American Morning
We Listen – Your comments 11/11/2009
Editor's Note: On Veterans’ Day 2009, American Morning’s Wednesday audience praised troops and veterans for their service to our country. Some also offered alternatives to the current health care many veterans receive today through Veterans Affairs.
- Darryl: From one vet to all vets. Happy Veterans day!
- Jim; We all love our veterans. My father traveled 70 miles to a clinic for some care and my father in law traveled over 100 miles. My question is why? Why do we spend money on a mobile clinic in West VA? Why don't we just give them a Medicare or Tri Care like health program so they can get care near their home?
- Abe: Poem for Veterans Day 2009 – Another Veterans' Day upon us / And as usual, it's the same / We have thousands in harm's way / In wartime's, deadly, game. / More than five thousand killed / And there seems, no end in sight / As we spend more lives and dollars / More and more ask, "Is it right?" / But, there's one thing is for certain / And, no matter how you may feel / We must Honor those who Serve us / Because, they are, "the real deal!" / They are those Men and Women / From, every corner of our Land / Who will Serve and fight and die / Although, not the life they'd planned. / But like, those millions before them / Who all Swore an Oath to Protect / The Constitution and our Freedoms / All of them deserve, our Respect. / Whether you do/don't support the wars / Or what, your political persuasion / We must stand by these Men and Women / Who will stand tall and Serve our Nation. / So, if you should know a Veteran / Shake their hand and tell them. "Thanks!" / Along with all those wearing Uniforms / In all our Country's, Military Ranks. / And, let's not forget the Families / With all those Stars of Blue and Gold / With recollections of those Heroes / And, all those stories, yet to be told.
Share your thoughts with us about Veterans’ Day.
Fort Hood suspect 'tired' and 'guarded'
The investigation continues today into what may have driven Maj. Nidal Hasan to allegedly go on a shooting spree that left 13 people dead at Fort Hood. So far the suspect has not spoken to investigators.
So who is he talking to? Retired Col. John Galligan is Hasan's defense attorney. He spoke to John Roberts on CNN's American Morning Wednesday.
Close call on the tracks
A few good Samaritans and the quick reflexes of Charice Lewis, the train operator, saved a life on the Boston subway. Lewis was able to pull the emergency brake just before hitting a woman who had fallen on the tracks. She spoke to our Kiran Chetry on CNN's American Morning Wednesday.
Dairy deliveries with a little nostalgia
In New York City two men are going door to door delivering milk the old fashioned way, complete with glass bottles. They've turned their nostalgic idea into a booming business. CNN's Stephanie Elam joined them for an overnight delivery.
Police: Drunk pilot arrested pre-flight
LONDON, England (CNN) - British police said they stopped a United Airlines pilot from flying while intoxicated earlier this week, pulling him from a Boeing 767 aircraft at London's Heathrow airport and charging him with being on duty while his blood-alcohol level was over the limit.
Scotland Yard said that Erwin Vermont Washington, 51, was taken off the plane just before take-off Monday. Washington, of Lakewood, Colorado, has since been released on bail.
United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy said that "the pilot has been removed from service" during an investigation.
"United's alcohol policy is among the strictest in the industry, and we have no tolerance for violation of this well-established policy," she said.
Washington remains in the United Kingdom, Scotland Yard said.
'Regular guy' Thune is hot commodity in GOP circles
By Dana Bash, CNN Senior Congressional Correspondent
Washington (CNN) - He walks through Washington's Reagan National Airport, arriving as he does nearly every Monday from a weekend home in South Dakota. He makes his way unnoticed.
But John Thune's anonymity may not last forever.
He is a Republican on the rise: a freshman senator who is already a member of the GOP leadership.
As head of the Senate Republican Policy Committee, Thune runs the weekly strategy session where all Senate Republicans try to find consensus on the best way to challenge President Obama and the Democratic majority.
"It's probably the most candid assessment that we have in a given week," Thune said, riding the subway to the Tuesday lunch.
With just 40 Republicans in the Senate now, Thune insists that there is still a diversity of GOP views - but one that he argues must be expanded.
"We want to see more people joining our party," Thune said.
"We've got to be able to accept the fact that a senator from the Northeast, for example, from the New England states, isn't going to be the same as a senator from the South."
In a leadership made up mostly of veteran senators from the South, 47-year-old Thune brings youth and what he calls the prairie sensibilities he learned growing up in small town South Dakota.
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