American Morning
We Listen – Your comments 10/7/2009
Editor's Note: With the White House and the Senate considering new measures for unemployment assistance, Wednesday’s American Morning audience suggested that “If President Obama and Congress want to do something effective to aid Americans then they could force Credit Card Companies to stop increasing ... interest rates to 30% for no reason other than pure greed.”
- Duane: Saw Christine Romans report about additional efforts to deal with 10% unemployment. If President Obama and Congress want to do something effective to aid Americans then they could force Credit Card Companies to stop increasing our interest rates to 30% for no reason other than pure greed. Creating laws some time ago to reform credit practices like this and then giving the credit card companies a period of months before the changes are imposed has given them a license to steal. Lord knows they have stolen enough already and thus the reason for the reform. What they are doing to every American with a credit card balance is criminal.
- Linda: Please do a little a little research and report the facts on unemployment benefits (and broadcast these facts every 5 minutes) I have been out of a job since August "08, I was only entitled to 13 weeks UC here in Fla due to the fact that I was on FEDERAL FAMILY LEAVE ACT from Ohio then had to move here so the time frame that Unemployment looks at – says only -I had no income for over 4 months.....my extension was then for 7 weeks and then 11 weeks= 31 weeks, but also the reality is-- the extensions are for a "percent" of original claim-or- " UP TO " 13 weeks or 20 weeks....QUIT SUGAR COATING WHAT OUR ELECTED OFFICIALS are NOT DOING FOR THE AMERICAN HUMAN BEING !!!!!!!!!!! My benefits ran out again last week and when they do implement another extension I will already be homeless AGAIN... yes, for the 3rd time in 1 year...with this eviction will tally up a total of $1,895 in lost security deposits.....which I no longer have a car because I didn't have $1,200 to pay for a new fuel pump (the part $400.) the remainder in labor charges (RAPE). WE need to clean up our own country and quit worrying about the rest of the world, we need to have access to our own money instead of letting our elected officials squander it..........WAKE UP CNN, report the reality of the mess -our own government- has created for us that used to work for a living !!!!!! I would give you my phone #, but I can't afford a phone. Which is why I assume you won't report the sad facts of reality...tell me , is it job security or just plain ignorance to the reality of how Americans are living in this pitiful country I USED to be proud of ???
What do you think the president and Congress should do about the unemployment rate?
Protecting yourself at work
All this week we've been investigating the threat of violence at work. So far we've looked at how to recognize the warning signs and what to do if it happens.
Today, we have some practical steps to keep yourself safe. CNN's Alina Cho reports for part three of our special series "When Co-Workers Kill."
Grier: Not everyone against Obama is a racist
During last year's election, comedian David Alan Grier had a lot to say about the possibility of America electing its first African-American president. Grier has written about the historic election in a new book called, “Barack Like Me.”
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/10/07/david.alan.grier.art.jpg caption="Comedian David Alan Grier is the author of "Barack Like Me.""]
He joined John Roberts and Kiran Chetry on CNN’s “American Morning” Wednesday to talk about President Obama’s first nine months in office. Below is an edited transcript of the interview.
Kiran Chetry: There were a lot of questions whether Barack Obama would actually win and whether or not there would be voting irregularities. Here we are nine months out. What do you think?
David Alan Grier: Well first of all, it seems like it was five years ago. I mean, you know, nine months ago mostly what I talk about in the book is that period leading up to his election and I was addicted to the election coverage. I watched it day and night. Everybody did. It was so exciting.
"Is this country ready? What happens if we do elect a black president? What happens if we don't? What happens if we don't know?" All this possibility was there. And that's really what I talk about in the book. In a humorous way leading up to his election and the inauguration, going to the inauguration and my experience there, which was my political Woodstock, as I call it.
John Roberts: He came in with such high approval ratings and they started dropping down throughout the summer. They just recently, in this latest Associated Press poll, started coming back up to 56%. What do you make of the drop and now what appears to be a rebound?
Grier: You know what? I don't pay a lot of attention to that, like a long term stock investment. Because we all know the challenges that he inherited are monumental. And to expect him to solve, cure all those things in nine months is impossible. So I continue to support him, but I kind of am waiting to look in the long run.
Dr. Gupta offers advice to parents on H1N1
(CNN) - Over this past week, I had some interesting conversations with colleagues who are also health care professionals. These conversations usually start with, "You know what I hate about the media ... ?"
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/HEALTH/09/01/parents.h1n1.flu.guide.gupta/art.sanjay.h1n1.cnn.jpg caption="Dr. Sanjay Gupta talks to Dr. Jim Fortenberry, pediatrician in chief at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. "]
Now, over the past eight years, I have grown accustomed to being engaged in these sort of discussions where I am asked about everything the "media" have reported over the past few months, and asked to defend things point by point. It can be a challenging task.
This time, however, the topic was H1N1, or swine flu.
I spent the weekend thinking about what I was being told, and realized there was a larger point here.
People were scared, more than I had seen in a long time. And, health care professionals were blaming the media - accusing them of being alarmist.
So, I decided to get away from the studio, away from the talking heads discussing mortality rates, and away from the hypothetical discussions about what might or might not happen. I wanted to see for myself what was happening in emergency rooms right now.
I was most curious about pediatric ERs, because young people seem to be most affected by this, and selfishly, I was curious about my own three girls and how I should react if they become ill this fall.
About this Show
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