American Morning
Hispanic leaders want immigration reform now
President Obama got elected with a huge boost from Latino voters. Now some Hispanic leaders are demanding that the president make good on a campaign pledge to take on the politically charged issue of immigration reform.
Iraqis cheer-and fear-U.S. pullout from cities
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/06/30/art.iraq.parade.afp.gi.jpg
caption="Iraqi soldiers join in a parade Tuesday in Karbala to mark the withdrawal of U.S. troops from cities and towns."]
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) - Tuesday marked the deadline for American troops to pull out of Iraq's towns and cities - a long-anticipated date that has been met by street festivals in Baghdad.
Celebrations were tempered, however, by fears of renewed violence as insurgents seek to use the date to stage new attacks.
Newscasters on state TV network Al-Iraqiya draped Iraqi flags around their necks as an on-screen clock counted down to midnight Monday (5 p.m. ET). Earlier Monday evening, hundreds of people danced and sang in a central Baghdad park to mark the U.S. pullout.
"I feel the same way as any Iraqi feels - I will feel my freedom and liberation when I don't see an American stopping an Iraqi on the street," said Awatef Jwad of Baghdad.
There were no columns of tanks rolling out of Baghdad or thousands of troops marching out of other cities as the deadline approached. The U.S. military gradually has been pulling its combat forces out of Iraq's population centers for months, and they already were gone by the weekend, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell told reporters in Washington.
But Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and other Iraqi and U.S. officials had warned of an increase in attacks around the withdrawal date as insurgents attempt to re-ignite the sectarian warfare that ravaged the country in 2006 and 2007.
Pro-gun pastor says come armed to church
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/06/30/intv.pagano.art.jpg caption="Pastor Kenneth Pagano is a gun rights advocate who encourages his parishioners to bring their firearms to church."]
You may not think that God and guns go together, but a pastor in Kentucky certainly does. He's encouraging his congregation to embrace their Second Amendment rights by coming to church armed.
On Saturday, Pastor Kenneth Pagano sponsored an “open carry celebration” at his church. He spoke to John Roberts on CNN’s “American Morning” Tuesday.
John Roberts: A question a lot of people might have is – what do God and guns have in common?
Kenneth Pagano: Well, the idea that a deep-seated belief in God and an appreciation for firearms, which was the basis for the founding of this country, which was also settled by very religious people evidently has not - has historical precedence for not being incongruous, and we also agree with the same.
Roberts: But the question is do guns belong in church? Even in the frontier days there were many churches that said to people, “Leave your weapons outside. No firearms inside the church.”
Pagano: There were also many churches that said you can have them. There are still congregational buildings in New England that go back to the colonial eras where there are actually gun racks that are there. It was also mandated that you had to bring your firearm with you with ammunition when you went to church, if not, you would have been fined. So this is not something new. It’s new in our generation, but it's not a new concept at all. We're trying to promote responsible gun ownership, that there are community-minded, legal law-abiding citizens such as myself and others who appreciate firearms as a sports tool, but also believe in the right for self-defense and self-protection. Church is not a building. A church is a gathering of people. People have the right to defend themselves wherever they are.
Roberts: Pastor, I was doing a lot of looking around this morning at the reaction to the event you had on Saturday night and some of the critics were asking things like “Would Jesus carry a weapon?” And “What would Jesus think of a pastor who beat plow shares into swords?”
Ex-con: Bernie won’t be too popular behind bars
Going from a Park Avenue luxury apartment to a federal prison is going to be quite a change for Bernard Madoff. He was sentenced yesterday to 150 years in prison. What's life going to be like for him behind bars?
Larry Levine served ten years in prison and is now a consultant for white collar criminals preparing to go to jail. He spoke to Kiran Chetry on CNN’s “American Morning” Tuesday.
Kiran Chetry: What do you fill people in on as they get ready to go to prison?
Larry Levine: Well, I do damage control. Once the judge slams down the gavel and sentences you, the lawyer has no idea what's going to happen. So I prepare people for going into custody. I teach them everything they need to know from the time they go in, until they get out. If they get in a jam while they're on the inside, their families can get a hold of me and we can straighten things out.
Now in Madoff's case, he doesn't have an out date. What, 150 years from now? So he really has nothing to look forward to. I see them possibly putting him on suicide watch and/or protective custody because people are going to want to get to him. On a lighter side, he will get about 19-and-a-half years off on good time. They will give him that even though it'll never apply.
Chetry: In a way you're saying he doesn’t have hope for an appeal or hope to get out if he does well?
Levine: You have to prove that the judge abused his discretion by sentencing him to 150 years. Well, Madoff's off the charts as far as the dollar loss and the U.S. sentencing guidelines. They could have given him 200 years, although it wouldn't really make a difference. The judge had the latitude to do that, so an appeal really is going to go nowhere.
Chetry: What's daily life going to be like for Bernard Madoff in a federal penitentiary?
Doctors and celebrities – Money over ethics?
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/06/30/jackson.rehearsal.art.jpg caption="Michael Jackson rehearses at the Staples Center on June 23, 2009."]
Most of us will never feel the healing hand of a concierge doctor.
A what?
A CONCIERGE doctor. They’re the ones who devote all or most of their time to a single, very wealthy client. Think Michael Jackson.
On June 15, Dr. Conrad Murray wrote a letter to his patients saying he would “cease practice of medicine indefinitely” due to a “once in a lifetime opportunity.” The sound of opportunity knocking was no less than the "King of Pop," Michael Jackson.
Murray had turned to practicing concierge medicine.
It was Murray who as Jackson’s personal doctor was at his side during the moments when the pop star’s life started to slip away last week. And it is Murray who was questioned by police and who is the subject of much unproven speculation about the role of prescription drugs in the death.
Murray’s lawyer, Edward Chernoff, has vigorously denied that his client prescribed the painkillers Dermerol and Oxycontin to Jackson. He described all of that as “rumors”.
Medical ethicists, while not commenting specifically about Murray, take a very cautionary view towards any doctor who devotes all or most of his time to a single patient.
“It can be intoxicating,” says the University of Pennsylvania’s Art Caplan. “When you’re going to hire yourself out as a solo physician, you’re really tempted to say this is really going to be glamour and this is going to be big money. However the problem is it also means a very demanding patient.”
In other words, it’s hard to say no to that kind of patient.
Caplan: “It’s difficult to be a concierge doctor in the sense in which the temptations to try and please your patient are too great. And I think the temptation is not to listen to your peers and not to have someone looking over your shoulder, which I think is the essential check and balance of good medicine. It’s tempting to be out there on your own egotistically saying, I can handle everything. I think that leads to danger.”
Besides the seduction of being near a celebrity, there’s the challenge of not getting to close to the patient.
Referencing a common saying among doctors, NYU Langone School of Medicine Psychiatrist Vatsal Thakkar told CNN, “We should not treat friends, family, or ourselves...It goes back to setting up situations where we might deviate from the type of care that we provide. And you know, if there is a dual relationship, hypothetically in a situation, that could be a complicating factor.”
What’s on Tap – Tuesday June 30, 2009
Here are the big stories on the agenda today:
- New pictures and new details emerging about the final days and minutes of Michael Jackson’s life, as the fight for Jackson’s family and fortune begins. Joe Jackson and Reverend Al Sharpton held a rather bizarre news conference yesterday, in which Michael’s father said there will be no funeral until the family sees private autopsy results. Investigators also returned to Jackson’s rented home, and left with medications. We're live in Encino, California.
- Also new information on the sudden death of TV’s most recognizable pitchman, Billy Mays. A medical examiner in Florida said Mays had an enlarged heart and probably had a heart attack in his sleep, so the hit on the head he suffered during a rough plane landing, probably did not kill him.
- It's not over yet. An official tells the Associated Press that at least ten more people may be charged with helping Bernie Madoff pull off the biggest rip-off in history. A judge sentenced the 60 billion dollar con man to 150 years in prison yesterday.
- Explosions over Iraq this morning, but ones in celebration. There were fireworks as U.S. forces officially turned over control of cities and towns to Iraqi security forces. The government has named June 30th "National Sovereignty Day,” but can Iraqi soldiers and police keep the country safe? We're live on the ground in Baghdad.
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