American Morning
Obama to make personal pitch for Olympics
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/09/28/art.obamachi.gi.jpg caption="Obama is lobbying for the 2016 Olympic Summer Games to be held in Chicago."]
WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Barack Obama will travel this week to Copenhagen, Denmark, to make a big push for the 2016 summer Olympic Games in Chicago, the White House said Monday.
Obama will join First Lady Michelle Obama and other administration officials in pitching Chicago to the International Olympic Committee on October 2, spokesman Robert Gibbs said.
No other U.S. president has ever attended an IOC meeting.
Chicago is vying for the Summer Games against Madrid, Spain; Tokyo, Japan; and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Leaders from Brazil, Spain and Japan are expected to also make an in-person pitch.
The United States has hosted four Summer Olympic Games. In 1904, the Games were held in St. Louis, Missouri; in Los Angeles, California, in 1932 and 1984; and most recently Atlanta, Georgia, in 1996.
Companies watching where you shop
These days credit card issuers are scrutinizing your spending patterns for changes - Are you buying rounds at the local bar for the first time? Seeking marital counseling? One Atlanta man says the scrutiny goes too far.
Clinton: 'Vast right-wing conspiracy' virulent
WASHINGTON (CNN) - The "vast right-wing conspiracy" that attacked him during his presidency has been weakened, but continues to operate against President Obama, former President Clinton said Sunday.
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/POLITICS/09/27/clinton.conspiracy/art.bill.clinton.august.afp.gi.jpg caption="Former President Clinton said Republicans won't see a 1994-like surge at the polls in 2010."]
On NBC's "Meet the Press," Clinton was asked about the term his wife Hillary Clinton, now secretary of state, famously coined. "Is it still there?" host David Gregory asked.
"Oh, you bet. Sure it is. It's not as strong as it was, because America's changed demographically, but it's as virulent as it was," the former president replied.
"I mean, they're saying things about him [Obama] - you know, it's like when they accused me of murder and all that stuff they did," Clinton said, in an apparent reference to conspiracy theories surrounding the suicide of White House deputy counsel Vince Foster.
"It's not really good for the Republicans and the country, what's going on now," Clinton said. "I mean, they may be hurting President Obama. They can take his numbers down, they can run his opposition up. But fundamentally, he and his team have a positive agenda for America."
What’s on Tap – Monday September 28, 2009
Here are the big stories on the agenda today:
- Breaking news overnight... Iran testing the world's patience again, reportedly firing long-range missiles capable of hitting Israel or U.S. bases. We are live on the White House lawn, waiting for reaction this morning.
- Another difficult foreign policy challenge in the week ahead. The debate over sending more troops into Afghanistan. We're live at the pentagon where the Defense Secretary Robert Gates is now saying the war is "more serious" than he thought. His warning about the price of failure there.
- If you’ve changed your shopping habits in this economic climate, better check you credit limit... 'cause credit card companies are watching where you shop. How Wal-Mart or marriage counseling could set off a red flag. Your credit and your privacy in our new series, Watching You 24/7.
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Republican pollster: Americans angrier than ever
From town halls to tea parties, a lot of people across the country are really ticked off. Last week in our special series "Mad as Hell," we looked at the sources and potential solutions for all of that national anger.
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/09/28/luntz.frank.cnn.art.jpg caption="Pollster and Republican Party adviser Frank Luntz says Americans are angrier than ever."]
Frank Luntz is a pollster, communications expert, author of the new book "What Americans Really Want, Really" and has advised the Republican Party on hot-button issues like health care.
Luntz joined John Roberts on CNN’s “American Morning” Monday. Below is an edited transcript of the interview.
John Roberts: So people in America, are they really angrier than they’ve ever been?
Frank Luntz: They are. 72% of Americans define themselves - we took a survey of 6,400 people, that's five times the typical CNN media poll – 72% of Americans are mad as hell and they're not going to take it anymore. And they're mad at politics because they think there's no accountability in Washington.
They're mad at business because they think that their employers don't respect them. And they're mad at Hollywood for the coarseness of the culture. So you've got all three things going on at the same time and they don't find a solution to it.
Roberts: Let me quote from your book here because you say what's so important is not necessarily that Americans are mad as hell. You say, “It matters more that they're not going to take it anymore. Americans have hit a tipping point with Washington and, moreover, its political parties.” So we're at this tipping point. What does that mean for the country? You gave us the background of what people are mad at but why are they mad at all of this and what is this tipping point?
Luntz: They feel like the politicians aren't listening to them. And those elected officials who canceled their town hall meetings, boy, did they make a mistake. I wrote this book and I added that extra "really" to “What Americans Really Want” because the definitions of this anger the elites don't understand. They think the town halls are an aberration.
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Filed under: Commentary • Politics