American Morning
We Listen – Your comments 2/17/10
Editor's Note: Wednesday’s American Morning audience was fascinated by Jim Acosta's report of federal stimulus money being spent in U.S. territories abroad. Some viewers expressed opposition to being labeled, “non-American.” The consensus argued that this money was intended to benefit Americans despite their geographic location.
- Ken: Just saw your piece on stimulus money to the USVI. You seemed surprised that we are part of the USA. FYI – We carry US passports, have the USPS, FBI, Homeland security, TSA etc. and are indeed US citizens. Not only are we Americans in paradise but we unfortunately have pay our income taxes just like you mainlanders – so its only fair that we receive our fair share of the stimulus pork. By the way CNN doesn't even know we are Americans as your contact-us web page doesn't even offer VI as a state code – which is ironic for an international company – as just about every website in the world that asks for your state offers VI as the state code in the drop down. You guys need to get yourselves up to date.
- Michael: I just watched your story about the stimulus going to our home here in the Virgin Islands. I'm a bit upset on the slant. I am a US Citizen...born in Ohio and have lived here in the VI for 15 years. You refer to our islands as paradise and I will admit that the weather is not ever bad. But here we go to work and work hard just like everyone else. I personally work 60 hrs a week just to pay my bills ... you put that story across like we all hang out at the beach everyday and I can tell you that our cost of living here is 4 times that of most places in the mainland and our in come is below average… we pay 7& for a gallon of milk and $.42 (that's cents)per kilowatt hour of electricity… that is 5 times the national average… our only real income here is from tourism which has been seriously hurt by the recession .since people don't take vacations when they don't have jobs… our schools are the worst in the country and our roads are all in shambles… if you want to be fair… tell the whole story… shoot footage of the neighborhoods where the locals live… not just shots of the beach...it's just not a fair picture of what goes on here and as a longtime and daily viewer I am very upset by this story… either tell the whole story or don't tell it at all.
What do you think? Continue the conversation below.
Kaine: Cheer up! We'll defend Bayh's seat
From CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney
(CNN) – Two days after Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh shocked fellow Democrats with his decision not to run for reelection, Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine pledged that the party will field a top-flight candidate to defend the seat.
"We're going to have a marquee candidate in Indiana," Kaine told CNN's Kiran Chetry on American Morning on Wednesday. "There isn't any reason for Democrats to walk around with sad faces."
Aspirin may save breast cancer patients
A new study says aspirin may be able to save breast cancer patients. Research shows the drug could stop breast cancer from coming back and killing women. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta has the details of the study.
The Gun Trail: Tracking guns that go missing
Editor's Note: There is a major fight going on at the local level over a new law intended to keep guns out of criminal hands. Critics say it's just another case of legislating against the legal and responsible gun owners. Our Ed Lavandera has the report for part three of our American Morning original series, "The Gun Trail."
By Ed Lavandera, CNN
Jana Finder says not enough is being done to keep illegally trafficked guns off Pennsylvania's streets. This might be the heart of northeastern gun country.
Finder, along with a group called "Ceasefire PA," has launched a grassroots campaign to get local governments to sign on to what's become a highly controversial law, called "lost and stolen" ordinances.
Supporters of gun rights hate it. The ordinances require gun owners to report if their weapons have been lost or stolen, usually within 24 hours.
"There is very strong support from law officers,” says Finder. "They've told us this kind of requirement would give them another investigative tool to help crackdown and reduce the numbers of illegal handguns on our streets."
Watch "The Gun Trail" part three 
Finder says these laws target the number one source of guns for criminals – people with clean records who buy guns then supply them to street criminals; so-called "straw purchasers."
The battle over these ordinances is being waged in small towns all across Pennsylvania, in city council chambers like one we visited in Duqeusne, Pennsylvania.
What killed King Tut
It's an ancient Egyptian mystery more than 3,000 years old. But today, that mystery is solved.
Scientists now believe they know what killed King Tut. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta joined us on Wednesday's American Morning to weigh in on the results of the examination.
Read more: Malaria, genetic diseases plagued King Tut
Taliban capture a turning point?
Pakistan is now confirming the capture of the Taliban's top military commander.
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who is said to have been nabbed in Karachi, is the real deal. A man reportedly at the core of Taliban operations and training.
To discuss the significance of the event, we were joined on Wednesday's American Morning by two former CIA officers, Gary Berntsen and Reuel Marc Gerecht.
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