American Morning
Behind the scenes at correspondents' dinner
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/05/10/art.obamadinner.jpg caption= "President Obama delivers some one-liners at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner on Saturday."]
Hi all,
The annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner is a true who's who. I had the opportunity to attend tonight.
Before the actual dinner they have a cocktail party. And there we had a chance to bump into Chace Crawford from "Gossip Girl," Jon Bon Jovi, Ludacris, Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher, Eva Longoria and on and on. Photos
The Washington Hilton was abuzz with so many members of the media and celebrities as well as many politicians and a lot of security.
President Obama's speech was pretty funny. He teased his own Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, even House Minority Leader John Boehner. Watch
Now, it's rude to be blogging too much while sitting here, so much more later!
Kiran
We Listen!
American Morning’s new segment, “Wingnut,” generated strong positive viewer response, with some asking for it to return on a daily basis.
- Eric: What a hoot! Whether you are left, right, red, or blue, imagine seeing your own ridiculous words & behavior contrasted against the other side’s equally silly actions. Keep it up, I wish it were a daily event. There's certainly enough material.
- Steve C: While it's absurd to blame swine flu on a political party, as your wingnut of the week did, it may have some validity in my case. As a recruit in US Army in 1976, I received a swine flu vaccination at the order of Republican President Gerald Ford, in his attempt to prove the vaccine was safe. It worked perfectly, and thousands of soldiers including me contracted the flu. So, there's a tiny grain of truth in her theory, but she managed to blame the wrong party.
- Steve K: Keep doing the WINGNUT report! As a staunch moderate, I am convinced they carry more weight with both parties than they deserve. Placed under the harsh spotlight of reason and knowledge hopefully their views will be shown for what they are.
- Todd: Love the new segment! I hope you will continue to report on the important issue of idiots in politics. I wonder how these people ever got elected.
- David: I appreciate your efforts to be even-handed in your weekly selection of wing-nuts from the right and the left. As you move forward with this piece however, I believe it is important to put your selections in perspective by describing the influence that they have within their own parties. I would predict that there are far more Democrats who would agree with your left-wing selections than there are Republicans who would agree with your right-wing choices.
So, what did you think of AM’s new “Wingnut” segment? Tell us what you’d like to see on this segment. We’d love to hear your ideas and stories.
Iran 'deadly serious' about nukes
Washington (CNN) - The man who spear-headed financial investigations of Iran, New York District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, warned Wednesday that Iran is "deadly serious" about gaining nuclear weapons and long-range missiles.
"I am not an expert on proliferation but we have consulted a lot of people who are and it comes out loud and clear - it is late in this game and we don't have a lot of time to stop Iran from developing long-range missiles and nuclear weapons," Morgenthau told a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Morgenthau helped uncover a multi-billion-dollar scam that Iran used to move money through U.S. financial institutions to help buy materials for its nuclear and missile programs. In January a large British bank agreed to pay $350-million in fines after it was accused of helping Iran hide the transactions.
CNN's Carol Costello spoke with Morgenthau on Thursday.
Meet AM: Caroline Gottlieb – Graphics AP
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/05/08/gottlieb.caroline.art.jpg caption=" CNN's Caroline Gottlieb sits in the back row of the control room, checking banners and ordering graphics throughout the show."]
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 Caroline Gottlieb. Caroline is the Graphics Associate Producer on the show, which means she is the graphics coordinator. She makes sure all on-air graphics are ordered correctly and look good on air.
She also checks banners, which are the text at the bottom of the screen that change from story to story. She’ll have been at AM for three years in July.
How did you end up doing what you doing?
I’ve always been a news junkie and a big CNN fan. I lucked out and got an internship with American Morning during college and was determined to work at the show after college. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (go Badgers!) with a double major in Journalism and History, I learned the ropes as a PA (prompter, scripts, tapes, etc.) and then moved on into working with the graphics department. I became the Graphics AP in the fall of 2007.
Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Continues Under Obama
President Obama pledged during his presidential campaign to end the military’s ban on gays serving openly, otherwise known as Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. The president has been in office for over a hundred days and the armed forces continue to fire gays and lesbians who violate the military’s policy on serving openly as a homosexual.
Lt. Dan Choi of the New York National Guard is an Iraq War veteran and a West Point graduate. He also happens to speak fluent Arabic. Choi received a letter of discharge from the Army for “homosexual conduct.” His firing comes after he came out in March along with 37 other West Point graduates in a group called Knights Out.
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