This Morning from CBS News: Dec. 23, 2014
Protests continue
Protest leaders in New York City said yesterday they would not heed the mayor's call to suspend demonstrations until after the funeral of the police officers killed over the weekend. CBS News correspondent Don Dahler reports officer Wenjian Liu's wife spoke of her loss last night. WCBS-TV reports a makeshift memorial at the site of the shootings continued to grow astributes to the slain officers poured in from across the country.
Safer rides
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is out with its annual list of vehicles with the best performances in its crash tests. CBS News correspondent Jericka Duncan reports that this year, 71 models received top honors as compared to 39 the year before.
Cyber retaliation?
Outages and connectivity problems have riddled North Korea's Internet over the past few days, culminating in a widespread outage yesterday. CBS News correspondent Bob Orr reports the outage came after the Sony hack, which was traced back to North Korea. The outage lasted about 10 hours.
Tax scams
Before you know it, the IRS will be releasing its 2015 version of the Dirty Dozen tax scams. The list contains the perennial ruses the IRS feels compelled to warn Americans about. They include phishing, tax preparer fraud, ID theft by using someone's Social Security number to file bogus tax returns claiming big tax refunds, and impersonation of IRS agents. Here are a few of the most pervasive scams and what to do if you think you're being targeted.
Americans on Cuba
In the wake of President Obama's surprise announcement of an agreement to normalize diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba, 54 percent of Americans approve of reestablishing both diplomatic and trade ties between the two countries, while just 28 percent disapprove, according to a CBS News poll.
Thankless job
Cliff Sloan, the special envoy for Guantanamo closure, is leaving the Obama administration. Sloan was the lawyer charged with finding new homes for cleared Guantanamo Bay detainees. As CBS News State Department correspondent Margaret Brennan puts it, "He had the difficult job for the last year and a half of convincing other countries to do what the U.S. will not: accept Guantanamo Bay detainees on their soil."
Challenge Academy
For nearly six months, CBS News correspondent Michelle Miller followed a group of high school dropouts who got a second chance through a program run by the National Guard in Los Angeles. When they walked into the first day at the Challenge Academy in July, the rebellious, unfocused dropouts got a wake-up call like none they'd ever had. This is the final part of a seven part series.
Redefining money
Ask any college student sitting through a lecture on macroeconomics and they'll tell you: Money matters can be pretty complicated. What started out as simple bartered exchanges -- your cow for my barley -- evolved over centuries into a complex system governed by central banks, interest rates and fickle markets. There are some who think the world sits at the precipice of a new phase of economic evolution - one in which digital currencies hold the potential to help redefine the concept of money.
Night reading
Curling up in bed with your tablet or e-book reader instead of a good book may sound like a cozy way to unwind at the end the day, but it could actually keep you from getting a good night's sleep, research shows.
Singing Sparks
For Jordin Sparks, everything is on the "fast-track" these days. The 25-year-old R&B/pop singer says she feels like her life has been on "fast forward" over the past few months as she gears up to release her new album, "Right Here, Right Now," in early 2015. It marks her first new studio effort since 2009's "Battlefield."
Four stars
There are more than 24,000 restaurants in New York City, but only six share the distinction of a four-star rating from the New York Times. The newest is Sushi Nakazawa. "CBS This Morning" co-host Charlie Rose reports on the ambitious American restaurateur and Japanese chef who crossed a cultural divide to make it happen.
A*l*t*m*a*n
Legendary director Robert Altman's wife co-authored a new biography about the maverick filmmaker. Altman was a rebel who did not let studio heads tell him how to make his movies. CBS News correspondent Ben Tracy looks at the man who left an indelible mark on Hollywood.
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