American Morning
Crist crossing party lines in race for Senate?
(CNN) – Florida Gov. Charlie Crist has until the end of the week to decide whether to drop the Republican Party and run as an independent in the race for Senate. Time is not on his side and neither are some GOP leaders who are threatening to pull their support from the one-time party favorite. Our John Zarrella has the report.
Immigrant soldier reacts to Arizona law
(CNN) – Protests are heating up over Arizona's tough new immigration law. The measure requires police to question anyone they believe might be an illegal immigrant. Opponents say Hispanics will be unfairly targeted.
A Democratic congressman from Arizona is urging the president not to acknowledge the law and civil rights leaders say they'll march in the street and invite arrest by refusing to comply. Thousands of people staged a peaceful protest outside the state capitol in Phoenix yesterday and an immigrant soldier about to ship to the war zone was among them. Our Thelma Gutierrez has his story.
Read more: Hundreds protest immigration law
Shopping for cheap surgery
Editor's Note: Everybody loves a bargain, but is it really a good idea to shop for rock-bottom prices when it comes to medical care? With so much waste in our health care system and costs continuing to sky-rocket, some Americans are actually sniffing out cheap surgery deals overseas. Today in our original series "Prescription for Waste," senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen introduces us to one of them. Tomorrow on American Morning, you'll meet a doctor who was billed $863 for a pair of disposable forceps when she needed surgery.
Sound off: Share your health care horror stories with us. Post your comments below.
Are corporations people, too?
By Bob Ruff and Carol Costello, CNN
(CNN) – Can you imagine a world in which your next congressman is “sponsored” by Pepsi? Or Walmart? Or any corporation for that matter? Well, it may not be so far-fetched.
Enter the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in January that the “prohibition of corporate independent (political) expenditures is an outright ban on free speech.” That ruling, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, effectively opened the flood gates to allow, for example, Pepsi or Walmart, or any company to pay for advertising supporting or opposing a political candidate – so long as it’s not done in league with a candidate. Labor unions, just like corporations, are also now free to pay for political advertising.
The first political ad bought and paid for by a corporation has appeared in several small newspapers in east Texas. KDR Development Inc., a real estate company, took out an ad opposing Chuck Hopson, a Republican running for reelection to the Texas legislature. Hobson told CNN, “a friend of mine called and said, 'Chuck, there’s a corporate ad against you in the paper.' And I said, 'yea, who is it?'”
Larry Durrett is the president of KDR. He ran unsuccessfully against Hopson in a previous election. (We called several times asking Durrett for a comment, but he did not return any of our phone calls.) The KDR ad reads, “Vote for a Real Republican,” and it goes on to criticize Hopson for “(supporting) the Democratic platform and agenda.”
KDR isn’t exactly a Fortune 500 company, but Durrett wonders: “What if it’s a big company that America loves or what if it’s a company that American hates?”
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