Case closed—at least as far as CNN is concerned: President Obama was, in fact, born in Hawaii. The network conducted an investigation, and talked to the Republican former director of Hawaii's Department of Health. A state law let her examine Obama's actual birth certificate, which is stored in a vault. It is "absolutely authentic," she says. "He was absolutely born here in the state of Hawaii." CNN also got a current Hawaii resident who was born hours after Obama to request a copy of his birth certificate, and that resident received the same thing Obama did: a certification of live birth.
The network also delved into popular birther questions:
- Could Obama's birth announcement in the Honolulu Star Bulletin have been faked? No, the network says, because the information at that time came directly from the Department of Health and hospital birth records.
- Could Obama be hiding his original certificate because it states he is Muslim? No, because the original has no mention of religion.
- Did anyone see Obama just after his birth? Yes, Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie, who was a friend of Obama's mother, as well as a University of Hawaii professor. The mother of another baby born that day also thinks she saw him: "In those days, there were hardly any other black babies," she says.
Of course, none of this will be enough for Donald Trump, who now says Obama's birth certificate is missing.
He told Anderson Cooper the certificate is "not there or it doesn't exist," but wouldn't say how he knows. Watch in the gallery. (And click to read about
Trump's next crusade against Obama.)
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