Program Note: Watch Anderson’s interview with President Obama on Monday at 10 p.m. ET.

Reporter’s Note: President Obama has wrapped up his foreign travels to return home and presumably catch up on his mail. The stack must be considerable. I’m writing a letter a day, and I’m pretty sure other people must have written too.

Tom Foreman | Bio
AC360° Correspondent

Dear Mr. President,

Welcome back from your big trip. It looked like a wonderful time in many ways, especially that final stop in Ghana. I say “in many ways” because I know there is always work involved, and sometimes the fatigue of traveling can be tough to bear.

I was once covering flooding up near Seattle and after working a twenty hour day I checked into a really nice hotel for, count ‘em, two hours of sleep during which I was called by our assignment desk in New York three times. So, like I said, I know road trips can sometimes leave a body feeling like road kill.

Speaking of traveling, are you following the Tour de France? Not long ago, I would have been thoroughly baffled by anyone watching bicycle racing. Kind of the way I feel about the Tyra Banks show now. But some years back (during the height of Lance-mania) I grew interested in Le Tour and now I never miss it. It appeals tremendously to my notions about not only the valiant glory of individual effort, but also the magnificent power of teamwork.

Time and again you see individual riders try to break away from the bigger group (the peloton, as it is called by the guys with calluses on their backsides) and some of them make it pretty far; opening up a lead of several minutes. But then the frères de peloton, pounding forward, sharing the job of cutting through the wind, feeding off of each other’s energy, slowly start crawling up on the breakaways. And it seems more often than not the man out front is gobbled up and disappears into that mass of riders well before the finish line.

What the teams do is combine those two types of power to create extraordinary speed and endurance. They share the load of moving their best riders through the peloton, setting them up for dramatic and excellent runs. The strategies are complex, nuanced, and I can claim only a passing understanding of it, much in the same way as I passed algebra. But when it works it is beautiful and unstoppable, and a great reminder: No matter how confident and talented any one competitor might be, a strong, focused team is what leads the way to victory.

Hey, for the record, I am also out of town now (You’re not the only one stacking up the miles!) so feel free to call, but don’t be surprised if you get voice mail. (“If you are the President of the United States, press one to leave a message…” Ha!)

Regards,

Tom

Find more of the Foreman Letters here.

Program Note: Watch Anderson’s interview with President Obama on AC360° on Monday at 10 p.m. ET.

Anderson was bitten by something during the night. Here’s his picture for proof.

Anderson Cooper | BIO
AC360° Anchor

@andersoncooper: just interviewed the President. We walked around Cape Coast Castle with him, it’s a former dungeon for slaves heading to America.

@andersoncooper: we walked through the “door of no return,” the portal thru which slaves were sent to the New World. Talked about the …

@andersoncooper: ….impact of it on him and his family. Outside hundreds have gathered to get a glimpse of Obama….

@andersoncooper: playing endlessly, everywhere, is a ghana hi-life song “Bar-ack, Bar-ack. Bar-ack O-Bama.” It’s by a band “Black Rasta”..

@andersoncooper: ..its one of those songs that’s catchy at first, but gradually drives you insane..like 99 Luftballoons. Remember that one?

@andersoncooper: forgot to mention. During the night I got bitten by something on my left eyelid.. Maybe a spider. When I awoke, my eyelid was ….

@andersoncooper: my eyelid had swollen nearly shut. Not the kind of thing you want to have happen before interviewing the President…

@andersoncooper: In my mind I looked like Sylvester Stallone in “Rocky”. In reality i looked more like Mathew Broderick in the movie “Election.”

@andersoncooper: luckily, by the time the President arrived it had gone down significantly. “Not so bad,” he said to me as he sat down.

@andersoncooper: now its nearly back to normal..still a little swollen. I took a picture for the ac360.com blog. I’m about to go to bed.

@andersoncooper: I think I’m going to sleep with the lights on.

Follow all of Anderson’s twitter updates @andersoncooper.

Reporter’s Note: The President of the United States has plenty of advisors; educated, experienced souls who have dedicated their lives to public service. However, for some reason, he has made it clear that he would also like advice from the rest of us. I find that confusing, but then he probably finds my response confusing too: a letter a day to Pennsylvania Avenue.

Tom Foreman | Bio
AC360° Correspondent

Dear Mr. President,

It took a pretty good while, but it appears you are finally facing what every president faces at some point after he has unpacked his suitcases at the White House. Your poll numbers are falling.

My first advice: Take a deep breath. Relax. You are still pretty much the most popular politician on the planet, and certainly the most popular one here. Your Democratic buddies in Congress are about as well-liked as a wet sock in the face. And the Republicans hardly have time to even plan a bounce back, amid the torrent of debris from all their self-destructing colleagues. And don’t get me wrong. People still like you; in big numbers and in a big way. It’s just that the polls suggest they are getting a little shaky in their faith that you know what you are doing.

So my second advice: Watch “The Hustler.” I’ve mentioned in recent weeks that my family is screening a stack of classic movies this summer, and that I’m going to keep you abreast of our progress each Saturday, and this week I thought this great tale of a conflicted pool shark was particularly appropriate. (BTW, yes, I know that I’m leaning heavily on the Paul Newman flicks, but I can’t help it. I just love his work and usually love his characters.)

Fast Eddie Felson’s struggle to attain excellence, strike it rich, and simultaneously build and deny a meaningful human relationship captivates me every time. The question of what it means to “have character” dominates almost every frame. Some people find it a dark and depressing movie. I never have. I find it encouraging; a reminder that we all must find what we really believe in, amid all the other things that can so easily draw us on…money, fame, power, sex. In the end, Fast Eddie finds, among other things (such as Jackie Gleason is kind of o.k., but George C. Scott is one bad dude..) that he must ultimately ignore both the approval and the condemnation from others.

Not a bad thing to keep in mind as the polls start shifting, because you know it’s still quite early in your presidency. You are going to have ups and downs no matter how much you may hope otherwise. And there is nothing to do, but rack them up to experience, and keep playing the game you came with, as long as you think it is still the right game to play.

Do you like pool, by the way? I love the game. The sharp clack of the balls. The smooth felt of the table. The wonderful geometry of it all. I’m not any good, but if you’d care to place a wager on a game one day, you know, just for fun…give me a call.

Regards,

Tom

Find more of the Foreman Letters here.

Program Note: President Obama makes his first official trip to Ghana today. He is the first African-American President to visit the African continent. Anderson sits down with President in Ghana to talk about the significance of his trip and the President’s own African history. Tune in tonight for more from Anderson next week for the interview. AC360°, 10 p.m. ET.

Charlie Moore
AC360° Senior Broadcast Producer

These pictures were taken at the Cape Coast Castle in Ghana, which was used in the trans-Atlantic slave as the final departure point for slaves bound for the western hemisphere. Thousands of slaves were held in the dungeons of the castle before being transferred to boats. More on the slave trade next week during our special, “President Obama’s African Journey.”

The courtyard of the Cape Coast Castle.

The “door of no return.” Slaves would exit this door and board ships bound for the western hemisphere.

The castle was fortified from attack.

Fishing boats just outside castle on the coast of Ghana.

Editor’s Note: Anderson is in Ghana today where he will meet up with President Obama for an exclusive interview. He is talking to people in Ghana about what they think of the significance of the first African-American president to visit the West African country. And we’re also looking into the history of the African slave trade routes. Anderson visited the Cape Coast Castle where many slaves were transferred to ships bound for the Western hemisphere.

The 'door of no return' at the Cape Coast Castle. Slaves would exit this door and board ships bound for the western hemisphere.

Anderson Cooper | BIO
AC360° Anchor

From ac: just arrived in ghana. A lot of excitement here about Obama’s trip. Everyone wants to see him. I’ll be tweeting all weekend.

From ac: ghana is cool. Accra, the capitol is bustling with energy. Posters welcoming Obama are everywhere. It’s great to be back in africa.

Follow Anderson’s twitter updates here @andersoncooper

The coal ash spill more than six months ago left this area of Eastern Tennessee devastated.

Erin Brockovich

Being asked to help the people of Tennessee who have been so devastated by the coal ash disaster has been bittersweet.

It is bitter because it is so shameful that a community should have their homes and lives torn apart by a corporation that could have taken steps to avoid this impending disaster, which they knew was imminent. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) knew of breeches and leaks but did nothing to stop them.

It is bitter because people are experiencing sickness since the disaster and are fearful for their children and families; who wouldn’t be?

One billion gallons of ash, debris and other muck laden with arsenic and radionuclide came roaring down upon them in the night, and they are now having difficulty breathing and have developed skin rashes, debilitating headaches and respiratory problems. What’s worse is that they are being told that these materials can’t harm them, yet their bodies tell them otherwise.

There are millions of gallons of uncontained coal ash still in this area. It is bitter because it is summer, a time when in years past, the lakes and rivers were filled with boaters and families fishing. The valley echoed with the laughter of children. Yet now, those sounds of laughter and joy have been silenced. The community and its people are fearful and have become prisoners of their own homes.

Working with this community is sweet for only one reason; I have had the honor to get to know these people. Members of this community either grew up in or moved to this area because they love nature and the great outdoors and believed that they had found a little piece of heaven on earth.

They could enjoy some unspoiled place where nature thrived in their own backyards, where they could enjoy the laughter of their children as they played and where they could appreciate the soothing sounds of nature. But then, on December 22, the roars of disaster rolled over and through their neighborhood leaving their hopes and dreams of the future extinguished nearly as fast as one could blow out a match.

So why did I go to Tennessee when members of the community asked me to go? Because together with the law firm of Weitz and Luxenberg I knew that we could help them to organize, to remember that they have rights and to keep their hopes alive that one day soon their community could be returned to them. The people of Harriman, Kingston and surrounding areas are strong, proud people and it is critical that their voices not be silenced.

This community needs to be protected as the pieces of their lives are slowly put back together, and I hope that we can learn from this disaster about how to STOP future communities from being devastated before the unthinkable happens. It is a disaster waiting to happen all over again.

Octavia Nasr
AC360° Contributor
CNN Senior Mideast Affairs Editor

Marwa is already dubbed the “Hijab Martyr.” Many believe she was murdered because she’s Muslim and wears her religion on her head in a Hijab, the Muslim head cover. Her heinous cold-blooded murder in a Germany courtroom has sent shockwaves across the Middle East and now it is spreading across the world.

Marwa was 31 and three months pregnant, when she appeared at a Dresden courtroom to testify against a man who had already been convicted of verbally attacking her by calling her a “terrorist” at a playground with her 3-year-old son. Instead of justice, Marwa and her family were met by a tragic fate.

On July 1st, in the Dresden courtroom, the same man identified only as Alex M. stabbed her 18 times in front of her son and husband. As her husband tried to defend her, he got his share of the stabbing and he was shot by a police officer who mistook him for the assailant. Marwa later died in the hospital. Her husband is still in critical condition.

Two Egyptian researchers at Dresden University, Mohammed Ahmed Khalif and Magdi Khalil, told CNN that on that fateful day, their trust in Germany was shattered.

“We have fear about our family here, about our children” said Khalif. He said he is disappointed by what he believes is a muted response by the German public and its politicians.

Khalil agrees with Khalif. He adds that some people in Germany could possibly harbor an anti-Muslim sentiment. He suggested twisting this around to see how people would react to the same story. “What do you think if we have an Egyptian guy who kills a German woman in a court? What do you think would happen,” he asked.

Germany’s government spokesperson Thomas Steg stressed that, “In Germany we cannot tolerate, right wing extremism, hatred of foreigners nor Islamophobia.”

For many in Egypt and across the Middle East, this response came late and wasn’t enough.

Egyptians mourned the death of Marwa with shock and outrage. As it is customary in the Middle East when someone dies young, the 31-year-old pregnant mother was buried in a procession fit for a bride, while across the nation people continue to take to the streets in sympathy.

Underneath the sadness of mourning, anger is brewing at what people in the Middle East call a hate crime. They are moved by news reports of how Marwa died.

Many have taken to the streets, waving banners that call her stabbing death a hate crime and that it’s racially motivated. They say Marwa was killed because she’s Muslim and wore the Muslim headscarf.

When they felt their calls for justice were going unnoticed, Egyptians along with other Arabs and supporters from around the world, took to the Internet, which has become the voice for the voiceless in the Middle East region.

On Twitter, they asked for sympathizers to spread the message that a life was lost and they want the world to pay attention.

They accused the media of failing to highlight the murder.

They criticized Europe in general and Germany in particular for becoming increasingly extreme towards minorities, especially Muslims.

And on Facebook, they asked for justice; calling for the harshest possible sentence for the assailant and an apology from Germany. They created pages where people can pay homage to a woman who has now become known simply as the “Martyr of the Hijab.”

Program Note: Tune in tonight to learn more about the environmental disaster in Kingston, Tennessee. Dr. Sanjay Gupta went there to speak to residents of the region and to Erin Brockovich, who is advocating on behalf of the local community. More tonight at 10 p.m. ET.