Mike M. Ahlers and Jeanne Meserve
CNN

Washington (CNN) - Airline pilots who want to skip certain airport screening measures - saying it's wasteful to search pilots for sharp objects when they can bring down planes with their bare hands - are finally getting their way.

The Transportation Security Administration announced Friday that it is taking steps to streamline screening for U.S. airline pilots.

Pilots traveling in uniform on airline business will be allowed to bypass normal security screening by presenting screeners with their airline ID and another form of identification, the TSA said. The screeners will check the information against a secure, real-time airline crew member database, which includes a picture and other information to verify the pilots' employment status, the TSA said.

Pilots will be subject to random screening and other layers of security, the TSA said.

The TSA said the changes will take effect immediately while it phases in a more permanent system.

Full story

Marnie Hunter
CNN

(CNN) - Heading to the airport for the first time in months? My, how things have changed.

New security checkpoint measures, which some travelers call "groping" and "virtual strip searches," have sparked a public outcry.

The ramped up use of pat-downs and full-body scanning is needed to stop non-metallic threats including weapons and explosives from getting aboard planes, the Transportation Security Administration says. And it appears that most Americans agree. In a recent CBS News poll, 4 out of 5 Americans supported the use of full-body scans.

Full story

CNN Political Unit

Washington (CNN) – Democratic strategist James Carville compared President Barack Obama to his Democratic primary rival and current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Thursday, implying in rather lewd terms that Obama needs to toughen-up.

And he's not sorry for it.

"If Hillary gave up one of her balls and gave it to Obama, he'd have two," Carville said at a "Christian Science Monitor" breakfast discussion.

His comment was a response to whether Obama is taking strong enough stands on taxes and repealing the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" military policy.

Carville made a similar comment to "Newsweek" during the 2008 campaign season when he compared Clinton and Obama's toughness.

"If she gave him one of her cojones, they'd both have two," he said.

Full story on the CNN Political Ticker

CNN Wire Staff

(CNN) - While saying he talks regularly with President Obama and his administration's officials, former Secretary of State Colin Powell said Monday that the nation's 44th president has overreached and lost focus in his first term - and lost votes because of it.

Powell, a self-described moderate Republican who served as a top military, national security and diplomatic official under presidents ranging from Ronald Reagan to George W. Bush, said he did not regret backing the then-Illinois senator over Republican Sen. John McCain during the 2008 election campaign.

But he said that Democrats suffered "a real body blow" in the recent midterm elections - when the party lost seats in the Senate and control of the House - in large part because Obama didn't prioritize or communicate effectively enough.

"He should have focused on the economy ... to the exclusion of most everything else domestically," Powell told CNN's Larry King. "When you're starting out as a president, you have to figure out (what) is most important."

Deirdre Walsh, Dana Bash and Ted Barrett
CNN

Washington (CNN) – Democratic leaders in the House and the Senate have decided to move ahead with votes after Thanksgiving to extend the Bush tax cuts for those making $250,000 or less.

These decisions come hours after Democratic leaders met at the White House with President Obama, where several sources say they talked extensively about the tax cuts. Until now, how or whether Democrats would proceed on the thorny issue of extending the Bush era tax cuts was unresolved.

In the House, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told CNN that Democratic leaders have scheduled a vote. "At least that will be available for members to have a vote on," Hoyer said.

What is still unclear is if that House vote would extend so-called middle class tax cuts permanently, or just on a temporary basis.

In the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid said he plans to vote on the middle class tax cut extension most Democrats want, but he will also allow Republicans to hold a vote on what they are demanding: a permanent extension of all Bush-era tax cuts.

Full story on the CNN Political Ticker