Live Blog from the Anchor Desk 02/01/10
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Tonight on 360°, saving Haiti's children or breaking the law? 10 American accused of child trafficking. We have the latest. Plus, slash and spend. Pres. Obama outlines his $3.8 trillion dollar budget for 2011. We've got the raw politics.
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Our return to the moon has been killed. The next people on the moon will be Chinese.
we lost 56,000 Americans in Vietnam, so 200,000 is not unrealistic. Maybe a very high wall :~)
so how do the parents who are giving up their children know who to believe? if someone comes and offers to help them and their families, how are they supposed to know that they are being misled??
i suspect they don't have tv or radio to listen to the type of news broadcast ... "tonight in Haiti : beware of children stealing scam" ... if some of the families had a heads-up, perhaps the outcome would be different
(and it would be nice to have an alternate option, like ... here is where you can actually go with your family to obtain assistance ... rather than giving your children away )
Mike, formerly from Syracuse
lol well its a start!!! we lost 56,000 Americans... so better than nothing
What is it with the media? These tracffickers are not heroes or Matyrs. They broke the law . They knew exactly what they were doing. That make you wonder how many kids they kidnapped and sold before.
Regardless whether the parents gave them or not . It did not register to them that they going to need documentations? Find it hard to believe.
These people are arrogant and disrespectfull regardless of their motives.It makes me sick that these people feel that they are above the law. What they did would not be tolerated in the US but they go to Haiti and try it? God only knows what these people had in mind.
I thought the idea was cut the deficit. They should cut all programs except defense by 10%.
Yes everyone! I agree all of you, That is so sadden situtation for children trafficking like that!!!!! Very horrible!
Good evening Anderson I am commenting on the 10 American who had taken Haitis children they know the rules better why go get the kids with no documentation will they do that here in America so they are just taking advantage. That's wrong
Boosting small business is so necessary!
@Dodie, it would have to be a pretty big wall.
It is sad that we think we are in a position to know they are guilty of child trafficking. Truthfully, I hardly think so. Obviously, however, they need some education on the process.
I am tired of the missionaries saying they had permission-they still didn't have the proper paperwork. I saw the clip of the little girl who didn't want to stay on th bus but they stated she had to. If they wanted to help why didn't they stay in Haiti &do humanitarian work there.Can you imagine if 500 churches came over with no organization & did whatever they thought was fair without any true inkling of what was best for the children. For some reason I think they were eventually trying to get these children for adoptions in the U.S.
Because there were no identification of the bodies before buried, I strongly suggest they erect a memorial like the Vietnam wall with a list of all the names of all the missing.
I would help with closure! Not a perfect solution, but better than none!
Bloggers
I hope that Anderson is on a vacation somewhere! (& writing a book about what he has seen!) Emily, I think so!! 🙂
@Emily
I am sure you are right. As an RN i saw much suffering and death. After a while you get "burned out", it's all too much.
I am sure that they are All recovering from 3 wks of hell.
Violation or ignorance of the law is not excuse for breaking the law.
Example: If my mother was hungry and I robbed a grocery store
I'm still a thief.
They said that all kids were orphans, but one dad said he put his kids
on the bus. So explain that ?
These kids are already at a disadvantage if someone well intentioned wants to give them a better life so be it.
Missionaries or anyone going to "help" need to do a lot more investigating before they jump in feet first without looking! Watching AC360 alone would have been a lot of info they needed! Being ignorant is not an excuse! They could and should have checked with the State Dept. before going!
Hopefully the Haitian government release these people, they are just stupid not trafficant. They should know better by having all the paper for these children. These people have no motive other than helping these children. Actually when everything is over the haitian government should let them take the children. I am living for Haiti this Friday I need to know were to go to help.
Thanks from all of us, Wolf!
It's great that the children were rescued from a fate like child trafficking!
these missionaries must have known that adoptions and child-transfers were halted. why would they still be trying to set up an orphanage in a hotel in DR when most of the aid groups are operating in Haiti? that doesn't sound like they are a very smart group, actually.
If those Americans had used the money they spent going to Haiti to sponsor a child instead, they could have resolved a huge part of the poverty issue behind their parent's desperation. There are many such organizations and it is "one to one" ie you know the child you help. A few hundred dollars goes a very long way in such cases.
@Starr,
I don't have any inside info!
I really have no clue as to where AC is. I'm sure that he is working on more Haiti related work, and more, etc. (not wanting to suggest that he is 'slacking off'!). I know that I would likely need a break after seeing all that he did there. That's just me, and I'm only a viewer!
Good evening Mr. Wolf Blitzer nice to see you anchoring for Anderson. Good evening Isabel, everyone.
Certainly I hope the missonaries from Idaho are being treated humanly and their rights respected. I have to wonder in the minister Dan Simon intvw'd saw Karl Penhaul's report? Looks like two sort of impromptu adoptions. How would the parents know that they could trust the Idaho missionaries? Does not seem at all adviseable.
Good Evening Wolf, 360Team and fellow bloggers
very sad about these children. I certainly hope this has nothing to do with child trafficking; however, I really feel we all need to wait until the dust settles before we start taking children out of the country!!! This is just one good example why we should wait!!!
Congrats for Candy Crowley hosts State of the Union!!!!! I agree with you, Emily! 🙂
@Emily
You are probably right.....i'm sure the entire team needs a break. I wasn't thinking.
I'm sure they all need to decompress from the sites they have seen.
Thanks for the heads up.
Drew Ham. "Bring Americans home to where they belong"?
Where they belong is in Jail in Haiti. Unfortunately that is one more unfair burden on Haiti so probably they will get a break. If they do I hope they will make a point of emphasiizng the need for Americans to respect internation law and common sense.
@Mike, formerly from Syracuse,
"My vote is missionaries not traffickers. Very dumb missionaries."
'Very dumb" is an understatement! I wonder if they will ever figure out who it was?
I don't even know who is really in control over there in Haiti!
Mike, Emily, Star and others....
I agree with you!!!!! That is so outrage!!! They are not kiddnap the children of Haiti!!!!! Not good move!
From the reports it seems that the missionary group had good intentions but failed to make the necessary preparations for the mission, such as getting Passports or whatever they would need to safely transport these children to another country. They do not appear to be the type who would even think of trafficking children.
Where is Anderson tonight?? Wolf Blitzer hosting AC 360...
Hi everybody!
Where is Anderson?
I am sorry but the last days I've been a little lost, I wasn't able to see 360 and I don´t know much about what's going on in Haiti and if the crew of CNN is back in USA.
They seem like genuine, good people. I would not label them as "extremists."
The people that would exploit others at times like this, esp. Children, they are the lowest of the low, and there really must be a "special place" for them!
Thanks Emily! 🙂
I agree with several bloggers that it was "ignorant" to go to a foreign country and take children.
@Emily – i agree, congrats to Candy Crowley! She will be great with that show!
My vote is missionaries not traffickers. Very dumb missionaries.
Haiti and the U.S. do not need another problem. The detained Americans will be back in the United States tomorrow.
@Starr,
I hope that Anderson is on a vacation somewhere! (& writing a book about what he has seen!) 🙂
After all that reporting that he has done, I think that he deserves a break. I know that he wants to go back to Haiti @ different times, he has said, however, with all that he has seen...yikes!
Helloooo Anderson, Wolf, Megan, Jessica Y, Ed Henry, David Gergen Martina Ilstad, Emily and my friends Twitter/Facebook Bloggers!!!!!
Hope you have a great weekend!!!!!! Happy Monday!
Thanks for coming in to join us tonight!
And welcome Wolf to Live Blog! 🙂
Someone is lying
Oops! That would be SOTU – re. Candy Crowley!
Good reporting here by Karl! So sad to hear about child used for trafficking purposes!
Good evening Wolf! Good evening to AC 360 Team (where is Anderson, is he still in Haiti?)
Good evening fellow bloggers and friends.
What a shame that these children were "given away" due to lack of money and food.
Someone needs to tell that lady that when you just take children–whether they're orphans or not–and attempt to bring them over an international border, that *is* trafficking.
Good Evening Wolf, 360Team, Megan, Martina, & Bloggers!
Happy Monday. 🙂
Glad to see Wolf in for AC. (a well deserved break)
(btw, Congrats to Candy Crowley as the new host of SOTI on Sunday!)
When will people ever learn-if you.re in a foeign country you don't just whisk dozens of chidren to aanother country wihout documents orpermission. How foolish can you be. The group supposedly admits they were ill prepared-no kidding. They need to learn a lesson.
Even if they genuinely trying to do what they thought was right for the kids, it just shows the arrogance of religious extremists whether christian or islamic.
Good evening Anderson,
I am happy to hear that the US President Barack Obama, the US First Lady Michelle Obama, and their children Malia and Sasha will be visiting Australia next month.
I hope it will bring the CNN star journalist Anderson Cooper to cover this visit.
Also, will the itinerary include Sydney?
Sincerely,
Lisa L
Sydney, Australia