American Morning
Napolitano says drug legalization not the answer
President Obama makes his first trip to Mexico today as drug violence continues to plague the border between the U.S. and Mexico. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will be with the president on his visit. She joined Kiran Chetry on CNN’s American Morning Thursday.
Kiran Chetry: We heard from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who said America's insatiable demand for drugs is in part fueling the drug wars. Do you think we're partly to blame for the violence we've been seeing along the border?
Janet Napolitano: Well, there certainly is a relationship. You can't deny it. These are huge drug cartels that have developed over time. They're very violent. Witness the fact that there were over 6,000 homicides in northern Mexico last year including 550 that were assassinations of law enforcement or public officials in Mexico. What we're working to do, is to work to stop the flow of guns and cash in to Mexico that are helping fuel these cartels. But also, we're working at the border to make sure that the spillover violence doesn't occur in our own cities and communities.
Journalist: U.S. and Mexico need to revise drug war strategy
President Obama is headed to Mexico today and will be meeting with Mexico’s president, Felipe Calderon. The president will share his vision about what it will take to tackle the drug cartels to combat deadly violence that’s spilling over the border.
John Ackerman is editor-in-chief of the Mexican Law Review and lives in Mexico City. Ackerman spoke to Kiran Chetry on CNN’s American Morning Thursday.
Kiran Chetry: As President Obama gets ready to meet with Mexican President Calderon, what guarantees do we need to give to Mexico first of all?
John Ackerman: I think President Obama should be very aware of the situation that’s occurring here in Mexico, in terms of the serious politicizing that is happening with regards to the combating of the drug traffickers. Calderon has been very much emphasizing the military aspects of the combating of the drug traffickers, which I think is a mistake. We really need to think about institution building and changing the focus of the strategy of the attack on the drug traffickers. Obama should be aware of this. It's very easy to talk about the war on drugs. But it’s also very dangerous because there have been serious attacks on human rights and there hasn’t been enough done in terms of combating corruption in Mexico.
Stock market emotional roller coaster
The recent Wall Street meltdown has everyone scratching their heads—and looking for answers. Some people think the answer may actually be found in the personality and emotions of the people doing the trading.
If you’ve ever seen Eddy Murphy’s movie “Trading Places” you’ve seen what happens on a trading floor when emotions go wild. “You idiot,” says the character Mortimer Duke to his trader as the trading floor erupts with emotion, “get in there and sell, sell!!”
An MIT professor agrees that personality and emotions of traders play a key role in explaining why people end up making bad trades and losing money.
Who should take a daily aspirin?
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/06/20/sanjay.gupta.cnn.jpg caption="CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta answers your questions."]
Asked by Sharon, Mays Landing, New Jersey:
“My husband’s doctor told him to take an aspirin a day. Should I be taking one too?”
Answer:
Thanks for the question Sharon. Aspirin is a medication we often get questions about, probably because an estimated one-third of Americans take it every day. The popular pain reliever is easily accessible, inexpensive, and available at your local pharmacy. It is commonly used to treat arthritis, headaches and fever among other minor pains. But what is often confusing is whether taking it every day can help prevent ailments– a heart attack or stroke.
Most daily users were most likely prescribed aspirin to lower their risk of cardiovascular disease. But it is important to note that not all people will benefit from this treatment, and in some cases, it can be dangerous.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is a group of independent health experts who review effectiveness and offer usage guidelines for medical treatments and drugs. Last month, the USPSTF updated its 2002 recommendations of who could benefit from a daily aspirin regime.
What’s on Tap – Thursday April 16, 2009
Here are the big stories on the agenda today:
- A happy homecoming. The crew of the Maersk Alabama – the U.S.-flagged cargo ship hijacked by Somali pirates last week – arrived in the United States early Thursday. There were smiles and hugs and “welcome home’s.” Now the crew awaits their skipper, Captain Rich Phillips. He was detoured when the Navy was called to help another ship shake the pirates, but could be in the air any moment.
- President Obama heads to Mexico City today to meet with President Felipe Calderon, before traveling to Trinidad and Tobago for the fifth Summit of the Americas, with the border plagued by drug violence, and U.S. immigration reform on the shelf. Homeland security secretary Janet Napolitano is making her 2nd visit of the month to Mexico. She is meeting with government officials to discuss southwest border violence. We’ll ask her how the U.S. can assist and should respond. We are also continuing our special series “Drug Nation.” Today: Should we legalize pot? Many of you blog watchers say yes and the war on drugs is not working. We look at the pros and cons.
- Impulse Buying… and Selling: Can the personalities of stock traders be behind the wild swings in the markets the past few years? At least one researcher at MIT thinks the way traders react to bubbles and crashes has in part, magnified gains and losses.
- Beer Wars... FULL POST
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