American Morning
Airliner overshoots airport; controllers feared hijacking
By Mike M. Ahlers
CNN
WASHINGTON (CNN) - A passenger flight from San Diego, California, to Minneapolis, Minnesota, overshot its destination airport by about 150 miles Wednesday, and federal investigators are looking into whether the pilots had become distracted, as they claimed, or perhaps fallen asleep.
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/TRAVEL/10/23/airliner.fly.by/art.minneapolis.gi.jpg.jpg caption="An aerial view shows downtown Minneapolis."]
Air traffic controllers lost radio communication with the Northwest Airlines Airbus A320, carrying 147 passengers and an unknown number of crew, when it was flying at 37,000 feet, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. There was no communication with Flight 188 for more than an hour as it approached the airport, the board said.
When air traffic controllers finally made contact with the pilot, his answers were so vague that controllers feared the plane might have been hijacked, according to a source familiar with the incident.
The controllers in Minneapolis ordered the pilot to make a series of unnecessary maneuvers to convince them the pilots were in control of the flight, the source said, adding that fighter jets were poised in Madison, Wisconsin, but were never deployed.
Parents divided over the H1N1 vaccine
By Nailah Ellis Timberlake
The Centers for Disease Control reports that 41 states are currently experiencing widespread influenza activity and that the number of cases is unprecedented.
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/HEALTH/09/30/h1n1.vaccine.decision/art.h1n1.vaccine.csl.gi.jpg caption="Clinical trials to test the effectiveness and safety of the H1N1 vaccine have been under way since the summer."]
Among the heavy flu states is New York. In New York City, the numbers of infected were huge last spring at the outset of the H1N1, or Swine Flu epidemic.
Even though young children are being the hardest hit by the swine flu, many parents are not sold on the idea of vaccinating their young children. Queens resident Darrow Hill, father of a 4-year-old girl, is adamantly against it.
"I don't believe that giving vaccines at an early age is a good idea," he said. "It doesn't let the body fight off illnesses naturally and it leaves the body susceptible." In a press release issued this week, New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley said that, "getting vaccinated is safe, effective and simple," and urges parents to allow their children to be immunized.
Darrow said he would let his daughter get vaccinated only if a child she had been in direct contact with became infected.
Turia Goggins is a teacher's assistant at a Harlem elementary school where her students have already been sent home with permission slips for their parents to sign – or not sign – depending on whether they wanted their children to receive the H1N1 vaccine.
"At work, I'm worried about being infected and I'm constantly washing my hands and using hand sanitizer and having my students do the same," Goggins said. "It's overwhelming to be put at risk working in a school every day and then to worry about my child's health as well."
White House releases portrait of first family
The White House unveiled this portrait of the first family this morning. It's the first official White House portrait of the Obamas. The picture was taken by famed photographer Annie Leibovitz.
Should kids be reality TV stars?
Will Falcon Heene be forever known as "Balloon Boy?" It sounds silly, maybe even funny – unless you’re Falcon Heene.
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/US/10/20/balloon.boy.investigation/art.heene.family.cnn.jpg caption="The Heene family – including Falcon, second from right – on CNN's "Larry King Live" last week."]
The Heene incident begs the question: is it time we re-evaluate how children are used on reality TV? Exactly why are we so interested in watching kids stumble, and sometimes fall on shows that we see as Hollywood and they may often see as real life?
On the program “Supernanny,” kids are seen at their worst on national television, with parental consent – all so Mom and Dad can get advice on "how to parent" from Supernanny, Jo Frost. The show's a hit, as are so many others that feature children.
Some say Richard Heene used the adorable assets for a shot at adult fame. And remember Octomom? She and 14 kids are currently "in production." But some experienced Hollywood producers have bucked that trend.
“I don't use children in any of our reality programs,” says Scott Sternberg, a veteran reality TV and executive producer of such programs as “The Academy” and “On the Case with Paula Zahn.” “We have done kids’ game shows where kids compete for prizes and for good things. But no, I've never done a reality show with children and certainly not using children to get their parents on television,” he adds. “Once you put a child in any kind of a serious situation where there can be repercussions, then you're changing those children's lives forever.”
Avlon: 'Wingnut' literally locks out Republicans
Editor’s note: John P. Avlon is the author of Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics and writes a weekly column for The Daily Beast. Previously, he served as Chief Speechwriter for New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and was a columnist and associate editor for The New York Sun.
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/10/22/wingnuts.towns.bardwell.art.jpg caption="Rep. Edolphus Towns (left) and Justice Keith Bardwell (right)."]
This week’s wingnuts feature a racist judge (as well as the home-state senator who refused to condemn him) and a Democratic congressman, who literally locked Republicans out of committee in an attempt to block a vote on a financial scandal. Plus, a bonus round Profile in Courage award for President Obama, who calmed a crowd heckling a Republican governor. Take a spin through the World of the Wingnuts from the Big Easy to the Beltway.
If you thought that any lingering sense of scandal about interracial marriage had been erased by the presence of a biracial president of the United States, you haven't visited Louisiana Justice of the Peace Keith Bardwell.
When Beth Humphrey and her boyfriend Terence McKay called to collect a marriage license they were told to take a hike because the judge didn’t approve of the colors of their skin.
When the media came knocking, Justice Bardwell was unrepentant. “It's kind of hard to apologize for something that you really and truly feel down in your heart you haven't done wrong," he told CNN affiliate WAFB.
But in case you were wondering, he isn’t racist. He was doing it for the kids.
"I'm not a racist," Bardwell told his hometown Hammond Daily Star. "I do ceremonies for black couples right here in my house. My main concern is for the children."
Maybe he’s worried they might grow up to be president.
Louisiana’s Republican Governor Bobby Jindal was quick to call for Bardwell’s dismissal: "This is a clear violation of constitutional rights and federal and state law. ... disciplinary action should be taken immediately - including the revoking of his license." Democratic Senator Mary Landreau called it “an example of the ugly bigotry that divided our country for too long."
But self-styled conservative Senator David Vitter – who’s best known for letting ‘les bon temps rouler’ with a DC Madam – decided to withhold both judgment and comment for five days. He dodged reporters’ questions on the subject and finally, on Wednesday, his office put out a statement saying “Sen. Vitter thinks that all judges should follow the law as written and not make it up as they go along.”
This is conservative boilerplate – the rubber-stamp equivalent of name, rank and serial number. It leaves open two options: either Vitter isn’t offended by Judge Bardwell’s stand or he’s pandering to the racist vote.
Here’s a Supreme Court decision both Vitter and Bardwell might want to dust off before hiding behind judicial philosophy or personal bias – 1967’s wonderfully named Loving v. Virginia, which states: “Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the State.”
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