
(CNN) – Today we have a follow-up to a story we brought you a while ago: the plight of the Burmese python in south Florida.
Efforts to control the population of the fast-breeding predators were underway this year until mother nature apparently decided to step in and do the job herself. Our John Zarrella has the report.
(CNN) – The Republican National Committee has come under fire in the past for its lavish spending on limousines and private jets, and more recently for picking up a nearly $2,000 tab for an outing at a strip club near Los Angeles.
Tony Perkins, a prominent conservative and president of the Family Research Council, is now urging people not to donate to the RNC. He writes, in part:
"...the RNC is completely tone-deaf to the values and concerns of a large number of people from whom they seek financial support. ... If you want to put money into the political process ... give directly to candidates who you know reflect your values."
Perkins joined us on Thursday's American Morning to explain more about why he is urging people to stop giving money to the RNC.
Read more: Conservative leader tells donors to stop giving to RNC
(CNN) – The movie "Mean Girls" explored the cliques and conflicts that come with high school, but as we've seen in too many real-life cases – most recently in western Massachusetts – teen bullying can have tragic results. And it often involves girls hurting other girls.
Erika Holiday and Joan Rosenberg wrote the book "Mean Girls, Meaner Women." They joined us on Thursday's American Morning.
(CNN) – A new study says the soda tax isn't doing its job and the solution may be to make us pay even more for junk food.
Higher and higher taxes on cigarettes seemed to help curb smoking, so why isn't the soda tax working the same way? Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta joined us on Thursday's American Morning to break it down.
From Shelby Lin Erdman, CNN
(CNN) - Flood-weary residents in Rhode Island surveyed the damage as waters started receding, with officials saying Thursday the long-term recovery could take months.
"The Pawtuxet River, which impacts our community, crested," said Fire Battalion Chief Joseph Greenwell. "But at this point, there's widespread damage throughout the city from the river, which overflowed its banks."
The Northeast, particularly Rhode Island, battled flooded roads and basements for most of the week. Many of the schools in the region remained closed Thursday.
"We haven't had anything that's physically washed away yet, but the impact of the floodwaters rushing over the bridges and eroding the foundations of the bridges," Greenwell said. "The water is still too high to determine exactly what the damage is going to be once the floodwaters recede."
A rainstorm formed earlier in the week and soaked the Northeast on Tuesday, exacerbating the remaining effects of another major storm from two weeks ago. Rhode Island appeared to fare the worst. FULL STORY

