All Blog Posts from Couric & Co.

Nancy Cordes is the Transportation and Consumer Safety Correspondent for CBS News.

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Medicare is a lifeline for 45 million American seniors. But costs for the government program are exploding. Medicare now consumes a startling 16 percent of the federal budget.

Both Barack Obama and John McCain have warned that without significant changes, Medicare will either go bankrupt in 10 years ... or swallow up the entire budget.

So, what would each candidate do to fix Medicare? Despite the magnitude of the problem, it's not a topic either man talks about much on the campaign trail. That's partly because Medicare reform has long been considered the "third rail" of politics – something candidates steer clear of addressing, for fear of alienating the single largest voting bloc: seniors.

So while both Obama and McCain have laid out some significant reform proposals, most Americans probably ...

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Nancy Cordes is the transportation and consumer safety correspondent for CBS News.

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One of the most common ingredients in the food we eat isn't even a food. It's food dye.

Food dyes are synthetic chemicals and you've seen them on many an ingredient list. They've got names like "Red 40" and "Blue 2." Without them, your cheesy macaroni might not be yellow and your fruit punch might not be red. Thousands of grocery store items contain artificial food dyes. We even spotted a package of "100% Real" potato au gratin today that gets its golden hue from 100 percent real "Yellow 5 Lake" and "Yellow 6 Lake."

There have been a lot of studies on the effects of artificial food dyes on children, dating back to the 1970s. Some showed that food dyes could cause behavioral problems in children, and others didn't. But a few years ago, an analysis of 21 of the most conclusive studies found compelling evidence that, indeed, artificial dyes could contribute to hyperactivity, restlessness, and attention problems in some children – particularly those with ADHD. What's more, the studies suggested that removing dyes from those children's diet was a quarter to half as effective in reducing those symptoms as giving the kids Ritalin or other stimulants. In other words, certain kids with ADHD might not need drugs if the artificial dyes were removed from their diets.

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Nancy Cordes has today's First Look at the Evening News, with a preview of her story on what manufacturers and stores are doing to make sure their toys are lead-free and safe for kids — by the holidays.

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Nancy Cordes is the Transportation and Consumer Safety Correspondent for CBS News.

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Keith Riddle is the mayor of Burkesville, a town nestled against the Cumberland River in southwestern Kentucky. Since he took office in January, Riddle (who is also the town barber) has had one major problem on his plate he never expected to deal with: the possibility that his town will be submerged under 14 feet of water.

"It was panic for everyone," says Riddle, recalling the first time he and the town's 1700 other residents learned that the Army Corps of Engineers had designated the massive Wolf Creek Dam 20 miles upstream at “high risk for failure” due to holes in the dam’s limestone foundation. Applying a new rating system developed after the levees protecting New Orleans failed during Hurricane Katrina, the Corps considers Wolf Creek Dam one of the six federal dams most desperately in need of repair, both because of the severity of the erosion and because of the threat to life and property of the dam were to burst.

“The school has done mock evacuations and they have got every kid to safety in about 45 minutes,” says Mayor Riddle, who keeps topographical flood maps in his office so residents can stop by and examine the potential threat to their homes. City Hall, where he sits, would be underwater. So would the courthouse and most of Main Street. “The worst case scenario it would destroy the whole town.”

Looking to relieve pressure on Wolf Creek Dam, the Corps of Engineers has lowered the water level of Lake Cumberland – a 100-mile recreational mecca created when the dam was built in the 1940’s – from 723 feet to 680 feet. But that has created a new problem.

“It eliminated every boat ramp on the lake!” bemoans Ed Slusser, the owner of Alligator One Marina, who says he has lost $1 million dollars in business because of the drop. “This was a marina that has been here for 50 years. This was the first commercial marina on Lake Cumberland. And it’s going to be the first marina on Lake Cumberland to disappear.”

But the Army Corps of Engineers says it has to put safety before revenues in this case, and that the drop in the lake level has significantly decreased the chances of a dam burst. It’s working around the clock to fill the holes that have been eroded with a cement-water grout. Now, the residents of Burkesville are sleeping a little easier, as are the residents of Nashville, Tennessee – just a couple hours downstream.

How's America's infrastructure? Not so good. Our Nancy Cordes previews tonight's Evening News with a First Look at structural problems that may be plaguing America's dams.

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Where does your food come from? Nancy Cordes has a preview of a story she's working on for tonight that may answer that question, in today's First Look.

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Nancy Cordes gives us a First Look at tonight's Evening News, which features more on the soaring temperatures scorching much of the country.

Stay cool -- and click the monitor for more.

Nancy Cordes does the First Look honors today, with a preview of her story on the Evening News about kids who are getting addicted to credit cards. It's part of our series "Gotta Have It."

To find out why they gotta have it, click on the monitor.