American Morning
Wilson shouts 'you lie' at Obama, then apologizes
WASHINGTON (CNN) - A Republican House member shouted "You lie" during President Obama's health care speech to Congress on Wednesday, and members of both parties condemned the heckling.
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/POLITICS/09/10/obama.heckled.speech/art.joe.wilson.heckling.gi.jpg caption="Rep. Joe Wilson shouted "You lie" after President Obama denied health reform would cover illegal immigrants."]
After the speech, South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson issued a statement apologizing for his outburst.
"This evening, I let my emotions get the best of me when listening to the president's remarks regarding the coverage of illegal immigrants in the health care bill," the statement said. "While I disagree with the president's statement, my comments were inappropriate and regrettable. I extend sincere apologies to the president for this lack of civility."
Wilson also called the White House to apologize and spoke with Obama's Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, who accepted the apology on the president's behalf, according to a senior administration official.
"We can disagree without being disagreeable," Emanuel said to Wilson, according to the official. "That was the point of the president's speech."
The outburst came when Obama denied that proposed health care legislation would provide free health coverage for illegal immigrants. Immediately, Wilson shouted, "You lie!"
Schools banning the president's pep talk
When the president gives his back-to-school pep talk today at noon, students all over America will be listening.
The text of the speech has been posted online for parents to read, but some schools still don't want their children to hear it. CNN's Gary Tuchman went out to find out why.
Program Note: Watch President Obama's back-to-school speech live on CNN at noon.
Presidential adviser quits amid 9/11 controversy
WASHINGTON (CNN) - The resignation of Obama administration figure Van Jones, following controversies over a petition he had signed and his comments about Republicans, did not come at the request of the president, the White House senior adviser said Sunday.
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/POLITICS/09/06/obama.adviser.resigns/art.van.jones.gi.jpg caption="Van Jones attends the National Clean Energy Summit in Las Vegas, Nevada, in August."]
"Absolutely not - this was Van Jones' own decision," David Axelrod told NBC's "Meet the Press" when asked if the president had ordered the resignation.
The chairman of the House Republican Conference, Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana, had called for Jones to resign or be fired.
"I think Van Jones did the right thing," Pence said Sunday about the resignation. "His extremist views and coarse rhetoric have no place in this administration."
Jones has frequently been dubbed a "green-jobs czar" for the administration.
"The president should suspend any future appointment of so called czars while the administration and the Congress carefully examines the background and qualifications of the more than 30 individuals who've been appointed to these czar positions," said Pence, speaking to reporters. "And the Congress ought to initiate a thorough inquiry into the constitutionality of this practice which has spanned Republican and Democrat administrations."
In a statement Saturday night, the White House said Jones was giving up his post at the Council on Environmental Quality, where he helped coordinate government agencies focused on delivering millions of green jobs to the ailing U.S. economy.
U.S. Embassy probes 'deviant' guards' conduct
KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) - The U.S. Embassy in Kabul said it is joining the inquiry into claims that some of its private security guards practiced hazing rituals, sexual activity and intimidation.
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/09/03/afghanistan.embassy.contractors/art.pogo.cnn.jpg caption="A spokeswoman for watchdog group POGO said hazing at a camp for security guards went 'well beyond partying.'"]
"A full review of local guard force policies and procedures is under way and a full investigation is ongoing," said an embassy statement released Thursday.
"Embassy officials continue to interview guard force personnel as a part of the investigation, to assess the need for possible suspensions and terminations."
Along with the investigation, the embassy has also banned alcohol at Camp Sullivan, the facility at which the guards live.
The allegations about the guards' behavior were reported by the watchdog group Project On Government Oversight.
The group sent a letter Tuesday to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and briefed reporters on its findings, which it said were based on e-mails and interviews with more than a dozen guards who had worked at the U.S. compound in the Afghan capital.
NYC bridge guards fired for napping
The whistle has been blown and the ax has fallen on two guards who were hired to protect New York's George Washington Bridge.
The bridge is considered a prime target for terrorists. The guards were caught sleeping on the job by a bicyclist. CNN's Deb Feyerick spoke to the guy who caught them napping.
Give president power to take over the Internet?
In the 1960s, it was the stuff of science fiction – connecting the world through personal computers. 40 years ago today, the Internet was born and since then it has transformed our lives with tweets, e-mails, blogs and a whole lot more.
Its growth has also put our security at risk with just about everything plugged in these days. Washington's current effort to beef up cyber security has some critics concerned.
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/09/02/thompson.nick.art.jpg caption="Nick Thompson of Wired magazine says cyber security is a serious problem, particularly for the United States."]
Nick Thompson is the senior editor at Wired magazine. He joined John Roberts on CNN’s “American Morning” Wednesday.
John Roberts: The story is out there Congress is fashioning a bill that would give the president the power to take over the Internet. And any suggestion that the government could take over the Internet just drives people who have that libertarian view of the World Wide Web crazy.
Nick Thompson: Absolutely and there are a lot of people who have the libertarian view of the Internet. And if the government really were going to take over the Internet it would be a terrible idea. You can imagine a situation where there’s a coup d'état – “They take over the Internet. Well, dissent is supposed to spread on the Internet so it would block the people’s opportunity to protest against the government. It would be just awful.”
Roberts: Okay, so there’s a bill in the Senate. Jay Rockefeller’s committee is writing it. It did have some language in it that was troubling to people early on this year. It said it would "give the president the power to order the limitation or shutdown of Internet traffic." Since then the bill's been rewritten somewhat. Now it would just give the president the power to declare a cyber security emergency, do what's necessary to respond to the threat. But really does it give the president the power to take over the Internet?
Thompson: No, absolutely not. The early version was troubling. It came out on April 1st. It looked like a bad April Fool's joke. The new version – it’s so bland. It says, if there's a cyber emergency the president may, if he thinks it's necessary, direct the response in coordination with the private sector. There are about five hedges built into it. It basically gives the president no additional powers than he already has and in fact Obama has been very clear that he does not want to take over private networks.
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