Obama on a Roll

President Barack Obama is entering the fourth quarter of his presidency, one marked by partisan divisions that have frustrated most Americans. But the president, as he makes the turn for the finish line, has already wracked up an impressive list of accomplishments during his tenure despite the blindly fierce Republican opposition.

Since his party's defeat in the midterm elections, President Obama has taken the initiative. He has announced that the U.S. would normalize relations with Cuba, as well as an executive order on immigration, and a climate treaty with China. Each of these announcements is historic in their own right. And together they signal the president is not going quietly into the night.

President Obama has enjoyed a great deal of good news these past six weeks. Government estimates show that the U.S. economy grew at a spectacular 5 percent, and the Dow Jones stock index reached record highs, fueled in part by corporate profits, which have been up year-over-year for 12 straight quarters.

Unemployment is at 5.8 percent, the lowest rate since the president took office. Total nonfarm payroll increased by 321,000 in November, led by professional and business services, retail trade, health care, and manufacturing. Meanwhile, fuel prices continue to drop as the price of gas has fallen for 89 consecutive days. AAA says that this is the longest streak on record, and that prices have fallen 36 percent since last April.

Falling gas prices have hit both Russia and Iran hard, along with U.S. led sanctions. Just a few months ago Republicans were praising President Vladimir Putin for his leadership traits as Russia annexed Crimea and caused unrest in parts of Ukraine. Now Putin is struggling mightily to keep his economy afloat. Those same Republicans criticized the president for attempting to negotiate a nuclear treaty with Iran. Yet falling gas prices and tough sanctions have brought the Iranians closer to making a deal than any saber rattling ever did.

The president's strategy for handling ISIS has stopped that group's momentum. The president formed a coalition of countries to launch targeted air attacks, and he helped nudge the failing Iraqi government back from the brink. He has also kept America safe from terrorism, and he made the killing of Osama bin Laden a top priority.

North Korea posed a serious threat with its alleged cyber-hacking of SONY's emails. This in response to a movie, The Interview, which is a comedy focused on North Korea's leader. But it has been reported that President Obama, who promised a proportional retaliation, discussed the matter with China. Suddenly, North Korea lost its Internet connection. Now the movie will be released after all on Christmas Day.

And the president's singular greatest legislative success, the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, has expanded healthcare to millions of uninsured Americans, and it has helped significantly lower the rate of growth of health care costs. His 2009 stimulus package put the breaks on the crashing economy, and his auto bailout preserved thousands of jobs. Today, the U.S. auto industry is healthy. Each of these initiatives was done in spite of furious opposition from Republicans.

Lately President Obama has looked like that confident leader American voters thought they elected way back in 2008. Since his first day in office he has been attacked continuously by conservatives. He has been accused by many of his Republican opponents of being born in Kenya, a Muslim, an emperor, disengaged, distant, a liar, and ill-prepared for the office. On the very day the president was first sworn into office, Republican leaders vowed, in a secret meeting, to do all they could to block, delay, denounce and defeat him. For them it was war.

Throughout his first six years in office, the president has remained persistent, while being buffeted by the partisan winds, and the thunderous exhortations of so-called experts and conservative political pundits. Of course, in today's media landscape, anyone can be a critic and get airtime.

Even his supporters sometimes express frustration because the president has refused to act for the sake of acting, shoot from the hip, or jump to conclusions. His approach, no matter the issue, has been measured, studied, thoughtful, cerebral and yes, lawyerly.

Beginning in January, Republicans will be the majority party in both houses of Congress. They will try to repeal Obamacare, undo the president's immigration order, stop normalization of relations with Cuba, pass the Keystone Pipeline, cut federal social programs,and spend taxpayer dollars re-investigating Benghazi and the IRS. There will be the usual shrill denunciations of the president, and some GOP members may move to impeach him.

Of course, for President Obama, it'll be just another day at the office.

30th Wedding Anniversary

Thirty years ago today Susan Zirinsky and I were married at San Francisco's City Hall.  We eloped on a Friday, the day after the Democratic National Convention ended.  Susan and I had been living together in Washington DC for nearly five years, so the fact we got married was no surprise.  The surprise was where we married.  Nonetheless, a round of calls to Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather, our mothers and fathers were met with joy and great happiness.  

For the next decade we each continued in our roles at CBS News.  I left CBS News in 1995 to take a position as President Fox News.  I had been hired by Rupert Murdoch to begin a "proper news."  But one year later Murdoch decided to bring in Roger Ailes as Chairman of Cable and News.  Since my contract had been breached, I decided to resign rather than be part of an "alternative" news organization.  I informed Ailes of my decision in his office, and then immediately headed to the Spence Chapin adoption agency.  Susan and I decided to use the time I would be sitting out my expiring contract to adopt a Chinese girl.  China's one child policy saddened us. 

Several months later we were informed our adoption had been approved.  We were shown a picture, the size of a passport photo, and given little information.  By January of 1997 we were off to China to pick up our adoptive child.  We decided to name her "Zoe" because that means life in Greek.  We also combined "Z" from Zirinsky, and "oe" from Joe.  Zoe's middle name would be the name she was given by her Tong Ling orphanage, Tong Cao.  We were told that translates to "spring grass," which is where Zoe was found. 

We loved Zoe from the first second we set eyes on her.  Susan and I both had demanding schedules, I commuted to Miami for seven years, but weekends and nights were devoted to Zoe.  It is hard to understand how an adoptive child will adjust in life, or how a Chinese girl will adapt to a world filled with blue-eyed, blond hair girls.  The social pressures are enormous on most children in this age of social media.  Adolescence can be a difficult time emotionally for any child as the are still developing and maturing.  Of course, academics and college tests and acceptances are overly competitive.  Then, for girls, there are boys.  Having been a boy, I know they are predators.  What stress on even the most stable kids.

Throughout Zoe's sophomore and junior year all of the stress factors began to take their toll.  Zoe had to leave school weeks before the end of her junior year in order to receive proper treatment.  For the past year she as been under the care of the wonderful doctors at McLean Hospital, just outside Boston.  She has shown enormous progress, and she graduated from high school from an affiliated school. 

So it is with this brief explanation that I share with you our most wonderful 30th anniversary gift, via Facebook, the words of our only child, the love of our life, Zoe Tong Cao Peyronnin (aka Luna Feline Capello).

"alright here we go. happy thirty years you guys, as much as you piss me the fuck off, and as much as I feel like I hate you sometimes... well that's life, and you wouldn't do half the shit you do to me if you didn't love me. I know sometimes you blame yourselves for where I am now, but when it comes down to it, you've saved my life, in more ways than one and I think you guys need to realize that. I wouldn't be who I am or where I am if you hadn't adopted me and well, even though life can be a nasty son of a bitch, I'm thankful you've supported me through it all. so thank you both, you shit heads, for loving me regardless of who I am and my mistakes, I really wouldn't be alive without you and that's a fact, so give yourselves credit for once because I love you. thank you."

 

 

Tiananmen Square Live

The student demonstrations at Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989 led to some of the most riveting television seen in the United States.  CBS News was the only broadcast network to provide live coverage, until the Chinese government forced us to shut down our satellite just hours before the military launched a full assault on the students.

Tiananmen Square

CBS Evening News anchorman Dan Rather and executive producer Tom Bettag had lobbied in April to anchor their broadcast from Beijing for Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev's visit to China.   CBS News President David Burke approved the idea, I was his deputy at the time and I strongly urged that we commit.  The news division was under tremendous financial pressure from the company, so the decision to spend a couple million dollars was risky.

It took a large team of producers, reporters, cameramen, sound men, editors and fixers to provide coverage when the Evening News anchored overseas.  The logistics were complicated, and the set up was challenging.  But all was ready when Gorbachev arrived in May.

Student Demonstration

By the time he arrived thousands of students had gathered at Tiananmen Square to voice their demands for change, more freedom and democracy.  The student uprising, supported by many citizens, eclipsed the Gorbachev visit and created a real problem for China's paramount leader, Deng Xiaoping.  Deng mobilized the army, calling in units from around the country.

Deng Xiaoping

CBS News provided live coverage of the protests, which had grown to more than one million people, with Dan Rather anchoring live from Tiananmen Square.  Our competition, NBC News and ABC News, was not anchoring from China.  Viewers in the United States, and around the world, watched CBS News as a nation struggled for its future.  Rather was outstanding, and the CBS team worked tirelessly and courageously to provide round-the-clock coverage for Americans.   A special bond builds among a team of journalists when covering a dangerous and historic news event.  Everyone's work excels, despite lack of sleep and chaotic conditions.

I remained in the CBS New York control room most of the time, coordinating coverage and network break-ins.   On a Friday night  a Chinese official came to our office and demanded that we shut down our live satellite.  Dan Rather and Lane Venardos, the producer in charge in Beijing, negotiated with the official.  I ordered that network programming be interrupted during the 10pm ET hour so all of America could watch as Venardos and Rather negotiated with the official.

Dan Rather

The program I interrupted was Dallas, television's most popular show.  In was the season finale, so viewership was enormous.  But I felt that the events unfolding nearly 7,000 miles from New York were incredibly important and made amazing television.  

It became clear to me that to defy the Chinese government would put the CBS News team at risk.  Many could be arrested and even harmed.  I decided that CBS News would comply with the request to shut down the satellite.  ("Dan Rather Remembers" video.)

As11pm ET approached, I instructed Venardos to tell the official we would comply with the government's order.  But I asked that we be able to shut down the satellite at 11:25pm, during the late local newscasts, which were airing in most of the country.  The official agreed.  

I then had a programming alert sent out to all of our affiliates so that they would inform their viewers about our upcoming special report.   I also asked our press department to inform other news organizations.  As it turned out the delay allowed us to air graphic new footage of the carnage.

At the appointed time Dan Rather appeared live from Beijing, across our network, and explained to viewers that CBS News had been ordered to shut down its live Satellite.  With a handful of CBS News staff watching, he then signed off, "this is Dan Rather reporting live from Beijing," turned to the satellite operator and instructed him to kill the satellite.

In the days that followed, hundreds, perhaps thousands of Chinese students and supporters, were massacred by Chinese troops. (Video by Brian Robbins, CBS NEWS)  Tiananmen Square was emptied.  The full force of Marshall Law was being imposed on everyone.  Citizens lived in fear for their lives.  The elation and hope of the democracy movement had been crushed in a bloody siege by China's authoritarian regime.   

Iconic Image

The iconic image from the student uprising was of a man, holding plastic shopping bags, standing in front of a tank column blocking its forward movement.   Today, the fate of that man is unknown.  The Tiananmen Square uprising is also unknown to most young Chinese, it is not mentioned in school, nor on television.  Twenty-five years later the Chinese government censured the Internet and social media during the anniversary period.  

The Chinese government may try to erase the events at Tiananmen Square from history, but it will never be forgotten by those of us a CBS News who covered the tragedy.      

Rejoice Egypt, Rejoice!

In a historic day that will resonate throughout the Arab world, Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak has stepped down. But, as millions of Egyptians celebrate throughout the country, soon their attention will turn to an uncertain future.

This is a huge victory for the people of Egypt and for democracy. Leaders of countries such as Jordan, Yemen and Saudi Arabia are closely watching events unfold. No doubt, so are the leaders of Iran and China. Their people are restless and thirst for freedom and a better way of life. Will the voices of these people now be heard?

For sure, Mubarak was a great friend to America. He supported and maintained peace with Israel. But he also obscenely stole billions of American taxpayer dollars flowing into Egypt as military aid. It is estimated that his family, steeped in corruption, has amassed a fortune of $70 billion, making the Mubarak clan among the wealthiest in the world.

Even worse, Mubarak brutalized his people with a highly repressive regime. He ruthlessly controlled every aspect of his country and his police harshly suppressed dissent by jailing and beating those who spoke up against his rule. Since taking over thirty years ago, following the assassination of the Egyptian Anwar Sadat, Mubarak has maintained a state of emergency in Egypt. He snuffed out any attempts to form opposition parties. Some friend.

Now two weeks of largely peaceful demonstrations, involving millions of Egyptians from all walks of life, have toppled Mubarak. Televised on free media throughout the world, viewers were rivited to their sets watching the dramatic developments unfold. More important was the role of social media sites such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. And a local Google executive, who was arrested and then released by police, became a hero and leading figure to demonstrators. This was truly a social revolution.

As the pressure built, Mubarak tenaciously tried to hang on to power. But those around him could see what he would not accept; his time was up. So when Mubarak refused to step down it is reported that some military leaders threatened to remove their uniforms and join the demonstrators. Their stubborn leader, who had vowed to die in his homeland, finally agreed to relinquish his power and fled to the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el Sheikh. It is unclear if this will be his last stop.

The Egyptian military has taken control of the country. This is a transformative moment, but it is also fraught with uncertainty. The demonstrations have brought the country's economy to a halt as banks and many businesses have been closed for nearly two weeks. When will people return to work? Will the election scheduled for September take place? Who will emerge? What role will the Muslim Brotherhood, responsible for Sadat's assassination, play in the country? What role can America play in assuring a peaceful transition to democracy? There is an old Egyptian proverb, "Do not rejoice over what has not yet happened."

President Barack Obama has handled this crisis well. He spoke out for a democratic process, freedom and an end to repression. He encouraged a peaceful transition to a more representative government. He could not call for the overthrow of Mubarak without risking the ire of other Arab states. But now the real work begins for the American government.

Isis is the ancient Egyptian goddess of motherhood, healing and magic. The people of Egypt will no doubt welcome her help as they begin to build their future.

Meanwhile, rejoice Egypt, rejoice!

Beijing Olympics

The $300 million Beijing Olympics opening ceremony spectacular combined ingenious uses of technology, five thousand years of Chinese history and 15,000 performers to overpower its more than one billion viewers worldwide. But in China not everything is exactly as it appears. For example, a little girl with a beautiful voice and crooked teeth was replaced during the playing of "Ode to the Motherland" by a lip-sinking mime with a pretty face and perfect teeth.

Nonetheless, the Beijing Olympics is a great source of pride, nationalism and identity for most of the 1.3 billion Chinese. For many the games can briefly divert attention from poverty and offer a sense of hope, the kind of hope that is controlled by the state. To the world China is saying, "we are a major superpower that must be respected."

In the weeks leading up to the Beijing Olympics, much attention was focused on the heavy smog that saturated the environment, threatened athletes and obscured the view. Now winds seem to have cleared the air somewhat and the sun is shinning through more brightly on the thirty-one event venues where superb athletes are smashing records free of political interference.

I first visited China as part of an advance team in February 1984 planning President Reagan's visit. The team was made up of government officials and members of the press. This would be President Reagan's first visit to a communist country, and he would be the first sitting U.S. President to visit China after the two countries established diplomatic relations. Our team visited potential event sites in Beijing, The Great Wall, Xian and Shanghai. We each took careful notes and voluminous amounts of pictures from every angle. The U.S. government team would return to the White House, review their material and propose a schedule to the Chinese government.

China was shrouded in a cloud of uncertainty in 1984. Deng Xiaoping had implemented a "socialist market economy" and the "one-child policy" to stimulate economic growth and limit the country's population. It was "socialism with a Chinese characteristic," and came in the wake of Mao's disastrous Cultural Revolution. The Chinese were struggling with their identity. Communist or capitalist? Closed or open? Soviet or Western?

In 1984, Beijing was in the early stages of modernization. Large modern skyscrapers were being built next to clay and wooden hovels, down the street from intimidating Soviet designed buildings, and not too far from the glorious Forbidden City. Our party stayed in the exclusive Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, and every meal was a multi-course feast.

In Xian, an immense crowd surrounded the entire runway as our military plane landed and taxied; apparently it was the first time a U.S. aircraft had landed at this military airport. Peasants lined the road to the city and gathered outside our hotel. Xian was home to several Chinese dynasties, and it was where thousands of amazing terracotta warriors and horses were buried underground for more than 2,000 years only to be discovered less than ten years prior to our visit. Shanghai was stunning, vibrant and breathtaking, then with a population approaching 15 million people. I jogged in the glorious Bund and shopped for jade at street markets.

That April, I returned to China with President Reagan, via Honolulu and Guam, for his official visit that was generally described as "long on symbolism and short on diplomacy." Following the trip, Reagan is said to have opined that the Chinese "weren't really communists."

In 1989, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev made a state visit to China. The Western press had been invited in to cover the visit, so I dispatched CBS News anchor Dan Rather and a team to Beijing, which included my wife, Susan Zirinsky. We were prepared to originate the CBS Evening News live from Tiananmen Square. Simultaneously, a group of Chinese students, who were protesting the lack of political reforms in China, began to gather in Tiananmen Square. Gorbachev departed, and the student protests and hunger strike appeared to be in a lengthy standoff. Some of the CBS News team returned to the U.S. As I arrived in Los Angeles for an affiliates conference, where I would meet the returning Susan, the Chinese government began moving against the students under cover of darkness using unsympathetic troops from rural China. Needless to say, Susan, who had a valid Chinese visa, only spent a few hours in L.A. before she raced back to Beijing to join Dan Rather.

Rather and our local CBS News team dominated the Tiananmen Square uprising. Our satellite uplink, parked at a nearby hotel, made it possible for CBS to provide live coverage. Correspondent Richard Roth was arrested in Tiananmen Square for several hours, details were scarce, and panic ensued, police cracked down. John Sheehan and Bob Simon were among those filing reports and updates for CBS News. (Then English teachers in Beijing, Bob Woodruff and his wife Lee, now with ABC News, worked for CBS News as translators.)

I ran the CBS News coverage from our main New York control room, and I broke into network prime time programming with a live report whenever there was a major development. But the Chinese government finally got around to shutting us down. I received word from CBS News producer Lane Venardos that he was with a government representative who was ordering us to immediately stop using our uplink. There was no negotiating room, shut it down or the Chinese government would shut it down. Instead, I requested that we be allowed to broadcast a little while longer, which would give me time to coordinate a live broadcast across the country where Dan could dramatically "pull the plug." The Chinese representative agreed to wait. So at approximately 11:15pm Eastern Time Dan Rather signed off live for the final time and signaled to our technician to shut the dish down.

No one knows exactly how many people died at Tiananmen Square, estimates run from a few hundred to several thousand. But this would be the first revolution to take place live on television.

In 1994 China had threatened to close down the CBS News Beijing bureau. We had aired controversial reports on China's one-child policy. I went to Beijing to argue the CBS News case with the Chinese Information Ministry. The Chinese capital looked much more modern and built up than in my previous visit 10 years earlier. While I waited for my meeting, I went to the hotel gym. There I worked out on a treadmill next to my CNN counterpart, senior vice president Ed Turner, who was also on a treadmill. Both of us were riveted to the live pictures of OJ Simpson eluding authorities in a white Bronco on a California Highway, courtesy CNN. This would be the first police chase broadcast live around the world.

I had to break off my exercise session to get ready for my meeting. I met the Information Ministry representatives at a restaurant where we enjoyed several courses of Chinese food, including sea slugs. At some point my hosts spent five minutes gently but firmly chastising me for our "misleading" coverage while explaining the necessity of the one-child policy. I made no concessions and no apologies, but they got to issue their warning in person. I recently read that without the one-child policy China's population today would be 300 million larger. That is the size of the U.S. population.

I again returned to China in 1997 with Susan to adopt our daughter, Zoë. This time we traveled from Beijing to Hefei, a city of nearly 5 million inhabitants, Guangzhou and Hong Kong. There were no crowds lining the roads. Zoë was 10 months old when we first met her in a hotel lobby. Later, as we walked through the street markets carrying our precious little child, Chinese women frequently lectured us on how to properly care for our baby. Americans have adopted several thousand Chinese babies, overwhelmingly girls, over the past decade. However, China has recently slowed the process down, perhaps concerned that they will be viewed as the largest exporter of babies. For sure, this problem has nothing to do with crooked teeth.

The Beijing Olympics are certain to be long remembered as a bright shining moment in China's already formidable history. I hope that freedom's winds blow across this great country replacing the dark shroud of a controlled state with the bright optimism of a more open and free society. I believe the Beijing Olympics may be an important step in that direction.


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