American Morning
Michelle Obama vows to strike Olympic gold for Chicago
CNN
WASHINGTON (CNN) - First lady Michelle Obama vowed Monday to "take no prisoners" as she and her husband launch an unprecedented bid for Chicago's 2016 Olympic bid.
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/POLITICS/09/29/michelle.obama.olympics/art.michelle.obama.afp.gi.jpg caption="First lady's attitude about the effort to secure Chicago's bid for the 2016 Olympics: "Take no prisoners.""]
"It's a battle - we're going to win - take no prisoners," the first lady said with a smile at a roundtable discussion with reporters in the White House State Dining Room.
She compared the intense lobbying effort to the 2008 presidential campaign, noting that in the election campaign, a lot of voters made their decision in the final days. She said members of the International Olympic Committee may do the same.
"And our view is, we're not taking a chance," she said. "We're just not going to assume that the bids - that the decisions are made, and so that no matter what the outcome is, we'll feel as a country, as a team, that we've done everything that we can to bring it home."
The White House confirmed Monday that President Obama will fly on Thursday to Copenhagen, Denmark, where the International Olympic Committee will be reviewing bids from several countries on Friday. It will be the first time that an American president has lobbied the IOC in this manner.
Secret Service probes Facebook poll on Obama
(CNN) - The social networking site Facebook on Monday pulled a third-party application that allows users to create polls after a site member built a poll asking if President Obama should be killed.
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/POLITICS/09/28/facebook.poll/art.facebook.cnn.jpg caption="There are more than 350,000 applications on Facebook. The company says it disables any that violate its terms."]
The U.S. Secret Service, the agency assigned to protect the president, has launched an investigation, agency spokesman James Mackin said.
"As is usually the case, our vigilant users reported it to us first," Facebook spokesman Barry Schnitt told CNN. "The USSS [Secret Service] sent us an e-mail late this morning PDT asking us to take it down. At that point, it had already been removed, and we let them know."
Schnitt said the application "was immediately suspended while the inappropriate content could be removed by the developer and until such time as the developer institutes better procedures to monitor their user-generated content."
Madeleine Albright's pin-diplomacy
Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is not only famous for becoming the first woman ever to hold the post, but also for her penchant for pins.
Her famous brooches sent a message to dictators, presidents, and foreign ministers.
It's the focus of her new book, "Read My Pins."
Our John Roberts had a chance to talk with Secretary Albright yesterday at New York's Museum of Arts and Design where more than 200 of her most important pins are on display.
What’s on Tap – Tuesday September 29, 2009
Here are the big stores on the agenda today:
- Democrats, right now, getting ready for a health care showdown. At least two senators are now promising to jam a government run insurance provision into the Senate Finance Committee bill. We're live in Washington, with a debate that's pitting democrats against democrats.
- Confessions of a domestic terrorist. A former member of a radical environmental group reveals exclusively to CNN how they waged war against the government and what he did to bring the home-grown terror cell down.
- And they get paid to dig up dirt, on you. But what happens when they, make a mistake? Today in our special series: “Watching You 24/7,” Personal Finance Editor Gerri Willis shows you what happens when data brokers uncover rap sheets on the wrong people.
- The president’s Olympic push and political gamble. In just a few days, President Obama will travel to Denmark to make a pitch to bring the 2016 Summer Games to Chicago. It's the first time ever a U.S president has gotten this involved in an Olympic bid. And it comes as the pile on his desk is getting bigger.
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