[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/POLITICS/11/13/jefferson.sentencing/story.william.jefferson.gi.jpg caption="William Jefferson, shown with his wife, Andrea, represented the New Orleans area in Congress for 18 years." width=300 height=169]
Paul Courson
CNN
Former U.S. Rep. William Jefferson was sentenced Friday to 13 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release for his conviction on 11 counts of corruption.
Jefferson was also ordered to forfeit more than $470,000 after his conviction for using his office to solicit bribes.
He will also have to pay $1,100 in special assessments.
The case against the former nine-term Louisiana Democrat included allegations of influence-peddling and the discovery of $90,000 in cash in his freezer.
Judge T.S. Ellis will determine at a hearing next Wednesday whether Jefferson will remain free pending appeal. Until then, he is free.
"The court's sentence today reaffirms the principle that all people - no matter what their title or position - are equal before the law," said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman in a statement.
"In a stunning betrayal of the public's trust, former Congressman Jefferson repeatedly used his public office for private gain. The lengthy prison sentence imposed on Mr. Jefferson today is a stark reminder to all public officials that the consequences of accepting bribes can and will be severe."
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/11/16/art.getty.palin.jpg caption="CNN Poll: Most Americans say Palin is not qualified to serve as President."]
Paul Steinhauser
CNN Deputy Political Director
Fewer than three in 10 Americans think Sarah Palin's qualified to be president, according to a new national poll – the least of any of the five potential candidates included in the survey.
But another woman tops that list in the CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Monday: two-thirds of the public thinks that Secretary of State HIllary Clinton's qualified for the Oval Office. That's more than Vice President Joe Biden, who's currently next in line for the presidency.
According to the poll, 28 percent of Americans say Palin is qualified to run the White House, with seven in 10 saying the former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee is not qualified.
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/16/north.carolina.missing.girl/story.shaniya.davis.cnn.jpg caption="Shaniya Davis, 5, was reported missing last week. Authorities said they found her body Monday. " width=300 height=169]
Gabriel Falcon
CNN
The body of a missing 5-year-old girl has been found in North Carolina, police said Monday.
Theresa Chance, public information officer of the Fayetteville Police Department, confirmed the girl's body was discovered.
A statement from Fayetteville Police Chief Tom Bergamine said positive identification was being sought for the recovered body. In a separate e-mail to CNN, Fayetteville police said the body found was that of the missing girl, Shaniya Davis.
About 200 people had been searching for the child's body after "reliable information" indicated that she might be dead, according to Fayetteville police.
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Michael Schulder
CNN Senior Executive Producer
It happened again. My on-the-verge-of-50 savvy and life experience could not prevent my jaw from dropping. I'm aware lobbyists have influence in Congress. But this was another case of "I didn't know what I didn't know."
IMAGINE
Imagine a member of Congress saying publicly, for the record: “A lobbyist for a major pharmaceutical company has convinced me that ….” Well, we don’t really need to finish such a statement. “A lobbyist convinced me” is not the quickest route to credibility. And yet ...
And yet, we learned in this Sunday’s New York Times that more than a dozen members of Congress, Democrats and Republicans, entered statements in the Congressional Record that were written by a lobbyist.
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According to The New York Times, the language was spoon fed to congressional staffers, Democrats and Republicans, by a prominent pharmaceutical lobbyist, and regurgitated, word for word in most cases, by the members of Congress themselves. Regurgitated without any attribution.
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AC360°
Women in their 40s should not get routine mammograms for early detection of breast cancer, according to updated guidelines set forth by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.
Before having a mammogram, women ages 40 to 49 should talk to their doctors about the risks and benefits of the test, and then decide if they want to be screened, according to the task force.
For women ages 50 to 74, it recommends routine mammography screenings every two years. Risks and benefits for women age 75 and above are unknown, it said.
Send us your questions! Dr. Sanjay Gupta will be on with answers tonight.
Send us a text message with your question. Text AC360 (or 22360), and you might hear it on air!
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/05/31/art.gm.gi.jpg caption="Improved results may allow GM to start repaying government loans sooner. "]
Andrew Torgan
CNN Financial News Producer
General Motors says that improved results will allow it to start repaying government loans sooner than expected, although the company continued to lose money in its first quarter since emerging from bankruptcy.
GM says it anticipates paying $1 billion to the Treasury Dept. in December, along with $192 million to the Canadian and Ontario governments.
GM received $6.7 billion in loans from the Treasury as part of its bankruptcy proceedings, along with help from Canada and Ontario. But that’s only a fraction of the $50 billion in bailout money GM has received from U.S. taxpayers since the end of 2008. FULL POST
CNN Heroes
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/CRIME/11/16/north.carolina.missing.girl/story.antoinettedavis.fayettevillepolice.jpg caption="Antoinette Davis, whose daughter Shaniya was reported missing last week, has been charged with human trafficking." width=300 height=169]
Gabriel Falcon
AC360° Writer
About 200 people were searching Monday in North Carolina for the body of a missing 5-year-old girl after "reliable information" indicated that she may be dead, Fayetteville, North Carolina, police said.
The search focused on land near a roadway because "reliable information received that the body of Shaniya Davis may have been dumped there," the Fayetteville Police Department said in a statement.
Investigators have been searching for Shaniya for several days.
Police charged the girl's mother, Antoinette Nicole Davis, with trafficking and other offenses, authorities said. Davis was "prostituting her child," said Fayetteville police spokeswoman Theresa Chance.