American Morning
A Soldier's Story: Army recruit's critical weapons training
Editor's Note: From the home front to the front lines, we're following one recruit's journey in our American Morning original series "A Soldier's Story." Today, in part five, Jason Carroll reports on the critical weapons training our recruit Will McLain needs to survive on the battlefield.
By Jason Carroll, CNN
For privates like Will McLain, the stress is not just about passing a weapons test. It’s also about coming closer to learning whether or not he will be deployed to fight a war.
It is one of the last hurdles to overcome before completing basic training – weapons qualification.
Before Will McLain enlisted, he showed me how to handle a shotgun back in his hometown of Rosamond, California. But shooting for recreation is nothing compared to what he’s doing now, where hitting bulls-eyes is just as important as avoiding sniper fire.
Will's shooting scores earned him a rating of marksman, but fell short of the score needed for sharpshooter or expert.
I asked him if there were times he thought he couldn’t do it.
“It wasn’t that I didn’t think I could do it,” he replied. “It was more like, dang, what did I get myself into. I got three years of this coming up, but to realize that you can make it through this, it’s kind of good to feel.”
Survivor found in rubble four weeks after Haiti quake
Nearly four weeks after the earthquake in Haiti, an amazing rescue.
28-year-old Evan Muncie was pulled from the rubble yesterday where he may have been buried since the quake hit. He was emaciated and severely dehydrated, but alive. So, how did he beat near-impossible odds?
Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is in Port-au-Prince with the incredible story.
Mid-Atlantic braces for another 20 inches
Winter warnings are up again in D.C., Virginia and Maryland.
Places that were buried under more than two feet of snow over the weekend could get another 20 inches. The federal government remains shut down this morning and some flights still haven't gotten off the ground from the last storm.
We're tracking this new storm and the mess the last one left behind. Our Reynolds Wolf has this report from Washington.
Read more: Snowed-packed Washington to get hit again
Toyota recalls more than 400,000 hybrid cars
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/02/08/c1main.blueprius.gi.jpg caption="Toyota's president apologized as he announced the global recall of more than 400,000 of the automaker's 2010 hybrid models, including the Prius."]
Tokyo, Japan (CNN) - Toyota's president apologized profusely Tuesday as he announced the global recall of more than 400,000 of the automaker's 2010 hybrid models, including the popular Prius, for problems in their anti-lock braking systems.
"We do apologize for the inconvenience and concerns we've given to the customers," President Akio Toyoda said in making the recall announcement from the automaker's headquarters in Tokyo. "Quality is our lifeline for Toyota."
The company will work to recover its customers' trust, Toyoda said.
The automaker filed recall papers early Tuesday afternoon with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. Recall papers will be filed in the United States sometime Tuesday.
The recall adds to the woes of the beleaguered automaker, which had previously recalled more than 8 million cars in recent months. This latest recall was the first of Toyota vehicles sold in the domestic Japanese market.
The worldwide recall involves 437,000 vehicles, including the Toyota Prius and Sai, along with the Lexus HS250h. The Sai is sold primarily in Japan.
Sales of the Sai and Lexus HS250h will be halted until a fix is in place. Read the full story »
Check the list of vehicles being recalled | What to do if your car's on the list
Toyota recall: Complete coverage
We Listen – Your comments 2/8/2010
Editor's Note: Monday’s American Morning audience was dumbfounded by any positive response to Sarah Palin's address at the Tea Party convention.
- Dan: Why does ANYONE take Sarah Palin seriously? A ten year old could see that she's an uninformed self-promoter who's all about making some real money. Yet the media constantly pretends that she could actually be a serious contender for president of the US. Why?
- Jerry: I'm glad to see that Palin had room to spare on her hand after she got through writing all she knew on it.
- Allen: I can't believe that people are motivated by absolutely nada. What comes out of her mouth?? Poking and prodding others, and without any direction given as to how she would do anything. Not even a glimpse of anything that would persuade the present administration to act on it. She blames Obama for the 'fruit of Kaboom' bomber on Christmas day. She speaks like she is in a bar talking crapola. She's worse than a pinhead... an airhead with a lot of frustrated people left over from the 2008 election. It sure would be nice to see her backing the administration for the 'sake of the people', instead of scoring points to make her look 'viable.' I really don't think the tea party people will be fooled by the twit. A lot of them will get caught up with the emotions, but reality will sink in and those high minded individuals will realize her capabilities, and her actions will be seen as it is: a scratched record, with incoherent ideas. PS: she will run for president, as she is pulling this off to keep her status as a potential candidate, and not allowing the after glow of Scott Brown to suck up her position.
How do you think Sarah Palin’s speech was received at the Tea Party convention? Is she ready to be president in 2012?
Can Palin push the Tea Party over the top?
The first national Tea Party convention wrapped up this weekend in Nashville.
Sarah Palin was the featured speaker. Organizers are hoping she can help them turn their conservative grassroots movement into a political force.
Republican strategist Ed Rollins and Daily Beast columnist John Avlon joined us on Monday's American Morning to read the tea leaves.
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