American Morning

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July 6th, 2009
10:27 AM ET

Commentary: "Ahmadinejad likes the foreign policy theatrics"

[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/07/06/intv.molavi.art.jpg caption="Middle East expert, Afshin Molavi does not take Iran’s President Ahmadinejad seriously."]

There is major dissension in the ranks within Iran. A group of clerics in Iran is declaring the country's recent presidential election invalid. Also, Vice President Joe Bidden made comments signaling the White House may be changing its position on the possibility of Israel taking military action against Iran.

Middle East expert and author of the new book "The soul of Iran." Afshin Molavi spoke to CNN’s Alina Cho Monday.

Alina Cho: An influential group of clerics declaring Iran’s presidential election illegitimate, invalid. Why is this significant and what should we take from this?

Afshin Molavi: In many ways the Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, he derives his legitimacy from clerical unity. Any time you see this kind of clerical dissention in the ranks, it's a chink in his armor it’s a chink in the armor of the entire Islamic republic. But the important point to remember however is the clerics are not as powerful as they were 10, 15, 20 years ago. What we've been seeing over the past ten years is the gradual security militarization of Iran. And once we saw cracks in armor of the security, once we see factualism among them then I think that will be much more serious for the republic.

Cho: I want to turn to two conflicting statements by vice president Joe Biden on Israel and Iran. I'll get your reaction on the other side. The first one is from April 2009 he said “I don't believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu would do that. I think it was ill-advised to do that. The second statement is from yesterday on ABC's this week saying “Israel can determine for itself the sovereign nation what's in their interest and what they decide to do relative to Iran or anyone else.” Is this Biden just being Biden or is there something deeper going on here? Does this reflect a possible shift in U.S. policy?

FULL POST


Filed under: American Morning • Iran • Politics
July 3rd, 2009
12:03 PM ET

Meet AM: Michelle Cumbo – Producer/Editorial Producer

Editor’s Note: Each Friday in “Meet AM,” we introduce you to the people who get American Morning to air.

[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/07/03/cumbo.gif caption="Michelle's responsibilities range from booking guests to segment producing."]

Today, we’d like you to meet Michelle Cumbo.  Michelle is a producer/editorial producer.  This means she’s always busy looking at guest segments, finding the best guests to illustrate the news for the day and crafting the questions and topics to be addressed with these guests.  Michelle has a wonderful personality and is often cheering up people at the office with her singing.  She’s been with AM for seven years.

How did you end up doing what you do?

I was always a better writer than a mathematician. I always had a love for the English language and writing.  I got into television when my brother was in college taking a summer school course in TV production.  He had to produce a how-to demonstration segment.  So my mom said, “Why don’t you have your little sister cook?” I made these Italian cookies called pizelles.  It was horrible. I was so nervous but I loved the production side, and got more involved from there.  Now my brother is a freelance technical director who travels and works on sports material, and I’m at AM.

Describe your average day:

It’s always changing depending on what I do.  Some days I anchor produce, some days I segment produce [crafting segments and suggesting questions for the next day’s interviews]. Some days I’m booking guests.  I start off by reading all the newspapers and wires I can, getting familiar with what happened overnight or during the day, depending on when I come in.  Then I go on to see what’s interesting for today, and pitch segments.  I’ll get acquainted with the segments that I’m involved in – try and find best guests for a topic, researching guests, that kind of thing.  I’m really thinking about pegging stuff to the breaking news of the day and who is the best guest to get the info across to people.

What's the hardest part of your job?

The hardest part is when there’s a breaking news story.  Sometimes, every network is going after the same guest and you have to convince a guest why CNN is the best network to tell their story.  There’s a competitive factor and it can be difficult.

What do you like most about working at AM?

It sounds cliché but I work with an amazing group of people.  Aside from the people, it’s never boring working here.

What do you do outside of work?  What do you do for fun?

I love to cook, bake and entertain.  [Note: she is a really good baker!]

What else do you think people should know about you?

I love breaking into spontaneous show tunes.  And I’m a HUGE supporter of my hometown, Buffalo – go Bills!


Filed under: American Morning • Meet AM
July 2nd, 2009
11:40 AM ET

Job market takes turn for worse

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - The battered U.S. labor market took a step backwards last month as employers trimmed more jobs from their payrolls in June, according to a government report Thursday.

There was a net loss of 467,000 jobs in June, compared with a revised loss of 322,000 jobs in May. This was the first time in four months that the number of jobs lost rose from the prior month.

The June job losses were also far worse than the forecast of a loss of 365,000 jobs by economists surveyed by Briefing.com.

The unemployment rate rose for the ninth straight month, climbing to 9.5% from 9.4%, and hitting another 26-year high. Economists had been expecting that the unemployment rate would hit 9.6%.

Nearly 3.4 million jobs have been lost during the first half of 2009, more than the 3.1 million lost in all of 2008.

Keep reading this story »


Filed under: American Morning • Economy
June 30th, 2009
04:00 PM ET

We Listen – Your Comments 6/30/09

Editor's Note: American Morning's Tuesday viewers were glad to see Madoff sentenced and none cared how he would fare in jail.

  • Nick:  Why would anyone be worried about bernie after he ripped off so many people,who cares what is life would be like in  prison.  he did not care about the people he ripped off.
  • Drew:  Your interview with Larry Levine on how life in prison will be with Madoff I felt was pretty weak.  Where were some of the harder questions, such as should he stake out the biggest guy in prison and start a fight...or should be become someones bitch in order to get protection.  Larry Levine's insight in the prison was pretty weak.
  • Julio:  I just heard a "Prison Consultant" speaking on what Bernard Madoff should expect in prison. This guy is more of a con than anything else and should probably be returned to prison for his bogus consulting business. Although not impossible it is highly improbable that any harm will come to  Bernard Madoff from other inmates as he will most likely be in protective custody or a form of it. An if the consultant want to argue the point, I too spent time behind bars a combined total of 11 years and 9 months in 3 different states. Shame of this so called Consultant for getting on National Televison and talking as if he were an authority in the matter subject. Are there murderes and rapist in prison? Of course, but I stand on my ground that Mr. Madoff will not be allowed to interact with most of the population. Federal Prison Officials will not just carelessly put Madoff in harms way and it would be ridiculous to think so unless you want attention or are coning people by means of fear.

Do you believe Mr. Madoff should receive special protection in jail because of the nature of his crimes?  Comment here or follow the story.

The pastor supporting guns in church was poorly received, as most felt church was no place for guns.

  • Gary:  God and Guns.  Just shows how some Christians have perverted the teachings of Jesus.  Arent ministers supposed to be Christlike?  I cant even imagine Jesus carrying a gun, concealed or otherwise.  It is totally contrary to what he taught.

How would you feel in a church where everyone was openly carrying guns?  With the recent shootings in churches, is this an appropriate alternative?


Filed under: American Morning
June 25th, 2009
04:01 PM ET

We Listen! Your comments – 6/25/09

Editor's Note: With President Obama’s prime time health care address on Wednesday evening, American Morning’s Thursday audience intently scrutinized the health care segments. Bill Bennett was ardently rejected as an appropriate spokesman on the topic, as his statistics and credibility were called into question. Others remarked that conservatives were against health care because they can afford coverage.

  • Ralph: I could care less what those ignorant rednecks on the right "think". These fools are the same ones who want to deny me access to health care. That makes it a personal attack on me as far as I'm concerned. To hell with them.
  • Bernadette: Where in the world does Bill Bennett get his statistics and 'facts'? Certainly it is not what the majority of the American public wants! 80 percent indeed. He is living in a delusional world and hopes that we are too stupid to challenge his skewed figures. Insurance companies must be pressuring him and others in his party to come on air on tout their praises. He should realize that those days are over.
  • Shag: I don't understand how your are giving a fair hearing to the healthcare issue when you've got Bill Bennett and the former head of the American Red Cross on, back-to-back. I have Aetna, and the cost of my premiums and deductible eats about half of one of my paychecks. Most of my co-workers are unhappy with the insurance we've had for years. I listen to your host and they deliver softballs to the people they interview. You need to give this issue a fair hearing. We have "the best healthcare in world," for the wealthy who can afford it. Lastly, how does a man who was found to have gambled 1 million dollars quarterly, get to be an arbiter of "values."

How do you feel about Mr. Bennett’s comment regarding health care? Do you believe that health care quality will suffer under the universal plan being proposed by the Obama Administration?

FULL POST


Filed under: American Morning
June 16th, 2009
10:18 AM ET

Father fights for son’s return on 5th anniversary

The case has made international headlines – a father's desperate quest to get his son back. It's been exactly five years since David Goldman's wife, Bruna Bianchi Carneiro Ribeiro, took their then 4-year-old son to Brazil and never came back.

Since then, he's been fighting to be reunited with his little boy, Sean. And just when he thought it was over, another setback. Goldman joined Kiran Chetry on CNN’s “American Morning” Tuesday to talk about the case.

Kiran Chetry: Today you're marking an unwelcome anniversary. It's been five years since you had your son Sean with you. It looked like things were turning in your favor. The high court ruled they were going to honor the Hague Convention on International Abductions. Most of those in the court said your son should come back to you. So what's the delay right now?

David Goldman: Well, what was filed in front of the [Brazilian] Supreme Court was, in fact, if the Brazilian judicial system was going to honor the Hague Convention. If their government was still going to be a party to the Hague Convention where they receive children back under the Hague from America, as well. And they decided yes, we are going to honor the Hague Convention, we will return children. This particular case, a couple of them pointed out that Sean has been here way too long and this needs to be resolved.

And then they punted it back to the second level federal court where there was a stay because of an appeal from this Lins e Silva guy to keep my son there. Hopefully with the [Brazilian] Supreme Court ruling, with the 82-page report from the first-level federal judge ordering my son to be returned home immediately as well as Brazilian court-appointed mental health experts evaluating my son, saying he's been under psychological trauma, emotionally damaged from this family in Brazil, pointing he needs to be home.

FULL POST


Filed under: American Morning
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