As the CNMI remains in wait-and-see mode on the Ukraine-Russia crisis\u2019 impact, if any, on the U.S. visa waiver program for CNMI-bound Russian tourists comes another story miles away with connection to the islands. A Washington, D.C. bureau anchor with U.S. network \u201cRussia Today,\u201d Liz Wahl, a former KSPN 2 reporter on Saipan, quit on the air Wednesday afternoon, saying the Kremlin-funded television network \u201cwhitewashes\u201d the actions of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
\nWithin minutes and hours of Wahl\u2019s dramatic resignation, she started getting interviews with national and international media outlets including CNN.<\/p>\n
\u201cIndeed as a reporter on this network I face many moral and ethical challenges,\u201d Wahl said on Russia Today. \u201cThat is why personally I cannot be part of [a] network funded by the Russian government that whitewashes the actions of Putin. I\u2019m proud to be an American and believe in disseminating the truth. And that is why after this newscast I am resigning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wahl worked as a reporter for Saipan-based KSPN 2 from 2009 to August 2011, and later worked for Russia Today.<\/p>\n
Bob Coldeen, news director for KSPN 2, said Wahl is \u201cvery professional,\u201d \u201cvery opinionated\u201d and \u201cvery dependable.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe took her job very seriously. I\u2019m not surprised she would do that,\u201d Coldeen said, referring to Wahl\u2019s resignation on air.<\/p>\n
Coldeen said he saw some of Wahl\u2019s work with Russia Today, and found them to be \u201cstraight\u201d and not slanted.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wish her nothing but the best,\u201d Coldeen said.<\/p>\n
Even on social media, CNMI residents near and far were posting and reposting Wahl\u2019s on-air resignation and interviews.<\/p>\n
In her final anchoring on Russia Today, Wahl said her grandparents came to the United States during the Hungarian Revolution to escape Soviet forces, and she feels lucky to have grown up in America. She said she\u2019s a daughter of a veteran and her partner is a physician at a military base \u201cwhere he sees every day the first-hand accounts of the ultimate prices that people pay for this country.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wahl began her televised resignation by referencing co-worker Abby Martin, who made headlines by denouncing Russian intervention in Ukraine earlier this week.<\/p>\n
Within hours, Wahl told CNN\u2019s Anderson Cooper, \u201cWhat\u2019s clear is what\u2019s happening right now amid this crisis is that RT is not about the truth. It\u2019s about promoting a Putinist agenda. And I can tell you firsthand, it\u2019s also about bashing America.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Inos administration, along with the Marianas Visitors Authority, is \u201cclosely monitoring\u201d the Ukraine-Russia crisis, which would have a negative impact on CNMI tourism if the United States imposes economic and travel restrictions against Russia.<\/p>\n
At stake is the CNMI\u2019s estimated $130 million annual economic revenue from Russian tourists if the U.S. imposes travel restrictions against Russia.<\/p>\n
But MVA managing director Perry Tenorio said flights from East Russia to the CNMI \u201ccontinue as scheduled\u201d and that arrivals from Russia to the Commonwealth \u201cremain extremely strong.\u201d<\/p>\n
The CNMI\u2019s tourism agency, nevertheless, is \u201cmonitoring the evolving crisis in the Ukraine with great concern,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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