American Morning
Stimulus scams prey on victims' desperation
President Obama's $787 billion stimulus package is stimulating at least one sector of the economy – con artists.
The Federal Trade Commission says hundreds of thousands of innocent Americans have already been ripped off, to the tune of nearly $30 million. Our Allan Chernoff has one victim's story in this "AM" original report.
Afghans fighting back, one town at a time
President Obama will meet today with his top commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, and America's ambassador to Kabul, Karl Eikenberry.
As the president's war strategy starts falling into place, our Barbara Starr is already on the ground, embedded with U.S. forces.
Today she has the story of one village where Afghan forces are fighting back against the Taliban, and winning. It's a story you won't see anywhere else.
Inside the Child’s Mind: Understanding autism
By Kiran Chetry, CNN
Eight-year-old Zander Pridy has no trouble reading big words.
“I read books of science and watch this cool show called ‘Nova,’” he tells me.
Today Zander is helping scientists make some discoveries of their own. Zander has an autism spectrum disorder known as Asperger syndrome.
Researchers at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia are using a MEG machine – short for magnetoencephalography – to study the brain waves of children like Zander with autism disorders.
“We're trying to study how children's brains respond to stimuli – to sounds, to words, to speech,” says lead researcher Tim Roberts.
They are hoping to unlock the mysteries of how an autistic brain works. Roberts says new clues are already emerging.
“When you hear a sound, the brain responds. When a child with autism hears a sound, their brain responds too, but a little bit later. … So what we're seeing is a fraction of a second, a split second delay in recognizing that sound.”
How does that play out in how children with autism learn and communicate?
Study: 40% of children have sex before 'the talk'
If you're a parent you know the sex talk is never easy. It can be awkward and often our children are mortified by it.
That may be one reason the talk so often comes after the fact. At least that's what a new study has found. Our Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen reports.
Branson unveils new commercial spacecraft
The countdown is on to commercial space travel. Today, Virgin Galactic founder Sir Richard Branson will unveil the world's first commercial manned spacecraft. 300 tourists have already booked a ticket – at $200,000 a pop.
Sir Richard Branson was live from the Mojave Desert on American Morning Monday with the first look at the new spacecraft.
E-mails cast doubt on climate change research
The e-mails and allegations that the global warming threat may be exaggerated could have a major impact on climate change negotiations in Copenhagen this week.
Ground zero for the climate scandal has been Britain's University of East Anglia. Our John Roberts went directly to the source to dig deeper on this story.
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