American Morning
Building Up America: Keeping young workers at home
(CNN) – This week in our ongoing series "Building Up America," our Tom Foreman is finding some real success stories in the great state of Alabama. The latest is a small business in Montgomery that is growing and keeping its young, talented workforce in place.
CIA coming under scrutiny
(CNN) – Does the CIA need an overhaul? In the wake of a deadly December suicide attack against one of its bases in Afghanistan, a lot of experts believe the agency is badly in need of reform.
Former CIA operative Bob Baer has pieced together a chilling account of that suicide attack for GQ magazine. He also has a lot to say about some missteps that preceded it. He joined us on Tuesday's American Morning to break it all down.
Dodd on reforming Wall Street
(CNN) – At the height of the financial meltdown, the Obama administration had big plans for reforming the system. Today, a somewhat less ambitious plan is on the table.
Sen. Chris Dodd, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, joined us on Tuesday's American Morning to discuss his plans to reform Wall Street. Dodd also answered an amFIX Twitter question about whether he felt any responsibility for his role in the housing collapse that started our economic catastrophe today.
CNNMoney: Dodd: Time to reform Wall Street
Non-melanoma skin cancer rates double in last 15 years
(CNN) – Too many people are ignoring warnings to stay out of the sun. The medical journal Archives of Dermatology says non-melanoma skin cancer is reaching epidemic proportions. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta joined us on Tuesday's American Morning for the details.
Growing Up Behind Bars: Life in prison for teens
Editor's Note: The Supreme Court is considering whether life sentences for teenage criminals who haven't committed a homicide is cruel and unusual punishment. Some of the best legal minds in the country have fiercely debated the issue. The one thing they all seem to agree on: there are no easy answers. CNN's Jason Carroll reports for part two of American Morning's original series, "Growing Up Behind Bars."
By Jason Carroll, CNN
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/CRIME/09/09/prison.life.lesson.memoir/art.dwayne.betts.jwilson.jpg.jpg caption="Dwayne Betts was arrested at 16 for a carjacking and spent nearly 9 years in Virginia's adult prisons."]
(CNN) - As Dwayne Betts addressed thousands of students at last year's University of Maryland's commencement ceremonies, his thoughts then and now are of how far he has come in his life, how five years before that moment, he was locked up in prison.
“When I was 16-years-old, on December 7th, 1996, I carjacked a man in a parking lot in Springfield, Virginia … at gunpoint,” says Betts.
At the time, Betts says he was a high school honor student who had fallen in with the wrong crowd.
“I think the truth is sort a strange mix of opportunity. … You don't turn 16 and have a gun in your hand. So I think it was a lot of baby steps.”
It was a major step. Although no one was physically hurt during his crime, Betts was prosecuted as an adult. Carjacking in Virginia carries a maximum sentence of life.
“There's no way to quantify what a life sentence does to a person," he says. "If I had to wake up every morning to a life sentence, I don't even want to imagine what I would have become.”
Betts, at 16, received the minimum sentence, serving nearly nine years in Virginia's adult prison system, living alongside the state's most violent criminals.
Armey rallying Tea Party groups against health care bill
(CNN) – If everything goes according to plan, Democrats could have a health care reform bill on President Obama's desk by the end of the week. But that's a big "if."
Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey is rallying Tea Party groups around the country to "storm the steps" of Capitol Hill today. His group, Freedom Works, is also supporting another rally called, "Kill the Bill." He joined us on Tuesday's American Morning to talk more about it.
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