN Political Contributor Bill Bennett is the author of "The American Patriot’s Almanac." He spoke with John Roberts on CNN’s “American Morning” Thursday.
John Roberts: The president attracted a fair amount of controversy at the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago last week when he shook hands and was all smiles with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. It prompted Jonathan Martin in Politico to write, “Several times a month in his young presidency, Barack Obama has done things that cause conservatives to bray, using the phrase once invoked by Bob Dole, ‘Where’s the outrage?!’” The president seems pretty Teflon in his first hundred days. A lot of stuff just kind of bounces off of him.
Bill Bennett: Yeah. The American people are giving him a lot of breaks. It is the first hundred days. They like him. They voted for him. They elected him. They want him to succeed. All of that is understandable. The second hundred days is going to be different. These are no longer matters of photo-ops with Hugo Chavez. What he has unleashed with the CIA interrogation memo is the furies. This is going to be a major issue and I think an embarrassment and problem for him. Maybe more important, you know, CNN has been great on this, covering the situation in Pakistan. This is the real world. This isn't the warm-up now. This isn’t rehearsal. This is the real game now. If the Taliban moves in on the capital of Pakistan, we are talking about serious international crisis, and then we'll find out about our Commander in Chief.
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