Clem’s Chronicles/Schools to reopen/Pakistan-Afghanistan-Obama

Clem Lane here. Hope everybody is having a good night. Fair bit of news today………

WEATHER/TORNADO DAMAGE, WATCHING CALIFORNIA FIRE-There have been several tornado touchdowns in the Raleigh, North Carolina area. One person slightly injured as well as 8-10 homes damaged in Wilson County WTVD video already in house. We have put personnel on inquiry should editorial events warrant coverage. Steve Osunsami/Harvey Goldberg are in the Charlotte, North Carolina area and aware of possible coverage. On the other side of the US, there’s a wildfire burning in the hills above Santa Barbara. Some homes evacuated as a precaution but no reports of any damage yet. Winds gusting up to 40 mph. KABC aerials already in house. LA Bureau monitoring coverage.

H1NI SWINE FLU/CDC SAYS BACK TO SCHOOL-The CDC did a 180 today regarding what to do with schools who have students with the HINI Swine Flu virus. Ryan Owens, reporting on WORLD NEWS, explains: “A week after health officials told schools they should close for two weeks if they have even a single case of swine flu, those same officials now say ‘never mind’. The CDC’s latest recommendation: Children showing symptoms of the flue should stay home…up to a week. But their school need not close.” For the nearly 600 thousand students across the US currently out of school, let me ask a question for them: why the change? Owens: “Health officials say the reasoning for the reversal is simple-the swine flu just isn’t as bad as feared.”
 
US PORK PRODUCERS-Pork producers in this country are hoping consumers both here and abroad will do a U-turn of their own. Steve Osunsami, reporting for WORLD NEWS, spent some time today with hog farmer Tommy Porter who raises swine at a farm north of Charlotte, North Carolina.  Osunsami says that Porter “believes his family’s farm could lose more than $400 thousand this year if consumers refuse to eat American pork.” Porter is not alone-Osunsami reports “by some estimates, the worldwide panic over the H1N1 Swine Flu virus is costing the US Pork Industry $1.5 million a day.” Despite a concerted effort by officials-changing the name from swine flu to H1N1, personal assurances from various health officials that the flu could not be gotten from eating pork-Osunsami notes “the fear has persisted. A Harvard poll conducted last week showed that 13% of Americans still believed they could get the flu by eating pork, another 6% said they weren’t sure.” Factor in the more than 15 countries that have banned the import of pork and pork products and you have an industry in crisis.

FACE TRANSPLANT-Last December we heard about a “Face Transplant” operation that was being conducted on a woman at the Cleveland clinic. Today we got to meet this extraordinary woman. Her name is Connie Culp. John McKenzie tells us that five years ago “Connie was shot by her husband. The bullet obliterated her face and nearly her life. The 40-year-old mother of two…so disfigured she couldn’t leave her house.” Then came December’s surgery-22 hours on the operating table-McKenzie says doctors “replaced 80 percent of Connie’s face with donated muscle, skin and bones…from a woman who had died just hours earlier.” Ms. Culp has come a long way-McKenzie notes “she can once again eat and drink without a straw. She can smell. And she is learning to smile.” She’s not out of the woods yet-she’ll need to take medication the rest of her life so that her body does not reject her new face. Ms. Culp herself offered up this cautionary tale for those who might judge another based on appearance: “You never know what might happen to you. And you might get into a car wreck and think you’re beautiful one day…you never know. One day it might all be taken away.” “Taken away”, McKenzie said in his WORLD NEWS close, “and perhaps slowly…given back.”

EXODUS IN PAKISTAN: The 3-month-old truce that Pakistan reached with Taliban militants along the Afghanistan border has collapsed.  And the local residents want out, as Martha Raddatz explained tonight on World News: “Today,  thousands of terrified residents are fleeing Pakistan’s Swat Valley. Just 90 miles from the capital Islamabad.  Taliban fighters are seizing police stations and government buildings.”  The Pakistan government fears that a half-million refugees could flee, as Taliban militants patrol Mingora, Swat’s main town, fighting local security forces and laying land mines.  All of which has created an increased sense of urgency in Washington, where President Obama is slated to meet with the leaders of Pakistan and Afghanistan.  As Martha points out: “Pakistan is nuclear armed, a haven for militants and likely the home the man George Bush failed to capture, Osama bin Laden. Bin laden’s border safe havens also create more violence in Afghanistan–making the region the most urgent foreign policy problem the Obama Administration faces.” (thanks to Ed Bailey for this entry)
 
PRESIDENT OBAMA’S TRILATERAL WEDNESDAY-From Jake Tapper: “Reporters were given a background briefing by very senior administration officials today, previewing the trilateral meetings President Obama will host tomorrow with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari.  The headline is that the US is pressuring both countries to work together to fight al Qaeda and other extremists. But other issues will be addressed as well, including corruption, border posts, preparing relief efforts for the future refugees to be displaced through stronger military operations, water management, food security, job creation, trade ties, building police forces, and addressing their problems with a ‘whole of government’ approach so matters aren’t just handled militarily." 

FED CHAIRMAN BERNANKE ON THE HILL-Dean Norland wrote up a swell memo on Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s appearance today before the Congressional Joint Economic Committee. Norland: “Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke expressed optimism tempered with caution when he testified Tuesday before the Congressional Joint Economic Committee. ‘We continue to expect economic activity to bottom out, then turn up later this year,’ he told the committee. He predicted a gradual recovery, with unemployment peaking early next year, then going down slowly.  He said he does not think the unemployment rate will hit 10-percent. On the cautious side, he said the Fed’s estimates are based on the repair of the financial system. ‘A relapse in financial conditions would be a significant drag on economic activity and could cause the incipient recovery to stall,’ he warned. He said financial markets and institutions remain under considerable stress and their high levels of risk aversion weigh on the economy. The Fed chairman said that while some investors improved their opinions of financial institutions after several large banks reported profits in the first quarter, substantial concerns about the banking industry remain. Bernanke declined to preview the results of the bank stress tests, which will be released Thursday afternoon, but said it will be a useful exercise because it will provide information to the markets that will restore confidence in the banks. ‘That’s a very important part of this whole process is letting people see what’s on the banks’ balance sheets and that will be part of the healing process that will make these banks able to be more profitable and more effective in the future,’’ he said. Committee chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) praised Bernanke for his innovative solutions in addressing challenges that have confronted him during the financial crisis.  She asked him, what’s next? ‘I look forward to a long period of boredom,’ deadpanned the Fed chairman.

INTERROGATION MEMOS/INTERNAL JUSTICE DEPARTMENT INVESTIGATION-News on the interrogation memos front. On WORLD NEWS,  George Stephanopoulos reported that “the Office of Professional Responsibility has recommended that the two lawyers, John Yoo, a law professor in California and Jay Bybee, now a Federal Appeals Court Judge in Nevada should be disciplined by state bar associations for their actions but they should not be prosecuted.” Stephanopoulos further notes that this is the only ongoing Justice Department investigation “so it means that it is highly unlikely that the Attorney General will open up another investigation.” Charles Gibson asked about Congressional investigations-Stephanopoulos: “The Senate Intelligence Committee investigation, that could take six to eight months…(but as for the Office of Professional Responsibility) it could take several weeks for the final report to come out, but the bottom line, no recommendation of prosecutions.” 

AIG/CAN WE GET THESE GUYS A MATH TUTOR- Matt Jaffe on the latest AIG bonus announcement: “AIG, the recipient of approximately $180 billion in government bailout aid, paid out over $454 million in bonuses company-wide in 2008, according to documents that the company submitted to Congress. The $454 million number is now the third different figure that AIG has disclosed for its 2008 bonuses, with each number far larger than the previous one.  On March 18, AIG CEO Edward Liddy told Rep. Elijah Cummings(D-MD) at the conclusion of a House Financial Services subcommittee hearing that AIG had paid out around $9 million in corporate bonuses in 2008. However, just two days later, Politico reported that AIG had revealed that they paid out $120 million to over 6,000 employees, a number confirmed at the time by an AIG spokesman. “ Cummings noted he was not shocked that AIG’s bonus number changed just that it changed so drastically. AIG spokeswoman Christina Pretto provides the following statement: "Congress asked us for additional information regarding all performance compensation paid to employees around the world. We have provided details on some 374 variable performance plans for work done by lower level employees last year. These are not new payments and are not part of AIG’s corporate executive bonus pool, which we reported in March was approximately $120 million." 

PIRACY HEARINGS-Luis Martinez with the info from two separate piracy hearings on the Hill today. Martinez: “Two piracy hearings on the Hill today stressing greater security for merchant vessels off the coast of East Africa, but two different approaches were proposed at each.
1)Undersecretary of Defense Michele Flournoy appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee to reaffirm that the US military will continue to provide military protection for ships off Somalia.  But she also encouraged shipping companies to take appropriate security measures to protect their ships from pirates so that they don’t need military intervention in the future.  But the security measures she’s advocating are passive in nature such as,  maintaining good communications with maritime security authorities, varying routes, avoiding high-risk areas, removal of external ladders, posting look-outs, limiting lighting, rigging barriers and other tactics.
2)That’s not what the Senate Commerce Committee heard from Philip Shapiro, the head of Liberty Maritime Corporation and Capt. Richard Phillips, the captain of the Maersk Alabama.   Their message: allow ships crews to be armed or hire security contractors and do it now.  And in the months or years it takes for this to happen, Shapiro proposed Navy escorts for merchant ships or government security crews aboard ships transiting the eastern coast of Africa. Shapiro said the taking of the Maersk Alabama was ‘a game-changer’ because in the wake of the captain’s rescue, pirates called for revenge on other merchant ships and their crews.  Shapiro called on Congress to consider lifting the restrictions that block ship owners from arming merchant vessels. Video of a pirate attack on one of his line’s ships, the Liberty Sun, was played at today’s hearing.”

OTHER STUFF-
–FIRST US CITIZEN DIES FROM H1N1 SWINE FLU-A Texas woman has died from the H1N1 Swine Flu virus but she had some health issues already as Gina Sunseri reports: “The woman was a Texas resident  and she was a US citizen -  she lived in Harlingen and taught in a nearby school district.   This is on the border so she could very well have traveled to Mexico but there are no indications she did that recently. She recently gave birth, was severely overweight, had gall stones, and contracted pneumonia.  No other details. There are no concerns she gave anything to a student because she has not been in school for quite some time. This is the woman who last week was listed as critically ill by the state of Texas.”
–SOUTH CAROLINA HOME FORECLOSURES–South Carolina’s highest court today temporarily stopped thousands of pending foreclosure sales in the state to give homeowners more time to take advantage of a new federal program to help them refinance mortgages.
The injunction – which mortgage experts said appeared to be the nation’s first court-ordered stop for an entire state – prevents judges in South Carolina from finalizing foreclosure sales on properties guaranteed by Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae or any other mortgage company that has signed on to a federal assistance program. RealtyTrac Inc., a foreclosure listing firm, says the ruling could affect 5,000 South Carolina homes facing foreclosure.
–CRAIGS LIST– The attorney general of South Carolina is threatening to prosecute Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster if he doesn’t block ads on the Web site related to prostitution and pornography. Attorney General Henry McMaster says the popular Web service continues to be used for "illegal and unlawful activity" despite an agreement with 40 states last year to improve safeguards.   
–SCOTUS PICK TIMING—Don’t hold your breath waiting for Justice David Souter’s replacement to be announced. WH Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said the President would not be announcing his pick this week. Gibbs wouldn’t even commit to an announcement being made this month