American Morning
Don’t call me a cougar
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/05/22/ashton.demi.getty.art.jpg caption="Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore at a UK film premiere in November 2008."]
There is a brand new sitcom on ABC this fall: “Cougar Town.” It stars the gorgeous Courtney Cox as a 40-something woman on the prowl for sex with 20-something men. Some of my friends are excited about this new comedy, others are appalled.
There is no doubt though, our pop culture has gone “Cougar Crazy.” Saturday Night Live often parodies the craze and there are dozens of websites devoted to “cougars on the prowl.”
One of those websites, “Cougardate.com,” defines Cougars as: “…women in their forties, who smoke, drink and go to clubs to pick up young men in their twenties." You’ll notice the definition does not include the word “relationship,” but “pick-up.” Some say that’s liberating for women who just want to have fun. Others question the wisdom of reducing “cougarism” to something so shallow.
What’s on Tap – Friday May 22, 2009
Here are the big stories on the agenda today:
The Senate sending the White House a message, approving a $91-billion bill to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but refusing to authorize any spending on President Obama's plan to close Guantanamo Bay prison. This comes after the present collided with the past, over the best way to protect you. President Obama and former Vice President Dick Cheney clashed over closing Gitmo, harsh interrogation policies and other approaches to fighting terrorism, as they delivered dueling speeches in which they both pointed fingers and forcefully defended their respective policies. Supporters on both sides are loud. Opinions are strong. We’ll hear from Liz Cheney, a former State Department official who says her father is on the right side of history. We want you to join the debate, too. Call us at 877-MYAMFIX.
We're also following developments in the life-and-death search for a cancer-stricken teenager and his mother. Authorities in Minnesota have issued a felony arrest warrant for Colleen Hauser, who fled with her 13-year-old son Daniel to avoid court-ordered chemotherapy treatments. The warrant allows other states to detain the pair if they're found. It's believed mother and son may be headed to Mexico for an alternative treatment for the boy’s Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Doctors say without chemotherapy, Daniel's chances of survival are slim, and his father is making a public appeal to his wife to return with their son.
And… who are the “wingnuts” of the week? John Avlon is here to expose those on the far left and right who are pulling this country further apart.
We Listen!
Thursday’s American Morning audience had a plethora of topics for comment. The Binghamton, AL, police chase divided viewers who felt the perpetrator created a volatile situation and got what he deserved. Conversely, police brutality was addressed as an issue, as well as the need for additional police training for such situations.
- R, C.: Thanks for showing the video of the Alabama man being beaten by police after a high speed chase. My nephew was stopped and so badly beaten by Birmingham police that his eardrum burst. After an "internal review" the police found no wrong doing. My nephew was unarmed and was beaten by more than one officer. Someone needs to expose this kind of abuse.
- Glo: Adrenaline! That's what these police officers were working on. This perp tried to kill one of their brothers with his car and put the rest of them in danger by having them chase him. Unless you have lived with a person in the police you cannot understand or judge their actions. My Father was a New York Detective and I can understand.
How do you feel about the sentencing of the police accused of brutality? Was justice served?
Rights of the boy with cancer were deliberated, as viewers weighed personal rights against child safety.
- Dee: I cannot believe the fact that we are wasting government dollars to chase down a family who has made a decision to refuse the treatment. I would better understand if this was a case where the child appeared otherwise neglected, but that's not the case. It seems that money is allotted to situations that don't need it rather than to situations where children are in real danger and are seeking help. If someone could show me that the parents are not competent to make the decision regarding his care, I might side with the state. Otherwise, leave the parents alone. As the guardians of their child they have every right to have the final say. The child's inability to read doesn't negate his ability to understand the situation if it is explained to him.
- Barbara: I wonder if the court has had the benefit of research documenting the long term dangers of chemo. There is plenty of research that shows that while chemo can work in the short run, it is so highly toxic to the body that there is a heightened risk of cancer returning. I'm not opposed to all western medicine, but I'm pretty sure I would not undergo chemo. I understand the parent's position. The father, the only parent we've had the opportunity to listen to, seems like a reasonable person.
Is this a personal medical decision that should be decided by the boy and his family, or should the state intervene in order to protect the health of the child? What would you do?
U.S. arms in Taliban hands
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/05/21/intv.berntsen.art.jpg caption="A former CIA officer says Taliban fighters get U.S. arms by container theft and the loss of Afghan police."]
A New York Times report published this week says markings on ammunition collected from killed Taliban insurgents suggest that it's coming from the Pentagon.
Gary Berntsen spent more than two decades in the CIA. He also led CIA forces in eastern Afghanistan after 9/11. He joined John Roberts on CNN’s “American Morning” Thursday.
John Roberts: The New York Times suggested poor discipline and outright corruption among Afghan forces is responsible for some of the weapons getting into the hands of the Taliban. What are some of the other ways?
Gary Berntsen: Part of the problem is there has been a lot of container theft over the last year and a half. Containers moving from the Port of Karachi up into Afghanistan on trucks and to U.S. forces have been broken into, have been robbed completely. This is more of a problem than just the Taliban drinking “Red Bull” and listening to iPods. They're getting equipment out of these things. That's one.
Roberts: So the Pentagon sends these containers full of weapons to the Port of Karachi.
Berntsen: Not so much weapons all the time. It’s body armor sometimes. They try not to send weapons that way but sometimes ammunition gets put in these things. So they pick up some of that stuff there. The other issue too is… we’ve lost 1,000 Afghan police this year. Sometimes you’ll have entire governors compounds that are overrun. They'll lose 10, 15 guys. They’ll recover weapons and ammunition during those encounters as well. Sometimes there's theft or sales by Afghan security forces. About a year ago, the attempted assassination of Karzai, it was a senior Afghan official, a general that sold those weapons to the Taliban who tried to kill Karzai with them.
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