American Morning
Vets CFO on Obama: 'I am exhausted of defending you'
(CNN) – President Obama was hearing an earful from voters at a town hall meeting in the nation’s capitol yesterday. Anger and disappointment was voiced by many in attendance, including Velma Hart, Chief Financial Officer for “American Vets” and Ted Brassfield, a law school grad. Hart and Brassfield spoke with Kiran Chetry about their feelings on Obama and clarified some of their statements from the town hall.
Kiran Chetry: Velma, when you said you were getting tired of defending the president, it's exhausting. Have you lost faith in the president? Or do you think it's simply the circumstances we're in that he doesn't necessarily have control of.
Velma Hart: It is absolutely the latter. But I don't know that he doesn't have control of it. I still have great faith in this president. I think that he is an amazing leader. I think he is inspirational.
Kiran Chetry: Ted, you asked whether or not you thought the "American Dream" was still attainable. Why did you choose that question? I know that you had a lot on your mind. You had a lot that you discussed among your friends. Why did you ask about the "American Dream?"
Ted Brassfield: Well, it's a real problem that a lot of us who have advanced degrees – and people who are going to college, maybe they don't know why they went to college. But we are facing massive student loans. The entire generation is just often facing six figures even when you go to public universities. And you have people like me who had good jobs but went back to school. Society says if you work hard, if you go to school, we will have good jobs for you. And that's why it's – you're willing to take on a massive amount of debt. And it seems like that's been lost. And it's really hurting a lot of my cohort.
Communal homeschooling on the rise
By Carol Costello and Bob Ruff, CNN
“Isabelle, you're next. What card do you need to add to 10 to get what?"
Grade schooler Isabelle Hannon is learning how to add and subtract, but not in a classroom. She’s outdoors, at a beautiful Stillwater, Oklahoma park. She and her sister, Alyssa, are being taught not by a professional teacher but by their mom. And they’re not alone. The Franklin kids are there, too, along with their mom and dad who are also acting as teachers.
Welcome to homeschooling 2010. It’s no longer a solitary exercise for many parents: it’s communal. Many families are now sharing ideas about teaching and taking turns as teachers. In effect, they’re creating their own “shadow schools.”
FULL POST
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Western defense source: 9 killed in Afghanistan crash were Americans
(CNN) – Nine American service members died in a helicopter crash Tuesday in southern Afghanistan, where an international coalition has stepped up efforts against the Taliban, according to a Western defense source.
The source spoke on condition of anonymity when revealing the nationalities of the nine, who've added to the grim toll for Operation Enduring Freedom.
According to a CNN tally last updated Monday, 517 coalition troops had been killed in Afghanistan this year, including 341 Americans.
Even without the inclusion of the latest numbers, the figures make 2010 the deadliest year for Operation Enduring Freedom since it began nine years ago. FULL STORY
Iranian president to speak at UN summit
(CNN) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is among the world leaders scheduled to speak in Tuesday at a United Nations summit on global goals to fight poverty, hunger and disease.
Government leaders and heads of state are discussing the Millennium Development Goals, which they agreed to a decade ago. The goals have a deadline of 2015 and include a target for halving extreme poverty
Ahmadinejad is on a public relations offensive this week in New York, addressing the session on tackling world poverty, giving interviews and speaking Thursday in the assembly's general debate. FULL STORY
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