Nobel Acceptance
AZUZ: "Let us reach for the world that ought to be." Those, the words of President Obama as he accepted the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize.
He is the fourth U.S. president to win the award.
He accepted it at a ceremony in Oslo, Norway.
It was Obama's first trip to the country.
He and first lady Michelle arrived yesterday.
There's been some controversy surrounding President Obama winning this award.
Some people asked what he had done to deserve it;
he was nominated after only being in office for days.
But another criticism is that he's been given a peace prize while leading a country that's involved in two wars. That point was a major part of Mr. Obama's acceptance speech, when he talked about the history of war and the concept of a "just war."
He said, "War, in one form or another, appeared with the first man." "Over time... the concept of a 'just war' emerged... when [war] is waged as a last resort or in self-defense... and if, whenever possible, civilians are spared from violence." He pointed out that while "there will be times when nations will find the use of force necessary... no matter how justified, war promises human tragedy." Mr. Obama believes that the world "can understand that there will be war, and still strive for peace."
Pakistan Arrests
AZUZ: The FBI says five men from the Washington, D.C. area are in custody in Pakistan, being accused of plotting terrorist attacks. Pakistani officials allege that the men made contact with militants in Pakistan over the Internet, and that they then traveled to Pakistan to carry out some sort of attack.
Extending TARP
AZUZ: The Troubled Asset Relief Program may be sticking around. It was started last fall to help banks and automakers stay in business. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner plans to keep the program going through next October, but in a smaller way, focused on things like helping small businesses and stopping foreclosures, when homeowners can't pay their loans and the bank takes over. The U.S. foreclosure rate is slowing down, but it's still 18 percent higher than it was a year ago.
U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY TIMOTHY GEITHNER: For housing, we are going to continue to work to mitigate foreclosures for responsible American home owners as we take the steps necessary to continue to help stabilize the housing market.
AZUZ: Republicans want the TARP program shut down. They're afraid Democrats won't use the remaining TARP money in the way it was originally intended. And Tim Geithner admits that some of the TARP loans may not be paid back, which is bad for taxpayers.
NASA and Climate Change
AZUZ: NASA. Probably makes you think of space. The agency also studies the Earth, though. Some NASA scientists are in Denmark right now taking part in a global climate conference. Jim Acosta tells us NASA's forecast for the planet and why some people think the agency isn't saying enough.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lift off.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: NASA, the same agency that put the shuttle in space, also has roughly a dozen satellites in orbit, all on a mission to show how the Earth is warming.
THORSTEN MARKUS, NASA SCIENTIST: The arctic is not a frozen lake. It's very dynamic.
ACOSTA: Thorsten Markus, the head of NASA's cryospheric sciences branch, uses those satellites to keep a close eye on the stunning loss of ice in the Arctic. He's traveled to Greenland to confirm his findings on the ground. This animation demonstrates why it's happening so fast. As the ice melts, all that's left to soak up the sun's rays is the ocean.
MARKUS: The solar radiation is mostly reflective from the ice where it's absorbed by the ocean.
ACOSTA: And this accelerates the melting of the ice.
MARKUS: Exactly.
ACOSTA: Markus, like many scientists at NASA, blames the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
MARKUS: There's no doubt that there is global warming.
ACOSTA: But that doesn't convince skeptics who have seized on the global warming e-mail controversy known as "climate-gate" and have now taken aim at NASA. An attorney with the Competitive Enterprise Institute, which receives funding from Exxon Mobil, is threatening to sue NASA if it doesn't turn over its e-mails on global temperature readings.
CHRIS HORNER, AUTHOR, "RED HOT LIES": What I'm asking for is what the taxpayer owns. And frankly, the law doesn't require me to have a reason for it. We want transparency. We want to see how they did what. We want to see why.
ACOSTA: NASA is no stranger to climate controversy. James Hansen, one of NASA's top scientists and a fixture at global warming protests, accused the Bush administration of suppressing climate data. That accusation led to this inspector general report, which found NASA PR officials had marginalized and mischaracterized climate change information.
JAMES HANSEN, NASA SCIENTIST: If we push the climate system hard enough, it can obtain a momentum. It can pass tipping points such that climate change continues out of our control.
ACOSTA: NASA has never had as many satellites measuring the Earth's climate data as it does now. But some of these eyes on the Earth are reaching their life span. Without new funding, NASA scientists worry those satellites won't be replaced. Jim Acosta, CNN, Washington.
