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US buying $170 million in meat from farmers hit by high feed prices
Alison Kosik on the government's plan to buy excess meat from farmers hit by high feed prices.
MYB: Bank fees on the rise
Alison Kosik explains how banks are reacting to Wall Street reform by rising bank fees.
What's trending for Aug. 14th, 2012
New words for Merriam-Webster, five weddings for five siblings in one day, and 104-year-old climbs Mt. Hood.
GOP convention speakers to include Rubio, Christie – Mark Preston on the latest
The very blunt and always entertaining Gov. of New Jersey Chris Christie will be the keynote speaker later this month at the Republican National Convention. Christie confirms he's already working on his speech, telling "USA Today" he'll be delivering some "very direct and hard truths" to the American people.
Also, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is expected to speak on the final night at the convention, playing the important role of introducing the party's presidential nominee Mitt Romney. This comes after rampant speculation that he was going to be Romney's vice presidential nominee.
This morning on "Early Start," CNN political director Mark Preston explains what the choices in speakers at the Republican convention could mean for the race.
Air Force's unmanned hypersonic Waverider flight test to be 'fastest hunk of junk in galaxy'? Barbara Starr on what it could mean for future air travel
It's not often that we get to reference "Star Wars" on the show, but when engineers say they're going to test an unmanned aircraft and have it fly at five times the speed of sound, it just seems appropriate.
This morning on "Early Start," CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr explained why engineers and geeks are excited about the Air Force's unmanned hypersonic test flight of the X-51A "Waverider" aircraft off the coast of California today.
Aerospace engineers are hoping they can keep the aircraft flying for five minutes at Mach 6, or about 4,500 miles per hour...five times the speed of sound. That's fast enough to fly from New York to London in less than an hour. If the test flight is successful, it could usher in the next generation of missiles, military aircraft, spacecraft and maybe even passenger planes.
Starr says the Pentagon believes this is the kind of military technology that would give the U.S. an advantage. The practical applications can be related to recent examples. Starr relates it to one operation in 1998, when the government used Tomahawk missiles to attack a camp they believed Osama Bin Laden was training at. By the time they arranged everything to send to the target, Bin Laden was long gone. Starr explains that this type of flight would compresses military decision making time to within minutes.
With the Waverider test, the Air Force wants to see if this type of flight is feasible. If it is, the U.S. military could be looking at putting missiles and potentially troops on target within minutes and hours.
See Starr's report on "Early Start" this morning in the video above.
Lizza: Romney, Obama campaigns will 'put forward two extremely different visions about role of government in American life'
New Yorker's Ryan Lizza says the Romney and Obama presidential campaigns will have very different visions of role of government in US.
Rep. Hayworth: Paul Ryan's economic plan will fulfill obligations for most in need
Rep. Nan Hayworth (R-NY) on why GOP VP pick Rep. Paul Ryan's economic plan is best for the American people.
"He has presented a plan that really will fulfill the obligations we have to those most in need and those relying on our safety net and still allow the economy to grow," Rep. Hayworth says.
Watch more of the interview in the clip above.
VIDEO: What's driving gas prices higher? Alison Kosik explains
Alison Kosik looks at the factors pushing gas prices higher in the United States.
Rep. Van Hollen(D-MD): Rep. Paul Ryan's Medicare plan 'very right wing,' will have 'terrible consequences'
Though Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) was only officially named as Mitt Romney's vice presidential pick on Saturday, there's already a big debate as to whether the Congressman's plan for Medicare would benefit Americans, or bring the program to its knees.
President Obama Campaign surrogate Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) explains the differences between how the Affordable Care Act and Rep. Ryan’s plan would affect Medicare.
"It's a very ideological plan. It's a very right wing plan. And I think it would have terrible consequences for the vast majority of the American people," Rep. Van Hollen tells John Berman on "Early Start" this morning. "The thing about the Ryan plan is it's great for people like Mitt Romney. In fact, "Roll Call" newspaper did an independent analysis yesterday that showed under the Ryan road map, Mitt Romney's tax burden would go down to 1% at the same time under the Ryan budget plan. You're asking seniors who have $23,000 median income, seniors on Medicare to pay much higher costs over time. Whereas, what the Obama plan does, what the Democratic proposal does is reduce the overall cost in the Medicare system by changing the payment incentives in the plan."
See more from Rep. Van Hollen's interview in the video clip above.
VIDEO: Could Ryan deepen tension in GOP? National Journal's Ron Brownstein on what the congressman brings to the race
National Journal's Ron Brownstein on how Mitt Romney's choice of running mate Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) brings to the ticket and if it will split Republican voters.
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