Leon Panetta to be CIA Chief; Court Rules on Breakaway Episcopal Church Property; Al Franken Becomes "Senator" Franken; Is the Law on his Side? Roland Burris Fights for Senate Seat; The Age of Anxiety
Leon Panetta to be CIA Chief
President-elect Barack Obama has tapped Former Clinton White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta to be CIA Chief. Panetta is also an eight-term congressional veteran from California. Although Panetta has a wealth of political, administrative and managerial skills, he could face tough questions at his nomination hearing. Leon Panetta he has never worked in the CIA, and he has little experience in the field of intelligence.
Court Rules on Breakaway Episcopal Church Property
Monday, the California Supreme Court ruled that three Southern California parishes that left the U.S. Episcopal Church over its ordination of gay ministers cannot retain ownership of their church buildings and property. St. James Church in Newport Beach, All Saints Church in Long Beach and St. David's Church in North Hollywood pulled out of the 2.1 million-member national Episcopal Church in 2004 and sought to retain property ownership, but in a unanimous ruling the state's high court found that the property belongs to the Episcopal Church because the parishes agreed to abide by the mother church's rules, which include specific language about property ownership.
Al Franken Becomes "Senator" Franken
A Minnesota board on Monday certified results showing Democrat Al Franken winning the state's U.S. Senate Race over Republican Norm Coleman. Franken, a former "Saturday Night Live'' personality, ended the recount up by 225 votes, an astonishingly thin margin in a race where more than 2.9 million votes were cast. Despite this development, the race is far from over, according to Republican Norm Coleman, whose lawyer has promised a legal challenge.
Is the Law on his Side? Roland Burris Fights for Senate Seat
Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was indicted for trying to sell Barack Obama's senate seat to the highest bidder. Despite objections from Illinois legislators and calls for Blagojevich's resignation, he went ahead and appointed Roland Burris. Now the Senate is refusing to seat him. But since Blagojevich is still in power, can they really do that? Larry talks with Constitutional Scholar and dean of the UC Irvine School of Law Erwin Chemerinsky.
The Age of Anxiety
Psychiatric drugs are a well-integrated part of mental health treatment, but this wasn't always the case. In the 1950's, the primary way people received help for their anxiety was through talk therapy. Then Miltown, the first tranquilizer, was introduced in 1955 and taken up with astonishing success. It not only paved the way for drugs like Valium and Xanax, but it spurred a shift in the perception of anxiety and how it can be treated. In her new book "The Age of Anxiety", Andrea Tone provides an insightful look at how anti-anxiety drugs became a billion-dollar industry that not only impacted psychiatry and pharmaceuticals, but American culture as well. She joins Larry Mantle to discuss her book.