American Morning
'Flying Tomato' strikes gold
With golds for snowboarder Shaun White, skier Lindsey Vonn and speedskater Shani Davis, plus three other medals, the U.S. wins six Winter Games medals in a day for the first time.
Today, America is looking to snowboarder Shaun White to bring home even more medals. Just yesterday, he won gold in the men's half-pipe. Our Mark McKay is in Vancouver and got a chance to meet the action sports rock star.
Obama to welcome Dalai Lama
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/02/18/dalai.lama.dc.gi.art.jpg caption="The Dalai Lama arrives in Washington, D.C. on February 17, 2010."]
Washington (CNN) - President Obama will meet the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, on Thursday at the White House despite strong objections from the Chinese government.
The meeting has the potential to complicate Sino-U.S. tensions further, which have been rising in recent months.
China has warned the meeting will certainly damage ties with Washington.
"It will seriously undermine the Sino-U.S. political relations," Zhu Weiqun, a senior Communist Party leader in charge of ethnic and religious affairs, said recently. "We will take corresponding action to make relevant countries see their mistakes."
The Dalai Lama has said he favors genuine autonomy for Tibetans, not independence for Tibet. Beijing regards the Nobel Peace Prize laureate as a dangerous "separatist," a politician who wishes to sever Tibet from China.
Poll: Most Americans favor Tibetan independence
Obama did not meet with the Dalai Lama during his Washington visit last fall, making it the first time since 1991 a meeting with the U.S. president and Tibetan spiritual leader had not occurred. Ahead of a summit with Chinese President Hu Jintao, Obama persuaded Tibetan representatives then to postpone the meeting with the Dalai Lama. FULL STORY
Program note: The Dalai Lama goes one-on-one Monday with CNN's Larry King in his first interview after his meeting with President Obama. Hear his thoughts on China, human rights and the situation in Haiti. At 9 p.m. ET Monday on "Larry King Live."
Bickering over stimulus bill
Democrats are marking the stimulus program's one year anniversary with a new name for Republicans: Hypocrites.
The White House is leading the charge, accusing House Minority Whip Eric Cantor of reaping stimulus rewards in his home district while telling the media the program hasn't helped the economy at all.
There was plenty more partisan bickering over the $787 billion bill yesterday, which is now estimated to cost tax payers $862 billion over the next ten years. Our Jim Acosta has the report from Washington.
The crash that changed everything for Toyota
Toyota's growing list of problems really came to light after a California Highway Patrol officer and his family were killed when their car took off at speeds of more than 100 miles per hour.
Police say the problem was the floor mat. But as our Deb Feyerick reports, the victims' family is not totally convinced.
Full coverage: Toyota recall
8 freed by Haitian judge arrive in Florida
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/02/18/haiti.missionaries.miami.gi.art.jpg caption="Missionaries (L-R) Corinna Lankford, Carla Thompson, Drew Culberth, Steve McMullen and Paul Thompson arrive at Miami International Airport February 17, 2010."]
Miami, Florida (CNN) - Eight U.S. missionaries who were detained for almost three weeks in Haiti on child kidnapping charges arrived in Miami, Florida, late Wednesday night after a judge ordered them freed.
The group arrived at Miami International Airport on a U.S. Air Force C-130 cargo plane from the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince.
"It feels great for him to be back from Haiti," said Hiram Sasser, who represents one of the men, Jim Allen. "It's great that the attention will return to where it should be back on the people of Haiti."
The freed Americans were among 10 charged with kidnapping and criminal association for trying to take 33 children out of Haiti after a magnitude-7.0 earthquake devastated the impoverished country on January 12.
The group said it was trying to help the children get to a safe place and wanted to establish an orphanage in the Dominican Republic. The eight were released without the need to post bond.
Lawyer Gary Lissade, who also represents Allen, said the fact that the judge was releasing the Americans on their own recognizance may indicate that the charges will be eventually dropped. FULL STORY
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.
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