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tv   CNN Newsroom  CNN  September 25, 2010 3:00pm-4:00pm EDT

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were legal and how many were illegal? >> i didn't ask them for their papers, though i had a strong urge too. >> reporter: republicans weren't the only skeptics, the democratic chairman of the full committee was so worried about the event becoming a service, he tried to kick cobert out even before he spoke. >> i'm asking you to leave the committee room completely and submit your statement instead. >> i think many are eager to hear his comments. >> that's fair enough. >> i'm only here at her invitation. >> despite initially worrying it would be a circus, he thought it weren't well, even calling cobert profound. as for the chair woman who invited cobert, she has no regrets. she got what she wanted, attention on this issue. the media did swarm the hallways and pack the committee room, she joked during the hearing there hasn't been this much attention in the judiciary committee since bill clinton's impeachment, dana bash season season capitol hill.
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a national security issue and the case of a yemeni american cleric anwar al awlaki. the administration is asking for a case to be dismissed on behalf of the muslim cleric's father. he's believed to be hiding in yemen, and u.s. officials believe he's a significant operational figure with al qaeda. in court papers filed this morning, the obama administration said the case could require the disclosure of highly sensitive national security information. and that's why it want this is case dismissed. the obama administration is invoking its state privileges. the cleric is a u.s. citizen. joining us now by phone is jonathan turley, an expert on constitutional law at george washington university. and he also has experience as
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lead council in a state secrets case. all right, professor, i'm glad you could be with us. does this case merit a state secret privilege? >> well, i have to say, i find it questionable. because the indication really raises a very simple and threshold issue, and that is, can the president of the united states on his own authority simply say, i'm going to kill this citizen? now, obviously the administration has some very good reasons to want to capture him. but to do a targeted assassination of a citizen without any due process raises obvious concerns. but really before we get to that, the problem with the privilege assertion is that this question can be answered without access to most of that information. i mean, presents a constitutional question, not a -- really a national security question in terms of the details of what's happening in yemen or any other country. >> what do you mean?
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how would this -- how would it be that this case would be argued without the national security issues being aired publicly? is it as simple as the court may be privy to what these national security issues are? and it remain a private matter? it not be revealed out in the open if this indeed were to be a case that went to trial? >> well, at men station officials have already publicly acknowledged that there is an order to kill this guy. and so the fact that the president's asserting this authority is not in dispute. what's in dispute is his -- the basis for claiming that authority. and so i would think that the legal issue could be resolved by the court without a lot of details as to how they intend to do it. what's being challenged here, is not how the president might do the act, whether it's by predator or some other means, but whether he can do the act.
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that's what makes this assertion somewhat questionable. having said that, you know, the administration has been incredibly successful in getting cases dismissed in the national security area. they have an almost perfect record in avoiding judicial review. most of its controversial national security program. >> without the use of this state secret privilege. >> sometimes without the use of the state secret, sometimes without standing. they've done everything they could to prevent courts from ruling on questions of this kind of it's obvious why they don't want the court to look at this. the whole constitution gives u.s. citizens a panaplee of rights. thaends up to be largely aspirational if the president can unilaterally say, all right, you can take out this guy and
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that guy. >> separate from this state secret privilege, how lawful do you believe it is that there would be this possible cia hit list. some u.s. officials are acknowledging that there is such a thing and al awlaki is on it. that is the case of the aclu which is saying, on behalf of the father of this man, he shouldn't be on a hit list, he shouldn't be targeted especially when he's a u.s. citizen. what kind of argument is that to make? >> this is part of that disconnect we've seen in other cases, where we have officials talking about things like the waterboarding or torture program, and other national security programs. but once they go into court, they say, that's top secret, you can't even venture into this area. and so there's a disconnect. and it's really clear in this case, where you have officials saying, yeah, we have a hit list, and yeah it has this individual on it, and, yes, the president does claim the right to be able to kill a u.s.
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citizen. now, in the past, there's always been an assumption that those types of orders have been given. but it was only with bush and obama that it became an open public policy, where the president openly claimed the right to unilaterally target a citizen for assassination. and george bush was criticized when he ordered a predator attack on a car, when he knew there was a u.s. citizen in the car, and effectively decided that citizen would die. >> something tells me this is just the tip of the iceberg, professor turley, thanks for joining us on the phone. >> always my pleasure. thank you. for freed american hiker sarah shourd it was a long-time coming. she spent months pleading for the release from an iranian prison and asking to speak with iran's president. well, she got the first part of her wish earlier this month, and then in new york yesterday, she
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got the second part of her wish. she spoke with mahmoud ahmadinejad and appealed for the release of still jailed companions, shane bauer and josh fattal. >> i'd like to be able to talk to the president. it's a good feel forge me to be able to tell him my story directly. i'm very thankful for this, and hopeful it will make a difference for shane and josh. >> shourd also discussed the details of her confinement with our mary snow. >> here we are in central park, you're a free woman. does this feel surreal to you? >> yeah, that's a good word. i mean, i still feel numb. it feels like a big disappointment. of course, freedom is everything i dreamed it would be, but it's the most important part is taken out of it not to have my fiancee and my friend josh here with me. >> reporter: sarah's fiancee and
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their friend remain in iran's prison accused by iran of spying. their lives changed on july 31st 2009 when they went hiking in iraq. sarah says they didn't know they were close to the border with iran. >> no. i mean, if we had any idea we would have stayed far, far away. we would have never risked our safety. ween with the there to take any risks whatsoever. we were there to enjoy the green mountain. so northern iraq was kind of an obvious choice. a couple of my friends have already made this trip, had absolutely no problem. people go there from all over the world. >> you were hiking for a few hours. what happened. >> there was no indication of a border, there wasn't a sign, there wasn't a flag or a fence, and all of a sudden we saw some soldiers and we, of course, assumed they were iraqi
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soldiers, when we found out they were iranian soldiers, we were baffled, mystified, confused and they just took us. >> reporter: taken to iran's notorious evin prison where sarah was put into solitary confinement. she was blindfolded even to go to the bathroom. >> in the beginning i would scream and cry a lot. sometimes i would bang on the walls. even eventually it realizes that that resistance is futile. no one listens no, one cares. shane and josh were the thing that kept me going. >> reporter: eventually they were allowed to spend up to an hour together each day. how small is the space? >> it's about 10 feet by 5 feet. it's the same space i had but there's two of them. so the space they exercise on, it's like about the size of a towel. >> it's those images that keep sarah fighting to regain the
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release of shane and josh. josh's brother now considers sarah a sister. >> it's bittersweet, it's great to see sarah, hold her hand and feel a little more connected to josh. but i really want to give josh a hug get out on the basketball court with him. get shane home too. all three families this has gone on for way too long. >> reporter: mary snow, cnn, new york. it's alleged there was use of church money to coerce young men into relationships. the latest on that investigation. yet another lawsuit has been filed. we'll take a closer look. ♪
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on long trips. residence inn. it just doesn't end. there are lots of twists and turns as it pertains to these new developments today in the case of bishop eddie long. we've been telling you about another lawsuit being filed bringing the number to four now. bishop long says he will now hold a press conference tomorrow. martin savidge joins us now. we know there was great expectation for him returning to
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the pulpit tomorrow. is that in addition to the press conference? is it one instead of the other? >> it appears to be one instead of the other. the news we are getting -- cnn is the camera for tomorrow's events. we thought it was going to be a remarkable day for openness and transparency. that does not appear to be the case now. what we're being told by our producers who are out there preparing for tomorrow's event. they've been talking to the leadership of the congregation. the new birth people are saying what will happen -- there were two services, one was at 8:00 the other at 11:00, those will go forward. cameras were supposed to be allowed in for 8:00 and 11:00 and there was a feed the church would put out for the public to see. now we're being told that the feed and our camera will cease the moment after bishop long enters the church and greets the congregation. we will not see, we will not be able to report to you and show you what statement he makes to the congregation after that
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point. there will be no access whatsoever at 11:00 a.m. journalists will be allowed to see what bishop long says, we will be in a separate room, but cannot record any of it to show you or transmit to you later. there will be the news conference, bishop long will be there as well as his wife, what will be asked is plenty of questions. but what we will see is now seeming limited. >> now that that limitation, that early 8:00 a.m. hour our pool camera can shoot the congress garks who's there, can see the bishop come in. but at that point the cameras have to stop rolling? >> the moment of explanation is this part. now, we have not been given a clear explanation why this is. it appears that bishop long, whatever he wants to say, he feels he wants to keep it to the congregation. as we already know, this story has swept across the nation, and there are many other churches that have become involved with this. i wants to point out yesterday i
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talked to william jasper, the leader of the church in atlanta. he's speaking to many pastors on how they want to approach this. they want to approach the entire scandal with prayer. here's what he had to say. >> we're examination in our prayers that god would give us directions as it relates to the church and what the church should do, and how it is we should respond to all that is going on this week. >> talking to reverend williams, what you find out is that this scandal, we are talking about the new birth church, is impacting congregations all across the country. because, of course -- >> whether they're a mega church or a small church. >> this raises the same issue. >> trust. >> and that's why if the congregation believes it is strictly limited to new birth, it's not. >> wow, this is fascinating stuff, it seems to change by the minute. we know you're on it all day long. the next time we talk, it might change again. thanks for that update on what may or may not happen involving
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new birth church and bishop long. thanks so much, marty. >> you're welcome. well, what did he know? and what did he do about it? we preview a special cnn investigation into the pope's handling of the sexual abuse crisis. [ woman ] alright, so this tylenol 8 hour lasts 8 hours.
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save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance?really host: is having a snowball fight with pitching great randy johnson a bad idea? man: yeah, i'm thinking maybe this was a bad idea. straight ahead a special edition of viral videos. we look forward to it all the time. what's going on? >> it's our dessert. >> yes. >> this is a recording of john lennon that you've probably never heard. >> i'm anti-war. >> decades after sneaking into this hotel room and getting the interview, a man turned his interview with john lennon on to a hit on youtube. this is one of the videos on the short list from youtube and the guggenheim that may be named the
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most creative and innovative videos ever. also, a public prank you'll see. and a mystery musician unmasked. all those coming later. >> very intriguing stuff. we look forward to that and you after this.
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los angeles police are investigating a shooting at a house party which left one person dead. at least a dozen people were shot. police aren't sure if the gunman is still at large. we'll bring you more details on this story as we get them. new jersey police are
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investigating a shooting at an offcampus party near seton hall university. one is in grave condition. the alleged gu ed gunman tried crash the party but was denied entry and returned with a gun. he is still on the loose. mitt romney appears to be laying the groundwork for yet another presidential bid. addressing new hampshire's gop convention today, he bashed president obama about the economy. he added the country's dissatisfaction with the president would be evident in the midterm elections. i know that tease made you stick around for josh's viral videos. people want to see more about john lennon and all the other musical mysteries on hand. >> this is cool. i didn't know about this until a few days ago. you don't usually hear youtube and the guggenheim discussed in the same sentence.
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but some of these videos are really modern art. >> we're seeing fascinating displays of creativity. >> that's why the guggenheim hooked up with us. they're on this search for what they will declare to be the most creative, most innovative videos on the planet. and they got more than 23,000 submissions from 91 countries for this. and what happened was, this team pieced through all of them. looked at all of them, and chose the short list, which is 125 videos. this is a compilation that shows you a couple clips. you can look at all of them, they're now showing on guggenheim kiosks all over the world. they have this jury made up of artists, graphic designers, curators and filmmakers who are going to help decide the top 20 most creative videos in the world, and they'll be announced -- i think guggenheim new york. >> that's fantastic.
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it's fascinating looking at these clips. >> it's mesmerizing. we have a few to show you, just to highlight here, one is from a group we talked about on this show before. improv everywhere. they do these public kind of prank tape things. this one is called human mirror, they dress these people up to look like identical twins, and they go on the subway and they see if people notice. it's like there's a mirror. they sit across from each other, and they do exactly the same thing. people are like what? what's going on here. >> you're looking at an actual shot, like you're on either side. and people start to notice after a while. >> they do so many things on the subways, that i think a lot of people are hip to it. that's why folks are like, it's new york, they're like, yeah, whatever. >> it's always on the subway. >> people are she nonchalant. they're not surprised. >> come down to atlanta, yeah. that would be more interesting.
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here's one you've never seen. this is called cardboard. this one -- you've seen cardboard, but not this. this is from an animator in the netherlands, based on characters he's made. it's stop motion and created. how long did it take to do this then. >> 1200 individual shots, and these creatures look like they're going to attack. and they start walking through the town. stop motion means they had to set up every single frame to take this picture. >> that's a lot of time on your hands. >> now, the one teased before the break. this guy sneaks into john lennon's hotel room, gets an interview with him. which would never happen today, don't try it. but in '69 they were in a place where they were cool with that. he ended up recording the interview. now it's been animated. this won an emmy last year. let's watch a little peace of
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this. >> i'm anti-war, so they try to keep me out. >> basically, this guy was 14 years old when he taped this on a reel to reel recorder. now he's working with animators and animating the things john lennon was talking about. in 1969 a lot of society was talking about the war. last year they got an emmy for this. this was a new category, giving a daytime emmy to a youtube video. >> maybe that explains why john lennon said, you snuck into my room, i'll talk with you. he was 14. maybe when he saw that he was a kid, that it just seemed nonthreatening, i'm not going to call security, i'm going to find out what this curious kid is up to. >> apparently he was a trusting guy too. it was an amazing experience for this guy to this day, to have this recording that no one knows about. before we go, this is a guy
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on the short list -- i wanted to show him to you anyway, was just waiting for the right week. mystery guitar guy. he's super famous on youtube. he was trying to play a piece and he couldn't. so he shot video of himself playing every note and he edited the piece together. all these individual frames with the accompanying music. it takes time to piece together the entire piece. he does duets and trios of himself. he's had more than 100 million views on his youtube channel. >> that is talent. >> he's one of the top ten most described. >> how long do you think that took? >> days. but it works. >> yeah. >> in this era, to become this big on youtube. >> that's extraordinary. you too can be a star on youtube. >> and in my -- i was going to say -- she didn't say wrap yet.
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as always i'll post it on my facebook page. we'll be back tomorrow with more of the highlights. >> can we talk about the daddy blogging tomorrow too? >> yes, i interviewed a group of daddy bloggers. more and more dads turn to the internet for advice. >> and sharing and helping each other. i like that. >> josh, thanks. we have lots coming from you tomorrow. thanks so much. getting stuck month.out sweat every day to make an honest buck...month. and if you're gonna try and do this in anything other than a chevy... well, good luck...month. great deals on the complete family of chevy trucks all backed for a hundred thousand miles. it's truck month. now buy this 2011 all-star edition silverado and combine the option package discount with other offers for a total value of five thousand dollars. see your local chevrolet dealer.
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personal pricing now on brakes. tell us what you want to pay. we do our best to make that work. deal! my money. my choice. my meineke. pope benedict is the first pope to meet with and to apologize to victims of sexual abuse by catholic priests. years ago when he was cardinal joseph ratzinger he oversaw some of the morneau tore yous abuse cases in a cnn special investigation, gary tuchman
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looks at what the pope knew. >> reporter: in 1989 bishop daniel ryan drove about 45 minutes north of his office in springfield, illinois to the town of lincoln. he came here to lincoln to visit one of his priests. a priest who is living here in a prison. in 1985, father alvin campbell pleaded guilty to multiple charges of sexual assault on boys as young as 11 years old. he was sentenced to 14 years in prison. matt mccormick was one of the children campbell abused. >> i don't come by the school, and i don't come by the church. starting in seventh grade, campbell molested mccormick in the church's school, the rectory and even here. >> is this the confessional you were in? >> this is the confession al.
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>> campbell was sent to prison, but he was still a priest. that's why bishop bryan came to visit him to ask him to voluntarily leave the priesthood. he turned to rome for help. spelling out in graphic detail what he had done to his victims. ratzinger's answer to defrocking the priest was no. >> incredibly, what cardinal ratzinger was saying he could not agree to defrock a priest, even a convicted child molester without that priest's permission. the monseigneur, the vatican's prosecutor worked with the pope for years on sex abuse cases. when he sat down with me at the vatican, it was his first ever television review on the pope's
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record. >> do you see how it sounds so ridiculous, unless he requests it we can't defrock him? >> it would sound roidiculous i you forget the next paragraph that says, there is a way of reducing him by church trial. >> reporter: ratzinger's letter does say the bishop can avoid responsibility by putting him thigh a church trial. he had already been convicted in a criminal trial. the process needs changing. >> i think these cases certainly thought ratzinger and his collaborators that something needed to be done, and something has been done today cannon law has a different scenario. this would not happen under today's cannon law. and that is also the marriage of cardinal ratzinger, who is pope benedict xvi today.
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>> reporter: campbell would finally be defrocked three years later after he eventually agreed to request it himself. after bouts with depression, alcohol and drugs, mccormick today is happily march rid with a daughter. >> give mama a kiss. >> reporter: and a wife who gave up on the church. >> we both converted to lutheranism because of this. i don't have faith in the catholic church whatsoever at all. >> that was gary tuchman reporting, catch the entire documentary tonight and tomorrow night, it will air at 8:00 eastern right here on cnn. brand name or generic? what happen when is your drug of choice is no longer available to you as prescribed by your doctor. we get a doctor's advice.
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words alone aren't enough. my job is to listen to the needs and frustrations of the shrimpers and fishermen, hotel or restaurant workers who lost their jobs to the spill. i'm iris cross. bp has taken full responsibility for the clean up in the gulf and that includes keeping you informed. our job is to listen and find ways to help. that means working with communities. restoring the jobs, tourist beaches, and businesses impacted by the spill. we've paid over $400 million in claims and set up a $20 billion independently-run claims fund to cover lost income until people impacted can get back to work. and our efforts aren't coming at tax-payer expense.
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i know people are wondering-- now that the well is capped, is bp gonna meet its commitments? i was born in new orleans. my family still lives here. i'm gonna be here until we make this right.
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a look at our top stories right now, the government is citing state secrets as it tries to dismiss a lawsuit by the father of accused terrorist al awlaki. the cia says he has ties to al qaeda and is hiding in yemen. awlaki's father is suing to protect his son. a short but severe storm tore through port-au-prince, haiti, still recovering from january's earthquake. no warning the storm was coming and five people died. an aide camp operated by sean penn was damaged and a medical tent and a tent for staff also
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destroyed. it's the first of a kind, the dea is holding the first ever national prescription drug takeback day. at 3400 sites from coast to coast, old unused prescription drugs can be dropped off, no questions asked. the dea says many people who a00 booze prescription drugs get them from the medicine cabinets of family and friends. the popular diabetes drug avandia is back under the micro scope. for many patients no longer available. the fda is restricting who can take it because of concerns of heart problems. doctor, good to see you. >> thank you. >> so if you had been prescribed avandia for a period of time before this latest change, will you still be able to stay on avandia? what kind of restrictions are in place now? >> well, there are a couple prerestrictions placed on avandia bit fda. if a patient is currently taking
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avan deyarks they can continue taking avandia for the time being, but it is recommended that that patient seek the advice of their physician to look for another alternative in the same drug family as avandia. >> avandia is not the only thing in question right now. avastin which is one usually used for cancer patients. what options do they have now. are the same kinds of restrictions being imposed on avastin? >> it's a little bit of a different story with avastin. it's not been shown to be dangerous to patients or increase any risk of severe illness. with avastin what they found was that there does not seem to be as much of a benefit as was once thought. and so avastin has had preliminary approval by the fda,
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but the fda is now taking a step back and deciding whether or not to give them full approval for use with breast cancer or to pull it completely from the market. it's a little unclear as to what will happen with avastin. >> now it brings into question for a lot of patients, you need to take this specific drug for this particular ailment. you take that prescription to your pharmacist and either giving an option of brand name or generic, or sometimes it's just dispensed to you. what kind of power do you have as a patient to say, i want exactly what my doctor had a given me. generic may not have the same strengths or benefits as that brand name, right? >> right. there are a couple things patients can do. generics are generally equivalent to brand names. in some cases in are differences. if a patient insists on having a brand name drug.
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what they would have to do is convey that to their physician, and the physician would have to lobby on the patient's behalf to the insurance company, typically by writing a letter, recommending that the drug not be replaced with a generic, and i've done that for my patients as well. >> often times that's pretty effective. there has to be direct dialogue between doctor and your insurance carrier? >> absolutely. >> okay. and is there, i guess any leverage when you call your insurance company and say, i really want what my doctor is prescribing for me? i don't want to take the recommendation of the pharmacist or your office on this? >> i think it helps tremendously when the physician advocates on the patient's behalf. when a patient goes to a pharmacy and requests a brand name medication, they don't really have that much leverage.
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often times i just have to call the pharmacy and explain that this patient needs to have the brand name version and that may be adequate. if that is not adequate, it may require a phone call or a letter from myself to the insurance company. that is usually effective in allowing the patient to receive the brand name drug over the generic. >> sometimes what's standing in the way of getting that brand name is the cost. perhaps it's a lot more affordable to take a generic or what the pharmacist might be able to recommend. so what do you do as a patient to try to get that designer drug at an affordable price? what are your options. >> well, there are a couple options. namely price as you mentioned is the difference between a generic and a brand name drug. so there are a few things that a patient can do. the first thing, actually, would be to look for or request generic form of the medication that has been prescribed to you.
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that is often significantly less expensive than the brand name. the second thing that patients can do is to look for an over the counter alternative to the drug they've been prescribed. and an example of that would be prilosec. and a second example would be clariten. there are generic versions of these medications. the third option would be for the patient to look to online pharmacies to purchase their prescription medications. that could be of a significant cost savings. do you have to be careful. you want to make sure that you're getting the correct medication. you want to make sure that the online pharmacy is accredited and certified. and that can be done by looking online. there are websites that will help to determine if an online pharmacy is acredited. and the last would be whether or not you need the medication immediately. if it's something you need quickly, you may not want to
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order it online, because it can take a few days to even a few weeks to receive. have you to keep that in mind. >> thanks so much for joining us from los angeles. appreciate the tips. great advice. >> thank you very much for having me. >> the top cnn heros have now been chosen. meet a remarkable woman who reinvented herself and now works tirelessly to help other women change their lives.
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all year we've been introducing you to remarkable every day people who are changing the world. this week we announced our top ten cnn heros of 2010. one of whom will become the cnn hero of the year. actress ricki lake introduces us to one of those nominees, susan burton who overcame a troubled past to help more than 400 female ex-cons get back on their feet. >> hi, i'm ricki lake. for the last two years i've had the honor of helping to recognize the great works of every day people changing the world at cnn heros an all-star
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tribute. as a supporter of 2008 cnn hero, i am committed to building schools providing education and preventing aids in malawi. now more than ever, the world needs heros. >> we all leave prison saying, i'm going to get my life on track. and you end up getting off a bus downtown los angeles, skid row. many times you don't even make it out of the skid row area before you're caught up into that cycle again. my name is susan burton. after my son died, i used drugs, i went to prison six times. finally i found rehab. and i thought, i can help women come home from prison. i pick them up, bring them back to the house.
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>> she offers you a warm bed, food, like a real family. she made me want to change my life. >> you came a long way. >> this is life. that's what it's all about. >> and you can vote online for the cnn hero who inspires you the most. all ten will be featured in the coming peeks on cnn, and will be honored on thanksgiving night, hosted by anderson cooper. but only one person will be named the cnn hero of the year and your vote counts. coming up next, after downpours, parts of the midwest are under water, but there may be hope in the forecast.
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♪ we could've gone a more traditional route... ... but it wouldn't have been nearly as memorable. ♪
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strong storms and rains caused flooding in western and central wisconsin over the last couple of days. check out this video in wausau. wisconsin's governor issued a state of emergency. the storms caused flooding, downed power lines and washed out bridges and roads. very nasty stuff. our bonny schneider is in the severe weather center. we've seen a lot of extreme weather this year. >> that's right. the warmest summer and we've seen a lot of extreme weather, flooding sometimes as a result when you have a powerful cold front that works its way through, it can dump a lot of heavy rain. now, the question is, how much longer will these flood watches and warnings last? let's zoom in and what you can see is we have flood warnings across a good portion of the midwest. we're seeing that into areas of
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minneapolis, minnesota as well. and we're looking at flood warnings persisting through that region. there's still some rain that can come through. the main thing is the water should recede as we go through a good portion of much of the next couple of days. here's some of the heaviest rains south of the flood area. we're going to see downpours working their way through areas of the midwest, including indiana, as well as iowa. heavier thunderstorms working nar way this afternoon south of dallas into the gulf coast region. and overall, it's important to notice it was so hot yesterday, we had record high temperatures across much of the northeast and the mid-atlantic. upper 90s, shattered a record for washington, d.c. there is a front coming through that will make a huge difference. you will see temperatures drop between 15 and 20 degrees cooler than where they were on friday. that is some good news and the tropics. let's take a look at what's going on with matthew. here is a look at tropical storm matthew, just hammering central
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america, guatemala feeling the worst of it. 4 to 6 inches of rain. the storm track will work its way across central america and reenter the bay of campeechi. >> thanks, bonnie. don't ask, don't tell. the military's controversial policy banning gays from serving openly in the military is being challenged on several fronts. pearblossom highway? it's just outside of lancaster. sure, i can download directions for you now. we got it. thank you very much! onstar ready. call home. hi, daddy! i'm on my way. send to car and...done! you have one saved destination: dillon beach. would you like those directions now? yes, i would. go north on route 1. check it out. i can like, see everything that's going on with the car. here's the gas level. i can check on the oil. i can unlock it from anywhere.
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i've received a signal there was a crash. some guy just cut me off. i'll get an ambulance to you right away. looks like our check engine light's on. can you do a diagnostic check for us? everything's fine. oh, but you've got a loose gas cap. safely connecting you in ways you never thought possible. onstar. live on. i'm ahmed mady and i'm a homebuilder. my father brought me up to give back to society...
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felicia jackson promised her late sister that she would take care of her children. but she needed help. i used my american express open card to get half a million points to buy building materials to help build the jackson family a new home. well, i know if my dad was still around, he would have told me, with no doubt... he would have told me it's a no brainer and i knew that from the start. it was an honor. booming is moving forward by giving back.
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all i want everyone to do is go back and do my job. just for that chance, i'm really excited. >> that's major margaret witt saying she's thrilled to be back
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into the air force as she was discharged under the military's don't ask, don't tell policy, banning gays and lesbians from serving openly in the armed forces. yesterday, a federal judge ordered she be reinstated. the judge said the military's don't ask, don't tell policy violates the major's constitutional rights. an attempt to repeal don't ask, don't tell failed in the u.s. senate this week. we have a story of an air force master sergeant who retired after hiding his sexual orientation for 21 years. >> my name is dan dabrowski. i was in the air force for 21 years and i retired in 2006. what was different about me being in the air force was being gay and having a partner. >> make sure you don't get too much on your brush. >> okay.
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>> my name is mark byrd, originally from mississippi. we've been together 19 years. efficient ref time dan had ordered for a permanent change of station, i've gone with him. and i was happy to do so, because, you know, i love him and that's what a spouse or partner would do. when dad had functions at work, i would not attend. >> no, it was a gathering of friends, that would be easier than going to an air force function. usually an air force function i left him at home. >> if someone found out we were gay, that could have cost dan his career. >> i retired from the air force four years ago. mark was there. >> for the ceremony, we went into a room and we sat down with the colonel. >> i had asked my colonel if i could recognize mike with a certificate the way they recognize ot

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