To the Point

When a fence jumper gets to the East Room and gunfire breaks windows, the White House is clearly not be the safest place in the world. Both Republicans and Democrats agree there’s a world-class problem. What needs to be done?

American doctors and teaching hospitals got more than $3.5 billion from drug companies and medical device makers in just five months of last year. Do doctors always prescribe what’s best for their patients—or for their own pocket books? Do they even recognize their own conflicts of interest?

Protesters were back on the streets of Hong Kong today in larger numbers than ever—on the first day of a 2-week Chinese national holiday. We’ll hear about the protesters’ demands, their chance of forcing change and what’s at stake for China, the rest of Asia and for the West.

Public education is a hot political topic: on the Right, it’s the founding fathers and free enterprise; on the Left it’s civil rights and respect for gays and lesbians. We’ll hear about street protests in Colorado, textbooks in Texas and what’s at stake for America’s children.

Mid-term elections are less than six weeks way, and very close races in very few states will determine whether the US Senate is run by friends or foes of President Obama in his waning days. We’ll survey races across the country.

If you drive with your cell phone turned on, consider this: one passionate critic of “distracted driving” killed two people while he was texting. Drivers tell pollsters they know that’s dangerous, but many admit they do it anyway. Now, neuroscientists say they don’t have much choice.

President Obama’s coalition is a historic game-changer in the Middle East. Arab countries are dropping bombs in other Arab countries. But, it’s a risky business that could produce internal backlash against five uncomfortable allies…. 

President Obama—who has been focused on ending conflicts—had a very different message today at the United Nations. He promised American leadership against the so-called Islamic State and against Syria’s al-Assad regime. Does a new vision mean he’s stopped pulling his punches?

As promised, President Obama has followed airstrikes in Iraq with even bigger airstrikes in Syria. Has the War on Terror become a permanent US policy? Has the stage been set for US combat forces to go back to the Middle East?

Hundred of thousands of citizens hit the streets of New York for yesterday’s People’s Climate March. But who’s paying attention? President Obama put the US in the forefront with new rules on power plants. Can he invest other heads of state with a sense of urgency?