The fight over health care reform is getting personal today.

Republicans have released a new ad targeting a handful of moderate Senate Democrats, accusing some of them of being "sell-outs" because they voted in favor of continuing the debate on their party's health care reform bill.

RNC Chairman Michael Steele spoke to Kiran Chetry on Monday's American Morning, saying the Democrats are overstepping their reach on health care reform.

Read more: Health care debate tests political pragmatism

By Saundra Young, CNN Medical Producer

WASHINGTON (CNN) – The new mammogram recommendations out earlier this week caused quite an uproar. Now comes another change in screening tests for women - this one for cervical cancer.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) releases new guidelines Friday, saying women don't need their first cervical cancer screening - or Pap test - until they're 21 years old. And, they don't need followup examinations as often as previously recommended.

According to the guidelines, women younger than 30 should be screened every two years, instead of annually. Women 30 or older can be examined once every three years.

"The tradition of doing a Pap test every year has not been supported by recent scientific evidence," said Dr. Alan G. Waxman, who developed the document for ACOG's Committee on Practice Bulletins-Gynecology. "A review of the evidence to date shows that screening at less frequent intervals prevents cervical cancer just as well, has decreased costs, and avoids unnecessary interventions that could be harmful."

The current guidelines, from 2003, recommend that women get a Pap test three years after they begin having sexual intercourse, but no later than age 21. And that women younger than 30 have an annual exam. For women 30 or older, the recommendation was every two to three years, if they'd had three consecutive negative Pap tests.

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It's been three months since three Americans – Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd, and Josh Fattal – were arrested in Iran. They reportedly crossed an unmarked border while hiking in Northern Iraq and are being held in Tehran where government officials say they now face espionage charges.

The families say it was an innocent mistake and in his first television interview, Shon Meckfessel – the "fourth" hiker, who was not arrested – told CNN's Kiran Chetry what they were all doing there in the first place.

Related: Iran to charge 3 American hikers with espionage, says prosecutor

A government task force is changing the guidelines for breast cancer screening, and the major medical reversal could affect millions of American women.

For years women over 40-years-old were told to get a mammogram every year because early detection saves lives. Now experts are saying they're not effective and lead to unnecessary biopsies.

Women are being told to wait until they're 50-years-old to start getting screened, leaving many scratching their heads. CNN's Kiran Chetry reports.

Read more: Task force changes mammography guidelines

The CDC has revised its swine flu estimates today to say that 4,000 people have died from H1N1. The virus is hitting schools so hard in some cases they've been forced to shut down altogether. About 350 schools were forced to close because of swine flu last week alone.

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan says everyone must work together to keep students safe from H1N1.

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan spoke to Kiran Chetry on CNN’s American Morning Thursday. Below is an edited transcript of the interview.

Kiran Chetry: We'll be talking about a new initiative you guys are launching today. First, swine flu is on the minds of a lot of parents and a lot of teachers out there. How should schools be dealing with swine flu right now?

Arne Duncan: I've actually been really proud. I think schools have done an extraordinary job of trying to stay open in keeping sick students at home. We're actually seeing declines in the number of schools closing. We've been working very, very hard on prevention, making sure students are washing their hands frequently and thoroughly, coughing into their sleeves, not into their hands.

Now we're really moving into the chance to get vaccinations. And we want schools to be open and many schools around the country are opening their doors so that students can receive vaccines within those school buildings. We think that's very, very positive. Obviously, parents have the option, the choice of whether or not their students will receive the vaccine. I can tell you my wife and I are going to make sure that when the vaccination is available for our children that they will receive it.

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Iran is charging three American hikers with espionage, a Tehran prosecutor said Monday.

The three Americans have been detained since July 31 on charges of illegally crossing the border from Iraqi Kurdistan into Iran. Their family and friends say it was an innocent mistake.

The announcement of the charges comes only days after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met privately with the families of Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal, who were detained along the Iran-Iraq border at the end of July.

Alex Fattal, the brother of hiker Josh Fattal, spoke to Kiran Chetry on CNN's American Morning Tuesday.

Read more: Iran to charge 3 American hikers with espionage, says prosecutor

Editor's Note: Ben Kaplan is the publisher of CityofCollegeDreams.org and the creator of Scholarship Super Camp. The online camp provides personal guidance from Ben–via a series of video workshops, group Q&A chats, and essay help sessions–that shows you how to maximize financial aid, win college scholarships, and save on student loans.

By Ben Kaplan
Publisher of CityofCollegeDreams.org

These days, many students and parents are asking a simple question: How can college costs continue to rise even when families like ours face lower incomes and less job security?

Unfortunately, the answer isn't an easy one: The combination of state funding declines, plummeting college endowment valuations, and record student enrollments has put upward pressure on tuition prices, even in the midst of economic recession.

The result: According to a recent report by the College Board, tuition and fees at 4-year private colleges rose 4.4% to $26,273 per year, while tuition and fees at 4-year public colleges rose 6% to $7,020 per year (in-state students) and $18,548 (out-of-state students).

In turn, it's no surprise that many more students are applying for need-based financial aid. According to the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA), 9 out of 10 colleges have seen an increase in the number of financial aid applications they received this year-with two-thirds experiencing a dramatic increase of 10 percent or more.

And that's not all: More students than ever are appealing their initial financial aid awards. In fact, nearly two-thirds of colleges have seen the number of "professional judgment" appeals increase by at least 10 percent.

The bottom line is this: Financial aid officers are busier. Budgets are stretched thin. As a result, it's even more important than in past years to get your financial aid forms in early and meet a college's priority financial aid deadlines.

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To many it looks like President Obama and First Lady Michelle have a picture-perfect marriage. In a candid interview with New York Times writer Jodi Kantor, the first couple revealed things weren't always so perfect.

Kantor joined Kiran Chetry on CNN’s “American Morning” Friday. Below is an edited transcript of the interview.

Kiran Chetry: You had a very rare opportunity to sit down with both of them for 40 minutes and ask them a lot of personal questions about their marriage. What struck you the most about that interview?

Jodi Kantor: A couple of things. One was just being in the Oval Office, the place that symbolizes executive power and we were talking about things like date night. And another thing, you know, I think the question that elicited the most memorable response was I asked the president and first lady if it's possible to have an equal marriage when one member is president and it was a little tough for the president to answer the question.

Chetry: So how did he answer it?

Kantor: Well, he took a couple tries. I mean, he's normally so eloquent and fluent and he tried once and he tried again and then he said, I have to be really careful about how I answer this question. And Mrs. Obama is looking at him, intently, to see what he's going to say. And finally, she sort of stepped in to say, you know what, in our jobs, we are not equal now, but in our private lives we are.

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President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama make their way from Marine One upon return to the White House in Washington, DC.

By Jodi Kantor
New York Times

Another Washington dusk, another motorcade, another intimate evening played out in public view. On Oct. 3, just a day after their failed Olympics bid in Copenhagen, Barack and Michelle Obama slipped into a Georgetown restaurant for one of their now-familiar date nights: this time, to toast their 17th wedding anniversary. As with their previous outings, even the dark photographs taken by passers-by and posted on the Web looked glamorous: the president tieless, in a suit; the first lady in a backless sheath.

The Obama date-night tradition stretches back to the days when the president spent half his time in Springfield, Ill., reuniting at week’s close with his wife, who kept a regular Friday manicure and hair appointment for the occasion. But five days before he ventured out for his anniversary dinner, the president lamented what has happened to his nights out with his wife.

“I would say the one time during our stay here in the White House so far that has. . . .” He paused so long in choosing his words that Michelle Obama, sitting alongside him, prompted him. “Has what?”

“Annoyed me,” the president answered.

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Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman is poised to deliver a damaging blow to Democrats and to the health care reform bill they're trying to get passed in the Senate.

Lieberman says it's because there's a government-run public option in the bill that he would join a filibuster and do what he could to stop the measure from passing.

Senator Sherrod Brown from Ohio co-wrote the public option legislation. He wants President Obama to come out in strong support of the public option. He spoke to Kiran Chetry on CNN’s “American Morning” Wednesday. Below is an edited transcript of that interview.

Kiran Chetry: You've been a longtime supporter of health care reform. How concerned are you about Senator Lieberman saying he would join a filibuster over the public option?

Sherrod Brown: It’s too early to say that from his comments. I have not talked to Joe since he said that. I know Harry Reid has. He’s going to vote to put it on the floor. We’ll have the debate and we will see what happens. I think in the end people don't want to be on the wrong side of history. People want to be part of this change and this reform. You know, the opponents use the same arguments they did against Medicare 40 years ago. And I think some people after voting against Medicare kind of had buyer's remorse.

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