American Morning
Govt. changes watch list system after failed bombing
Washington (CNN) - The U.S. government has lowered the threshold for information deemed important enough to put suspicious individuals on a watch list or no-fly list, or have their visa revoked, senior State Department officials tell CNN.
The government overhauled criteria it uses for putting possible terrorists on such lists as a result of the failed Christmas Day attack, officials said. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the material. Our Foreign Affairs Correspondent Jill Dougherty has the report.
Read more: U.S. changes criteria for inclusion on no-fly lists
Sen. Dodd to announce retirement
(CNN) - Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Connecticut, plans to announce his retirement Wednesday, two sources close to the lawmaker told CNN. He plans to announce the decision at a news conference, one of the sources said.
Dodd, 65, had been winning congressional elections in his state since 1974, but he's recently been considered one of the most vulnerable Democrats seeking re-election in 2010. Our Senior Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash has the report.
Read more: Sen. Dodd to retire, sources tell CNN
Lobbying for Your Health: 150,000 seniors in revolt
Editor's Note: Lobbyists have spent hundreds of millions of dollars trying to influence the health care debate in this country. By some counts, there were six health care lobbyists for every member of Congress. In part three of the American Morning original series, "Lobbying for Your Health," Carol Costello looks at the AARP's contentious role in the debate.
By Bob Ruff and Carol Costello
November 5, 2009. That's the day the AARP endorsed the House health care bill. With nearly 40 million members, it's not surprising that the president quickly came before cameras in the White House to thank the AARP for its endorsement.
That AARP endorsement wasn't universally applauded by all of the organization's millions of members. The organization admits it has lost 150,000 members since the endorsement but says that's been offset by more than 2-million new or renewed memberships.
Some, like Robert Tice, feel the AARP is out of touch with its members by focusing so much on selling insurance. He says he will let his AARP membership lapse without renewal because he doesn't like what they're up to.
"The letters don't mean American Association of Retired Persons," he told CNN's Carol Costello. "It just means AARP. It's just a name. ... The AARP is about insurance. People need to know that. AARP is not out there to help you."
In fact, the AARP brands several types of insurance, including health policies with United Healthcare. By endorsing so many insurance policies the organization brought in around $650 million dollars last year in premiums. That's almost three times what it took in from membership dues.
We Listen: Your Comments – January 5, 2010
Editor's Note: Tuesday’s American Morning audience reacted strongly to part two of Carol Costello's report on health care lobbying groups.
- Dan: Absolutely un-[…]-believable!! Costello is doing a feature on lobbying the health care bill and she singles out the SEIU? Can no one at CNN tell the difference between groups who lobby for the rights of average Americans and those who spend tens of millions trying to protect the profits of the huge health industry corporations? In this age where "lobbyists" are framed in a very negative light, singling out SEIU, and AARP, is reprehensible. Of course, those groups are not spending nearly the sums that the industry groups are on advertising on CNN. You people truly suck.
- Eliot: I was interested this morning to FINALLY see a story coming up about the outsized influence lobbyists are playing in the health care debate. I was, however, shocked to see your story focused exclusively on the SEIU president and their lone lobbyist and contained not a mention of the probably 5000 lobbyists working against reform. Your report was deliberately deceptive, misleading and completely transparent in its aim.
- Art: Two thousand pages in the house bill, and I will bet that half of that was written by or for some lobby and not for those in need of decent health care. Get rid of the lobbyists!
How do you feel about lobbying groups in Washington? Continue the conversation below.
Study: Quitting smoking raises diabetes risk
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/01/05/cigs.gi.art.jpg caption="A study of 11,000 middle-aged people found that those who quit smoking gained an average of 8.4 pounds."]
By Sarah Klein, Health.com
(Health.com) - People who quit smoking are at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes after they kick the habit, most likely due to post-quitting weight gain, a new study has found.
Experts caution, however, that the benefits of quitting smoking - including a lower risk of heart attack and lung cancer - far outweigh the risk of developing diabetes, which can be treated with diet, exercise, and medication.
The study, which was published today in the Annals of Internal Medicine, followed nearly 11,000 middle-aged people without diabetes - 45 percent of whom were smokers - over a nine-year period. Compared to those who had never smoked, the people who quit smoking during the study had a 73 percent increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes three years after quitting.
The increased risk was even more dramatic in the years immediately after quitting. "Based on our analysis, [it's] probably 80 percent or even 90 percent," says the study's lead author, Hsin-Chieh (Jessica) Yeh, an assistant professor of internal medicine and epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Mom & baby thought to be dead, now alive
A pregnant mom goes into labor and her heart stops beating. Doctors remove her baby by cesarean and he too appears dead. But miraculously, they both come back to life.
It's being called a Christmas Eve miracle, and a medical mystery. Our Tom Foreman has the report.
About this Show
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