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New York (CNN) -- Pop star Lady Gaga stepped up her battle against bullying Wednesday, announcing the creation of a new foundation aimed at empowering youth.
In a statement, Lady Gaga called the Born This Way Foundation a "passion project" that she will direct with her mother, Cynthia Germanotta.
"Together we hope to establish a standard of bravery and kindness, as well as a community worldwide that protects and nurtures others in the face of bullying and abandonment," Lady Gaga said.
The non-profit charity -- named for a hit Lady Gaga song -- will support programs and initiatives that empower youth, a statement announcing the foundation said, "by addressing issues like self-confidence, well-being, anti-bullying, mentoring and career development and will utilize digital mobilization as one of the means to create positive change."
The John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the California Endowment and the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University are also part of the effort, which will officially launch next year.
An advisory board and more details about the organization will be announced soon, the statement said.
In September, Lady Gaga said she was aiming to make bullying illegal after the suicide of bullied teen Jamey Rodemeyer.
The 14-year-old was found dead outside of his parents home in Buffalo, New York.
Rodemeyer, who'd been harassed at school because of his sexuality, counted Gaga as an inspiration. He said in a video he recorded as part of the It Gets Better campaign that he'd found solace and encouragement in the pop star's message of self-acceptance.
Following the teen's death, Gaga tweeted, "The past days I've spent reflecting, crying, and yelling. I have so much anger...It is hard to feel love when cruelty takes someones life....Bullying must become illegal. It is a hate crime. I am meeting with our President. I will not stop fighting. This must end."
CNN's Breeanna Hare contributed to this report.
|
[
"What is the born this way foundation?",
"Who directs the organization?"
] |
[
"support programs and initiatives that empower youth,",
"Lady Gaga"
] |
question: What is the born this way foundation?, answer: support programs and initiatives that empower youth, | question: Who directs the organization?, answer: Lady Gaga
|
New York (CNN) -- Protesters rallied in downtown New York City Thursday to voice their anger over what they perceive as the roles Wall Street and big banks played in America's economic crisis.
Marching from City Hall to Wall Street, the protesters chanted "good jobs for all," and held signs with messages including "Hold banks accountable," "Make Wall Street Pay," and "Reclaim America."
The AFL-CIO organized the rally, and union President Richard Trumka addressed the crowd, saying, "How long will we allow the spirit of greed to continue to drive us into economic holes?"
The National People's Action, a group that was involved in organizing the protest, said in a news release that demonstrators represented unemployed workers, foreclosure victims and community activists.
Protester Gerard Pettine said he just wants Wall Street to be held accountable for its involvement in the economic collapse.
"They need to have some integrity and some honor and do the right thing," Pettine told CNN.
Protester Elizabeth Soto, who came with her brother to the rally, was concerned about the lack of job creation.
"We are here to say Wall Street's got to help Main Street," she said. "We supported the stimulus bill, which bailed out Wall Street, but we expected the jobs to come back to Main Street."
The New York Police Department estimated that 6,000 people participated in the rally.
Earlier Thursday, as part of a larger "day of action" against Wall Street, protesters descended upon the headquarters of two New York City banks -- JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo -- leaving letters for the banks' chief executive officers.
The letters, according to the news release from the National People's Action, said that the banks have an opportunity "to step up to the plate and be leaders in rebuilding the American economy."
JP Morgan spokesperson Mike Fusco declined to comment on the letter, but said that there were a "couple dozen" protesters who were in the building for less than a half hour.
Fran Durst of Wells Fargo said that about 100 protesters flooded their building's lobby and tried to deliver their letter to the bank's CEO. Durst said the event didn't cause a major disruption to the bank.
Other protests were scheduled in San Francisco, California; Kansas City, Missouri; and Charlotte, North Carolina, according to the National People's Action news release.
CNN's Mary Snow, Jennifer Rizzo, Cassie Spodak, and Kristen Hamill contributed to this report.
|
[
"who deliver letters to CEOs for JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo?",
"who blames financial institutions for lingering recession?",
"what do they deliver",
"what are they protesting",
"where did they protest"
] |
[
"protesters",
"Gerard Pettine",
"their letter to the bank's CEO.",
"perceive as the roles Wall Street and big banks played in America's economic crisis.",
"downtown New York City"
] |
question: who deliver letters to CEOs for JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo?, answer: protesters | question: who blames financial institutions for lingering recession?, answer: Gerard Pettine | question: what do they deliver, answer: their letter to the bank's CEO. | question: what are they protesting, answer: perceive as the roles Wall Street and big banks played in America's economic crisis. | question: where did they protest, answer: downtown New York City
|
New York (CNN) -- Protesters upset about corporate greed rallied in New York's Times Square Saturday night, marking the 29th day of a movement that is tapping into popular frustrations about income disparities and an ailing U.S. economy.
People hoisted signs in the iconic square and chanted. At one point, police began clearing a part of the street when a van pulled up and officers began making arrests. Police said they had given the crowd several warnings to disperse.
Forty-two people were arrested in Times Square, bringing the total number of protesters arrested in New York City on Saturday to 70, according to Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Browne.
Two police officers were injured in the Times Square confrontation and sent to a hospital for treatment, he said.
Other people were arrested during the day for pulling down barriers and five were arrested for wearing masks, Browne said.
As police cleared the street, protesters chanted, "We are peaceful protesters" and "The whole world is watching."
The demonstration in Times Square was one of several that took place in the United States and around the world on Saturday.
Protesters took to the streets again in Lower Manhattan earlier in the day. The group waved flags and banged drums, while keeping up an online presence that has helped spawn similar actions elsewhere.
Others joined the demonstrations, yelling slogans of discontent over Wall Street influence, Beltway politics and their own seeming lack of opportunity amid U.S. unemployment levels that continue to hover above 9%.
"Banks got bailed out, we got sold out," chanted protesters as they meandered east of the city's Zuccotti Park, considered a home base for the Manhattan protesters.
Columns of police on patrol and atop scooters monitored the march, but as dusk fell, it appeared largely peaceful.
Earlier, an "Occupy Wall Street" spokesman said police made several arrests outside the LaGuardia Place Citibank in Lower Manhattan, after several protesters tried to enter the bank to withdraw cash and close their accounts. Police, meanwhile, said they made 24 arrests after protesters refused to comply with a bank manager's request for them to leave.
On Friday, scores were detained during scuffles with authorities during similar protests in several American cities, including Denver, Seattle, San Diego and Washington.
Reports of violence, however, were rare.
In Los Angeles, protesters and police alike reported good relations Saturday -- and in recent days.
Amber Barrero, 22, a student, said she has been participating in the Occupy Los Angeles movement since Day One, or October 1.
Police have been quite friendly, Barrerro said.
"When we're occupying, they donate bread, snacks and water," said Barrerro, who attended Saturday's rally in Pershing Square in downtown Los Angeles.
Added Mark Simon, 63, an unemployed bookstore employee: "So far, they've been very well behaved. The police are still the police, and they are part of the 99%," referring to the vast majority of Americans enduring a troubled economy.
As demonstrators walked the near mile from City Hall to Pershing Square -- and then back -- police were peppered on the periphery, and there were many moments when none was in sight.
John Sherman, assistant commanding officer of the Los Angeles Police Department, said the force established a working relationship with the protesters, and "they approached us in the very beginning," he said.
Added one officer: "We're continuing to have a good relationship with Occupy L.A. If we get too close, they may feel threatened. They're cooperating with us, so we're cooperating with them."
Among the more distinctive figures at the Pershing Square rally was Rev. Danny Fisher, a minister at a Buddhist temple in Rosemead, who wore his full vestment. "Religious leaders often speak very idealistically, but I think it's important to be available and let people know we hear them and we know they're upset," he said.
He wore his vestment so "people know they can approach us and see that religious figures are here," he
|
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question: What was the number of policemen injured?, answer: Two | question: What is the protest about?, answer: corporate greed | question: How many protesters did New York police arrest?, answer: 70, | question: Where did the protests take place?, answer: Times Square | question: What number of officers are injured?, answer: Two | question: How many police officers are injured?, answer: Two | question: What number were arrested in Times Square, answer: Forty-two people
|
New York (CNN) -- Protests swelled in cities nationwide Friday as police forces struggled to either corral or remove demonstrators from downtown parks and plazas in the latest development of the monthlong Occupy Wall Street movement.
Scores of protesters were arrested in Denver, Seattle, San Diego and New York, though reports of violence were rare. CNN iReporters sent in photos and video from "occupy" protests across several American cities.
In San Diego, CNN affiliate KFMB broadcast images of police detaining demonstrators as they gathered amid tents and tarps strewn about a downtown plaza.
Protesters appeared to refuse to leave the area, sitting in columns atop the plastic tarps and yelling "stay down" as police tried to remove them from the scene. At one point, police used pepper spray to break up the crowd.
"We understand people have a right to protest (but), somewhere along the line, people have a right to conduct business," San Diego Police Chief William Lansdowne told CNN affiliate KGTV.
Police eventually removed tents that had been set up by protestors and cleared the area by late afternoon.
In Denver, authorities said 24 people were arrested as CNN affiliate KMGH broadcast aerial video of police detaining protesters in a downtown section of the city.
Colorado State Police spokesman Mike Baker said the demonstrators could be identified as two distinct groups: The first was a part of what he described as the local "Occupy" group, which maintained close communication with law enforcement during the demonstration. The second, he said, was a more "radical" faction.
"These were the ones (police) came into trouble with today," Baker said.
Most of those arrested in Denver were charged with unlawful conduct on state property, he said, while one other person was charged with simple assault. Another protester was arrested for impeding traffic.
In Seattle, police in riot gear rounded up and arrested 41 demonstrators who gathered in a city park, said police spokeswoman Renee Witt.
In New York , Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Browne said law officers arrested 14 demonstrators after they sat in roadways to block traffic, overturned trash bins, knocked over a police scooter and hurled bottles.
Wesleyan University student Ben Doernberg, who attended Friday's protest in Manhattan's financial district, shot video of at least one demonstrator being taken to the ground by police.
The video captures a police officer pressing his night stick against the back of the protester's neck during the arrest. The man is seen face down on the pavement.
He can be heard screaming after what Doernberg described as an earlier incident in which the man's leg was allegedly run over by a police motorcycle.
"I saw a number of other people being shoved or pushed with batons," Doernberg said. "I saw another officer punching people."
New York police disputed the claim that the man had been run over by a police vehicle. Independent witnesses from the New York Daily News and The Associated Press saw the man intentionally place his legs under the scooter, Browne said in a statement.
"(The man) had repeatedly disregarded lawful orders to get out of the street and onto the sidewalk, and then feigned being run over before kicking over the police scooter. He was arrested for felony criminal mischief, obstructing governmental administration, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest," the deputy police commissioner said.
The demonstrations, meanwhile, seemed to pick up steam across the country by late Friday afternoon.
CNN affiliate WDIV in Detroit showed aerial images of protesters rallying in city streets. An oversize sign fixed to the outside of a building read, "Outsource to Detroit."
Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons called the protests "inspirational."
"People want this country to be better," he told CNN. "They want the money out of Washington." He said he believes the U.S. government remains largely controlled by corporations.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg also addressed the concerns again earlier Friday during his weekly radio show.
He said Brookfield Office Properties -- the real estate firm that owns Zuccotti Park, considered a home base for
|
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question: Have reports of violence been rare?, answer: of | question: Police arrested how many demonstrators in Seattle?, answer: 24 | question: What did police use against San Diego protesters?, answer: pepper spray | question: What were people in New York arrested for? How many people?, answer: 14 | question: How many were arrested in New York?, answer: 14 | question: How many were arrested in Seattle?, answer: 41 | question: Police used what against protesters?, answer: pepper spray
|
New York (CNN) -- Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, appeared at a book convention in New York City on Wednesday, undeterred by a scandal that she allegedly offered to sell access to her former husband, Britain's Prince Andrew.
"It was quite difficult for me to get to Javits Center this morning," she said. "One or two people in the way, but then, perhaps you've read that," Ferguson said, joking about photographers following her every move.
Ferguson, who is a best-selling children's book author,spoke at a breakfast at the Book Expo America conference, an annual convention of booksellers.
She avoided CNN questions about the scandal.
She is promoting her new series of books, "Helping Hand Books." The publisher describes them as stories aimed at children going through growing pains.
On Sunday, the News of the World tabloid posted a video on its website that appears to show Ferguson accepting money from an undercover reporter in exchange for access to Prince Andrew.
Ferguson is also filmed on hidden camera telling the reporter -- who was posing as a wealthy businessman -- that a payment of 500,000 pounds ($723,000) "opens doors" to Andrew.
She then shakes hands with the reporter after he accepts the deal.
In a statement issued Sunday, Ferguson apologized for the incident.
"I very deeply regret the situation and the embarrassment caused," the statement said. "It is true that my financial situation is under stress, however, that is no excuse for a serious lapse in judgment and I am very sorry that this has happened."
The tabloid said its reporter and Ferguson met on two occasions, once in New York and another time in London.
In the heavily edited, roughly 4-minute video, Ferguson appears to accept $40,000 as a down payment for a meeting with Andrew, then later discusses a wire transfer of the larger sum.
"If we want to do a big deal with Andrew, then that's the big one," she says.
When asked how she would receive the 500,000 pounds, she tells the reporter, "You send it to the bank account that I tell you to send it to."
In her statement Sunday, Ferguson confirmed Andrew "was not aware or involved in any of the discussions that occurred. ... The Duke has made a significant contribution to his business role over the last 10 years and has always acted with complete integrity."
The next day, Buckingham Palace released a statement saying Prince Andrew knew nothing about about the alleged offer.
"The Duke of York categorically denies any knowledge of any meeting or conversation between the Duchess of York and the News of the World journalist," Buckingham Palace said, using alternate titles for Prince Andrew and Sarah
Ferguson.
He has carried out his role as a British trade envoy since 2001 "with complete and absolute propriety and integrity," the palace said.
|
[
"What is she promoting at a book show?",
"What types of books does the Duchess of York write?",
"The Duychess of York is a bestselling what?",
"What is Prince Andrew unaware of?",
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"What did a tabloid video appear to show?"
] |
[
"\"Helping Hand Books.\"",
"children's",
"children's book author,spoke",
"\"was not aware or involved in any of the discussions that occurred.",
"\"Helping Hand Books.\"",
"Ferguson accepting money from an undercover reporter"
] |
question: What is she promoting at a book show?, answer: "Helping Hand Books." | question: What types of books does the Duchess of York write?, answer: children's | question: The Duychess of York is a bestselling what?, answer: children's book author,spoke | question: What is Prince Andrew unaware of?, answer: "was not aware or involved in any of the discussions that occurred. | question: What is she at a book show to promote?, answer: "Helping Hand Books." | question: What did a tabloid video appear to show?, answer: Ferguson accepting money from an undercover reporter
|
New York (CNN) -- Several unions endorsed the two-week-old Occupy Wall Street movement and plan to join the protesters' street theater in New York on Wednesday, labor leaders said.
"It's really simple. These young people on Wall Street are giving voice to many of the problems that working people in America have been confronting over the last several years," Larry Hanley, international president of the Amalgamated Transit Union, which has 20,000 member in the New York area, told CNN.
"These young people are speaking for the vast majority of Americans who are frustrated by the bankers and brokers who have profited on the backs of hard-working people," Hanley added in a statement. "While we battle it out day after day, month after month, the millionaires and billionaires on Wall Street sit by -- untouched -- and lecture us on the level of our sacrifice."
Contribute your images, video and words to CNN's coverage
Transport Workers Union Local 100 spokesman Jim Gannon said the Occupy Wall Street movement, which denounces social inequities in the financial system and draws inspiration from the Arab Spring revolutions in Africa and the Middle East, has advanced issues that unions typically support.
"Their goals are our goals," Gannon said. "They brought a spotlight on issues that we've believed in for quite some time now.... Wall Street caused the implosion in the first place and is getting away Scot-free while workers, transit workers, everybody, is forced to pay for their excesses.
"These young folks have brought a pretty bright spotlight," Gannon added. "It's kind of a natural alliance."
Just who are these people?
President Michael Mulgrew of the United Federation of Teachers, the sole bargaining agent for most non-supervisory New York City public teachers with 200,000 members, said he was "proud" to support the Occupy demonstrators, who have been camping out in New York and elsewhere across the nation.
"The way our society is now headed it does not work for 99% of people, so when Occupy Wall Street started ... they kept to it and they've been able to create a national conversation that we think should have been going on for years," Mulgrew said.
The labor officials couldn't provide a projection on how many of their members will take the day off from work Wednesday and join the protests.
The demonstrators have bivouacked in the park in New York's Financial District, calling for 20,000 people to flood the area for a "few months."
The protest campaign -- which uses the hashtag #occupywallstreet on the microblogging site Twitter -- began in July with the launch of a simple campaign website calling for a march and a sit-in at the New York Stock Exchange.
Over the past two weeks, demonstrations have addressed various issues, including police brutality, union busting and the economy, the group said.
Occupy Wall Street is a leaderless movement made largely of twentysomethings upset with the state of the economy, the state of the war in Afghanistan, the state of the environment, and the state of America and the world in general.
View a gallery of high-resolution photos from the protests
In less than three weeks, the movement has become a magnet for countless disaffected Americans at a time when an overwhelming majority of U.S. adults say the country's on the wrong track.
Occupy protests have been held in Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle and Boston.
Occupy Wall Street and its offshoots have clear strains of liberal economic populism -- a powerful force in U.S. history during various times characterized by growing economic stress. That said, it could be a mistake to label or tie the movement to a specific agenda, said Susan Olzak, a Stanford University sociology professor.
"It's difficult to classify a social protest movement early on in its history," Olzak told CNN. "Clearer goals could eventually emerge, but there's no guarantee."
"Many movements fizzle out. Others become more organized," she said. But "I think we run a risk (by) taking
|
[
"What labor organizers don't have an estimate on the participation",
"Protesters are camping in a park where?",
"Who don't have an estimate on Wednesday's participation?",
"Who camped in a park in the financial district?",
"The movement is more than how many weeks old?"
] |
[
"United Federation of Teachers,",
"New York's Financial District,",
"labor officials",
"Occupy demonstrators,",
"two"
] |
question: What labor organizers don't have an estimate on the participation, answer: United Federation of Teachers, | question: Protesters are camping in a park where?, answer: New York's Financial District, | question: Who don't have an estimate on Wednesday's participation?, answer: labor officials | question: Who camped in a park in the financial district?, answer: Occupy demonstrators, | question: The movement is more than how many weeks old?, answer: two
|
New York (CNN) -- Sgt. Dakota Meyer, the 23-year-old Marine who received the Medal of Honor earlier this month, wants to join another well-known outfit celebrated for bravery in the face of danger, the New York City Fire Department. Unfortunately, he missed the deadline to sign up, so he has to wait four more years.
And when a federal judge agreed Monday to reopen the application window for one day to allow Meyer, and only Meyer, to apply, he said no, no special treatment.
On September 15 Meyer met President Barack Obama and received the Medal of Honor in a ceremony at the White House.
Caught up in the bevy of activities surrounding the Medal of Honor ceremony, Meyer missed the deadline to apply to the FDNY, according to his attorney Keith Sullivan.
"The Fire Department would love to have him. Who wouldn't, whatever the organization?" said Frank Dwyer, a spokesman for the FDNY. "He's truly an example of what the military is all about, the best of what America has to offer."
According to Dwyer, the city generally offers the opportunity for members of the public to apply to become a New York City firefighter only every four years. Step one in the process is to sign up to take an entrance exam. This year, the window for potential candidates to sign up was July 15 through September 19, Dwyer said.
Monday, Sullivan and the city filed a motion to allow them to reopen the official application period to allow Meyer to apply. The city sought to reopen the applications to all would-be candidates, but U.S. District Court Judge Nicholas Garaufis ruled that other applicants had plenty of time to sign up for the firefighter test, and the one-day window for a late application would only be open to Meyer, "in view of Sergeant Meyer's recognized and truly exceptional military service," court documents said.
"We suggested in our court filing that the application period should be reopened for both Sgt. Meyer and the general public. However, we will respect the judge's decision," said Kate O'Brien Ahlers, spokeswoman for the New York City Law Department.
Sullivan was disappointed in the court's decision and the city's decision to accept it. "The city made it perfectly clear that additional applications would be too burdensome for them to process. I am actually ashamed for them. If Dakota took the path of least resistance in Afghanistan the way the city did on this issue, he would not be a Medal of Honor recipient and there would be 36 more dead soldiers," he said.
Garaufis cited special recruitment efforts by the city intended to encourage members of black and Hispanic communities to apply to the FDNY. "A brief, general re-opening of the application period, especially without any accompanying recruitment effort beyond the City's proposed updates of the New York City Fire Department's and City Administrative Services's websites, would create a serious risk of an adverse impact on the minority groups who are substantially under-represented in the ranks of the FDNY," Garaufis wrote in his decision.
Meyer said he takes responsibility for missing the application deadline, and if no one else can apply during the reopened window, he won't apply either.
"Unless the filing period is open to everyone, I can not morally accept it," said Meyer in a news release. "I got to where I am in life by sticking to my core values and principles, I'm not about to change. I am very disappointed that I missed the deadline by only 12 hours, but I accept full responsibility for that."
The Kentucky Marine earned the nation's highest award for valor when he braved a storm of enemy fire to recover wounded and dead fellow American and Afghan troops during a six-hour firefight in Afghanistan. His actions saved the lives of 13 U.S. Marines and soldiers and 23 Afghan soldiers, according to the Marines' Medal of Honor account.
Meyer is the first living U.S. Marine in 41 years to be awarded the medal.
|
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"when did A federal judge offered to reopen?",
"What does Meyer want?"
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"Sgt. Dakota Meyer,",
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"to reopen the application window for one day",
"Meyer,",
"Monday",
"to join another well-known outfit celebrated for bravery in the face of danger, the New York City Fire Department."
] |
question: Who wants no special treatment?, answer: Sgt. Dakota Meyer, | question: Who missed the deadline?, answer: Sgt. Dakota Meyer, | question: What did the federal judge offer?, answer: to reopen the application window for one day to allow Meyer, and only Meyer, to apply, | question: who is Sgt. Dakota Meyer?, answer: the 23-year-old Marine | question: What did a judge offer?, answer: to reopen the application window for one day | question: who did says he wants no special treatment?, answer: Meyer, | question: when did A federal judge offered to reopen?, answer: Monday | question: What does Meyer want?, answer: to join another well-known outfit celebrated for bravery in the face of danger, the New York City Fire Department.
|
New York (CNN) -- South Carolina's first lady, Jenny Sanford, said Monday that writing her much-anticipated memoir of her husband's affair was a "cathartic" and "cleansing" experience.
In an interview on CNN's "Larry King Live," Sanford called "Staying True" -- which hit bookstores Friday -- "an honest account of the values I hold dear."
It was her husband Gov. Mark Sanford's loss of values that she blames on his much-publicized affair with an Argentine woman that was exposed by reporters after he disappeared for several days last summer. Staffers said he was hiking the Appalachian Trail, but he later admitted he was actually visiting his mistress in Argentina.
"It saddens me because I believed in him and a number of people believed in him," Jenny Sanford said Monday.
"I still believe he was a good person. ... Somewhere along the lines, he got off track," she said. "He can get back on track, but it's too late for the marriage."
Jenny Sanford, who filed for divorce in December, said the divorce could be final as early as the end of this month.
She said she found out about the affair in January 2009 when she discovered a letter her husband had written to his mistress.
"It was awful," she said. "I literally was in shock. My stomach felt gut-punched."
She said there had been warning signs, but she "never expected anything like this."
"I felt in some respects that we had lost something that we would never get back," even as she initially considered staying with him, she said.
"Nobody takes a 20-year marriage and decides in [a] snap minute to throw it away," she said. "I came to the decision very prayerfully and carefully over a number of months."
Sanford, 47, moved out of the governor's mansion with their four boys in June. She has said through the entire ordeal that her priority is her children.
"The kids are resilient, and we're back at home settling into a new, normal routine," she said of her sons, ages 11-17. "I feel like they're going to do great."
Asked whether she knows whether her husband is still seeing the Argentine woman, Jenny Sanford says she doesn't know and doesn't want to ask.
"I'm just moving on," she said. "I want to stay happy and positive and raise the kids to the best of my ability."
|
[
"Who appears Monday?",
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] |
question: Who appears Monday?, answer: Jenny Sanford, | question: Who is SC's first lady?, answer: Jenny Sanford, | question: Who did Sanford have an affair with?, answer: an Argentine woman | question: What was said about Mark Sanford?, answer: "It saddens me because I believed in him and a number of people believed in him," | question: Who is South Carolina's first lady?, answer: Jenny Sanford, | question: Where is the first lady appearing?, answer: "Larry King Live,"
|
New York (CNN) -- Staring down a smoking homemade bomb and dismantling it is dangerous enough. Doing it with news cameras rolling on a busy Saturday night in the middle of Times Square is something Det. Patrick LaScala of the New York Police Department swears never entered his mind.
Until the following day.
"You're home the next day, and you're really thinking about it. Then, you start to put the pieces together and you think, 'Wow,' " LaScala said in an exclusive interview.
LaScala was manipulating the police robot that laid the groundwork for one of his partners, Det. Raymond Clair.
"This was the first time that I went down on a vehicle, and I saw clocks and wires and gas and propane. I identified it as a bomb, and I had to look twice," Clair said.
After 13 years as a bomb tech, that night was the one Clair says he'll remember the most.
Clair and LaScala are part of New York's elite bomb squad, a unit whose size is a closely guarded secret.
CNN was given special access to the unit in order to find out what a more typical day can be like.
During one recent 16-hour shift, I watched the same five-man team who worked the bungled bomb plot in Times Square check their equipment, catch up on paperwork and make sure Dan-O, their explosives-sniffing dog, was raring to go. The K-9 is named for a member of the squad who died in the 9/11 attacks when one of the twin towers collapsed.
On a busy side street outside their Manhattan offices, neighbors watched them go through their paces with the robot.
"We think they're great," one man said.
Another passerby snapped a picture of the robot with her cell phone.
"Is that the robot that checks out bombs?" she asked. It was.
But robots, as sophisticated as they are, can only do so much. They're capable of blowing out windows, blasting a suspicious package to bits, photographing an object from several angles and sending those images to investigators. The squad doesn't want to publicize more specific details. Still, a human touch often can't be avoided.
With help, bomb techs first crawl into an 85-pound protective suit that covers their bodies from head to toe.
The feet nearly look like those of a platypus, the material is stiff and hot, and the chest plate is heavy. A helmet is cinched on around the neck, and an air hose keeps outside air flowing into the mask. Put on gloves, and it's hard to imagine that anyone in such bulky gear could maneuver and dismantle possible bomb components. But that's what they're trained to do.
"The more you do, and the more you get involved, the better you'll get when it's the real thing," Clair said.
Det. Greg Abbate also was there for the "real thing" in Times Square. He said his training kicked in.
"There's a strong bond between us. We go to a job, there's very little talk. Everyone knows what they have to do," he said.
Despite the immense dangers associated with the work, whenever the unit checks out a suspicious package, bomb technicians jockey for the opportunity to suit up.
"We actually have arguments over who's taking the job," added Abbate.
When CNN traveled with them on a call, it was Abbate's turn to wear the gear.
The bomb squad was called to check out a backpack found in a park near a police headquarters checkpoint.
The team sped to the scene with sirens screaming. Other units ringed the perimeter. X-rays were taken. Abbate moved in. This time, he determined that this time, there was nothing to it.
Sgt. John Ryan said it's necessary to assume the worst until the team moves in.
"Everything is a bomb until we say it's not a bomb, " said
|
[
"Who is to visit the bomb squad?",
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"What is Abbate's first name?",
"Who is eager to be the one to suit up?",
"Who interviewed the squad?",
"What did Greg say?",
"Who said \"there's a very strong bond between us\"?",
"Where was the recent bomb incident?",
"Who are eager to suit up when c call comes in?"
] |
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] |
question: Who is to visit the bomb squad?, answer: CNN | question: What did Det. Greg Abbate say?, answer: they have to do," | question: Where did CNN visit?, answer: New York | question: Who did CNN visit?, answer: New York's elite bomb squad, | question: Who said there's a very strong bond between us?, answer: Det. Greg Abbate | question: What did Det. Abbate say about the bond?, answer: "There's a strong | question: What is Abbate's first name?, answer: Greg | question: Who is eager to be the one to suit up?, answer: bomb technicians | question: Who interviewed the squad?, answer: CNN | question: What did Greg say?, answer: He said his training kicked in. | question: Who said "there's a very strong bond between us"?, answer: Det. Greg Abbate | question: Where was the recent bomb incident?, answer: middle of Times Square | question: Who are eager to suit up when c call comes in?, answer: bomb technicians
|
New York (CNN) -- State police in Florida planned Monday to further investigate a single-vehicle crash involving pro golfer Tiger Woods, they said.
That followed a police announcement Sunday that Woods had canceled a third interview with investigators.
Woods suffered minor injuries in the accident, which occurred early Friday in his luxury neighborhood near Orlando. In a statement issued Sunday afternoon on his Web site, Woods offered no details of his wreck, except to say he had cuts and bruises and was "pretty sore."
"This situation is my fault, and it's obviously embarrassing to my family and me," he said. "I'm human, and I'm not perfect. I will certainly make sure this doesn't happen again."
CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin spoke about why Tiger Woods might be delaying talking to police.
CNN: Why do you think Tiger Woods has canceled three interviews with police?
Jeffrey Toobin: Tiger Woods is under no legal obligation to speak with police. The Fifth Amendment gives everyone an absolute right to refuse to talk to them. He may be counting on the fact that if no new news emerges, everybody will move on.
CNN: Can the police do anything about it if Woods continues to refuse to talk to them?
Toobin: The police don't have a lot of options. If someone doesn't want to talk to you, you as a police officer can't do anything about it. In theory, they could get a search warrant, but you need probable cause that a crime took place, and at this point, I don't see anything that would justify it.
CNN: The Florida Highway Patrol says the delay is surprising because the accident is so minor. What does Tiger Woods gain by not talking to them? Toobin: Woods may not talk to them because there is possibly something unpleasant and embarrassing that he doesn't want to share with them, and he has that right. Based on what is publicly known, Woods has a public relations problem much more than a legal problem. He's arguably the most famous athlete in the world, and his team's overall strategy is a gamble that his general statement of responsibility won't be overtaken by events or other disclosures.
CNN: Tiger Woods said today that he won't be attending his golf tournament in California this week because of injuries sustained in the car crash, and has cancelled his scheduled press conference as host of the event. Does this fit in with the strategy you think his team has adopted? Toobin: I think the decision not to attend the tournament shows how serious this event is, in Tiger's life as well as his work. Again, this is more a personal and business problem than a legal problem, but he needs to figure out a way to show the public what happened, or explain why he won't be talking about what happened. Obviously he doesn't have that answer yet.
CNN: A story in last week's National Enquirer alleged that Woods has been seeing a New York night club hostess. The woman has denied any affair with Woods to The Associated Press. She's also apparently retained attorney Gloria Allred. Why do you think she's retained an attorney?
Toobin: The woman may go public to repeat ... what she's said to the AP and publicly deny the affair, or perhaps to say that she was libeled by the Enquirer. Gloria Allred's clients tend not to disappear from the news media.
|
[
"What may happen to Woods if he talks?",
"Who at CNN was quoted?",
"Does Tiger Woods have a legal obligation to speak to police?",
"what police could get?",
"Who hired attorney?",
"What did CNN senior say about Tiger Woods?",
"what does toobin say?"
] |
[
"there is possibly something unpleasant and embarrassing that",
"Jeffrey Toobin",
"no",
"a search warrant,",
"Tiger Woods",
"is under no legal obligation to speak with police.",
"Tiger Woods is under no legal obligation to speak with police."
] |
question: What may happen to Woods if he talks?, answer: there is possibly something unpleasant and embarrassing that | question: Who at CNN was quoted?, answer: Jeffrey Toobin | question: Does Tiger Woods have a legal obligation to speak to police?, answer: no | question: what police could get?, answer: a search warrant, | question: Who hired attorney?, answer: Tiger Woods | question: What did CNN senior say about Tiger Woods?, answer: is under no legal obligation to speak with police. | question: what does toobin say?, answer: Tiger Woods is under no legal obligation to speak with police.
|
New York (CNN) -- The New York Police Department has the capability to "take down" threatening airplanes, Commissioner Raymond Kelly said in an interview broadcast on CBS's "60 Minutes" Sunday night.
Asked by interviewer Scott Pelley whether he is satisfied with the handling of potential aerial threats, Kelly responded, "It's something that's on our radar screen. In an extreme situation, we would have some means to take down a plane."
"Do you mean to say that the NYPD has the means to take down an aircraft?" Pelley asked.
"Yes," Kelly answered. "I prefer not to get into the details, but obviously this would be in a very extreme situation."
"You have the equipment and the training?"
"Yes."
There was no comment on the technology that would be used in such a situation.
The interview highlighted several other security measures undertaken by the police department's Counterterrorism Bureau, including random subway searches, officers carrying nuclear radiation detectors on their gun belts, and thousands of "smart" cameras in downtown Manhattan.
Kelly created the Counterterrorism Bureau in early 2002 in response to the September 11th attacks that occurred 10 years ago last month. Since the attacks, more than $3 billion has been spent on New York City counterterrorism measures. Units within the bureau include the Joint Terrorism Task Force, the Lower Manhattan Security Initiative, and the Terrorism Threat Analysis Group.
"We're the number one target in this country. That's the consensus in the intelligence community," Kelly said. "We're the communications capital. We're the financial capital. We're a city that's been attacked twice successfully, we've had 13 terrorist plots against us since September 11th. No other city has had that."
On Monday, Mayor Michael Bloomberg commented on the police department's counterterrorism efforts at an education conference in Manhattan.
"Our job is to make sure that we stay safe going forward and that we show that the terrorists didn't win and that New York City is back," he said. "The New York City Police Department has a lot of capabilities that you don't know about and you won't know about them."
Although he said that he "cannot guarantee that you are safe forever or perfectly safe," he added that "I can tell you in 10 years we seem to have stopped a number -- and who knows how many additional we don't know about -- attempts to have terrorism here."
He went on to reinforce his support for the police department and the spending involved in its operations: "We spend something like 8 1/2 billion dollars, including pension costs, on our police department and I think it is money well spent."
The specifics of the department's capabilities are not commonly discussed with the media. Kelly has said the department is taking every possible measure to keep New Yorkers safe.
|
[
"What did Kelly say the NYPD can do in an extreme situation?",
"What amount of money has been spend in NYC counter-terrorism measures?",
"What is the technology capable of?",
"Bloomberg saying about the cops?",
"What amount of money was spent on the measures?",
"What did Bloomberg say about the NYPD?"
] |
[
"\"take down\" threatening airplanes,",
"$3 billion",
"\"take down\" threatening airplanes,",
"\"Our job is to make sure that we stay safe going forward and that we show that the terrorists didn't win and that New York City is back,\"",
"more than $3 billion",
"\"Our job is to make sure that we stay safe going forward and that we show that the terrorists didn't win and that New York City is back,\""
] |
question: What did Kelly say the NYPD can do in an extreme situation?, answer: "take down" threatening airplanes, | question: What amount of money has been spend in NYC counter-terrorism measures?, answer: $3 billion | question: What is the technology capable of?, answer: "take down" threatening airplanes, | question: Bloomberg saying about the cops?, answer: "Our job is to make sure that we stay safe going forward and that we show that the terrorists didn't win and that New York City is back," | question: What amount of money was spent on the measures?, answer: more than $3 billion | question: What did Bloomberg say about the NYPD?, answer: "Our job is to make sure that we stay safe going forward and that we show that the terrorists didn't win and that New York City is back,"
|
New York (CNN) -- The Pablo Picasso painting "The Actor" will undergo repair work, after a woman visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art fell onto the painting and tore the canvas, according to the museum.
The museum said the Picasso work was damaged Friday when a visitor lost her balance and fell onto the unusually large 6-foot, 4-inch work.
The six-inch tear is on the lower right-hand corner of the painting, the museum said in a news release Sunday.
The museum did not provide details of the incident beyond saying the visitor fell onto the painting. Repair work should be "unobtrusive," the museum said.
The painting should be ready in time for the late April exhibition of 250 works by Picasso, the museum said.
The painting marked Picasso's move from his "Blue period" to his "Rose period," when his creations showcased costumed acrobats reminiscent of characters in Italian comedy stage plays, according to the museum.
|
[
"How long is the tear?",
"When will the painting be ready?",
"How many works by Picasso will be exhibited?",
"Is it the painting will be ready for April exhibition?",
"What is proportion of the tear?",
"What size is tear on the lower right-hand corner of the painting?",
"Who fell onto paintings?"
] |
[
"six-inch",
"late April exhibition of 250 works by Picasso,",
"250",
"should",
"six-inch",
"six-inch",
"the Metropolitan Museum of Art"
] |
question: How long is the tear?, answer: six-inch | question: When will the painting be ready?, answer: late April exhibition of 250 works by Picasso, | question: How many works by Picasso will be exhibited?, answer: 250 | question: Is it the painting will be ready for April exhibition?, answer: should | question: What is proportion of the tear?, answer: six-inch | question: What size is tear on the lower right-hand corner of the painting?, answer: six-inch | question: Who fell onto paintings?, answer: the Metropolitan Museum of Art
|
New York (CNN) -- The U.S. population is expected to top out at close to 312.8 million people just around the time crowds gather to watch the ball drop on New Year's Eve, according to new census data released Thursday.
The figure represents a 0.7% increase from last year, adding 2,250,129 people to the U.S. population since the start of 2011, and a 1.3% increase since Census Day, April 1, 2010.
The agency estimates that beginning in January, one American will be born every eight seconds and one will die every 12 seconds.
U.S.-bound immigrants are also expected to add one person every 46 seconds.
That combination of births, deaths and migration is expected to add a single person to the U.S. population every 17 seconds, the Census Bureau said.
Meanwhile, millions are set to ring in the new year.
In New York, authorities are preparing for large crowds in Manhattan's Times Square, where Lady Gaga is expected to join Mayor Michael Bloomberg to push the button that drops the Waterford Crystal ball at 11:59 p.m. ET on New Year's Eve.
"And I'm so looking forward to performing on NYE+dropping the Ball with Mayor Bloomberg!" the pop star posted on Twitter. "What an honor as a New Yorker."
Past guests have included Muhammad Ali, Rudy Giuliani, Colin Powell and Bill and Hillary Clinton.
On Thursday, officials conducted New York's annual "airworthiness test" -- a process in which confetti is tossed by handfuls above Times Square -- in preparation for the annual city tradition of dumping one ton of confetti over revelers in the iconic square.
The Big Apple this year edged out Las Vegas for the first time in seven years as the top travel U.S. destination for those celebrating the new year, according to a December travel booking website poll.
Seven New York neighborhoods made the top 10 list, with two districts in Las Vegas and one in New Orleans making up the other three, according to the Priceline poll.
"It appears that New York City will be helped this year by a weather forecast that calls for warmer than usual temperatures over the holiday weekend," said company spokesman Brian Ek.
|
[
"what did the census bureau declare",
"How much of an increase is that from last year?",
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] |
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"The U.S. population is expected to top out at close to 312.8 million people",
"0.7%",
"312.8 million",
"Manhattan's Times Square,",
"U.S. population is expected to top out at close to 312.8"
] |
question: what did the census bureau declare, answer: The U.S. population is expected to top out at close to 312.8 million people | question: How much of an increase is that from last year?, answer: 0.7% | question: What is the U.S. population expected to be?, answer: 312.8 million | question: What is the top New Year's destination?, answer: Manhattan's Times Square, | question: what did the poll reveal, answer: U.S. population is expected to top out at close to 312.8
|
New York (CNN) -- The federal government moved Thursday to seize assets belonging to the Alavi Foundation and the Assa Corp., including a Manhattan skyscraper and four mosques, citing alleged links to the Iranian government.
Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced Thursday's filing of an amended civil complaint seeking forfeiture of the Alavi Foundation's interest in the 36-story office tower located on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan.
The tower is owned by 650 Fifth Avenue Company, a partnership between the Alavi Foundation and Assa Corp., the Justice Department said. The amended complaint alleges that the Alavi Foundation provided services to the Iranian government and transferred money from 650 Fifth Avenue Company to Bank Melli, Iran's largest state-owned financial entity.
U.S. and European Union officials last year designated Bank Melli as a proliferator for supporting Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs and funneling money to the Revolutionary Guard and Quds Force, considered terrorist groups by the United States.
Bank Melli issued a statement last year denying involvement in any deceptive banking practices.
Thursday's amended complaint seeks forfeiture of all assets of the Alavi Foundation and Assa Corp., including bank accounts owned by 650 Fifth Avenue Company, the Alavi Foundation and Assa Corp.; and properties owned by the foundation in New York, Maryland, Virginia, Texas and California.
It alleges that the properties were "involved in and [were] the proceeds of money laundering offenses," and that the owners violated the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, executive orders and U.S. Department of Treasury regulations.
"As today's complaint alleges in great detail, the Alavi Foundation has effectively been a front for the government of Iran," Bharara said. "For two decades, the Alavi Foundation's affairs have been directed by various Iranian officials, including Iranian ambassadors to the United Nations, in violation of a series of American laws. The Alavi Foundation's former president remains under investigation for alleged obstruction of justice, and both the criminal and civil investigations are ongoing."
John Winter, a New York lawyer representing the Alavi Foundation, said his client would challenge the complaint. "We're obviously disappointed that the government brought this action because we have been cooperating with the government since this investigation began about a year ago and we intend to litigate this matter," he said in a telephone interview.
"It may take some time, but at the end of this litigation, we're of the mind that we're going to prevail here."
The buildings remained open and were continuing to operate as usual.
"There are no allegations of any wrongdoing on the part of any of these tenants or occupants," said Yusill Scribner, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York in a written statement. "The tenants and occupants remain free to use the properties as they have before today's filing."
According to the complaint, the New York tower was built in the 1970s by a nonprofit organization operated by the Shah of Iran to pursue the country's charitable interests in the United States. Bank Melli financed its construction in prime real estate near Rockefeller Center.
In 1979, after the Iranian revolution, the Islamic Republic of Iran established the Bonyad Mostazafan of New York, since renamed the Alavi Foundation, to take possession of and manage property it had expropriated from the former government, including the Fifth Avenue building.
Calls to the Iranian Mission were not immediately returned.
The mosques are in New York, Maryland, California and Texas.
At the Islamic Institute of New York in Queens, two worshipers said they found out about the move Thursday as they arrived for evening prayers. The front page of the court document stating the terms of the case was tacked to the front door accompanied by a letter from the U.S. Attorney's office to the Mostazafan Foundation.
A senior Justice Department official, trying to blunt any criticism from Muslim groups, told reporters that the government is moving against the Iranian landlords of the buildings, not targeting or "seizing mosques" as religious-oriented facilities. The mosques just happen to be among the
|
[
"What will the U.S. company forfeit?",
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"Who was accused of transferring money to Iran?",
"Alavi Foundation has effectively been a front for what according to US Attorney?",
"Who is accused of transferring money to Iran?",
"The companies own how many mosques?",
"What did the U.S. Attorney say about the Alavi Foundation?"
] |
[
"Alavi Foundation's interest in the 36-story office tower located on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan.",
"links to the Iranian government.",
"the Alavi Foundation",
"the government of Iran,\"",
"Alavi Foundation",
"four",
"has effectively been a front for the government of Iran,\""
] |
question: What will the U.S. company forfeit?, answer: Alavi Foundation's interest in the 36-story office tower located on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. | question: What did the US Attorney accuse one of the comapnies of being, answer: links to the Iranian government. | question: Who was accused of transferring money to Iran?, answer: the Alavi Foundation | question: Alavi Foundation has effectively been a front for what according to US Attorney?, answer: the government of Iran," | question: Who is accused of transferring money to Iran?, answer: Alavi Foundation | question: The companies own how many mosques?, answer: four | question: What did the U.S. Attorney say about the Alavi Foundation?, answer: has effectively been a front for the government of Iran,"
|
New York (CNN) -- The first two weeks of the NBA's regular season have been canceled, as basketball players and management have yet to reach a deal on a new labor agreement, Commissioner David Stern announced, according to NBA.com.
The two sides remain far apart, Stern said from the NBA meetings. He added that no further talks are scheduled.
Derek Fisher, the president of the NBA Player's Association, said the entire season may be in jeopardy. And the association's executive director, Billy Hunter, said the owners are more dug in than in the past.
The commissioner had warned last week that such a cancellation may well be coming, at which time Los Angeles Lakers' guard and NBA Players Association President Derek Fisher acknowledged the stakes.
"We know our backs are against the wall in terms of regular season games and what those consequences will be," he said then.
The league's owners began a lockout of its players in early July.
Stern has said that last season was not profitable for most of the league's 30 owners, who want cost-cutting help from players.
The league lost as much as $300 million in the 2010-11 season, according to the commissioner.
Less than a week ago, the NBA canceled its preseason, which meant the loss of about $200 million in revenue, Stern said.
One of the battles has focused on the owners' rejection of the players union's call for an average $7 million player salary in the sixth year of a new labor deal.
The current average salary is about $5 million.
Other big issues include a fight over a move by owners to get a bigger share of revenues and whether the NBA will strengthen its salary cap.
The last work stoppage occurred in 1998.
|
[
"What month was lockout?",
"How many new talks are scheduled?",
"Who says owners are more dug in than in the past?",
"What month is the lockout to begin?",
"Are new talks scheduled?",
"When did lockout begin?",
"Sides are what over revenue sharing and salaries?",
"Who says the sides are far apart, and no new talks are scheduled?",
"Who began a lockout of its players in early July?"
] |
[
"July.",
"no further",
"Billy Hunter,",
"July.",
"are",
"early July.",
"far apart,",
"Stern",
"The league's owners"
] |
question: What month was lockout?, answer: July. | question: How many new talks are scheduled?, answer: no further | question: Who says owners are more dug in than in the past?, answer: Billy Hunter, | question: What month is the lockout to begin?, answer: July. | question: Are new talks scheduled?, answer: are | question: When did lockout begin?, answer: early July. | question: Sides are what over revenue sharing and salaries?, answer: far apart, | question: Who says the sides are far apart, and no new talks are scheduled?, answer: Stern | question: Who began a lockout of its players in early July?, answer: The league's owners
|
New York (CNN) -- The legendary New York restaurant Tavern on the Green will close its doors after serving a last supper and hosting a New Year's party.
The iconic spot on the western edge of Central Park will undergo major renovations under a new operator and may even retain its famous name, but to many patrons, this is indisputably the end of an era.
Claudia Myers and Wayne Knowles, a semi-retired couple visiting from Norfolk, Virginia, were saddened by the news and decided to treat themselves to one last Tavern dinner. "I came here years ago and had good memories," Knowles said.
"It's the atmosphere and ambience" Myers added. "Everyone knows what Tavern on the Green is and where is it" -- here, Myers paused -- "except one cab driver. It's just a neat place. It has history and it's in the park."
Ed Brown and his wife, Judy, also were in town for the holidays from Plantation, Florida, and were aware of the restaurant's plans. "It's my first and last time at eating at Tavern on the Green," Brown said. "At least I can now say I ate there."
Rodney Shephard recently was making preparations for his last party, for 1,500 guests. It's nothing the restaurant's maitre d' for the past 23 years couldn't handle, but he wasn't looking forward to his last party on his last day of employment at the restaurant.
"I never thought this day would come" said Shephard, 52. "Not like this. Not like the money-making machine that this place is."
The restaurant served its first meal in 1936, when Mayor Fiorello La Guardia presided over its opening as the city and the country were trying to dig out from the Great Depression.
The restaurant almost died in 1974 when the operator shuttered the "rustic little money-losing pub," as New York Times food writer Eric Asimov later described it.
But Warner LeRoy immediately took over the Tavern's lease and invested $10 million. He added two rooms to the existing four and installed scores of copper and brass chandeliers, Tiffany-style stained glass, bull's-eye glass mirrors and ornate pastel-colored fixtures, and a 167-foot mural depicting Central Park.
After its 1976 reopening, words like "playful," "dazzling" and "eclectic" were used to describe the restaurant's ambience and the menu. "It was an over-the-top whimsical place," said longtime publicist Shelley Clark.
Warner Leroy's father, Mervyn LeRoy, was the producer of the "Wizard of Oz," A black-and-white photograph hanging in the Tavern shows Warner as a child with Judy Garland on the set of the movie.
Jennifer Oz LeRoy, in her recently published book "Tavern on the Green 125 Recipes for Good Times," -- co-authored by her mother, Kay -- described the vision of the restaurant that her father wanted.
"When he walked into the courtyard of the run-down building, he imagined something wholly original and incredible: He would build a room in that space that would look like the inside of a wedding cake." she recalled.
"He was a brilliant showman and a brilliant restaurateur. He was bigger than life." said the Tavern's chief operating officer, Michael Desiderio. "He thought dining is like a great show, and when the curtain goes up everything must be perfect."
Shephard, who started as a front desk manager, fondly recalled LeRoy and the sense of family that he brought to the establishment: "It's like a second home. I consider the employees like your brothers and sisters, and now it's all going to be cut off."
The restaurant became the destination for anniversaries, birthdays and family affairs, It served more than 500,000 people a year, an average of 1,400 dinners a night. Tourists eagerly descended upon the eatery for the crab cakes, wedge salad, salmon and parmesan-crusted chicken
|
[
"Which New York City restaurant will close its doors at end of year ?",
"Who spent money on the restuarant in the 1970s?",
"What NYC restaurant is closing?",
"Who spent $10 million on chandeliers, stained glass, mirrors in 1970s ?",
"How many people visit the restaurant?",
"What legendary restaurant is closing?",
"What number of people a year for anniversary's, birthdays, tourist visits ?",
"Who spent $10 million in the 1970s?"
] |
[
"Tavern on the Green",
"Warner LeRoy",
"Tavern on the Green",
"Warner LeRoy",
"500,000",
"Tavern on the Green",
"500,000",
"Warner LeRoy"
] |
question: Which New York City restaurant will close its doors at end of year ?, answer: Tavern on the Green | question: Who spent money on the restuarant in the 1970s?, answer: Warner LeRoy | question: What NYC restaurant is closing?, answer: Tavern on the Green | question: Who spent $10 million on chandeliers, stained glass, mirrors in 1970s ?, answer: Warner LeRoy | question: How many people visit the restaurant?, answer: 500,000 | question: What legendary restaurant is closing?, answer: Tavern on the Green | question: What number of people a year for anniversary's, birthdays, tourist visits ?, answer: 500,000 | question: Who spent $10 million in the 1970s?, answer: Warner LeRoy
|
New York (CNN) -- The man accused of attempting to set off a car bomb in Times Square considered other targets in and around New York before the failed attack, an investigator said.
Faisal Shahzad, 30, pondered attacks on Rockefeller Center, Grand Central Terminal, the World Financial Center and Connecticut helicopter manufacturer Sikorsky, going so far as to case some of the targets, a senior counterterrorism official with oversight of the investigation said Tuesday.
Dressed in a gray sweatsuit, free of handcuffs, Shahzad appeared before a federal magistrate on Tuesday afternoon to hear the charges against him. As he walked into courtroom, Shahzad gave a slight smile to his public defender, Julia Gatto. At the end of the hearing, Gatto requested that Shahzad be served halal food -- prepared according to Islamic dietary laws -- while jailed.
Gatto did not object to the government's request that he remain in federal custody. He did not enter a plea, and Magistrate Judge James Francis set his next hearing for June 1.
Shahzad faces five counts in connection with the attempted bombing in Times Square on May 1. He could face life in prison if convicted.
The Pakistani-born naturalized U.S. citizen has been in federal custody since his arrest two days after the bomb attempt. During that time, he "has provided valuable intelligence from which further investigative action has been taken," the U.S. attorney's office said.
After 15 days of questioning, Shahzad invoked his right to an attorney at Tuesday's hearing, a federal law enforcement official said.
According to court documents, Shahzad has admitted to law enforcement that he attempted to detonate the bomb and that he recently received bomb-making training in the Waziristan region of Pakistan.
Attorney General Eric Holder has said Shahzad was working with the Pakistani Taliban.
E-mails obtained by CNN indicate he was looking for a way to strike back against "foreign infidel forces" he believed were oppressing the Muslim world. In one, sent to a large group of recipients in February 2006, Shahzad wrote, "Everyone knows how the Muslim country bows down to pressure from the west. Everyone knows the kind of humiliation we are faced with around the globe."
At the time, he had been in the United States for about six years, had earned his MBA and was working as a financial analyst in Connecticut.
CIA Director Leon Panetta and National Security Adviser James Jones are traveling to Pakistan to meet with officials there about the status of the Times Square investigation, a U.S. official said Tuesday. They also plan to discuss efforts to prevent future terrorist attacks in their meetings there, the official added.
The U.S. government wants to see continued Pakistani cooperation in determining what role the Pakistani Taliban may have played in assisting Shahzad. Washington also wants an aggressive push by Pakistani authorities to take action against al Qaeda-linked groups in the largely ungoverned tribal areas along its border with Afghanistan.
CNN National Correspondent Susan Candiotti and National Security Analyst Frances Townsend contributed to this report.
|
[
"What tourist spots were considered?",
"Who enter no plea?",
"Who did not enter a plea deal?",
"Who is seeking Pakistan's help?",
"Who considered attacks on Rockefeller Center?",
"Who asked that he be served food prepared according to Islamic dietary laws?",
"Name the Times Square bomb plot suspect",
"Who was seeking what?"
] |
[
"Rockefeller Center, Grand Central Terminal, the World Financial Center",
"Faisal Shahzad,",
"Faisal Shahzad,",
"CIA Director Leon Panetta and National Security Adviser James Jones",
"Faisal Shahzad,",
"Gatto",
"Faisal Shahzad,",
"U.S. government wants to see continued Pakistani cooperation in determining"
] |
question: What tourist spots were considered?, answer: Rockefeller Center, Grand Central Terminal, the World Financial Center | question: Who enter no plea?, answer: Faisal Shahzad, | question: Who did not enter a plea deal?, answer: Faisal Shahzad, | question: Who is seeking Pakistan's help?, answer: CIA Director Leon Panetta and National Security Adviser James Jones | question: Who considered attacks on Rockefeller Center?, answer: Faisal Shahzad, | question: Who asked that he be served food prepared according to Islamic dietary laws?, answer: Gatto | question: Name the Times Square bomb plot suspect, answer: Faisal Shahzad, | question: Who was seeking what?, answer: U.S. government wants to see continued Pakistani cooperation in determining
|
New York (CNN) -- The new Navy assault ship USS New York steamed into New York harbor Monday, cutting through the water with a bow built using seven and a half tons of steel recovered from the wreckage of the World Trade Center.
Its crew stood at attention and a 21-gun salute greeted the ship. Firefighters, bagpipers, and those who lost loved ones on 9/11 lined the shore to watch the emotional arrival. The docking holds special meaning for many families of those who died in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
"What better way for our young men and women that are going to be on the USS New York to feel the spirit of our country than to have this ship have the steel in the bow that represents not the bad but the good of our country," said Lee Ielpi, who lost his firefighter son, Jonathan, on 9/11.
The memory of the attacks is etched on the crest of the ship, which features a phoenix rising from the twin towers with the words, "Never Forget."
Watch USS New York sail up the Hudson
The ship weighs more than 25,000 tons and is as long as two football fields. Thirteen percent of the 361 crew members hail from the state of New York.
Former New York Gov. George Pataki received special dispensation to name the $1 billion ship USS New York; only submarines normally can be named after states.
Can you see the USS New York? Send your photos or videos
It is the first ship assignment for Ensign Timothy Gorman, who said, "Of any ship in the Navy, this is one ship that you can be proud of commissioning, to remember on a daily basis why we are here and why the ship is so special. The steel in the bow, we are very mindful that we are representing victims of 9/11 and the families and the people that died that day."
Howard Lutnick takes great pride in the new ship. He is CEO of the financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald, whose offices were in the World Trade Center. The ship, he said, is a memorial to his brother and 658 of his employees who died on that day more than eight years ago. Lutnick said he lives with the loss every day.
Watch how steel from World Trade Center became the ship's bow
"I really like the idea of people going out and avenging what happened to us and protecting us so that it should never happen again, because the pain that we went through, we want no one, no other family to have to go through it," Lutnick said.
The ship also will be used to ferry disaster relief when needed.
The USS New York will remain docked in the city through Veterans Day before heading back to its base in Norfolk, Virginia, for a year of crew training and exercises.
|
[
"Who was greeted by 21 gun salute?",
"Where will the ship eventually be based?",
"where remain ship?",
"Where is the steel from in the ships bow?",
"how long will the ship remain",
"Who arrives in New York?",
"what did the bow contain",
"What was the USS new york greeted with"
] |
[
"The new Navy assault ship USS New York",
"Norfolk, Virginia,",
"New York harbor",
"wreckage of the World Trade Center.",
"through Veterans Day",
"USS",
"seven and a half tons of steel recovered from the wreckage of the World Trade Center.",
"a 21-gun salute"
] |
question: Who was greeted by 21 gun salute?, answer: The new Navy assault ship USS New York | question: Where will the ship eventually be based?, answer: Norfolk, Virginia, | question: where remain ship?, answer: New York harbor | question: Where is the steel from in the ships bow?, answer: wreckage of the World Trade Center. | question: how long will the ship remain, answer: through Veterans Day | question: Who arrives in New York?, answer: USS | question: what did the bow contain, answer: seven and a half tons of steel recovered from the wreckage of the World Trade Center. | question: What was the USS new york greeted with, answer: a 21-gun salute
|
New York (CNN) -- The occupiers of Wall Street have been portrayed by some as radicals, young kids without focus, ne'er-do-wells who'd do anything but get a job. But one woman used her time in at Zuccotti Park differently, and as a result she has gone from Occupy Wall Street to occupying an actual office on Wall Street.
In the gathering of the so-called 99%, Tracy Postert had no idea she would be the one who would be working for the 1%.
"There were some days it was a carnival, or lots of music, drumming, costumes, marching, protesting," said Postert, describing the weeks she spent demonstrating at the park in downtown Manhattan.
Frustrated with the economy, Postert says she jumped right into the Occupy Wall Street movement -- all in -- banging drums and washing paint- and dirt-covered sidewalks.
She sounds like the protester stereotype, but she isn't; she has a doctorate in biochemistry.
In the past few years, the biochemist said, she had found herself at times unemployed or underemployed. Until a few weeks ago she decided to change her protest sign to a "Job Wanted" sign and hunkered down in Zuccotti Park with a handful of résumés.
"Passers-by would say, 'Get a job,' and I didn't have a really good response to that," Postert told CNN.
"I wanted to say, 'Well, I'm trying to get a job,' but you know you can't really prove it." Postert said. "So I said, why don't I make a sign (and prove) that I am actively looking for a job?"
Within two days, she said, someone spotted her. They exchanged e-mails, and an offer followed.
That someone was a top executive at a Wall Street financial firm -- in other words, the enemy.
"It might sound like it's a fish-out-of-water story -- (round) peg in a square hole -- but it's really not," said Wayne Kaufman, a market analyst at John Thomas Financial.
"She was standing there. She had her sign, she had her résumé, and I just passed by her and I chatted with her just for a brief few seconds. And she was obviously an intelligent person," Kaufman said.
"The résumé spoke for itself, it was very impressive," he said. "So, I sent her an e-mail the next day and ... she responded almost immediately.
"I asked her if she wanted to come in for an interview; she said yes. I told her what I had in mind for her according to her skill set, and the rest is just history."
For now, Tracy is researching early stage biotech companies for John Thomas Financial. She says she plans to take a test that would allow her to become a broker, and thus a full-fledged member of the 1%. So what are her former Occupy Wall Street compatriots saying?
"I have been accused of being a traitor to both sides. Some people are saying that the whole time I was at Occupy Wall Street I was really a Wall Street insider," says Postert.
She said she plans on keeping her sign. She pledged to protest again when she finds something she feels is worth protesting.
|
[
"On what Tracy Postert was committed to?",
"Who is Tracy Postert?",
"Where is Zuccotti Park?"
] |
[
"working for the 1%.",
"biochemist",
"downtown Manhattan."
] |
question: On what Tracy Postert was committed to?, answer: working for the 1%. | question: Who is Tracy Postert?, answer: biochemist | question: Where is Zuccotti Park?, answer: downtown Manhattan.
|
New York (CNN) -- The rash of stories about priestly sexual abuse in Europe, especially in Ireland and Germany, has put many Catholics on the defensive. They should not be. While sexual molestation of any kind is always indefensible, the politics surrounding this story is also indefensible.
Employers from every walk of life, in both the U.S. and Europe, have long handled cases of alleged sex abuse by employees as an internal matter. Rarely have employers called the cops, and none was required to do so.
Though this is starting to change, any discussion of employee sexual abuse that took place 30 and 40 years ago must acknowledge this reality. Thus it hardly comes as a surprise that Cardinal Sean Brady in Ireland did not summon the authorities about a case involving a priest in the 1970s. What is surprising is why some are now indicting him, acting as if his response was the exception to the rule.
Selective indignation at the Catholic Church is not confined to Brady. Why, for example, are the psychologists and psychiatrists who pledged to "fix" abusers treated so lightly? After all, employers from the corporate world to the Catholic Church were told over and over again that therapy works and to give the offender a second chance.
Indeed, the zeitgeist of the day was that rehabilitation not only works, it is virtuous. That such advice was wildly oversold can now be agreed upon by almost everyone, and that is precisely why it smacks of politics to deny how strongly held the rehabilitative ideal was. Had the Catholic Church simply tossed the offenders out, it would have been branded as heartless.
There is also much noise about Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger -- now the pope -- approving the transfer of a priest out of his archdiocese in Germany for therapy. That happened 30 years ago. Again, he did exactly what virtually every other leader, clerical or secular, did.
Anyone who maintains that in North America or Europe it was common practice for employers outside the Catholic Church to file a police report about suspected wrongdoing by their employees needs to put up or shut up: Where is the evidence?
Beyond that issue, the focus on sexual abuse in the Catholic Church is far out of proportion to the attention given by the media to the sexual molestation of minors when committed by non-Catholic clergymen. According to a report by the New York Times in October, the Brooklyn district attorney's office had filed charges in 26 cases of sexual abuse involving members of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community.
Just this month, Rabbi Baruch Lebovits was found guilty on eight counts of sexually abusing a Brooklyn boy. Yet the Times, which has run several stories on the decades-old cases in Ireland and Germany, never reported it. And none of it merits the kind of attention given to priests. Catholics aren't fooled.
Public school teachers accused of sex abuse are either transferred to another school district -- it's so common that it is called "passing the trash"-- or they are assigned to what, in New York, they call a "rubber room" (these are places where teachers draw full salary and benefits doing makeshift administrative work). Both the teachers unions and state law allow this outrage to continue. Maybe if the media concentrated on this problem, solutions would follow. But the politics of the day being what they are, don't bet on it. It's a lot sexier to nail the Catholic Church.
The hyper-concentration on the Catholic Church is not by accident. The Church preaches an ethic of sexual restraint -- a profoundly countercultural idea -- so when a priest fails, it's tempting to highlight it. Human nature being what it is, that's understandable. But it's also immoral. Quite frankly, if sexual abuse is wrong, it should not matter what the identity of the abuser is. Selective justice is the highest form of injustice.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Bill Donohue.
|
[
"What is internal matter"
] |
[
"alleged sex abuse by employees"
] |
question: What is internal matter, answer: alleged sex abuse by employees
|
New York (CNN) -- The serendipitous occurrence of this year's Thanksgiving holiday on the same evening as the Muslim Eid-ul-Adha is a festive occasion to reflect on the place of Islam in American collective consciousness and on Muslims as Americans.
On the same evening that millions of Americans gather around their Thanksgiving dinner to celebrate this most American of holidays, even more millions of Muslims around the globe, including the growing number of American Muslims, will do the same -- celebrating as well one of the most definitive moments of their faith -- Prophet Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son for his God.
This holiday celebration comes soon after the tragic incident at Fort Hood, when the atrocious act of a mass murderer put Islam and Muslims under some pressure to either denounce or defend their faith.
The psychotic act of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, MD, a Muslim American military psychiatrist at Fort Hood who went on a rampage killing 13 U.S. soldiers and wounding 30 others, has prompted two diametrically opposed reactions.
On one side are people who say that Islam -- and Islam alone -- is inherently violent and by extension Muslims are constitutionally driven to murder, while on the other are apologetic Muslims who argue their faith is peaceful and benevolent -- unrelated to criminal acts such as Hasan's.
The fact is that Maj. Hasan and Osama bin Laden have as much claim on Islam as do Muhammad Ali, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the Persian poet Mawlana Jalal al-Din Rumi, who is the best-selling poet in America. Islam is an abstraction and any Muslim, saintly or satanic, detested or beloved, can and does have a claim on it -- and Islam is not the only world religion with this proclivity for good and evil.
The distinguished New York Times columnist David Brooks, one of the most consistently militant warriors in his take on American involvements in Afghanistan and Iraq, takes Islam -- and Islam alone -- to task for having a diabolic roughness on its fringes. But even if so, Islam is not alone in this failure to curtail murderous instincts.
The same Hinduism that produced Mahatma Gandhi and his non-violent theory of civil disobedience has also produced Hindu fundamentalists who sliced and skewered pregnant Muslim women alive in Gujarat.
The same Christianity that produced Saint Francis of Assisi and Mother Theresa also produced children's crusades and Spanish conquistadors who burned native Americans alive 13 at a time (according to the 16th-century Spanish Dominican priest, Bartolomé de las Casas) in honor of the Twelve Apostles and Jesus Christ. It also produced American Seung-Hui Cho who killed 32 students and himself at Virginia Tech and American John Wayne Gacy, Jr., who raped and murdered 33 young men and boys in Chicago, Illinois, in the 1970s.
The same Judaism that produced Martin Buber, Emanuel Levinas, or Primo Levi also produced the Stern Gang, Meir Kahane and Baruch Goldstein.
But the knee jerk reaction of blaming Islam and Muslims, in general, or looking for delusional links to "al Qaeda," for the horrific murders at Fort Hood points to something far more fundamental, overdue, and urgent -- namely something of a psychological barrier for Americans to accept the Islamic component of their own society, culture, and history.
To avoid singling out Islam as diabolical, it is imperative for Americans to come to terms with the collectively repressed fact that by far the most important social uprising of their 20th century -- namely the civil rights movement of the 1960s -- is not as exclusively a Christian phenomenon as it is made out to be: The towering figure of a Muslim revolutionary named Malcolm X is of great importance in the history of that movement.
It took a whole generation of Americans to accept the fact that Jewish civil rights activists were instrumental in many measures of the success that was achieved in the 1960s. It is long overdue for Americans also to recognize that Malcolm X was equally, if not more, important to the civil rights movement.
The way the history of the civil rights movement is mostly remembered now, an overwhelming role is assigned to the Southern Baptist genealogy of Martin Luther King Jr. Malcolm X is
|
[
"Who celebrates Thanksgiving and an important religious occasion on the same day?",
"Who celebrates Thanksgiving?",
"Who played a key role in civil rights movement?",
"Who played roles in the civil rights movement?"
] |
[
"Muslims",
"millions of Americans",
"Muslim revolutionary named Malcolm X",
"Martin Luther King Jr."
] |
question: Who celebrates Thanksgiving and an important religious occasion on the same day?, answer: Muslims | question: Who celebrates Thanksgiving?, answer: millions of Americans | question: Who played a key role in civil rights movement?, answer: Muslim revolutionary named Malcolm X | question: Who played roles in the civil rights movement?, answer: Martin Luther King Jr.
|
New York (CNN) -- The son of actor Michael Douglas apologized to a federal judge before being sentenced to a five-year prison term Tuesday, promising to follow "the true right path" when released.
Cameron Douglas, 31, pleaded guilty to distributing large quantities of methamphetamine and cocaine in January.
"I apologize to the court for my decisions and actions that put me in front of you today," Douglas said in a trembling voice. He added, "I have developed, in my mind, the idea that I want to take the right path, the true right path."
U.S. District Judge Richard Berman rebuffed pleas by defense lawyers for a more lenient sentencing, telling the spectators that prison may be Douglas' "last chance."
Cameron Douglas is the son of the two-time Academy Award winner and his first wife, Diandra Luker, both of whom attended the sentencing. As Cameron Douglas spoke, his mother was crying and his father appeared to be fighting back tears.
Douglas, who was arrested in July 2009 at a Manhattan nightclub, asked Berman "for opportunity to be a role model to my younger brothers and sisters."
"I believe, your honor, things will be different this time," he added. If given a second chance, he said, "I will never squander that opportunity."
Berman acknowledged that numerous letters sent on the defendant's behalf by celebrities and others, but said some of the letters implied that he should not make an example of Douglas because he is the son of a famous actor.
"None acknowledged appropriately the numerous impacts to victims of society for dealing drugs," the judge said.
|
[
"What did Douglas plead?",
"Who are Cameron Douglas' parents?",
"whats the name of michael douglas wifE?",
"what age does douglas have?",
"who pleaded guilty?",
"When was Douglas arrested?",
"What did Cameron Douglas do?"
] |
[
"guilty",
"Michael",
"Diandra Luker,",
"31,",
"Cameron Douglas,",
"in July",
"pleaded guilty to distributing large quantities of methamphetamine and cocaine"
] |
question: What did Douglas plead?, answer: guilty | question: Who are Cameron Douglas' parents?, answer: Michael | question: whats the name of michael douglas wifE?, answer: Diandra Luker, | question: what age does douglas have?, answer: 31, | question: who pleaded guilty?, answer: Cameron Douglas, | question: When was Douglas arrested?, answer: in July | question: What did Cameron Douglas do?, answer: pleaded guilty to distributing large quantities of methamphetamine and cocaine
|
New York (CNN) -- The suspect in the Times Square bombing attempt was caught as he was seeking to flee to Pakistan, a nation that analyst Fareed Zakaria calls the "epicenter of Islamic terrorism."
"It's worth noting that even the terrorism that's often attributed to the war in Afghanistan tends to come out of Pakistan, to be planned by Pakistanis, to be funded from Pakistan or in some other way to be traced to Pakistan," said Zakaria. He added that Pakistan's connection with terrorist groups goes back decades and has often been encouraged by that nation's military for strategic reasons.
Faisal Shahzad, a 30-year-old naturalized citizen of Pakistani descent, had recently been trained in bomb making in Pakistan's Waziristan province, according to a federal complaint filed in court Tuesday. CNN reported Tuesday that Faisal Shahzad's father is a retired vice-marshal in the Pakistani Air Force.
Shahzad was arrested around 11:45 p.m. ET Monday at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport just before he was to fly to Islamabad, Pakistan, by way of Dubai.
Zakaria, author and host of CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS," spoke to CNN on Tuesday. Here is an edited transcript:
CNN: Based on what we know so far, what lessons can be learned from this incident?
Fareed Zakaria: This does not seem to be part of a larger and more organized effort to penetrate the United States. That doesn't mean such efforts are not under way....it does make you realize just how open we are as a country and how open we are as a society. There is always a level of vulnerability that comes from being an open society and this guy, Mr. Shahzad obviously took advantage of that openness.
CNN: Apparently he traveled to Pakistan on a number of occasions. Does that signal that Pakistan isn't vigilant enough about terrorism?
Zakaria: Well it certainly signals something that we have known for a while, which is that Pakistan is the epicenter of Islamic terrorism. ... The British government has estimated that something like 80 percent of the terror threats that they receive have a Pakistani connection.
So there's no question that Pakistan has a terrorism problem. It has radical groups within the country that have the ability to recruit people and have access to resources that makes for a very combustible mixture.
It should remind us that even when looking at the war in Afghanistan, ultimately the most important place where jihadis are being trained and recruited is not in Afghanistan but in Pakistan. And there's no other part of the world where you have quite the same concentration of manpower, resources and ideology all feeding on each other.
CNN: What feeds the ideology that drives the terror effort?
Zakaria: Pakistan has been conducive to this kind of jihadis for a number of reasons. For the last three or four decades, the Pakistani government, the Pakistani military has supported, funded many of these groups in a bid to maintain influence in Afghanistan, in a bid to maintain an asymmetrical capacity against India -- in other words, to try to destabilize India rather cheaply through these militant groups rather than frontally through its army.
So it has found it useful to have these militant groups and to support them. It has always assumed that these groups will not attack Pakistanis and therefore was not a threat to Pakistan itself. And to a large extent that's true, these groups by and large have attacked people in Afghanistan, India, in the West but not in Pakistan. But that is changing, because these groups are so intermingled and often sufficiently ideological, and also because the Pakistani military is beginning to take them on.
But fundamentally the reason this has gone on is that there has been a policy of the Pakistani state and particularly the Pakistani military, to encourage these groups, to fund them, to ignore their most pernicious activities. And some of it goes back even further than four decades. In the 1965 war against India, the Pakistanis used Islamic jihadis...
And the great hope now is that finally the Pakistani government is getting serious about this.
|
[
"Who received bomb training in Pakistan's Waziristan region?",
"What does Zakaria say?",
"Who was charged in Times Square bomb probe?",
"Who was charged in Time Square bomb probe?",
"when did this happen"
] |
[
"Faisal Shahzad,",
"\"It's worth noting that even the terrorism that's often attributed to the war in Afghanistan tends to come out of Pakistan, to be planned by Pakistanis, to be funded from Pakistan or in some other way to be traced to Pakistan,\"",
"Faisal Shahzad,",
"Faisal Shahzad,",
"11:45 p.m. ET Monday"
] |
question: Who received bomb training in Pakistan's Waziristan region?, answer: Faisal Shahzad, | question: What does Zakaria say?, answer: "It's worth noting that even the terrorism that's often attributed to the war in Afghanistan tends to come out of Pakistan, to be planned by Pakistanis, to be funded from Pakistan or in some other way to be traced to Pakistan," | question: Who was charged in Times Square bomb probe?, answer: Faisal Shahzad, | question: Who was charged in Time Square bomb probe?, answer: Faisal Shahzad, | question: when did this happen, answer: 11:45 p.m. ET Monday
|
New York (CNN) -- The teen who mysteriously turned up in New York with apparent amnesia emptied her bank account and left behind "everything" before she left her home in Washington, police told CNN.
The woman, now identified as Kacie Aleece Peterson, 18, of Hansville, Washington, withdrew about $400 from her Bank of America account, said Scott Wilson, spokesman for the Kitsap County Sheriff's Office in Washington.
But Peterson "left everything," including her wallet, identification, cell phone, clothes and even her bike, which was secured outside a Wal-Mart, Wilson said.
Police still do not know how Peterson traveled cross-country to New York City.
The woman mysteriously turned up in Manhattan two weeks ago, claiming to have no memory of her family, her home -- or even her own name.
There's no indication that she's feigning her memory loss, said Paul Browne, deputy commissioner of the New York Police Department.
At the same time, because Peterson is an adult, authorities have not ruled out the theory that she left home to re-establish herself elsewhere, Wilson said.
The teen's father, Henry Peterson of Colville, Washington, told Kitsap County authorities his daughter had occasional memory lapses, Wilson said.
In May, Kacie Peterson was found lying on the ground next to a creek at the family farm, Wilson said. She had blacked out and did not remember who she was, he said. Kacie Peterson was briefly hospitalized after the incident, he said.
Her father also told investigators that in another incident his daughter was found unconscious on her bedroom floor, Wilson said.
Henry Peterson reported his daughter missing on October 2, Wilson said, after the family friend she lived with told him that the last time she saw Kacie Peterson was September 30. Kacie Peterson moved in June from eastern Washington with her father to western Washington to live with a friend of her mother, who died when she was 7, Wilson said. Henry Peterson told police he agreed to the transition, Wilson said.
The teen's father described their relationship as "difficult" and "that he had put too much pressure on his daughter to do well and get good grades," Wilson said.
Kacie Peterson, a high school senior, started anew at Kingston High School in Kingston, Washington, but only attended for three weeks, said Chris Case, director of community relations for North Kitsap school district. Enrolled in the Running Start program there, Kacie Peterson had two advanced placement classes at the school and also classes at Olympic College in Poulsbo, about 10 miles away, Case said.
Kingston high school officials said Kacie Peterson was quiet, shy and that "she had no friends," Wilson said.
The last time she showed up for class was on September 29, Case said.
The next time some employees of the school saw the student she was sporting a new look.
"The school here is telling me she had long hair past her shoulders," Case said. In the photo New York police showed of the teen during their investigation to identify her, Kacie Peterson had hair that looked only about a couple of inches long on top and tapered low on the sides.
Police asked for help identifying the teen after she was found in midtown Manhattan around 12:30 a.m. on October 9 outside the Covenant House youth shelter. The organization had said she was not a resident at the time and did not appear as if she intended to seek refuge at the facility.
A security guard for the shelter noticed her walking around on the sidewalk near Covenant House and approached her. Finding her unresponsive, he called police.
Officers interviewed her, but it became clear that she couldn't provide authorities with any information about herself.
A photo of the then-unidentified woman aired on CNN, and a viewer in Maryland who was familiar with Kacie Peterson alerted authorities. Police established a positive identification.
Police say they do not know how she lost her memory.
She is still in New York and receiving care from
|
[
"Who was \"Jane Doe\" identified as?",
"What did her father say she suffered from?",
"Where did she leave them?",
"Did Police know how she traveled cross-country to New York City?",
"What did police tell CNN?"
] |
[
"Kacie Aleece Peterson,",
"occasional memory lapses,",
"Wal-Mart,",
"do not",
"The teen who mysteriously turned up in New York with apparent amnesia emptied her"
] |
question: Who was "Jane Doe" identified as?, answer: Kacie Aleece Peterson, | question: What did her father say she suffered from?, answer: occasional memory lapses, | question: Where did she leave them?, answer: Wal-Mart, | question: Did Police know how she traveled cross-country to New York City?, answer: do not | question: What did police tell CNN?, answer: The teen who mysteriously turned up in New York with apparent amnesia emptied her
|
New York (CNN) -- The wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was charged with drunken driving after a police officer saw her run over a curb outside a school, authorities said Tuesday night.
Mary Richardson Kennedy was arrested Saturday night in Bedford, New York, a sergeant with the town's police department said.
Kennedy's blood alcohol level was 0.11, said Sgt. Matthew Dunn. The legal limit is 0.08.
He confirmed published reports that an officer saw Kennedy drive over a curb outside a school in her station wagon.
A message left for Robert Kennedy's spokesperson was not returned.
Bedford, in Westchester County, is about an hour north of New York City.
|
[
"When did the arrest take place?",
"For what reason was Mary Richardson Kennedy charged?",
"When was the arrest made?",
"Who was charged after running over a curb?",
"When was the arrest?",
"What says police?",
"What did the police say Kennedy's blood alcohol level was?",
"What was Kennedy's blood alcohol level?"
] |
[
"Bedford, New York,",
"drunken driving",
"Saturday night",
"The wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.",
"Saturday night",
"Mary Richardson Kennedy was arrested Saturday night",
"0.11,",
"0.11,"
] |
question: When did the arrest take place?, answer: Bedford, New York, | question: For what reason was Mary Richardson Kennedy charged?, answer: drunken driving | question: When was the arrest made?, answer: Saturday night | question: Who was charged after running over a curb?, answer: The wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. | question: When was the arrest?, answer: Saturday night | question: What says police?, answer: Mary Richardson Kennedy was arrested Saturday night | question: What did the police say Kennedy's blood alcohol level was?, answer: 0.11, | question: What was Kennedy's blood alcohol level?, answer: 0.11,
|
New York (CNN) -- The young New York student whose tale of hard work and endurance in the face of homelessness has captured many hearts -- and whose recognition in the prestigious Intel science competition has already given her much to celebrate -- will be attending the president's State of the Union speech.
"Well, you know the SOTU attracts the most powerful people in the world, and I think Samantha can teach them a lesson in perseverance," New York Rep. Steve Israel said.
Israel, head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, has extended his plus one to Samantha Garvey, a 17-year-old homeless science superstar from Brentwood, New York.
Garvey was told last week at the shelter her family had been staying in that her study on the ribbed sea mussels of Long Island's salt marshes had earned her semifinalist recognition in Intel's science talent search and a potential $100,000 scholarship.
Two days later, after county officials heard Garvey's story, they announced that a three-bedroom home in Bellmore would be rented for the Garvey family as part of Suffolk County's affordable housing program.
The Garveys were living in a shelter after being kicked out of their home on New Year's Eve.
Israel called Garvey "an inspiration," and said he thought her presence would be an important influence on attendees of President Barack Obama's address on January 24.
"The same people that will praise Samantha with one hand might be the same people that will slash budgets for science and education on the other," Israel said.
Her story, he said, was one of staying steadfast in the face of adversity.
Israel said he had plans for himself and Garvey to meet with multiple White House officials before the speech.
The next day, Garvey will find out if she made it to the Intel finals.
|
[
"Who is the New York Rep?",
"Who invited the homeless science scholar to the speech?",
"Who was given a home by county officials?",
"When was she given a home?",
"Who was on the Intel semifinalist?",
"When did she find out?",
"Who was an Intel semifinalist?"
] |
[
"Steve Israel",
"Samantha Garvey,",
"the Garvey family",
"Two days later,",
"Samantha Garvey,",
"last week",
"Garvey"
] |
question: Who is the New York Rep?, answer: Steve Israel | question: Who invited the homeless science scholar to the speech?, answer: Samantha Garvey, | question: Who was given a home by county officials?, answer: the Garvey family | question: When was she given a home?, answer: Two days later, | question: Who was on the Intel semifinalist?, answer: Samantha Garvey, | question: When did she find out?, answer: last week | question: Who was an Intel semifinalist?, answer: Garvey
|
New York (CNN) -- There are dozens of get-well cards on his wall. On his bed, there's another pile from family, friends, high school pals. The patient must be 19 or 20 -- a kid -- and his smile is magnetic.
His mother hugs every visitor, strangers like us included. "I'm a hugger," she explains. His girlfriend is by his bedside too, wearing a sweatshirt from her college in upstate New York, her studies interrupted.
"My leg will never be a hundred percent," he says, "which means I just have to get a new hundred percent."
It helps that we were visiting this wounded soldier at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, a few weeks ago, with the actor Woody Harrelson, instantly recognizable from TV and movies. Woody is profoundly good-natured and can make anyone smile, even the maimed young men and women, just back from a combat zone they carried home with them. But this particular soldier/kid is happy anyway. Happy to be alive, mature enough to be grateful.
A few weeks earlier, an Afghan soldier he had known for eight months -- a man who fought by his side -- turned his rifle on his American "allies" and killed two of this soldier's buddies, wounding three, including him. This kid knows he's among the lucky ones.
"I have no idea why he did it," he says.
"It's the Middle East," I reply.
"I guess so," he says with a sigh.
In room after room, our delegation encounters stories of war that are just not a part of the national conversation. I keep thinking: Whatever happened to the telling of these stories in America? Do we need a Washington lobbyist to push the soldier's-story agenda?
Individual tales make up the reality of war; anecdote by anecdote, they become the truth of combat. But in the U.S. mainstream media, they have too little presence. How did we get to a place where sharing a soldier's narrative or reading soldiers' names on television or meeting their coffins when they are brought back to their country becomes a political or disloyal act? Why can't we share the truth about war?
When I was growing up in Israel, we saw scenes from military funerals on the news: screaming, crying mothers and all. Wounded soldiers would be interviewed, sometimes with burned bodies or missing limbs. It was not political; it was just the subjective, human reality of the soldier. There was a need to know. It gave our warriors a public stage from which to reconnect.
I remember coming back from Lebanon when I was a soldier in the '80s, feeling like I've just been to another planet. Filmmaking, storytelling, was my therapy.
We made an earlier trip to Walter Reed, along with our lead Ben Foster, to immerse ourselves in the lives of returning soldiers in preparation for making a movie about casualty notification officers, the soldiers who knock on the door to bring the grim news of a loved one's death while on military duty. We think of it as an uplifting movie about getting back to life.
When we tell these troops about our movie, most smile bitterly; they know their families were spared that awful encounter -- they got a phone call -- but they imagine their friends' families having their hearts ripped out by two soldiers in Class A uniforms at the door. "The secretary of the Army regrets to inform you ..."
Visiting a military hospital is always an inspiring, shocking, beautiful, complicated experience. I highly recommend it. It's a gift to the soldier, and it's a blessing for the visitor. Those who are in good enough shape to talk take us to the front lines of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom in vivid, visceral detail. We feel privileged to hear their voices crack, to see their eyes fill with tears.
Firefights. IEDs. Accidents. Friendly fire. Boredom. Porn. Burn pits. Torn
|
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"What does the media often avoid?",
"What is important and inspiring, but not pretty?",
"What does he say visiting soldiers in hospital is?"
] |
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"Individual tales",
"Visiting a military hospital",
"always an inspiring, shocking, beautiful, complicated experience."
] |
question: What does the media often avoid?, answer: Individual tales | question: What is important and inspiring, but not pretty?, answer: Visiting a military hospital | question: What does he say visiting soldiers in hospital is?, answer: always an inspiring, shocking, beautiful, complicated experience.
|
New York (CNN) -- Thousands of Occupy Wall Street demonstrators deluged New York on Thursday, a show of strength in the movement's original home that was echoed nationwide as part of a "mass day of action."
Scores were arrested in New York, and several police officers were reported injured, as protesters fanned out across the city moved toward Foley Square in Lower Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge.
By early Thursday evening, many had crossed the bridge -- the same place where more than 700 had been arrested last month -- chanting, "This is what democracy looks like -- This is what America looks like," according to the New York movement's official Twitter feed. This time, they marched in the pedestrian walkway, not blocking the roadway. Nearby, pro-Occupy slogans were projected onto one side of the Verizon Building.
Those in New York were not alone. Like-minded activists also took to the streets in all corners of the nation -- from Miami to Los Angeles to Portland, Oregon, to Boston -- marking two months since the activist effort aimed at the nation's wealthiest 1% began in Manhattan.
Roundup of protests across the country
"I think the numbers have increased dramatically today," said New York protester Jo Robin. "Particularly after the raid, our message is being broadcast all over the world."
The group twice squared off against riot police in Zuccotti Park, where they'd been evicted two days earlier. They'd also engaged in several confrontations with police, leading to scores of arrests.
That includes 64 protesters -- wearing T-shirts with the figure "99%" prominently featured -- arrested at an early evening sit-in on Centre Street near Foley Square in lower Manhattan, a police spokesman said. (Earlier, police spokesmen and protest organizers had said -- incorrectly -- that 99 people were arrested in this same incident.)
In total, police said around 8 p.m. that a total of 245 people had been arrested around the city.
During a late afternoon press conference, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said that at least seven police officers were hurt Thursday during exchanges with protesters.
Five of those officers were injured when a unidentified liquid was thrown on their faces, Kelly said, adding that the officers experienced a burning sensation and required hospitalization.
And a 24-year-old police officer was injured when a star-shaped glass object was thrown at him, Mayor Michael Bloomberg told reporters during a visit to Bellevue Hospital Center where the officer was being treated.
It is not clear how many demonstrators have been injured during the clashes.
Overheard on CNN.com: Some tire of Occupy protesters
CNN and CNN affiliate New York One broadcast images of the exchanges, including video of one man -- whose face appeared to be covered in blood -- sitting near police who wielded shields and batons.
Authorities constructed barricades at Zuccotti Park, in front of the New York Stock Exchange and along Fifth Avenue in an apparent attempt to keep demonstrators off the roads and on pedestrian walkways.
Residents and workers near the New York Stock Exchange were required to flash identification cards as police cordoned off the area amid concerns that demonstrators would try to disrupt trading.
Earlier in the day, protesters lifted metal barricades that ringed Zuccotti Park, a former home-base for the movement, defying authorities and blocking traffic.
Bloomberg said the day's protests had "caused minimal disruptions to our city," he asserted that some demonstrators had "deliberately pursued violence."
In Lower Manhattan, CNN iReporter Alvaro Perez shot video showing protesters being pulled away by police, including one woman who appeared to be dragged by her jacket and backpack.
"I don't want to speculate on what happened in advance of that," police spokesman Paul Browne said of the incident.
He said the "big picture" of how police have handled demonstrations has so far been mostly positive.
"People were able to get to work" and "protesters were able to protest," Browne added.
Occupy roundup: Movement marks 2 months
Earlier, on CNN's "American Morning,"
|
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"what number of people where arrested in New York",
"What was the number of arrests in New York",
"what numberof people wher arrested in Portland",
"How many were arrested?",
"How many police were hurt",
"in what city did the incidents happen"
] |
[
"245",
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"245",
"Scores",
"at least seven",
"New York,"
] |
question: what number of people where arrested in New York, answer: 245 | question: What was the number of arrests in New York, answer: 245 | question: what numberof people wher arrested in Portland, answer: 245 | question: How many were arrested?, answer: Scores | question: How many police were hurt, answer: at least seven | question: in what city did the incidents happen, answer: New York,
|
New York (CNN) -- Three years ago I began research on a book dedicated to the national pastimes: shopping and buying.
The plan was to devote the first half of the story to what I called the "sell side": the retailers, marketers and consumer researchers who have their sights trained on us. The second half would be about us, the "buy side." I would explore all that attracts us -- bees to nectar-- to specific stores and products, why some of us are cheapskates and others have holes in our pockets.
Then, a not-so-funny thing happened. Between the time I started my reporting and the time I handed in my finished manuscript, both the sell and the buy sides had cratered. Home prices crashed. Credit markets collapsed. The government tried feverishly to glue broken banks back together. Unemployment went up and up and up.
The result: consumer spending -- as in that which drives 70 percent of the U.S. economy -- was running on fumes. Department store sales sank by double-digits. "The golden age of spending for the American consumer has ended and a new age of thrift likely has begun," said a Wall Street analyst. "Sixty percent off is the new black," quipped a magazine fashion writer.
Gone, seemingly overnight, were the throngs of buyers from Europe and Asia who had been dragging their wheelies down Fifth Avenue in New York, loading up on shoes and handbags and leaving us American shoppers feeling, even then, like poor country cousins. Word spread that we were now living in "the Wal-Mart moment," which was likely to be rather drawn out. Our longstanding fetish for bigger, faster, flashier, pricier was no more..
With the most hyped shopping day on the calendar -- Black Friday! -- upon us, we all might take a deep breath and focus, not just on where to find the best door-busters, but on more important questions: What is going on out there? In the buying and selling universe, are we witnessing a permanent change in values? Have we all turned forever frugal?
The fact is, nobody's quite sure right now. Over the past several months, there have been small signs of recovery. Consumer confidence surveys offer a glimmer of hope.
On the "sell side" retailers are viewing the holiday selling season with slightly more optimism than when they put in their holiday purchase orders six months ago. And it seems reasonable to hope that we've at least touched bottom and that the consumer escalator is on the way up again, however fitfully.
But on the buy side -- our side -- things have changed dramatically, and in some ways for the better. We're shopping more with our heads, not just our hearts; we're thinking about the things we buy.
A woman in Boston -- affluent, accomplished, largely unscathed by the financial collapse -- told me that when she now looks back on the expensive shoes and clothes she bought routinely just a few years ago, she "just can't believe what I was doing."
The Internet is now a daily, indispensable tool we use to search for better prices and seek counsel from others with firsthand knowledge of brands and stores we might be considering. The result: Up and down the socioeconomic ladder we're shopping more prudently.
We're paying down credit card balances and placing greater value not just on the new and novel, the cool and the trendy, but also on value itself. Does it work? Is the price fair? Will it last?
And yes, we're also splurging now and then -- on impulse purchases that can make a day all the more sweet: a new hairstyle, a brightly colored this-or-that for spring, an electronic gadget that performs amazing tricks, some useful, some just diverting.
There are those who would tell us that purchases like this -- "unnecessary!" "juvenile!" etc. -- are signs of character weakness, that we are routinely "conned" into buying useless things by manipulative Mad
|
[
"What are consumers placing",
"According to Eisenburg, what are consumers placing new importance on when they make purchases?",
"Have habits shifted?",
"Who said the down economy turned Americans into scrimpers?"
] |
[
"greater value not just on the new and novel, the cool and the trendy, but also on value itself.",
"value itself. Does it work? Is the price fair? Will it last?",
"new age of thrift likely has begun,\"",
"a Wall Street analyst."
] |
question: What are consumers placing, answer: greater value not just on the new and novel, the cool and the trendy, but also on value itself. | question: According to Eisenburg, what are consumers placing new importance on when they make purchases?, answer: value itself. Does it work? Is the price fair? Will it last? | question: Have habits shifted?, answer: new age of thrift likely has begun," | question: Who said the down economy turned Americans into scrimpers?, answer: a Wall Street analyst.
|
New York (CNN) -- To the delight of fans back home in Tokyo, Hideki Matsui drove in six of the New York Yankees' seven runs in their World Series-winning victory Wednesday and became the first Japanese-born player to win a series Most Valuable Player award. For much of his career, Matsui was a star player for the Tokyo Giants.
Matsui's key role in the series highlights the close ties between American and Japanese baseball. Playing in the Yankees' new stadium, the successor to the "House that Ruth Built," Matsui's performance brought to mind the key role that Babe Ruth played in the development of professional baseball in Japan, according to Robert Fitts, author of several books on Japanese baseball.
Fitts became a student of Japanese baseball in 1993, when his wife, an attorney, was transferred to Japan. Fitts, then working on his Ph.D. in archaeology from Brown University, was looking for something to get him immersed in Japanese culture. He wrote to 30 of the greatest Japanese ballplayers and was surprised to hear back from nearly all of them, with some sending gifts.
He's the author of "Remembering Japanese Baseball: An Oral History of the Game" and of "Wally Yonamine," a biography of the first Japanese-American to play professional football and the first American to play professional baseball in Japan. "He was called the Jackie Robinson of Japan," Fitts said. Yonamine led the Japanese league in batting twice and won the MVP award as a center fielder for the Tokyo Giants.
CNN spoke with Fitts, who is based in New York, on Thursday.
CNN: What are your thoughts on Matsui's key role in the Yankees' victory?
Fitts: It's wonderful for Japanese baseball, of course. I would say that five years ago, maybe seven years ago, it would have been incredible, because people in America and in Japan weren't sure about the status of Japanese professional baseball. Many Americans and some in Japan thought that Japanese baseball wasn't as good as American baseball. ... Since then, Ichiro [Suzuki] came over, and he set numerous Major League Baseball records. ... And then Japan won both of the World Baseball Classics.
So Japan's baseball has already proven itself to be of high caliber. Most Americans, even if they don't know the history of Japanese baseball, recognize now that they play a very good game.
CNN: In Japan, how significant is baseball?
Fitts: It's the Japanese national sport. It's been so since the 1890s. Japan had no native team sports. In the 1870s. American and British teachers introduced team sports to Japan. Cricket was introduced, along with rugby and baseball. Baseball is the one that became the most popular.
In the 1890s, a Japanese high school team beat a team of American adults from the Yokohama Country Club. They beat them in three straight games. It took on national importance.
Japan, of course, was opened up to Westerners in the 1850s by Commodore Perry. The Western nations were far more advanced in technology, and Japan did a rapid modernization. By 1890, Japan felt it was ready to join modern nations as an equal, but the Western powers weren't ready to accept Japan.
CNN: How did the game develop after that?
Fitts: The biggest change came with two tours. The first was in 1931, an American all-star team whose big star was Lou Gehrig, and the bigger tour came in 1934. Both of these tours were sponsored by the Yomiuri newspaper.
In 1934, they brought over what at the time was considered the greatest baseball team ever. It included Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Charlie Gehringer, Earl Averill, Lefty Gomez, Connie Mack was the manager, and we can't forget Mo Berg, the future spy [for the United States in World War II].
The '34 tour was significant for two reasons: The first is that relations between Japan and the U.S. were really rocky at that point. There was a very significant
|
[
"who sparked baseball",
"who is robert fitts",
"What is the national sport"
] |
[
"Babe Ruth",
"author of several books on Japanese baseball.",
"baseball?"
] |
question: who sparked baseball, answer: Babe Ruth | question: who is robert fitts, answer: author of several books on Japanese baseball. | question: What is the national sport, answer: baseball?
|
New York (CNN) -- Today's bipartisan health care meeting is being called a summit, a term that brings to mind diplomatic missions during wartime. That's a fitting description for the atmosphere in Washington. Political opponents are considered enemies.
Health care is just the latest example of government dysfunction; it's been derailed by hyper-partisanship, over-spending and the disproportionate influence of special interests.
Independent voters, the largest and fastest growing segment of the electorate, hold the balance of power in American politics, but they have once again been shut out of the debate. The professional partisans in Washington ignore them at their peril.
Many Americans associate broken government with the chaos that followed Hurricane Katrina and the anxieties that accompany the current manic recession. But the roots of independent voters' frustration go deeper.
For them, the first modern evidence of failure from the federal government came during the late 1960s, when the social spending of Democratic President Johnson's Great Society failed to stop urban blight by throwing taxpayer money at the problem. One presidency later, the country confronted the corruption of Watergate from Republican President Nixon. Washington grew more harshly partisan, with political opponents determined to delegitimize any president from day one of his term.
As the two parties grew more polarized, power shifted from the center to the margins, and special interests increased their influence. In reaction, the ranks of independent voters grew from 20 percent of the electorate at the start of the 1960s to 30 percent after Watergate.
When Ross Perot ran for president as an Independent in 1992, the self-made businessman presented himself as a nonideological problem solver. His campaign gained traction because both parties had lost credibility as stewards of fiscal responsibility, with overspending and then-record deficits.
Perot briefly led in the polls, and independents spiked to 36 percent of the electorate. The divided government of President Clinton and House Speaker Newt Gingrich ultimately produced hard-won budget surpluses. But when President Bush and the Tom DeLay-led Republican Congress ruled Washington during the last decade, surpluses again turned to deficits and independents turned against the GOP.
Independents listed the economy as their No. 1 issue back in 2007, when Democrats said health care and Republicans said terrorism. Moderates and the middle class -- the people who determine who wins elections -- felt squeezed even before the fiscal crisis, with rising health care and energy costs absorbing whatever benefit they might have received from tax cuts.
After watching the jet set excess of the Bernie Madoff class from afar, they were left with less and still asked to clean up the mess. Now, as they try to balance their own budgets at home, they see big government and big business --Washington and Wall Street -- piling up huge debts and passing the buck to the taxpayer.
It was in this environment that independents began to break with President Obama last spring, after voting for him in 2008 by an eight-point margin. The change they voted for was rooted in candidate Obama's calls for an end to politics that "played to the base" and a restoration of fiscal responsibility.
The liberal House leadership's private negotiations over the $787 billion stimulus bill seemed to contradict those promises. And the subsequent health care debate was derailed in part because it was seen as adding additional spending and leading to the growth of government.
In reaction, independents reasserted themselves, their numbers growing quickly and reaching 43 percent by September 2009, according to a monthly Washington Post/ABC News poll. In Virginia, New Jersey and Massachusetts' elections, independents voted by at least a 2-to-1 margin for Republican candidates. Exit polls showed they were voting to send a message to Washington, not necessarily endorsing the Congressional Republicans' agenda.
Independents' anger today is focused on familiar targets: hypocritical politicians, over-spending and a lack of agreement on solutions from Washington. Independents feel they are paying more and getting less. They believe the system has been rigged to benefit special interests at the expense of the national interest. As bitter partisanship increases government's dysfunction, more voters are declaring their independence from politics as usual.
Today
|
[
"Who holds the balance of power?",
"What did he say about independent voters?"
] |
[
"Independent voters,",
"largest and fastest growing segment of the electorate, hold the balance of power in American politics, but they have once again been shut out of the debate."
] |
question: Who holds the balance of power?, answer: Independent voters, | question: What did he say about independent voters?, answer: largest and fastest growing segment of the electorate, hold the balance of power in American politics, but they have once again been shut out of the debate.
|
New York (CNN) -- Tuesday's Supreme Court decision in Berghuis v. Thompkins -- holding that, after being informed of their rights, suspects must explicitly tell police that they want to stay silent to invoke their Miranda protections -- indeed turns Miranda "upside down," as one dissenting justice put it.
Its potential consequences are as predictable as night following day: Police will interrogate criminal suspects who do not explicitly invoke their rights -- often, those will be suspects who are unsophisticated, poorly educated or mentally ill -- for hours on end. This will lead, just as inevitably, to more coerced -- and therefore unreliable -- confessions. And this will result in wrongful incarceration and diminish our collective security. This is the very phenomenon that Miranda aimed to eliminate.
To be sure, the ruling is a setback for the protections designed to ensure an effective criminal justice system (Miranda requires police officers to inform suspects of the right to remain silent and the right to an attorney).
But there is one silver lining in Berghuis' cloud: The ruling demonstrates that the Supreme Court is not shy about curtailing Miranda protections, even without prodding from Congress. Hence the ruling should derail Congress' recent calls to enact an unnecessary, likely overbroad and possibly unconstitutional statute further restricting Miranda's requirements.
The issue arose when Attorney General Eric Holder, among others, called on lawmakers to step in and limit Miranda by expanding the "public safety exception." That exception allows law enforcement officials to interrogate suspected terrorists for a limited time before advising them of their Miranda rights -- if the officers are "reasonably prompted by a concern for public safety."
But this call for codifying has always been somewhat baffling, as it is so clearly not needed. Expanding of the public safety exception legislatively may score political points for lawmakers or government officials bent on appearing tough on terrorism, but such action would not improve the efficacy of our counterterrorism policy.
In fact, the public safety exception in its current form has proved extremely effective in allowing law enforcement the necessary flexibility in questioning terror suspects.
After two recent attempted terror attacks, both the "underwear bomber" suspect, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, and "Times Square bomber" suspect Faisal Shahzad were questioned under the public safety exception. They both reportedly provided interrogators with valuable intelligence during that time and continued to do so even after being advised of their rights.
As the attorney general himself observed, "the giving of Miranda warnings has not stopped these terror suspects from talking to us. They have continued to talk even though we have given them a Miranda warning."
Legislation on the public safety exception is also risky. While courts consider the issues that come to them on a case-by-case basis, deciding what the law requires in the context of a particular set of circumstances, Congress must act in the abstract, imagining a variety of situations that might occur and attempting to draft a law able to address each of them. Thus any congressional attempt to define the scope of the public safety exception, especially in a political environment dominated by a sense that the next terrorist attempt might occur at any moment, is likely to overreach.
Moreover, we know from the 2000 case Dickerson v. United States, which struck down a law aimed at limiting the scope of Miranda, that the Supreme Court will draw the line on curtailing Miranda's protections. Thus any statute passed now to expand or codify the exception runs the risk of judicial invalidation. The result would be that any convictions secured through confessions elicited under the invalidated law would be reversed.
Today's decision, however, removes any doubt about whether Congress should take action. It should not. Without Congress ever introducing a bill or taking a single vote, the Supreme Court just expanded significantly law enforcement officials' ability to interrogate at length all criminal suspects, terrorists or otherwise, even after they have been properly Mirandized. Until suspected terrorists unambiguously assert their desire to remain silent, government officials may continue to interrogate them for hours or even days, using any statement they make against them in subsequent prosecution.
Moreover, this decision sends a strong signal:
|
[
"What does Congress stepping in on Miranda risk?",
"What did the Supreme court ease up on?",
"Who is stepping in on the risks?"
] |
[
"judicial invalidation.",
"Miranda protections",
"Legislation"
] |
question: What does Congress stepping in on Miranda risk?, answer: judicial invalidation. | question: What did the Supreme court ease up on?, answer: Miranda protections | question: Who is stepping in on the risks?, answer: Legislation
|
New York (CNN) -- Two Pakistani Muslims in Brooklyn are now running the oldest bialy store in the city, and keeping it kosher.
Zafaryab Ali and his business partner, Peerada Shah, were shocked on hearing through a friend that Coney Island Bialys and Bagels was closing. Ali had worked at the store for 10 years in the 1990s and remembers it always being crowded, with lines out the door and people waiting up to half an hour for fresh bialys. So Ali and Shah bought the store to keep the 91-year business alive.
Bialys are a lighter, softer cousin to the bagel, traditionally made with onion sprinkled on top.
"I know bagels and my partner knows management," Ali said. "If we work hard and pay attention, we'll build up and bring more customers in."
Ali and Shah are keeping everything the same -- ingredients, equipment, recipes -- all used when it was a kosher store under Jewish management. Ali is now on the hunt for a rabbi to come and give the store an official kosher certification.
They even have some of the same staff, like Ernie Devivo, a semi-retired baker who is still helping out around the shop.
"I'm glad we opened up again," Devivo said. "It's good for everybody."
Asked about seeing the store open again, after a short closure, one customer said, "It's good. It's beautiful."
According to the bakery's website, Coney Island Bialys Bakers Co. was started in 1920 by Morris Rosenzweig, who brought the bialy recipe with him from Poland. The family continued to make hand-rolled, traditional bialys for 91 years. The business passed to Rosenzweig's son Don and then to his son, Steve Ross, who began wholesaling the bialys as well, shipping them across the country. Then in August, Steve Ross decided to close.
"My son was going to take over, but with the area changing and business slowing down and the economy doing a double take on the recession, it wasn't worth keeping at that point," Ross said.
Ali and Shah reopened shop In mid-September, and say that business has been going well.
Ross is glad to see his family's store living on.
"I've got no problem whether they're black, white, purple, green, yellow. They came in, wanted to keep the business open and wanted to keep the industry going. ... I'm glad it's still there. I'm happy."
And Coney Island Bialys and Bagels is still a family business, with Ali, his brother and his nephew all working to keep its traditions alive.
"We're sticking with kosher," Ali said.
|
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"What sort of bakery is open?"
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] |
question: How many years did another family ran the business for?, answer: 91-year | question: Who keeps a kosher bakery open?, answer: Zafaryab Ali and his business partner, Peerada Shah, | question: What are they traditionally made with?, answer: onion sprinkled on top. | question: What does the shop specializes in?, answer: Bialys | question: Are they similar to bagels?, answer: Bialys are a lighter, softer cousin | question: What does the shop specialize in?, answer: fresh bialys. | question: Who kept a kosher bakery open?, answer: Ali and Shah | question: What sort of bakery is open?, answer: Coney Island Bialys Bakers Co.
|
New York (CNN) -- Two men have been arrested in a bold and bizarre jewelry store robbery involving crooks who disguised themselves in Hasidic Jewish attire, complete with hats and false beards, police announced Tuesday.
But all was not as it seemed, according to police. The heist was actually an elaborate inside job set up by the store's owners, who were $1 million in debt and six months behind on their rent, police said.
The New York Police Department announced Tuesday that Atul Shah, 43, and Mahaveer Kankariya, 43, both of New Jersey, have been arrested on charges of grand larceny, insurance fraud and falsifying business records.
The two men, co-owners of the Dialite Imports jewelry store in Manhattan's diamond district, are in custody, authorities said.
The costumed robbers connected to the crime remain at large.
According to NYPD Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne, two armed men casually walked into the commercial office building where Dialite Imports was located on the afternoon of December 31, 2008. They were dressed in traditional looking Orthodox-style clothing and quickly gained access to the store's safe, spray-painting two security cameras in the process.
The two thieves appeared to make off with about $4 million in diamonds and other jewels.
Immediately after the robbery, Shah told the New York Post that his insurance company had instructed him to refrain from commenting about the heist. "They told me I cannot say anything right now," he said at the time.
But police said Tuesday that investigators became suspicious of the incident when it was discovered that Shah and Kankariya got a new insurance policy just before the apparent robbery.
The owners of the jewelry company hired the two men "to play the armed robbers and dressed them up as Hasidic Jews to avoid causing suspicion," Browne said.
The robbery and security camera footage of the two supposed orthodox outlaws gained particular attention because of the similarities between the staged robbery and the 2000 movie "Snatch," in which diamond thieves donned similar outfits for their burglary.
|
[
"What have the men been charged with?",
"What were the men charged with?",
"What were the people disguised as?",
"What are the two men charged with?",
"What amount were the owners in debt?",
"How much in debt were the owners?",
"When did the event take place?",
"In what year was the jewelry store robbed?",
"What year was the robbery?"
] |
[
"grand larceny, insurance fraud and falsifying business records.",
"grand larceny, insurance fraud and falsifying business records.",
"Hasidic Jewish",
"falsifying business records.",
"$1 million",
"$1 million",
"the afternoon of December 31, 2008.",
"2008.",
"2008."
] |
question: What have the men been charged with?, answer: grand larceny, insurance fraud and falsifying business records. | question: What were the men charged with?, answer: grand larceny, insurance fraud and falsifying business records. | question: What were the people disguised as?, answer: Hasidic Jewish | question: What are the two men charged with?, answer: falsifying business records. | question: What amount were the owners in debt?, answer: $1 million | question: How much in debt were the owners?, answer: $1 million | question: When did the event take place?, answer: the afternoon of December 31, 2008. | question: In what year was the jewelry store robbed?, answer: 2008. | question: What year was the robbery?, answer: 2008.
|
New York (CNN) -- When Alec Baldwin closed out the Academy Awards on Sunday night by slapping director Kathryn Bigelow squarely on the backside, that pretty much said it all.
It was Ladies' Night in a Boys' Town.
Yes, the opening routine by Baldwin and Steve Martin was very funny; there was sincerity and genuine gratitude from many of the winners; despite weird digressions into arcane areas like sound recording, the program moved briskly enough.
But did the orchestra need to follow Bigelow's win of her long-deserved best director prize, for "The Hurt Locker," by playing the old Helen Reddy song "I Am Woman"?
When Zoe Saldana and Carey Mulligan arrived on stage to present the Best Original Song award, did they have to be intro-ed with "Thank Heaven For Little Girls"?
And in addition to being groped by Baldwin, did Bigelow have to be so muscled-in-on by her fellow producers when she was picking up the best picture award for her film, "The Hurt Locker"?
'The Hurt Locker' wins six Oscars
Maybe that wacky Elinor Burkett had a point: The producer of "Music by Prudence" -- which had just won the Oscar for best documentary short -- barreled on stage, saying "Let the woman speak!" and commandeering the mike from her director, Roger Ross Williams.
She provided a classic moment of Oscar craziness and the one instance of spontaneity in an evening when all the big favorites won all the big prizes. Burkett seemed boorish, sure. But that doesn't necessarily make her wrong.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences certainly faced a dilemma this year: Vote for the future, or make up for the past.
Years from now, it will probably look profoundly shortsighted that "Avatar," one of the biggest movies ever -- and, more importantly, the one that indicates where movies are going -- didn't win the top prize when Hollywood had a chance to bestow it.
Instead, the Oscars gave their most coveted awards to a small indie film about an unpopular war and a director whose sex had never before been honored with a best director prize.
What helped make it all so complicated was not that there's been a long, long history of overlooked genius female directors that the Oscars had to atone for.
The sin at stake was -- and is -- that women simply have never been given an equal chance to direct.
Predictably, Bigelow didn't have to be as good as the boys, she had to be better. And she was.
But earning your Oscars and actually getting them are two different things. Fortunately for Bigelow, she had history on her side last night.
James Cameron didn't.
The billions being made by "Avatar" will probably be some consolation, but neither he nor his movie are warm and fuzzy, which is what the Academy voters like.
In fact, the big-hearted, sentimental acceptance by best actor Jeff Bridges ("Crazy Heart"), and the rather elegant, funny remarks by best actress Sandra Bullock ("The Blind Side"), are exactly what we all want Oscar night to be.
That, and a few good jokes, which is what Martin and Baldwin provided, arriving on stage after a musical extravaganza starring Neil Patrick Harris that seemed ready to recall the bad old days of producer Alan Carr and the notorious Rob Lowe/Snow White musical overture of 1989.
Looking back on Oscar's 'train wreck'
Nothing so ghastly reared its ugly head last night, although there were a few moments of bad choices, bad manners and a strategy that was, at best, elusive.
For all the changing characters and categories on Oscar-watchers' betting pool ballots, there are certain things we bet on no matter what: one, that the show will be interminable; two, that it will last at least until midnight (ET) no matter how they try to contain it; and, three, that there will be moments in the show
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[
"John Anderson said the Oscar's had to atone for what"
] |
[
"long history of overlooked genius female directors"
] |
question: John Anderson said the Oscar's had to atone for what, answer: long history of overlooked genius female directors
|
New York (CNN) -- When US Airways Flight 1549 ditched in the Hudson River and all of its 150 passengers and five crew members were safely rescued in January, the landing of the airplane by pilot Chesley Sullenberger was quickly proclaimed the "Miracle on the Hudson" and dominated national news for days.
A pilot who virtually grew up in airplane cockpits, writer William Langewiesche set out to analyze what happened in the five-minute flight of US Airways 1549, which lost power in both engines when it collided with a flock of Canada geese. His conclusion after writing a new book "Fly by Wire" -- there was no miracle.
"I'm sure Mr. Sullenberger himself wouldn't have used that word," Langewiesche said in an interview with CNN. "There was no miracle. There was extremely skillful flying going on and skillful engineering in the background. You can include the flight attendants and the passengers. ... There was a lot of altruism, kind of a bravery, soberness. They were not hysterical, and there was no stampeding.
"Many good things happened, but they all related to the individual strength of the people involved. That includes [Bernard] Ziegler [the designer of the aircraft], Sullenberger, [co-pilot Jeffrey] Skiles and Patrick Harten, the air traffic controller -- he was as good as it gets, offering alternatives, the backing off of alternatives, staying cool."
Langewiesche, international editor for Vanity Fair and author of six other books, was drawn to the story because it allowed him to use it as a window to tell the tale of the aircraft, the Airbus A320, a controversial plane built with digital controls that rein in pilots who exceed safe flying limits.
"Within the limits of physics and structural science," Langewiesche writes, "Ziegler and his colleagues identified the wrinkles of conventional handling and mostly ironed them out. The result in the A320 is the product of a genius -- an airplane that is ... exquisitely wrought, a delight to handle, and extraordinarily easy to fly."
It also allowed Langewiesche to describe the economic squeeze that has affected pilots as airlines have come under tremendous pressure to lower fares and reduce costs. Just one example described in the book -- Sullenberger had seen his salary cut 40 percent and his retirement pension destroyed through airline bankruptcies and cutbacks.
Sullenberger, for his part, has been critical of Langewiesche's book, saying it makes too much of the aircraft's automation. In an interview with The New York Times, Sullenberger said, "There are some situations where the automation will protect a pilot, but at the same time a highly automated airplane makes possible other types of errors, so it's a mixed blessing. And greater knowledge is required to fly a highly automated aircraft."
CNN spoke with Langewiesche this week.
CNN: What got you interested in the story?
William Langewiesche: I realized that because this airplane is the A320, which is a revolutionary plane, not just any airplane, the story of the A320 is in many ways the story of the modern airline industry of the last 20, 30 or 40 years.
CNN: How did you become a pilot?
Langewiesche: My father was a well-known aviator and writer. I got my first flying job when I was 18; I worked my way through college flying airplanes. My father was a German immigrant, an anti-Nazi who came here before the beginning of the war ... who became a test pilot for the U.S. Navy.
CNN: What's it like to fly an A320?
Langewiesche: It all relates to flight control characteristics and how the stick feels in your hand. ... The attitude or the pitch of the airplane stays where you put it, it's an airplane that responds in an extremely docile manner to the control stick when it's flown by hand. ... The airplane was very controversial in the early 1980s, especially in France. The unions really resented it; it was because of flight envelope protections that kick in when the plane goes where a normal airline pilot will never go. ... The
|
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question: what was the landing called, answer: "Miracle on the Hudson" | question: What was hailed as "Miracle on the Hudson"?, answer: landing of the airplane by pilot Chesley Sullenberger | question: What author says there was no miracle?, answer: William Langewiesche | question: What flight landed safe?, answer: 1549 | question: What was the flight hailed as?, answer: "Miracle on the Hudson" | question: what does the author say, answer: there was no miracle.
|
New York (CNN) -- When the New York Jets face the Cincinnati Bengals Sunday for what may be the final football game played at Giants Stadium, fans in attendance won't be able to drown their sorrows or toast a victory.
The Jets have banned the sale of alcohol on Sunday at the stadium they've called home for 26 years.
"With the late start of Sunday's game, coupled with this being the final regular season and final game at the stadium, we feel it is prudent not to serve alcohol," said Bruce Speight, a spokesman for the team.
The Jets approach the decision of whether to serve alcohol on a game-by-game basis, Speight said. Fresh off a victory over the formerly undefeated Indianapolis Colts, the Jets are on the verge of their first play-off berth in three years -- and fans are riled up and ready to go.
And Jets fans are known for rowdy behavior -- for example, a half-time "tradition" of women baring their breasts for men who loudly urge them to do so. In lieu of alcohol, the Jets said, they'll pass out green and white "rowdy towels" to the first 70,000 fans arriving at the stadium.
But the ban has raised the ire of a New Jersey vodka distillery. Majorska Vodka, which calls itself "one of the largest liquor companies in the Garden State," is calling for a 24-hour boycott of Johnson & Johnson products because, according to company spokesman Jeff Scott, Jets owner Woody Johnson is the "heir to the Johnson & Johnson fortune."
Scott said Majorska plans to stop paying for three of their executive's seats at the Meadowlands and that the company is set to lose more than $100,000 in revenue from tailgate parties this weekend.
The New York Jets officially declined to comment, but team spokesman Speight said that "negative fan reaction has been minimal at best" and pointed out that vodka is not sold anywhere in the stadium and the ban does not apply to tailgating.
But Martin Silver, Majorska's president and CEO, said fans are shocked and outraged that the Jets are treating their supporters "like children."
Silver, a life-long Jets backer with a Joe Namath jersey hanging in his office, is directing his frustration at the team's ownership because he feels they are "controlling the game completely." He said his company is distributing anti-Johnson & Johnson petitions Friday to 350 sports bars across New Jersey.
"We're taking this on, right to the top, to Johnson," said Silver.
Woody Johnson is the grandson of Johnson & Johnson founder Robert Wood Johnson, but is not currently connected to the company. William C. Weldon is the company's chairman and CEO. None of the Johnson family serves on the company's management team or board of directors.
Johnson & Johnson spokesman Bill Price said that "officially we have no comment given that the Johnson family has had no managerial role with the company for decades."
Giants Stadium, part of the Meadowlands Sports complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, has been home to both the Jets and the New York Giants, who played their first game there on October 10, 1976.
Early on during their tenancy at Giants Stadium, the Jets refered to the 82,000-seat arena simply as "the Meadowlands" although in recent years Jets tickets have used the facility's official name.
The stadium, which has hosted popes, concerts and major league soccer as well as football, is to be demolished after this season. Both New York teams will move into a new stadium just a short distance away next season.
That stadium will get its name from a corporate sponsor, yet to be named.
CNN's Kristen Hamill contributed to this report.
|
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"Martin Silver says company set to lose how much?",
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] |
[
"tailgate parties",
"more than $100,000",
"three of their executive's seats at the Meadowlands",
"Majorska Vodka,",
"Majorska's president and CEO,"
] |
question: What did Martin Silver say will be the reason for the company's loss of $100,000?, answer: tailgate parties | question: Martin Silver says company set to lose how much?, answer: more than $100,000 | question: CEO of New Jersey vodka distillery says company will stop paying for what?, answer: three of their executive's seats at the Meadowlands | question: what is new jersey wodka, answer: Majorska Vodka, | question: who is martin silver, answer: Majorska's president and CEO,
|
New York (CNN) -- When writer-actor John Leguizamo shows up to do a show in New York, fans outside the theater are surprised to see him ride up on a bicycle. "People go, 'Hey, John, I thought you'd be in a limo.'
"This is my limo, my green limo. I'm saving the planet for your kids and your grandkids," says the performer, who has starred in award-winning one-man shows on Broadway and appeared in dozens of films and TV shows.
Biking gets you places faster, reduces your carbon footprint, lowers noise, makes you fit and lowers your stress level -- unless you get impaled on the door of a suddenly opened cab or cut off by a guy from New Jersey.
Leguizamo thinks urban biking is a form of transportation that dramatically improves the environment and riders' physical and mental health.
New York City's government shares Leguizamo's enthusiasm about biking, having added 200 miles of bike lanes in the past three years. The city says it has seen a 45 percent increase in commuting by bike.
Leguizamo took CNN on a tour of his favorite biking spots and shared his thoughts about the best way to get anywhere fast in the nation's biggest city:
CNN: How long have you been biking?
Leguizamo: I started biking when I was 7 years old, and I've been biking in Manhattan ever since I got that first bike.
I grew up in Queens. Jackson Heights, East Elmhurst, Astoria, Corona, I started going to high school in Manhattan when I was 15, and I moved to Manhattan when I started going to NYU. In high school, on the weekends I would bike to Central Park over the 59th Street bridge. Very Paul Simon and Garfunkel.
At NYU, my bike was stolen. The pole I locked it to was a fake pole, and I came back and the pole was gone. I thought at first that I had chained my bike on a different block, but then I realized there was a hole in the concrete.
CNN: Why should people bike?
Leguizamo: There are a lot of great reasons. First of all, we all want to lower our carbon footprint, and this is one of the great ways, reduce pollution, reduce traffic, reduce noise pollution, improve your heart with reduced stress. When you're out there, it makes you friendlier. You get a little bike rage, but that's only when people cross you. I usually get to places with a lot of great energy and a lot more relaxed.
I just saw this old good lady, she must have been in her late 60s, and she had like an adult tricycle, and she had her guitar in the back and a loud horn, and she was smiling and biking down Fifth Avenue. It was great. And for a lot of people who can't run, biking is a lot less stress on your knees.
CNN: What are the biggest risks of biking in New York City?
Leguizamo: Kamikaze cabs, buses, tourists, people from New Jersey. A Jersey plate will always try to cut you off for sure. And you know Miami and Connecticut plates are always going to go way slow, but that's not as dangerous. And then the crazy pedestrian that comes out between two big vans that block the view, that jump out. There's more danger for them than for you, but you don't want to hurt nobody, either.
Opening the door on the street side, my God, that's the most dangerous: passengers opening up the street door instead of the curb door. That should be taught in school. That should be part of your SATs.
It's amazing too the amount of cursing you hear from drivers, bikers, cabbies. You learn to curse in every language.
CNN: How can you get started biking?
Leguizamo: Start slowly in parks until you get maximum skill, and then start taking less busy streets. Just go slow. Do
|
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question: How many miles of bike lane did New York add?, answer: 200 | question: What are the benefits of urban biking?, answer: gets you places faster, reduces your carbon footprint, lowers noise, makes you fit and lowers your stress level | question: What does Leguizamo think?, answer: urban biking is a form of transportation that dramatically improves the environment and riders' physical and mental health. | question: How many miles of bike lanes added?, answer: 200 | question: Who created the urban bike?, answer: John Leguizamo
|
New York (CNN) -- Work on the National September 11 Memorial Museum has been halted over a budgetary dispute, delaying its opening, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.
"There's no chance of it being open on time. Work has basically stopped," Bloomberg said during a press conference Thursday.
The museum was scheduled to open on the 11th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks.
Bloomberg blamed the holdup on "disagreements" with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which is responsible for a portion of the project's financing.
"The Port Authority has to spend money to do the infrastructure that they agreed to," the mayor said. "We have a legitimate claim against the Port Authority for delays for roughly $140 million dollars which has increased our cost."
Bloomberg did not specify when work on the museum halted. The Port Authority did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Bloomberg's disclosure of the setback came the same day the National September 11 Memorial & Museum Foundation announced that more than a million people have visited the site since it opened on the 10th anniversary of the attacks.
The memorial features two large reflecting pools in the footprints of the two towers.
Located underground in the former World Trade Center's "archaeological heart," the museum will feature 110,000 square feet of exhibition space, according to the website for The National September 11 Memorial & Museum foundation.
It will house a vast array of 9/11 artifacts, including "photographs, videotapes, voice messages, recovered property, clothing and other personal effects, workplace memorabilia, [and] incident-specific documents," among other items.
Bloomberg sounded a note of optimism, telling reporters that both sides would come to "some agreement pretty soon."
He also said he thought the disagreement would not require judges to resolve it. "I don't think it'll get to the court."
|
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question: What does Bloomberg blame the delay on?, answer: "disagreements" with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, | question: Bloomberg blames delayed on where?, answer: "disagreements" with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, | question: Who said "There is no chance of it being open on time"?, answer: Bloomberg | question: Will it be open on time?, answer: no chance | question: where did it took place, answer: Located underground in the former World Trade Center's "archaeological heart," | question: what was scheduled to open?, answer: the National September 11 Memorial Museum | question: When was the museum scheduled to open?, answer: 11th anniversary of the September 11, 2001,
|
New York City (CNN) -- Four years ago, the devastating Hurricane Katrina affected millions in the United States. The initial medical response was ill-equipped, understaffed, poorly coordinated and delayed. Criticism was fierce.
The response to Haiti has been the same. The point no one seems to remember is this: Medical response to these situations cannot be delayed. Immediate access to emergency equipment is also crucial.
Within 24 hours of the earthquake, Dr. David Helfet put together a 13-member team of surgeons, anesthesiologists and operating room nurses, with a massive amount of orthopedic operating room equipment, ready to be flown directly to Port-au-Prince on a private plane.
We also had a plan to replace physicians and equipment -- within 24 hours, we could bring in whatever was necessary on a private jet. We believe we had a reasonably comprehensive orthopedic trauma service; as trauma surgeons, we planned to provide acute care in the midst of an orthopedic disaster.
We expected many amputations. But we thought we could save limbs that were salvageable, particularly those of children. We recognized that in an underdeveloped country, a limb amputation may be a death sentence. It does not have to be so.
We thought our plan was a good one, but we soon learned we were incredibly naive. Disaster management in Haiti was nonexistent.
The difficulties in getting in -- despite the intelligence we had from people on the ground and Dr. Helfet's connections with Partners in Health and Bill and Hillary Clinton -- only hinted at the difficulties we would have once we arrived.
We started out Friday morning and got a slot to get into Port-au-Prince on Friday. That was canceled when we were on the runway and was rescheduled for the next day. We were diverted to the Dominican Republic and planned on arriving in Port-au-Prince on Saturday.
That Saturday morning slot also was canceled and postponed until the afternoon. The airport had one runway and hundreds of planes trying to land. But nobody was prioritizing the flights.
Once we finally landed, we were taken to the General Hospital in Port-au-Prince with our medical supplies. We had been told that this hospital was up and running with two functioning operating rooms.
Once we arrived, we saw a severely damaged hospital with no running water and only limited electrical power, supplied by a generator. Surgeries were being performed in the equivalent of a large storage closet, where amputations were performed with hacksaws.
This facility could not nearly accommodate our equipment nor our expertise to treat the volume of injuries we saw.
We quickly took our second option: Community Hospital of Haiti, about two miles away. There, we found about 750 patients lying on the floor. But the facility had running water, electricity and two functional operating rooms.
We found scores of patients with pus dripping out of open extremity fractures and crush injuries. Some wounds were already ridden with maggots.
About a third of these victims were children. The entire hospital smelled of infected, rotting limbs and death. Later on, we would judge our surgical progress by the diminishment of the stench.
In our naïveté, we didn't expect that the two anesthesia machines would not work; that there would be only one cautery available in the entire hospital to stop bleeding; that an operating room sterilizer fit only instruments the size of a cigar box; that there would be no sterile saline, no functioning fluoroscopy machine, no blood for transfusions, no ability to do lab work; and the only local staff was a ragtag group of voluntary health providers who, like us, had made it there on their own.
As we got up and running and organized the patients for surgery, we told our contacts in the United States what we needed. More supplies were loaded for a second trip. Those included a battery-operated pulse lavage, a huge supply of sterile saline and the soft goods we needed desperately in the operating room.
The plane landed as planned Sunday night, and the new equipment was loaded onto a truck
|
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"Port-au-Prince",
"Saturday."
] |
question: What did doctors gather?, answer: 13-member team of surgeons, anesthesiologists and operating room nurses, with a massive amount of orthopedic operating room equipment, | question: What did they find?, answer: we found about 750 patients lying on the floor. | question: What did the doctors bring to Haiti?, answer: a massive amount of orthopedic operating room equipment, | question: What country was the plane going to?, answer: Port-au-Prince | question: When was the plane sent over?, answer: Saturday.
|
New York City is the quintessential metropolis, the city other cities aspire to be. Frenetic, chaotic and glamorous, it may not be the capital of America, or even New York State, but in many ways it's the capital of the world.
New York's skyscrapers are instantly recognizable architectural icons.
More than anywhere else, New York symbolizes the American Dream and the aspirations of the 20th century. Ever since it was christened New Amsterdam in 1694 it has been a beacon for immigrants, the Promised Land where anyone can be anything they want.
The "huddled masses" who disembarked at Ellis Island under the gaze of the Statue of Liberty built a city on hard work, determination, and a belief that anything was possible. The result is the Big Apple, the city that never sleeps, the place where you can make things happen.
New York is a celebrity city -- even if you've never been there you'll recognize it from countless movies and TV cop shows. There's something innately cinematic about its skyline of tapered high-rises reaching towards the heavens.
The skyscrapers of Shanghai and Hong Kong may be more modern, and those of Dubai and Kuala Lumpur more immense, but only New York's are instantly recognizable architectural icons.
When most people think of New York they think of Manhattan, but there are of course four other boroughs in the city, each made up of countless distinct neighborhoods. The relentless pace of New York life means no neighborhood maintains its identity for too long -- you won't find many Italians in Little Italy these days.
Watch Candace Bushnell take My City_My Life on a tour of New York. »
It also means that the latest "in" place will soon be "out", giving way to the newest up-and-coming neighborhood known by a suitably convoluted acronym -- whether its Soho (South of the Hudson), Tribeca (Triangle Below Canal Street), Sobro (South Bronx) or Dumbo (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass).
While Manhattan is still the beating heart of the city, rents there are beyond the reach of most New Yorkers, and the relentless tide of gentrification has flowed into the other boroughs. Where New York was once known for its mean streets, mayors Giuliani and Bloomberg have cleaned up the city with their zero-tolerance approach to crime.
The city's murder rate is now a quarter that of the early 1990s, the height of New York's crack epidemic. While no one would complain about that, some feel that recent noise laws and bans on smoking indoors and serving trans fats in restaurants are signs that the city is losing the edginess on which it always thrived.
The last century may have belonged to New York, but the world is changing. London is staking a claim as the world's financial capital, with Singapore and Hong Kong close behind. And while the Big Apple practically invented the idea of "cool," cities like Berlin and Moscow are building a reputation as hipper, grittier alternatives, where the real underground action happens.
But New Yorkers love competition. They're the reason the city bounced back from 9/11, the Great Depression and various Wall Street crises. They put up with the noise, crowds and the astronomical rents because they know there's nowhere on Earth that can match New York for sheer excitement. It's still the city where anything is possible and, for hopeful dreamers around the world, it's still the Promised Land, where anyone can be anything they want.
|
[
"Which is the most exciting city in the world?",
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] |
[
"New York",
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question: Which is the most exciting city in the world?, answer: New York | question: What is the quintessential metropolis?, answer: New York City | question: What are the city's five boroughs made up of?, answer: countless distinct neighborhoods. | question: Which city is described as "frenetic and glamorous"?, answer: New York | question: what makes it so exciting, answer: city where anything is possible
|
New Zealand maxi Alfa Romeo eased to victory in the 65th annual Sydney to Hobart ocean yacht race on Monday.
Skippered by Neville Crichton, Alfa Romeo crossed the finish of the 628-mile race ahead of favorite Australian maxi Wild Oats XI.
Alfa Romeo had led since they left Sydney Harbor on Saturday and was not threatened during its two days, nine hours and two minutes at sea.
Australian maxi Wild Oats XI finished 16 nautical miles behind in second place with British yacht ICAP Leopard a further 24 miles behind in third.
Crichton admitted he was taken aback by the large crowd which had gathered at the dockside to welcome his team home before he paid tribute to his crew.
"We didn't expect to see anything like this crowd. We're certainly honored," he told the event's official Web site wwwrolexsydneyhobart.com.
"I'd like to thank the 21 guys in my crew. We didn't have any problems and I don't think there was any time in the race when we were passed."
Crichton continued: "There were occasions when we had to take a gamble and hope it paid off. We were very busy the whole race. There were occasions when there was a lot of breeze, and occasions when we drifted, so it made the race much more interesting.
"I don't think there was any part of the race that counted any more or less. We all had periods we were parked up. I think it was the advantage of making the least amount of mistakes of anybody that won us the race."
Wild Oats, who set the race record in 2005, was bidding for a fifth win, but trailed Alfa Romeo out of Sydney Harbor in the traditional Boxing Day start and was never able to get on terms with the leader.
|
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] |
[
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question: what country did alfa romeo eased to victory, answer: New Zealand | question: From where is Alfa Romeo?, answer: New Zealand | question: What boat won the yacht race ?, answer: Alfa Romeo | question: who skippered by neville crichton, answer: Alfa Romeo | question: What is the name of the skipper?, answer: Neville Crichton, | question: How many years has the Sydney to Hobart ocean yacht race taken place?, answer: 65th | question: Who skippered the winning yacht ?, answer: Neville Crichton,
|
Newark, New Jersey (CNN) -- A Transportation Security Administration officer has been reassigned after Sunday's security breach at Newark's Liberty International Airport, according to the TSA.
"The TSA is reviewing the circumstances surrounding the incident, and we are making an assessment as to what disciplinary action will be taken against [the] officer posted at the exit in question," TSA spokeswoman Ann Davis said. "For now, that officer is performing non-screening duties while we look at what happened."
Davis confirmed Monday that the TSA had not been able to locate the individual who breached security, but there was no indication that the individual presented a serious threat, she said.
"We were able to eliminate that he was a risk to the airport by rescreening everyone and re-combing the airport to make sure he didn't introduce anything to the environment or hand anything off to anyone," she said.
The incident Sunday evening forced the closure of a terminal for hours while authorities rescreened thousands of passengers.
The security breach happened about 5:20 p.m. at Terminal C when a man walked through an exit on the public side to the secure "sterile" side for passengers who had cleared screening, according to the TSA.
All passengers had been rescreened by early Monday, according to the TSA. Flights from Terminal C were grounded until the process was completed.
Authorities reviewed video from airport cameras but were not sure whether the man was once on the sterile side and went back or whether he never went through screening, Davis said.
The incident caused arrival delays and mainly affected Continental Airlines, which is the airport's largest tenant.
iReport: Passenger photographs massive crowd
CNN's Alina Cho, who arrived at the airport Sunday night on a flight from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, described a hectic scene, saying many passengers who had boarded outgoing flights had to get off planes to be rescreened.
"I just saw one woman pleading with a gate agent, saying that she had two small children and a heart condition -- that she simply could not take this," Cho said. "But of course, there will be no exceptions."
Newark Liberty International Airport, about 15 miles from Manhattan, is the second-largest hub for Continental.
The airport handles approximately 35 million passengers a year.
CNN's Susan Candiotti, Ross Levitt and Jamie Guzzardo contributed to this report.
|
[
"what time did this event happen?",
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"where has the officer been reassigned to?",
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"What did man do improperly at security screening?",
"When was the breach?",
"How long was it closed for?",
"What forced closure of Terminal C?"
] |
[
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"C",
"performing non-screening duties",
"Sunday's",
"walked through an exit on the public side to the secure \"sterile\" side",
"Sunday evening",
"hours",
"security breach"
] |
question: what time did this event happen?, answer: 5:20 p.m. | question: What terminal was closed?, answer: C | question: where has the officer been reassigned to?, answer: performing non-screening duties | question: When did security breach happen?, answer: Sunday's | question: What did man do improperly at security screening?, answer: walked through an exit on the public side to the secure "sterile" side | question: When was the breach?, answer: Sunday evening | question: How long was it closed for?, answer: hours | question: What forced closure of Terminal C?, answer: security breach
|
Newark, New Jersey (CNN) -- A security breach at Newark Liberty International Airport Sunday evening forced the closure of a terminal for hours while authorities rescreened thousands of passengers.
The incident happened at about 5:20 p.m. at Terminal C, when a man walked through an exit on the public side to the secure "sterile" side for passengers who had cleared screening, according to the Transportation Security Administration.
"Rescreening began after the Port Authority Police and TSA swept each of the concourses in the terminal with negative findings," said Ann Davis, a TSA spokeswoman.
"The man in question was never located; however, TSA's rescreening effort will ensure that every passenger boarding an aircraft tonight out of Newark's Terminal C has been fully screened."
Watch more about the situation in Newark
All passengers had been rescreened by early Monday, according to the TSA. Flights from Terminal C were grounded until the process was completed.
iReport: Passenger photographs massive crowd
Authorities reviewed video from airport cameras but were not sure whether the man was once on the sterile side and went back or if he never went through screening, Davis said.
The incident caused arrival delays and mainly affected Continental Airlines, which is the airport's largest tenant.
CNN's Alina Cho, who arrived at the airport Sunday night on a flight from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, described a hectic scene, saying many passengers who had already boarded outgoing flights had to get off planes to be rescreened.
Flying Continental? Important company notice
"I just saw one woman pleading with a gate agent, saying that she had two small children and a heart condition -- that she simply could not take this," Cho said. "But of course, there will be no exceptions."
Newark Liberty International Airport, which is about 15 miles from Manhattan, is the second-largest hub for Continental.
The airport handles about 35 million passengers a year.
CNN's Susan Candiotti and Ross Levitt contributed to this report.
|
[
"what terminal closed?",
"Was the man ever found?",
"Which terminal was forced to close following a security breach?",
"what forced closure of terminal c?",
"who describes the scene?",
"What was happening at the chaotic scene?",
"who was never found?",
"What did the man do?",
"who is alina cho?"
] |
[
"Terminal C,",
"never located;",
"at Newark Liberty International Airport Sunday evening",
"A security breach at Newark Liberty International Airport",
"CNN's Alina Cho,",
"passengers who had already boarded outgoing flights had to get off planes to be rescreened.",
"\"The man in question",
"walked through an exit on the public side to the secure \"sterile\" side for passengers who had cleared screening,",
"CNN's"
] |
question: what terminal closed?, answer: Terminal C, | question: Was the man ever found?, answer: never located; | question: Which terminal was forced to close following a security breach?, answer: at Newark Liberty International Airport Sunday evening | question: what forced closure of terminal c?, answer: A security breach at Newark Liberty International Airport | question: who describes the scene?, answer: CNN's Alina Cho, | question: What was happening at the chaotic scene?, answer: passengers who had already boarded outgoing flights had to get off planes to be rescreened. | question: who was never found?, answer: "The man in question | question: What did the man do?, answer: walked through an exit on the public side to the secure "sterile" side for passengers who had cleared screening, | question: who is alina cho?, answer: CNN's
|
Norfolk, Virginia (CNN) -- Two of three Navy SEALs accused in the alleged assault of an Iraqi suspected of orchestrating the 2004 killing and mutilation of four U.S. contractors in Falluja will have their cases heard in Iraq, a judge ruled Monday.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Jonathan Keefe, 25, is charged with dereliction of duty and impeding an official investigation surrounding the Iraqi's detention last September.
Petty Officer 1st Class Julio Huertas, 28, faces similar charges. The Iraqi suspect, Ahmed Hashim Abed, complained to investigators he was punched during his detention.
The case against the Navy SEALs has sparked outrage that the sailors are being tried at all for handling a suspect in the contractors' murders, one of the most notorious incidents in the Iraq war.
The killings got widespread news coverage when the burned bodies of two of the contractors were paraded through the streets of Falluja and hanged from a bridge as their captors cheered.
At a preliminary hearing in military court the judge, Cmdr. Tierney Carlos, announced he wants the cases of Keefe and Huertas moved to Camp Victory in Iraq to give them the ability to question the alleged victim in court.
"It doesn't make sense to me that the alleged victim is available for deposition and not available for trial," Carlos said in making his ruling for Keefe. "In order to prevent prejudice to the accused, this case should be tried in Iraq."
Keefe's attorney had requested that the alleged victim be brought to the United States for questioning.
"This deposition will not be a substitute for the alleged victim's appearance," the judge said.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew McCabe, the other SEAL, is accused of assaulting the detainee and punching him in the stomach. He faces a special court martial Wednesday.
The charges against all three are the equivalent of misdemeanors in civilian court.
If found guilty, the SEALs face a maximum sentence of a year in a military prison, demolition to the lowest Navy rank, a cut in pay, and a bad conduct discharge. "Their military careers would be over," one of their attorneys told CNN.
|
[
"Who are accused of assault of an Iraqi man?",
"What is the Iraqi suspected of?",
"what does the third seal faces?",
"what happened in Falluja 2004?",
"Who faces a special court martial?",
"from what is iraqui suspected?"
] |
[
"three Navy SEALs",
"orchestrating the 2004 killing and mutilation of four U.S. contractors in Falluja",
"a special court martial",
"killing and mutilation of four U.S. contractors",
"Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew McCabe,",
"orchestrating the 2004 killing and mutilation"
] |
question: Who are accused of assault of an Iraqi man?, answer: three Navy SEALs | question: What is the Iraqi suspected of?, answer: orchestrating the 2004 killing and mutilation of four U.S. contractors in Falluja | question: what does the third seal faces?, answer: a special court martial | question: what happened in Falluja 2004?, answer: killing and mutilation of four U.S. contractors | question: Who faces a special court martial?, answer: Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew McCabe, | question: from what is iraqui suspected?, answer: orchestrating the 2004 killing and mutilation
|
Northampton, Massachusetts (CNN) -- Three teens accused in the bullying of a Massachusetts high school student who committed suicide pleaded not guilty to related charges Tuesday.
Sean Mulveyhill, 17, Kayla Narey, 17, and Austin Renaud, 18, were not present at Hampshire Superior Court. They entered their pleas through their lawyers.
Judge Judd Carhart upheld an agreement between prosecutors and defense attorneys that the defendants report to State Police barracks for booking before Friday. They must also stay away from the family of Phoebe Prince, the dead student.
Terrence Dunphy, attorney for Renaud, did not comment on the status of his client, but told reporters that Renaud is innocent.
The body of 15-year-old Phoebe was found hanging in the stairway leading to her family's second-floor apartment in South Hadley on January 14, Northwestern District Attorney Elizabeth D. Scheibel told reporters last month.
Phoebe underwent what Scheibel described as a months-long campaign of bullying that led to her commit suicide. The girl was on the receiving end of "verbally assaultive behavior and threats of physical harm ... on school grounds, by several South Hadley High School students," Scheibel said.
In the indictments, returned last month, the Hampshire County grand jury charged Mulveyhill, of South Hadley, with statutory rape, violation of civil rights with resulting bodily injury, criminal harassment and disturbance of a school assembly. The indictments charged Renaud, of Springfield, with statutory rape. Kayla Narey, of South Hadley, was charged with violation of civil rights with resulting bodily injury, criminal harassment and disturbance of a school assembly.
Charges against another three girls included violation of civil rights with resulting bodily injury; two also were charged with stalking.
South Hadley Public Schools Superintendent Gus Sayer defended school administrators' handling of the matter, saying Phoebe had not alerted anyone to her situation.
"She didn't reveal to people what she was being subjected to and, unfortunately, until January 7 we were not aware of what she was being subjected to, so [there was] very little way we could have intervened in the bullying," he said.
Sayer cited two incidents that occurred on January 7, a week before Phoebe's death. In one, a girl walked into a classroom and called Phoebe "an Irish slut," he said. The name caller was taken to the principal's office and disciplined, he said.
In the other, a girl "said something threatening about Phoebe" to another girl, he said. A staff member overheard the comment and reported it to the principal, who took disciplinary action, Sayer said.
He said it was school policy not to specify what disciplinary actions may have been taken against any individual student, though he said the latter case did not include expulsion and that the student returned to school.
"To our knowledge the action taken was effective in ending their involvement in any bullying of Phoebe," he said.
Phoebe, who had recently moved to the area with her family from Ireland, also was harassed as she walked through the halls of the school on the day of her death and as she walked on the street toward her home, Scheibel said.
The harassment that day, by one male and two females, "appears to have been motivated by the group's displeasure with Phoebe's brief dating relationship with a male student that had ended six weeks earlier," she said.
None of the six students identified in the indictment remains in school, Sayer said.
CNN's Brian Vitagliano contributed to this report.
|
[
"Who do they enter pleas through?",
"Who are on trial?",
"who enter pleas through their lawyers?",
"Where was Prince's body found?",
"Where was the body found?",
"who was found hanging the stairway leading to her family's apartment?",
"What didn't she reveal to people?",
"who defends administrators' handling of the matter?",
"Who was found dead?"
] |
[
"their lawyers.",
"Three teens",
"Kayla Narey,",
"hanging in the stairway leading to her family's second-floor apartment",
"hanging in the stairway",
"Phoebe Prince,",
"was being subjected to",
"South Hadley Public Schools Superintendent Gus Sayer",
"Phoebe Prince,"
] |
question: Who do they enter pleas through?, answer: their lawyers. | question: Who are on trial?, answer: Three teens | question: who enter pleas through their lawyers?, answer: Kayla Narey, | question: Where was Prince's body found?, answer: hanging in the stairway leading to her family's second-floor apartment | question: Where was the body found?, answer: hanging in the stairway | question: who was found hanging the stairway leading to her family's apartment?, answer: Phoebe Prince, | question: What didn't she reveal to people?, answer: was being subjected to | question: who defends administrators' handling of the matter?, answer: South Hadley Public Schools Superintendent Gus Sayer | question: Who was found dead?, answer: Phoebe Prince,
|
O'Fallon, Missouri (CNN) -- Nathan Halbach is 22, with a diagnosis of terminal brain cancer. He knows that "horrible stuff" lies ahead.
His mother, Pat Bond, has been taking care of him full time. But when she needed help, she reached out to the Roman Catholic Church.
After all, his father is a priest.
Nathan was born in 1986, during a five-year affair between his mother and Father Henry Willenborg, the Franciscan priest who celebrated Nathan's baptism. In a story first reported in the New York Times, it was revealed that The Franciscan Order drew up an agreement acknowledging the boy's paternity and agreeing to pay child support in exchange for a pledge of confidentiality.
Now her son -- the youngest of four children -- may have just weeks to live. And when the Franciscans balked at paying for his care, she decided she was no longer bound by her pledge of confidentiality.
"I never asked for extraordinary amounts. I asked for the basic needs and care of my son," Bond told CNN's "AC 360." But she said the church told her, "No, we are not Nathan's biological father, we have no legal obligation to your son."
Willenborg, whose priestly vows require celibacy, has been suspended from his most recent assignment, in northern Wisconsin, as Catholic leaders investigate allegations that he was involved with another woman -- then in high school -- around the same time he was seeing Bond. Willenborg has acknowledged his relationship with Bond, but denies any inappropriate relationship with the other woman while she was a minor, according to his current bishop.
And his order acknowledges its agreement to support his son, telling CNN they have paid about $233,000 to support Nathan over his lifetime. Since the affair has become public, the Franciscan Order has agreed to pick up Nathan's medical bills and the costs for the funeral that now appears likely.
Willenborg refused to speak to CNN. But a statement to his parishioners in Ashland, Wisconsin, in September, said, "My failure to be faithful to my vows has caused me and many others pain and disappointment. I have regretted this for a long time."
And in October, he told The New York Times, "We've been very caring, very supportive, very generous over these 20-something years. It's very tragic what's going on with Nathan."
Bond, then Patricia Halbach, said she and Willenborg began their affair in 1983. At the time, Willenborg was a priest in her hometown of Quincy, Illinois, about 130 miles north of St. Louis, Missouri.
Bond, then a 27-year-old, married mother of three, went to a retreat for women with troubled relationships. Willenborg was the retreat's spiritual director, and she said he was a "terrific" priest -- "incredibly charismatic, very sought-after."
He began to counsel her on a regular basis. After about three months, at the end of one of their sessions, she said he kissed her. Bond said she went home and immediately asked her husband for a separation, and she said she began a romantic relationship with Willenborg.
Bond said she knew he was forbidden to have sex with her. But she said when in love, "You don't think clearly."
"I make stupid decisions in my life," she said. "I am not perfect, far from sainthood, and I loved him."
During their relationship, Bond was a lay leader in the church, and "We were a very good team, a very dynamic team," she said.
But in 1985, she learned she was pregnant. The pregnancy ended with a miscarriage that October. She said in its aftermath, she ended her sexual relationship with Willenborg, only to resume it the following spring. It was during that period that Nathan was conceived, she said.
Nathan was born in December 1986. Willenborg had to disclose the affair and Bond's pregnancy to his superiors. A deal was negotiated by Father
|
[
"Who is the priest?",
"Who is the priest who baptized Nathan Halbach?",
"Who baptized him?",
"Who baptized Henry Willenborg?",
"Who contracted cancer?",
"What is the name of the priest?",
"Who made a confidential agreement?",
"What did Nathan's mother make and why?",
"What did Nathans mother say?"
] |
[
"Father Henry Willenborg, the Franciscan",
"Father Henry Willenborg,",
"Father Henry Willenborg,",
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"Nathan Halbach",
"Henry Willenborg,",
"The Franciscan",
"an agreement acknowledging the boy's paternity",
"\"I never asked for extraordinary amounts. I asked for the basic needs and care of my son,\""
] |
question: Who is the priest?, answer: Father Henry Willenborg, the Franciscan | question: Who is the priest who baptized Nathan Halbach?, answer: Father Henry Willenborg, | question: Who baptized him?, answer: Father Henry Willenborg, | question: Who baptized Henry Willenborg?, answer: Nathan | question: Who contracted cancer?, answer: Nathan Halbach | question: What is the name of the priest?, answer: Henry Willenborg, | question: Who made a confidential agreement?, answer: The Franciscan | question: What did Nathan's mother make and why?, answer: an agreement acknowledging the boy's paternity | question: What did Nathans mother say?, answer: "I never asked for extraordinary amounts. I asked for the basic needs and care of my son,"
|
O'Fallon, Missouri (CNN) -- Nathan Halbach is 22, with a diagnosis of terminal brain cancer. He knows that "horrible stuff" lies ahead.
His mother, Pat Bond, has been taking care of him full time. But when she needed help, she reached out to the Roman Catholic Church.
After all, his father is a priest.
Nathan was born in 1986, during a five-year affair between his mother and Father Henry Willenborg, the Franciscan priest who celebrated Nathan's baptism. In a story first reported in the New York Times, it was revealed that The Franciscan Order drew up an agreement acknowledging the boy's paternity and agreeing to pay child support in exchange for a pledge of confidentiality.
Now her son -- the youngest of four children -- may have just weeks to live. And when the Franciscans balked at paying for his care, she decided she was no longer bound by her pledge of confidentiality.
"I never asked for extraordinary amounts. I asked for the basic needs and care of my son," Bond told CNN's "AC 360." But she said the church told her, "No, we are not Nathan's biological father, we have no legal obligation to your son."
Willenborg, whose priestly vows require celibacy, has been suspended from his most recent assignment, in northern Wisconsin, as Catholic leaders investigate allegations that he was involved with another woman -- then in high school -- around the same time he was seeing Bond. Willenborg has acknowledged his relationship with Bond, but denies any inappropriate relationship with the other woman while she was a minor, according to his current bishop.
And his order acknowledges its agreement to support his son, telling CNN they have paid about $233,000 to support Nathan over his lifetime. Since the affair has become public, the Franciscan Order has agreed to pick up Nathan's medical bills and the costs for the funeral that now appears likely.
Willenborg refused to speak to CNN. But a statement to his parishioners in Ashland, Wisconsin, in September, said, "My failure to be faithful to my vows has caused me and many others pain and disappointment. I have regretted this for a long time."
And in October, he told The New York Times, "We've been very caring, very supportive, very generous over these 20-something years. It's very tragic what's going on with Nathan."
Bond, then Patricia Halbach, said she and Willenborg began their affair in 1983. At the time, Willenborg was a priest in her hometown of Quincy, Illinois, about 130 miles north of St. Louis, Missouri.
Bond, then a 27-year-old, married mother of three, went to a retreat for women with troubled relationships. Willenborg was the retreat's spiritual director, and she said he was a "terrific" priest -- "incredibly charismatic, very sought-after."
He began to counsel her on a regular basis. After about three months, at the end of one of their sessions, she said he kissed her. Bond said she went home and immediately asked her husband for a separation, and she said she began a romantic relationship with Willenborg.
Bond said she knew he was forbidden to have sex with her. But she said when in love, "You don't think clearly."
"I make stupid decisions in my life," she said. "I am not perfect, far from sainthood, and I loved him."
During their relationship, Bond was a lay leader in the church, and "We were a very good team, a very dynamic team," she said.
But in 1985, she learned she was pregnant. The pregnancy ended with a miscarriage that October. She said in its aftermath, she ended her sexual relationship with Willenborg, only to resume it the following spring. It was during that period that Nathan was conceived, she said.
Nathan was born in December 1986. Willenborg had to disclose the affair and Bond's pregnancy to his superiors. A deal was negotiated by Father
|
[
"What event caused the mother to break the agreement?",
"What priest baptized him?",
"What is Henry Willenborg's relationship to Nathan Halbach?",
"What agreement did the mother make with Willenborg?",
"After what did she go public?",
"Who made an agreement to keep it a secret?"
] |
[
"when the Franciscans balked at paying for his care,",
"Father Henry Willenborg,",
"Father",
"acknowledging the boy's paternity and agreeing to pay child support in exchange for a pledge of confidentiality.",
"when the Franciscans balked at paying for his care,",
"The Franciscan Order"
] |
question: What event caused the mother to break the agreement?, answer: when the Franciscans balked at paying for his care, | question: What priest baptized him?, answer: Father Henry Willenborg, | question: What is Henry Willenborg's relationship to Nathan Halbach?, answer: Father | question: What agreement did the mother make with Willenborg?, answer: acknowledging the boy's paternity and agreeing to pay child support in exchange for a pledge of confidentiality. | question: After what did she go public?, answer: when the Franciscans balked at paying for his care, | question: Who made an agreement to keep it a secret?, answer: The Franciscan Order
|
OAKLAND, California (CNN) -- A former police officer for the Bay Area transit system pleaded not guilty Thursday in the New Year's Day shooting of a passenger at an Oakland rail station.
Former transit officer Johannes Mehserle is charged with homicide in the death of Oscar Grant III.
Johannes Mehserle, 27, appeared in a packed Alameda County courtroom, with his supporters separated by a courtroom aisle from relatives of shooting victim Oscar Grant III and other spectators. Mehserle is charged with shooting Grant, 22, in an incident that spurred violent protests in Oakland after being captured on video.
Mehserle resigned his job as a Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer days after the shooting, and he was arrested in Nevada earlier this week. Thursday's proceedings took less than five minutes, with Mehserle appearing behind heavy windows in an enclosure out of view of all but a handful of spectators.
Superior Court Judge Robert McGuinness ordered the ex-officer held until his next hearing, scheduled for January 26.
BART police had been called to Oakland's Fruitvale station January 1 after passengers complained about fights on a train.
Officers pulled several men, including Grant, off the train when it arrived at Fruitvale, and video taken by witnesses showed Mehserle shooting Grant in the back as another officer kneeled on the man.
Investigators have not said whether Grant was involved in the fight.
The shooting spawned public outrage and a string of protests that led to more than 100 riot-related arrests. Watch some of the recent rioting in Oakland, California »
Thursday's proceedings drew an overflow crowd to the courthouse, with some would-be spectators grumbling that they could not get into the hearing.
Vicki Behringer contributed to this report for CNN.
|
[
"Who is the shooting victim?",
"What former cop appeared in court?",
"What happened to Meheserle in Nevada?",
"Who appeared in a packed Alameda County courtroom?",
"Who was arrested in Nevada earlier this week?",
"Who's death spawned public outrage?",
"Where did ex cop Mehserle appear at?",
"Who was accused of killing Oscar Grant III?"
] |
[
"Grant,",
"officer Johannes Mehserle",
"he was arrested",
"Johannes Mehserle,",
"Johannes Mehserle,",
"Oscar Grant III",
"Alameda County courtroom,",
"Johannes Mehserle"
] |
question: Who is the shooting victim?, answer: Grant, | question: What former cop appeared in court?, answer: officer Johannes Mehserle | question: What happened to Meheserle in Nevada?, answer: he was arrested | question: Who appeared in a packed Alameda County courtroom?, answer: Johannes Mehserle, | question: Who was arrested in Nevada earlier this week?, answer: Johannes Mehserle, | question: Who's death spawned public outrage?, answer: Oscar Grant III | question: Where did ex cop Mehserle appear at?, answer: Alameda County courtroom, | question: Who was accused of killing Oscar Grant III?, answer: Johannes Mehserle
|
OAKLAND, California (CNN) -- A former transit police officer charged with murder was released from custody Friday after posting a $3 million bail.
Video shows Johannes Mehserle shoot Oscar Grant III in the back as another officer knelt on him.
Dozens of demonstrators gathered in downtown Oakland to protest the release of Johannes Mehserle, 27, charged with killing an unarmed man on New Year's Day. iReport.com: Watch the protest
The former Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer's release funds came from unknown sources, Alameda officials told CNN.
Video taken by a bystander showed Mehserle pulling his gun and fatally shooting Oscar Grant III, 22, in the back as another officer kneeled on Grant.
Mehserle may have intended to draw and fire his Taser instead of his gun, according to a court filing by his attorney.
In January, protests turned violent after a judge decided to allow bail for Mehserle's release.
A preliminary hearing in the case is set for March 23, authorities said.
CNN's Jackie Castillo contributed to this report.
|
[
"The bail was set at how much?",
"What is the BART officer accused of?",
"Name the former BART officer",
"Who did the BART officer murder?",
"What is the name of the person accused of murder?",
"who accused him of murder",
"What is the name of the murder victim?",
"where did this take place"
] |
[
"$3 million",
"murder",
"Johannes Mehserle",
"Johannes Mehserle",
"Johannes Mehserle",
"Video shows Johannes Mehserle shoot Oscar Grant III in the back as another officer knelt on",
"Oscar Grant III",
"Oakland"
] |
question: The bail was set at how much?, answer: $3 million | question: What is the BART officer accused of?, answer: murder | question: Name the former BART officer, answer: Johannes Mehserle | question: Who did the BART officer murder?, answer: Johannes Mehserle | question: What is the name of the person accused of murder?, answer: Johannes Mehserle | question: who accused him of murder, answer: Video shows Johannes Mehserle shoot Oscar Grant III in the back as another officer knelt on | question: What is the name of the murder victim?, answer: Oscar Grant III | question: where did this take place, answer: Oakland
|
OAKLAND, California (CNN) -- Fifth-grader Christopher Rodriguez sat down Thursday at his piano for his weekly lesson, arched his fingers over the keys and began to play.
10-year-old Christopher Rodriguez was hit by a stray bullet, paralyzing him for life, doctors say.
Across the street from Harmony Road Music School in north Oakland, California, Jared Adams, 24, allegedly raised his gun at a Chevron gas station attendant during a holdup and fired.
A bullet ripped through the walls of Christopher's classroom striking him in his side, piercing his kidney and spleen and lodging in his spine. The bullet barely missed the 10-year-old's heart.
He will likely be paralyzed for life from the waist down, doctors say.
"This is probably the worst thing that's ever happened to me in my life. I love my son greatly," the boy's father, Richard Rodriguez, said Friday at a news conference. Watch Christopher's dad describe the ordeal »
Christopher loved music. He had recently taken up African drumming, spent hours listening to classical music and played basketball.
"I feel like half his life was taken from him; his inability, probably, to walk -- ever," Rodriguez said, his voice breaking.
Christopher's mother, Jennifer Rodriguez, had been waiting outside in her SUV for her son's lesson to end.
She not only heard the shots but came close to being hit herself. At least two bullets from Adams' gun struck her vehicle, police said.
On the phone and distracted, she at first dismissed the noises as someone throwing rocks at her SUV. But when she realized it was gunfire, she dashed into her son's class. Christopher was on the floor, his classmates and instructor hovering over him.
"I can't feel my legs! I can't feel my legs!" Christopher cried.
As emergency workers rushed the boy to the hospital, police were chasing Adams, who was speeding away. Adams rammed his vehicle into a car carrying a woman and her two children and then slammed into a parked car, police said.
The woman and children escaped without injury, according to authorities.
Adams was charged Monday with attempted murder, robbery, evading a police officer, driving recklessly and being an ex-felon in possession of a firearm, Oakland Police Department spokesman Roland Holmgren told CNN.
He's being held without bail, according to Holmgren. CNN was not immediately able to determine whether he had a lawyer.
Authorities found a ski mask, loaded gun and cash at the scene. Adams has prior convictions for driving under the influence and gun possession, records show. He pleaded no contest to felony evading arrest in 2006 for fleeing an Emeryville police officer and had run from or physically resisted a California Highway Patrol officer and police in Albany and Berkeley, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Adams once complained in court that young people raised in the city like himself never got opportunities, the paper also reported.
Adams has been told about Christopher, said Holmgren.
"It doesn't matter whether it's your first day on the street as an officer or a veteran, to see a child doing something as innocent as taking a piano lesson and have this happen to him, it affects your soul," said Holmgren.
Meanwhile, doctors delivered tragic news about Christopher's future.
"He's going to face years of rehabilitation," said Dr. James Betts, chief of surgery at Children's Hospital Oakland. "We are all hoping there will be some degree of recovery. We feel like the injury is permanent, and the paralysis is permanent.
"[It will be] a challenging life for this young boy."
Christopher's friends and fellow music lovers plan to help him.
Harmony Road Music School will hold a benefit concert for the Rodriguez family February 10 at 2 p.m. at Chapel of the Chimes, a place of worship near the school.
"The family is going to have to, essentially, make a home for a disabled child
|
[
"What was the suspect allegedly doing?",
"Where was the gas station?",
"What did Rodriguez's father say?",
"What happened to Christopher Rodriguez?",
"What did Christopher Rodriguez love?",
"WIll the boy walk again?",
"What did the suspect allegedly rob?",
"How many yeras old was Christopher Rodriguez?"
] |
[
"raised his gun at a Chevron gas station attendant during a holdup and fired.",
"Across the street from Harmony Road Music School in north Oakland, California,",
"\"This is probably the worst thing that's ever happened to me in my life.",
"was hit by a stray bullet, paralyzing him for life,",
"music.",
"paralyzed for life",
"Chevron gas station",
"10-year-old"
] |
question: What was the suspect allegedly doing?, answer: raised his gun at a Chevron gas station attendant during a holdup and fired. | question: Where was the gas station?, answer: Across the street from Harmony Road Music School in north Oakland, California, | question: What did Rodriguez's father say?, answer: "This is probably the worst thing that's ever happened to me in my life. | question: What happened to Christopher Rodriguez?, answer: was hit by a stray bullet, paralyzing him for life, | question: What did Christopher Rodriguez love?, answer: music. | question: WIll the boy walk again?, answer: paralyzed for life | question: What did the suspect allegedly rob?, answer: Chevron gas station | question: How many yeras old was Christopher Rodriguez?, answer: 10-year-old
|
OAKLEY, California (CNN) -- The black box sat inside a cabinet. Philip Garrido had given it to a friend for safekeeping, and that's where the friend kept it.
The black box has jacks for plugging in headphones. Philip Garrido claimed it could speak his thoughts.
"He feels he can speak to you and me and everyone else using this box," said Garrido's friend and former business client, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
"He was a whack job, but he was a whack job who sounded like he had a really good heart," the friend added.
Garrido and his wife, Nancy, were arrested last month and charged on more than two dozen counts, including kidnapping and rape.
Authorities say the Garridos held Jaycee Dugard, 29, captive for nearly two decades in their backyard. Both have pleaded not guilty. Authorities have said Garrido, a registered sex offender, fathered Dugard's two children.
A few days before his arrest, Garrido delivered some documents touting the device to the FBI.
The black box is simple, with a handle, a metal switch and jacks for plugging in headphones. But it provides some insight into the mind of 58-year-old Garrido.
Garrido told his friend and customers of his printing business that the box allowed him to communicate without speaking.
"He would move his lips and not speak ... and you would be able to hear his voice through the headphones," the friend said.
Three years ago, Garrido demonstrated the box for clients of his printing business. The clients, some of them at least, went along with his claims for the device.
"I didn't want to tell him you're a kook and you don't know what you're talking about," said Tim Allen, who owns a glass shop in Antioch.
Even so, Allen and several other former Garrido clients signed declarations saying the device worked.
"People believe in things. I didn't think it was my place to shoot him down," Allen said.
Garrido so believed in the power of his invention that he wanted to have the device patented, so he solicited the help of a private investigator last year.
"He was speaking normal, dressed normal, acting normal," said Ralph Hernandez, who spent 30 years in law enforcement before becoming an independent private investigator.
Hernandez said he agreed to help Garrido verify the testimonials that the product actually worked, but he never saw the box. Garrido told him it would be best if he didn't, the investigator said.
Hernandez said he provided all the requested information to Garrido.
"This was like the last part before he would take whatever he had had to a lawyer to prepare for patenting," Hernandez said.
Documents obtained by CNN include a news release that Garrido produced:
"A Bay area man has made a major discovery concerning the phenomenon of voice," the release says, accompanied by a photograph of Garrido. Read the news release
Though it's not known whether Garrido hired a patent attorney, there's no record at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office of a patent application or a patent granted to him. But 48 hours before he was arrested, Garrido gave the device to his friend for safekeeping.
"I can only guess that he knew something bad was going to happen,'' he said.
Meanwhile, investigators will begin excavating part of the Garridos' California property Monday afternoon after two sheriff's dogs trained to find human remains alerted authorities of possible buried bones, officials said.
The search is in the same area as a canine alert last week, said Lt. Chris Orrey of the Hayward, California, police department. Ground-penetrating radar also found an "anomaly" in that area, Orrey said Monday.
Investigators have already found bone fragments at the property in unincorporated Contra Costa County but have not said whether they are human.
|
[
"what will move?",
"what say Phillip Garrido?",
"who was abducted",
"Who faces felony counts in the case of Jaycee Dugard?",
"who faced felony counts",
"what does the box let him do",
"What did Garrido say the box allowed him to do?"
] |
[
"his lips",
"claimed it could speak his thoughts.",
"Jaycee Dugard,",
"Garrido and his wife,",
"Garrido and his wife, Nancy,",
"speak his thoughts.",
"communicate without speaking."
] |
question: what will move?, answer: his lips | question: what say Phillip Garrido?, answer: claimed it could speak his thoughts. | question: who was abducted, answer: Jaycee Dugard, | question: Who faces felony counts in the case of Jaycee Dugard?, answer: Garrido and his wife, | question: who faced felony counts, answer: Garrido and his wife, Nancy, | question: what does the box let him do, answer: speak his thoughts. | question: What did Garrido say the box allowed him to do?, answer: communicate without speaking.
|
OFF THE BAHAMAS (CNN) -- As the lights come up, Third Day lead singer Mac Powell is a little stumped. He's asked the packed house for requests, but the band can't do the two of the most popular suggestions.
Third Day has earned praise from mainstream publications but is still pigeonholed as "Christian rock."
The first is a song by another popular Christian music group, and the band has never performed it live.
The other suggestion is "Born Again," a ballad on their latest album. They have never played it live, either, and have not practiced it as a group in a long time. The album version also includes vocals by Flyleaf's Lacey Mosley, and she's not here.
After a people shout out a few more suggestions, Powell looks at the band and changes plans. It's karaoke time. One by one, they bring up fans to sing some of the oldies but goodies. The fans love it, even though the vocals are, well, not concert-worthy.
It's moments like this that make Third Day one of the most popular contemporary Christian music bands and the headliner for the 3,000 fans on this Christian-music-themed voyage, the K-Love Friends and Family Cruise.
"It's always fun for the audience and for us," drummer David Carr said. "Every now and then, we are really surprised by what we hear. Both pleasantly -- and not."
The members of Third Day, which has won three Grammy Awards and an American Music Award, are having as much fun on the ship as any of the fans, who are getting a chance to vacation side-by-side with the rockers and 12 other bands. They have brought their families along and -- aside from playing two one-hour gigs -- have been able to be music fans, too.
It's a needed break between tours -- the next one begins March 5 -- but the band is intrigued by the fact that at both shows on the cruise, fans have demanded "Born Again," which is scheduled to be the next single from their 10th studio album, "Revelation."
"That's going to go into our set list now," bassist Tai Anderson said.
The band is also enjoying an increase in fame. In June, they became the first Christian band to make the cover of Billboard magazine. " 'Revelation' should appeal to Third Day's core Christian music audience while expanding its fan base in the mainstream rock arena," the magazine said.
The crossover success hasn't materialized, but that hasn't disappointed the Atlanta, Georgia-based band. They plan to continue to focus on Christian-music fans even while their new management company looks at other opportunities.
"Getting to lead people in a worship or just even entertaining them is always a reward," Carr said. "I hope that Third Day continues to explore new territories as a band and still keep our core sense of who we are."
They say they were more focused on giving their fans an album with the Southern rock sound that has made the band famous in Christian music while trying to be a little more creative.
For "Revelation," Third Day worked with mainstream producer Howard Benson (Daughtry, Hoobastank) in Los Angeles, California, rather than a studio in Atlanta.
Anderson says the band pushed itself harder than ever, and even when the record company wanted a finished product, the group pushed back and continued to work and write songs, including the title track.
The result, the band believes, is a collection of songs that is lyrically among their best tunes and musically more than what fans were expecting.
Carr acknowledges that it sounds clichéd for a band member to tout their latest work as their best. Still, he says, this album is as good as any Third Day has produced.
"Having been a band as long as we have [since 1991] and having put out as many albums as we have, it seemed really apparent
|
[
"when is the new tour beguinning?",
"What are the musicians determined to give fans?",
"Who is first Christian rock band to make cover of Billboard?",
"When does their new tour begin?",
"What will be on the cover of Billboard?",
"who was the first Christian rock band to make cover of Billboard?"
] |
[
"March 5",
"an album with the Southern rock sound that has made the band famous in Christian music",
"Third Day",
"March 5",
"Third Day's",
"Third Day's"
] |
question: when is the new tour beguinning?, answer: March 5 | question: What are the musicians determined to give fans?, answer: an album with the Southern rock sound that has made the band famous in Christian music | question: Who is first Christian rock band to make cover of Billboard?, answer: Third Day | question: When does their new tour begin?, answer: March 5 | question: What will be on the cover of Billboard?, answer: Third Day's | question: who was the first Christian rock band to make cover of Billboard?, answer: Third Day's
|
OKAZAKI, Japan (CNN) -- At Spencer Morrey's home, there are two constant sounds: his dad, Craig, murmuring, "You're okay, Spence. You're okay, buddy," and the sound of a machine clearing the toddler's airway.
Spencer Morrey, pictured with his father Craig, has severe cerebral palsy and requires 24-hour medical care.
Both sounds come every few minutes, in between hugs, tears and kisses.
Spencer has severe cerebral palsy and requires constant, 24-hour medical care.
In Japan, a country that lacks sufficient medical services for disabled children, the only person to care for Spencer is his father. Morrey says his wife left, overwhelmed by the strain of their son's medical condition.
That would be pain beyond what most parents could imagine. But Spencer's mother fled while pregnant with Morrey's daughter, Amelia. In more than a year, Morrey says he has only seen his daughter four times.
"She wouldn't recognize me," Morrey said, with Spencer propped on his lap. "She wouldn't call me daddy. She's just starting to talk now. But she's not going to know who I am. I think she deserves my love. And I think she deserves to be with Spencer and Spencer deserves to be with her."
Morrey, a native of Chicago and a U.S. citizen, was married to a Brazilian woman of Japanese descent. They divorced in a Japanese court.
Under Brazilian law, Morrey would likely have joint custody and guardianship of both children. What do you think about Spencer's case? Have your say
But in Japan, where only one parent gets custody of a child in a divorce, the family courts have left the case in legal limbo for a year because they have not decided which parent legally has custody of the children. Typically, the parent with physical custody of a child retains custody.
Morrey has stayed in Japan the last year, trying to get the courts to recognize that he has joint custody of the children in Brazil (he has not yet applied for such custody under U.S. law). Watch Kyung Lah's report on the case »
He is afraid that if he heads home for the U.S. with Spencer without that, he could be subject to international child abduction laws, and he also fears such a move could hurt his chances of getting the Japanese family court to give him joint custody of his daughter.
Morrey has been forced to quit work to care for Spencer. The financial strain of living off his credit cards is adding to the stress of caring for a disabled child alone in a foreign country.
Despite his pleading with court mediators and repeated court filings claiming that joint custody is the law in both the U.S. and Brazil, Japan's slow and antiquated family courts have let the case languish.
"Kids need both parents," Morrey said. "Whether the parents are married or not is irrelevant in my mind. The Japanese courts, and I realize you're going against years and years of cultural differences and everything else, but they don't care about the welfare of the child.
"In Japan, it's considered too messy. It's too complicated. It deals with personal feelings, so they don't want to deal with it. So the best way is to not deal with it."
CNN contacted Morrey's ex-wife four times by telephone and once by fax. She declined to discuss the case.
The International Association for Parent and Child Reunion believes there are an estimated 100 American families in situations like Morrey's in Japan and dozens involving those from Britain, France and Canada.
One of those cases is that of American Christopher Savoie.
Savoie, 38, a Tennessee native and naturalized Japanese citizen, was arrested on September 28 in Yanagawa, Japan, for attempting to abduct his two children, eight-year-old Isaac and six-year-old Rebecca. Watch more about this case »
Savoie drove his children to the nearest U.S. consulate in the city of Fukuoka to try and obtain
|
[
"Who is Craig Morrey's son?",
"in wich law only one parent gets custody of a child in a divorce?",
"Under Japanese law who gets custody of a child in a divorce?",
"who was caring for the disabled son",
"Who wants joint custody?",
"Whose wife left him to care for their disabled son?",
"Who is disabled?"
] |
[
"Spencer",
"Japan,",
"the parent with physical",
"his dad, Craig,",
"Morrey",
"Craig,",
"Spencer Morrey,"
] |
question: Who is Craig Morrey's son?, answer: Spencer | question: in wich law only one parent gets custody of a child in a divorce?, answer: Japan, | question: Under Japanese law who gets custody of a child in a divorce?, answer: the parent with physical | question: who was caring for the disabled son, answer: his dad, Craig, | question: Who wants joint custody?, answer: Morrey | question: Whose wife left him to care for their disabled son?, answer: Craig, | question: Who is disabled?, answer: Spencer Morrey,
|
OLD TOWN ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (CNN) -- As you walk down Prince Street in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia, it may be easy to forget that it's 2009.
Music preservationist Curtis Blues works the streets of Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.
You might find a wooden-wheeled carriage rolling by, drawn by a mule. Holding the reins and telling the history of the town is a woman dressed in clothing of an era long past.
Gas lanterns burn and adorn intricate woodwork on townhouse entrances. Cobblestone streets preserving the past lead the way to the waterfront, where the old Torpedo Factory lies. And if you listen carefully, you can hear the sounds of the past echoing in the alleys and old tunnels. The sounds come courtesy of musician Curtis Blues.
"This is a one-string diddley bow," Blues says as he picks up a crude, homemade instrument constructed from items you might find in any kitchen. "They used to tie a wire on a barn door and amplify it with a metal jar top."
He picks up the portable version of the diddley bow and plucks the one string. He uses a metal slide to change the pitch and creates a rather unique musical sound. Although Blues hadn't yet begun performing, a crowd of curious tourists gathers to watch.
Blues is a Mississippi Delta Blues preservationist. He owns a plethora of instruments that were used by delta musicians starting around the turn of the 20th century.
He picks up his harmonica and begins to play. Powerful bending notes fly from it as he demonstrates how his heroes used the shape of their mouths to create a louder, richer sound that would reach more people on the streets.
Blues started playing blues harmonica when he was 14 years old, and he has been studying, learning and performing blues music ever since.
"This acoustic style of music, I grew up with on the folk circuit. So I was exposed to some of the old blues men, and I fell in love with it," Blues says. "My mission is to preserve it as the acoustic form it was before it went to Chicago and became electric band music."
He adds: "So it's a preservation of an era, a moment in history, and a style of performance. One of the aspects of my preservation work is to preserve the voice of these unique instruments of this era." Watch Blues ply his trade »
For the past 14 years, Blues has had a one-man-band blues show that he performs in the shadow of the Old Torpedo Factory, located on the boardwalk in the heart of Old Town. His show finds him with a bright silver metal resonator guitar, a harmonica mounted around his neck, and a bass drum with cymbals.
"They performed in settings just like this on the side of the river," Blues says of the old-time blues musicians. "So when I'm playing out here I'm really stepping into their shoes. But there's no assumption that anyone has to pay me at all. The term in Europe is called 'busking.' The idea behind busking is that you're turning a stranger into a paying customer in just a few seconds."
One of Blues' "busking" techniques is to get the kids involved.
"Would you like to be part of my band?" he asks a shy little red-haired girl hiding behind her mother's leg. "I could use a pretty girl like you in my band! Come on up here and grab a maraca."
Blues soon has a small percussion section to his right, and each child has a parent holding a dollar for the children to place into his tip box after the song in appreciation of the fun that has been added to their day.
Near the end of the song, Blues lowers the music and addresses the crowd.
"Now if you're thinking of tipping me today and I hope you are, please consider my huge family!" And he gestures to the several children next to him holding colorful plastic
|
[
"What kind of music is Curtis Blues for the past?",
"What type of instruments?",
"What town do sounds of the past echo through?",
"What sounds are they?",
"Who plays instruments of a past era?",
"What is \"busking\" described as?"
] |
[
"preservationist.",
"one-string diddley bow,\"",
"Alexandria, Virginia.",
"of the past",
"Curtis Blues",
"turning a stranger into a paying customer in just a few seconds.\""
] |
question: What kind of music is Curtis Blues for the past?, answer: preservationist. | question: What type of instruments?, answer: one-string diddley bow," | question: What town do sounds of the past echo through?, answer: Alexandria, Virginia. | question: What sounds are they?, answer: of the past | question: Who plays instruments of a past era?, answer: Curtis Blues | question: What is "busking" described as?, answer: turning a stranger into a paying customer in just a few seconds."
|
OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK, Washington (CNN) -- Taking a road trip by yourself can be good for the soul. The freedom and beauty of the open road on a recent trip in the Pacific Northwest and California brought me back to what is really important in life.
Vistas along the California coast near Mendocino can be breathtaking.
My road trip started in Seattle, Washington, and ended two weeks later in Sacramento, California, covering 2,277 miles with a stunning backdrop of natural beauty along the way.
Living in the moment and charting my own course gave me a sense of self empowerment that extends to my path in life and what I want out of it.
For those who wish to set out on their own solo road trip, I recommend research and planning -- while still leaving time to be spontaneous.
Hoh Rain Forest, Olympic National Park
As I drove into the Hoh Rain Forest in Washington's Olympic National Park, the only words I could muster were Holy ... Wow!
The greenness of it all and the smell of fresh air stimulated a part of my brain that hadn't been stimulated in years, if ever.
Here I was in the good, old U.S. of A., driving through a rain forest.
Having just left Seattle, where my trip started, this was the first leg of my self-proclaimed big adventure. From the start, Olympic National Park was always a must-see. See map of my road trip »
I mean, who knew you could hike through rain forests, climb glaciers, walk beaches or hit up mineral hot springs all in one place?
The Hoh Rain Forest offered enchanting hikes, with plenty of trails to choose from. Huge ferns, endless amounts of beautiful moss, and trees -- some 500 years old -- made up much of the landscape.
On my second day, as the rain started to come down hard, I decided to squeeze in a late afternoon visit to Ruby Beach, about 45 minutes east of Hoh.
There's something special about walking a beach in a virtual downpour: You've pretty much got it all to yourself. See photos from my trip »
Sol Duc Hot Springs
After two days in the rain, accidentally stepping on a couple of mammoth-sized banana slugs outside my tent, and looking a bit like Chewbacca, I decided to treat myself to the popular Sol Duc Hot Springs Resort, about 30 minutes north of the Hoh Rain Forest in Port Angeles, Washington.
Named by American Indians, Sol Duc, which means sparkling water, is also thought to have healing values, something I was in desperate need of by this point.
Three pools are heated by the nearby hot springs and there's one freshwater pool if you need to cool off.
I threw on my suit, quickly showered and then headed straight for the hot spring.
Aaaaaah, this was perfect. The pools were crowded and the smell of the minerals in the water was obvious. With a backdrop of tree-lined hills, it's easy to sit, relax and soothe your bones for hours.
Oregon Caves
Oregon is a beautiful state from top to bottom.
It seems to have it all, the ocean, rivers, cool towns and caves! Oregon Caves National Monument is located outside Junction Caves, Oregon.
To get to the cave's entrance you have to drive 20 miles along a very windy -- but beautiful -- two-lane road, deep in the Siskiyous Mountains.
I arrived just in time for the last tour which ran about 90 minutes. Bring a jacket since the temperature inside the cave is around 44 degrees (7 degrees Celsius) year-round.
Our group had just started the tour when one woman traveling with her daughter announced she couldn't do it.
She wasn't comfortable walking within confined spaces. Our guide was very helpful and mentioned to all of us this was the right time to speak up if you didn't think you could do the tour.
Moments later our group, minus two, made its way through the inside of
|
[
"Which has rain forests, glaciers, beaches?",
"What state is Mendocino in?"
] |
[
"Olympic National Park",
"California"
] |
question: Which has rain forests, glaciers, beaches?, answer: Olympic National Park | question: What state is Mendocino in?, answer: California
|
OMAHA, Nebraska (CNN) -- Investigators probing the deadly mall shooting in Omaha have seized computers and are analyzing information on Web sites in the search for clues in the case, police said Thursday.
The 19-year-old gunman sent at least one text message to his former girlfriend, with whom he broke up about two weeks ago, Omaha Police Chief Thomas Warren said.
Robert Hawkins also left a voice mail for his mother before killing eight people at a department store Wednesday.
He chose his victims randomly, police believe, then took his own life.
Hawkins visited a friend near the Westroads Mall before the shootings and apparently went directly to the shopping center after that meeting, Warren said.
Police don't yet know why Hawkins chose the mall or the Von Maur department store in particular, Warren said, adding only that the teen "may have frequented the Westroads Mall." See who Hawkins killed in department store »
The incident itself appeared to be premeditated, as Hawkins left a suicide note and other correspondence, Warren said. Watch officials detail the rampage »
"Typically there are hints that something like this may take place," Warren said. "Certainly you can't anticipate someone engaging in this type of shooter rampage, but if there is any justification, any explanation," police will find it, he said.
"Apparently he had been experiencing some mental health problems, ideations of suicide."
Debora Maruca-Kovac -- a friend of Hawkins' family who was letting him live in her home -- found the suicide note just minutes before the shootings. Watch her describe their last conversation »
"He basically said how sorry he was for everything," she told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Wednesday. "He didn't want to be a burden to people and that he was a piece of s--- all of his life and that now he'd be famous."
Warren said the rifle used was an AK-47. Police haven't finished tracing the gun, but believe Hawkins stole it from his stepfather's home.
Security officers flagged Hawkins as suspicious when he entered the mall. He left soon after he entered, then returned less than six minutes later with something apparently hidden in a balled-up sweatshirt.
He went up an elevator to the mall's third floor, then immediately began firing, ultimately turning the firearm on himself, Warren said.
"It doesn't appear as though there was an opportunity for intervention," Warren said.
Hawkins fired more than 30 rounds, the police chief said.
The shootings sent panicked holiday shoppers fleeing for cover.
"It was just so loud, and then it was silence," said witness Jennifer Kramer, who hid inside a circular clothing rack. "I was scared to death he'd be walking around looking for someone else." Watch how Kramer and her mother hid »
A friend of Hawkins' said he hadn't thought Hawkins was capable of such violence.
"He was the one guy, you know, if people would be getting in a fight he'd be trying to break it up," said Shawn Saunders, who had known Hawkins for about 2½ years. "If there were arguments amongst our friends or groups, he was kind of like the calm, cool and collected one." Watch how Saunders learned Hawkins was the shooter »
Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman said Hawkins had been a ward of the state for nearly four years, but he did not specify in what capacity. The state's custody ended in August of last year, Heineman said.
U.S. Army recruiters turned Hawkins down last summer when he tried to enlist, a source familiar with the situation said Thursday.
The source didn't want to be named because it is against the military's rules to discuss potential recruits. The reason for his rejection was unclear.
Heineman ordered that flags throughout the state be lowered to half-staff through Sunday.
The dead include six store employees and two customers, ranging in age from 24 to 66.
One store employee was in critical
|
[
"what confiscate the police?",
"Who conficated computers?",
"Mall shooter was ward of state for almost four years, governor says",
"who was turn downs by the army?",
"Who turned downRobert Hawkins when he tried to enlist?",
"Where did gunman frequent?",
"who frequented the Westroads Mall?",
"Where may the gunman frequented?",
"What do the police confiscate??",
"Who turned him down?"
] |
[
"computers",
"Investigators",
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"Robert Hawkins",
"U.S. Army recruiters",
"the Westroads Mall.\"",
"Robert Hawkins",
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"computers",
"U.S. Army recruiters"
] |
question: what confiscate the police?, answer: computers | question: Who conficated computers?, answer: Investigators | question: Mall shooter was ward of state for almost four years, governor says, answer: Hawkins | question: who was turn downs by the army?, answer: Robert Hawkins | question: Who turned downRobert Hawkins when he tried to enlist?, answer: U.S. Army recruiters | question: Where did gunman frequent?, answer: the Westroads Mall." | question: who frequented the Westroads Mall?, answer: Robert Hawkins | question: Where may the gunman frequented?, answer: the Westroads Mall." | question: What do the police confiscate??, answer: computers | question: Who turned him down?, answer: U.S. Army recruiters
|
OMAHA, Nebraska (CNN) -- Dozens of calls flooded the Omaha Police Department's 911 emergency line after a gunman opened fire inside the city's Westroads Mall, with witnesses calling in tones that ranged from almost matter-of-fact to near terror.
Police make their presence known at the Westroads Mall in Omaha, Nebraska, Thursday.
"I haven't seen anything. I'm hiding in a clothes rack," a woman said after a dispatcher asked her for a description of the shooter. "I mean, there's been like 50 gunshots."
In one of the recordings, provided to CNN by the police department, a rapid burst of three gunshots can be heard, followed by two more a moment later before the line goes dead.
A dispatcher asked one caller to move away from a woman shouting in the background.
"Oh Lord God help us," the woman can be heard screaming. Hear some of the 911 calls »
"She said there is a bunch of people shot," the caller says.
Robert Hawkins, 19, killed six employees and two customers of Von Maur department store on Wednesday before turning his AK-47 rifle on himself.
Two employees remained hospitalized Thursday, one with critical injuries and one in serious condition.
A woman who called 911 before ducking into a security office in the store said she heard the gunman demand that a vault be opened near the store's customer service area.
Police have not described the shooting as a robbery attempt, saying Thursday they don't know why Hawkins chose the store as a target.
The caller described the shooter as having "a very large gun" and said he came out of an elevator on the store's third floor and began firing shots into the air.
"I heard the gunshots and I got down as soon as possible because I've got kids," she said.
Later, she told the dispatcher she'd moved into the security office -- where she appears to have seen Hawkins' dead body on a surveillance camera.
"Oh my gosh! It looks like the gun is laying over by customer service -- it looks like he might have killed himself," she said, breaking into tears. "I see him laying by the gun!"
Police said Thursday that Hawkins had had "some mental health problems," including thoughts of suicide. He had lost his job and recently broken up with his girlfriend, according to a family friend. E-mail to a friend
|
[
"where A rapid burst of gunshots?",
"what say \"I'm hiding in a clothes rack,\"?",
"Who killed 6 employees?",
"Who took Robert Hawkins' life?",
"What is the name of the shooter?",
"Who killed six employees?",
"what is going on ?"
] |
[
"Westroads Mall in Omaha, Nebraska,",
"a woman",
"Robert Hawkins,",
"himself.",
"Robert Hawkins,",
"Robert Hawkins,",
"a gunman opened fire inside the city's Westroads Mall,"
] |
question: where A rapid burst of gunshots?, answer: Westroads Mall in Omaha, Nebraska, | question: what say "I'm hiding in a clothes rack,"?, answer: a woman | question: Who killed 6 employees?, answer: Robert Hawkins, | question: Who took Robert Hawkins' life?, answer: himself. | question: What is the name of the shooter?, answer: Robert Hawkins, | question: Who killed six employees?, answer: Robert Hawkins, | question: what is going on ?, answer: a gunman opened fire inside the city's Westroads Mall,
|
ON PUGET SOUND, Washington (CNN) -- When commercial diver Kenny Woodside takes to the depths, he enters a world of murky low light and dangerous currents.
Diver Kenny Woodside descends to the murky depths to retrieve an abandoned net.
Until recently Woodside and about 100 hundred other divers searched Puget Sound for sea cucumbers and urchins to sell to buyers in Asia, where the items are considered delicacies.
But demand for the fishermen's catch dried up with the worldwide economic crisis and left many of these divers without a reason to go out on the water.
"The fishing industry has slowed from a full-time job to just a couple months a year," said Doug Monk, the captain of the boat from which Woodside dives. "The red sea urchin market is almost non-existent."
But thanks to a small piece of the federal stimulus recovery plan, Monk, Woodside and about 40 other fishermen will get back to work hauling in a very different catch: lost fishing nets.
While many stimulus projects have come under fire as pork barrel spending, backers of the nets program say it is a model for helping those battered by the economic downturn while completing needed public works.
Thousands of the large nets stretch across the floor of Puget Sound, where they create an environmental hazard. Some of the nets were lost by fishermen to the rocky coastline decades ago but continue to catch and kill.
According to the Northwest Marine Conservation Initiative, the nets are responsible for killing tens of thousands of marine life, mammals and birds every year.
The nets, some of which extend larger than a football field, can also tangle the propellers of boats and pose a danger to scuba divers.
After struggling to find funding, the group received $4.6 million in stimulus funds to recover most of the nets that litter the unique Puget Sound ecosystem.
The only reason the nets have remained underwater for so long, said Ginny Broadhurst, director of the Northwest Marine Conservation Initiative, is because the damage they are doing to the environment is invisible from the surface.
"If you had nets strung along the streets that are catching bunny rabbits and squirrels, we wouldn't be discussing whether we should be removing them. We would be pulling them. It would be immediate," said Broadhurst. "When those threats are underwater it's so much harder to know what impacts they are having."
But pulling those nets is no easy task.
Divers swim close to 100 feet down to an environment that is anything but friendly. Instead of using scuba equipment, they breathe through air hoses running from the boat above. When the divers find the fields of nets, they begin the labor of cutting them free piece by piece and all by hand. Removing one net can take days. Watch the divers at work »
The nets are then pulled to the boat waiting on the surface. In just a few hours on the water, the divers can pull free about 1,000 pounds of nets. Inside are the bones of countless fish and birds, along with several species of protected sharks and crabs. Anything still alive is cut free and thrown back in the water. Then, biologist Jeff June notes what they have brought up. So far, he says, the group has identified 112 distinct species trapped in the nets.
The fishing nets themselves are considered toxic after the years of catching so much sea life. The divers seal them in heavy duty plastic bags and, once on shore, take the nets to a landfill. But biologist June said the group is working on a plan that would have the nets burned, creating energy from lost fishing nets.
Over the next 18 months the group expects to pull some 3,000 nets from Puget Sound. And in that time the fishing industry could bounce back from its slump, allowing Doug Monk and his crew to return to catching urchins and sea cucumbers.
But, the boat captain said, recovering the fishing nets has greater meaning than just riding out a rough economy.
"We feel we are doing a good thing," he said. "
|
[
"What global event has hit the fishing industry?",
"What do the nets kill?",
"what is stimulus money doing",
"some of the nets are longer than what",
"what hit the fishing industry hard",
"What is the stimulus money being used for?"
] |
[
"the worldwide economic crisis",
"tens of thousands of marine life, mammals and birds every year.",
"helping those battered by the economic downturn",
"a football field,",
"the worldwide economic crisis",
"lost fishing nets."
] |
question: What global event has hit the fishing industry?, answer: the worldwide economic crisis | question: What do the nets kill?, answer: tens of thousands of marine life, mammals and birds every year. | question: what is stimulus money doing, answer: helping those battered by the economic downturn | question: some of the nets are longer than what, answer: a football field, | question: what hit the fishing industry hard, answer: the worldwide economic crisis | question: What is the stimulus money being used for?, answer: lost fishing nets.
|
ON THE ATLANTIC OCEAN (CNN) -- Up on the Lido Deck there is a rockin' band playing another love song.
Rush of Fools gets the crowd going during an afternoon concert on the Lido Deck.
Hundreds of people, many clad in bikinis or swim trunks, maneuver deck chairs, trying to maximize their worship time in the sun.
Servers mill around the deck, trying to interest potential patrons in fruity concoctions. Other cruisers peer back at the band as they stand in the buffet line for an afternoon snack.
The band stops, thanks the crowd for joining them on the ship and talks about why they are here. They are here to praise God.
This is the K-Love Friends and Family Cruise, a four-day Christian music retreat filled with concerts from all types of bands that share one message.
"You look out at that ocean and you realize you are looking at a very small chunk of the big picture," says David Carr, drummer for the contemporary Christian band Third Day. "It reminds me of how small we are and how big and expansive God is, yet He still loves us."
More than 3,000 fans are on board the Destiny for this floating meet-and-greet bound for Grand Turk. Premier Christian Cruises has chartered the whole ship and has filled each day with concerts, shows and speakers. It's the sixth time Premier has put on this event.
The Destiny, owned by Carnival Cruise Lines, is the largest ship the group has ever chartered, says Gary Gentry, one of three owners of Premier. It's one of three full-ship and one partial charter the company puts on each year.
The Friends and Family Cruise features 15 bands as well as comedians, an illusionist and speakers. You can see an author in the morning, a rock band in the afternoon, a singer-songwriter in the evening and a big band late at night.
"To me, life is about making moments," Gentry says. "I think that's what we have been able to do on the cruise, help people create moments of significance in their lives."
He compared putting all the bands together on a ship with some of their most loyal fans to the amateur chemistry sets kids love to play with to surprising results. "You don't know what's gonna happen, but you know it's going to be kinda cool."
Music cruises have been around for decades but charters are a growing trend in the cruise industry. Each year more companies are renting entire ships not only for Christian artists but for all genres of music. There are events for jazz fans, rock fans, even polka fans.
Andy Levine runs Sixthman, a music cruise organizer that connects fans with artists such as John Mayer, Sister Hazel and Emmylous Harris. He says his company is thinking about expanding from five rock music-themed cruises to seven this year and eventually nine.
Levine used to work in the music industry and said there are so many walls now between performers and fans that there's almost no real interaction between them any more.
"Going on a cruise with your favorite artists is one of the coolest ways to make a real pure connection," Levine says by phone, before boarding a ship full of Barenaked Ladies fans.
The biggest challenge for charter companies is to convey to fans the premium costs that come with a music-themed cruise compared to a standard voyage. (Rooms on the K-Love cruise for 2010 run between $599 and $6,600 and it is already 80 percent sold out.)
"If they were to go to a music festival instead they would have to pay a small fortune, more than they would on a music cruise," says Linda Coffman, who operates the Web site cruisediva.com and has sailed on more than 100 cruises. "There are hotel costs, food costs and ticket costs, so when you consider all the things included on the ship, music cruises are a good deal."
She adds that one thing you can't put
|
[
"What kind of cruise is K-Love Friends?",
"What type of retreat is the K-love Friends and family cruise",
"What are more companies renting for cruises?",
"Who are renting ships for music cruises?"
] |
[
"a four-day Christian music retreat filled with concerts from all types of bands that share one message.",
"four-day Christian music",
"entire ships",
"Premier Christian"
] |
question: What kind of cruise is K-Love Friends?, answer: a four-day Christian music retreat filled with concerts from all types of bands that share one message. | question: What type of retreat is the K-love Friends and family cruise, answer: four-day Christian music | question: What are more companies renting for cruises?, answer: entire ships | question: Who are renting ships for music cruises?, answer: Premier Christian
|
ONDO, Nigeria (CNN) -- In the dark of the early morning, the assembled drug agents murmur a short prayer before setting out on an early morning drugs raid.
A agent torches marijuana plants found in the Nigerian forests but there could be hundreds more farms.
After a few short orders, we set off into the deep undergrowth of southern Nigeria's forests on a tip-off that somewhere ahead are hidden farms illegally growing cannabis.
"It's dangerous because some of them have machetes and in the deeper forest they have pump action shotguns that they use," explained Gaura Shedow, Nigeria's narcotics commander for Ondo state.
Nigeria's National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, or NDLEA, are battling to stop drugs illegally transited through the country, from Latin America and Asia into Europe and the U.S., spilling over into the streets of Nigeria.
As we approach the farm, orders go for out for silence and torches out. The agents spill into an opening in the dense forest, and in the red-glow of the rising sun we can make out the unmistakable leaf of the marijuana plant.
NDLEA suspects there may be hundreds of farms hidden in the forest - estimating the crop they've found this morning to be about $6,000.
Despite NDLEA's efforts the farmers are nowhere to be seen, but Commander Gaura remains practical.
"The people that stay in these farms are not the big people. The big men stay in the cities -- they don't even come to the farmlands."
Nigeria is on the frontline in the global war on drugs -- an international gateway for cocaine from Latin America and heroin from Asia to abusers in Europe and the United States.
It's not known exactly how much is transited through Nigeria but NDLEA says last year they seized over 300 tons of narcotics.
Focusing primarily on the main transit points -- roads, ports and airports - NDLEA claim to have convicted over 1,800 traffickers. Most of them are Nigerian.
"We do have a big expatriate community of Nigerians in Europe and United States," explains Dagmar Thomas at the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime in Nigeria. "And there is always the danger that these communities are tapped into by organized crime cartels."
We spoke to one man arrested for trying to trafficking cocaine to Europe. A young graduate, he explained how after losing his job in Spain he was tempted by the offer of $5,000 to transport cocaine packets in his stomach.
"When you are swallowing - taking in this thing into your body it's just as if you are signing your death warrant ... but this is what many youths do today just to make a living."
And with low-ranking NDLEA officers paid on average $200 a month corruption within the agency is a key concern.
"Yes, certainly there was a lot -- a lot, I think -- of corruption in the agency," explained Ahmadu Giade, the agency's chairman.
"But so long as I continue as chairman of the agency, so long I will continue to dismiss anybody who's involved in corruption -- I will never spare him."
But neither do the drugs.
Living under a bridge in Nigeria's over-crowded metropolis, Lagos, Mercy Jon sleeps behind a public toilet with five other people. She prostitutes herself to pay for her cocaine habit.
"Cocaine has destroyed my life - if it was not for the cocaine I'm taking, I would not be in such a place because I'm a learned somebody. My parents spent a lot to make sure I go to school, but because of cocaine I've ruined everything."
Mercy Jon is being helped by one of only a handful of drug rehabilitation centers in Lagos -- Freedom Foundation.
But struggling to find funding to cope with the number of addicts, their founder Tony Rapu is seeing a disturbing trend.
"I actually think its increasing -- in the past few years we've seen more cases of heroin and cocaine abuse and in the area of marijuana it's like its getting even more common."
|
[
"Where is the educated addict now living?",
"How much was the courier paid?"
] |
[
"under a bridge in Nigeria's over-crowded metropolis, Lagos,",
"$5,000"
] |
question: Where is the educated addict now living?, answer: under a bridge in Nigeria's over-crowded metropolis, Lagos, | question: How much was the courier paid?, answer: $5,000
|
ORANGE COUNTY, California (CNN) -- One of the larger fires in Southern California was deliberately started by someone with apparent knowledge of arson, a fire official said Thursday.
Firefighter Luke Perisin sets a backfire Wednesday against the Santiago Fire in Live Oak Canyon, California.
The Santiago Fire in Orange County was started in two places along a little-traveled road, according to Chief Chip Prather of the county's fire authority.
The fire, which has burned more than 25,000 acres, was started in brush just off Santiago Canyon Road, not close to homes. It spread rapidly, indicating the arsonist had some knowledge of winds and other factors.
"It is a confirmed arson. There was evidence found at the scene. That is the purpose of our early declaration of it being an arson-caused fire," Prather said. He would not describe the evidence. Watch how the evidence points to arson »
Prather said officials originally thought the fire had three points of origin instead of two.
The Santiago Fire's points of origin are considered crime scenes, said Jim Amornino, a spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff's Department.
The reward for information leading to an arrest has increased to $250,000 -- $50,000 each from the governor's office, the U.S. agency of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the FBI, Prather said. KFI radio has chipped in another $100,000, the sheriff's department said.
The state established a toll-free arson tip line at 800-540-7085. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said anyone convicted of arson would be dealt with harshly.
If a suspect is to be found, "it's going to be by a clue from the public," said county Sheriff Mike Corona.
About 1,100 firefighters were working on controlling the Santiago Fire, which has destroyed at least 22 structures, according to Orange County Fire Battalion Chief Kris Concepcion. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said the fire was only 30 percent contained Thursday morning after being 50 percent contained the day before. Watch the Santiago flames rage »
The motive of the Santiago Fire's arsonist was a mystery to Concepcion.
"That's the part that I really can't figure out, to tell you the truth," he told CNN. "That individual knew on Sunday when this fire started that we had, really, the perfect storm, if you will. We had the heavy Santa Ana winds, we had the low relative humidities, we had the high temperatures.
"And then for someone to even think about doing something as reprehensible as starting a fire where they knew the fire would grow as rapidly as it would -- traveling about three, 3½ miles in about an hour -- is just really absolutely unconscionable," he said.
The smaller Rosa Fire in Riverside County, 100 percent contained at 411 acres Thursday morning, was also probably arson, state officials said.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles Fire Department investigators are looking into whether a man who was arrested on suspicion of arson in the San Fernando Valley may have had a role in any of the ongoing blazes, an L.A. police spokeswoman said.
Catalino Pineda, 41, was arrested Wednesday, Officer Kate Lopez told CNN. Witnesses told police they saw him lighting a fire on a hillside in the West Hills area of San Fernando -- northwest of Los Angeles -- then walking away, Lopez said.
Pineda was already on probation for "making excessive false emergency reports" to police at the time of the arrest, Lopez said. His bail has been set at $75,000, she said.
The fire he allegedly set was brought under control, but now authorities want to find out if he had any role in the other wildfires.
In San Bernardino County, John Alfred Rund, 48, was arrested Tuesday evening and charged with setting a small fire along a rural roadside near Victorville.
Rund was to be arraigned Thursday morning in Victorville. He was being held in lieu of $750,000 bail.
The county's district attorney's office on Thursday also filed arson charges against Anthony Riperti, 47
|
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"What is the gender of the suspect arrested?",
"What is the number of structures destroyed?",
"What is the size of the santiago fire?",
"What area is the santiago fire",
"In how many places, did the fire started?",
"For how many acres, the fire has grown?",
"Which fire grew to 25,000 acres?"
] |
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"at least 22",
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"Live Oak Canyon, California.",
"two",
"burned more than 25,000",
"The Santiago"
] |
question: What number of structures have been destroyed, answer: 22 | question: Which authrorities investigated a man for suspected arson?, answer: Los Angeles Fire Department | question: What destroyed 22 structures?, answer: arson-caused fire," | question: What is the gender of the suspect arrested?, answer: man | question: What is the number of structures destroyed?, answer: at least 22 | question: What is the size of the santiago fire?, answer: 25,000 acres, | question: What area is the santiago fire, answer: Live Oak Canyon, California. | question: In how many places, did the fire started?, answer: two | question: For how many acres, the fire has grown?, answer: burned more than 25,000 | question: Which fire grew to 25,000 acres?, answer: The Santiago
|
ORLANDO, Florida (CNN) -- The man accused of trying to sneak bomb-making materials on a flight from Orlando to Jamaica admitted he planned to build a bomb after he landed, according to an FBI agent.
Witnesses say the man arrested Tuesday was "rocking left and right and up and down."
The man said he planned to "detonate the device on a tree stump in Jamaica, but later told us he was going to show friends how to build explosive devices like the kind he saw in Iraq," FBI agent Kelly Boaz said in a court affidavit.
The first court appearance for the man, Kevin Brown, was postponed Wednesday to allow government officials time to look into whether he suffers from mental illness.
U.S. Army officials said Brown was in the service from September 1999 through December 2003, when he received an honorable discharge. Although his record did not show a deployment to Iraq, he received an Army commendation medal in 2003 for serving in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, officials said.
His court-appointed attorney declined to comment.
Brown, a Jamaican national, was arrested Tuesday on charges of "carrying a weapon or explosive on an aircraft," the FBI said.
He was taken into custody after an air safety officer noticed him acting strangely as he waited to board an Air Jamaica flight, federal authorities said.
He appeared in court Wednesday but government officials asked for the delay, saying there were indications Brown might have a history of mental illness.
A new hearing is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Thursday.
Transportation Safety Administration officials said a "behavior identification officer" noticed Brown acting strangely around noon Tuesday as he approached a ticket counter.
Officials said Brown, who is believed to be in his early 30s, had checked baggage that contained two galvanized pipes, end caps, two containers of BBs, batteries, glass bottles containing nitromethane, a laptop, bomb-making literature and one model rocket igniter.
Boaz, a member of law enforcement bomb squad, said the items could have been used to make bomb.
"The items found in Brown's baggage constitute an incendiary device," Boaz said in court papers. "The nitromethane was in a breakable container and the model rocket igniter would act as the wick."
Initial record checks indicate Brown was in the United States legally, the FBI said. According to the bureau, he was living on the streets in Orlando, "sleeping in the open." Federal investigators said he seems to have been living in several places, sometimes with relatives, and they don't know his home town.
"It appears to be an isolated incident, but our investigation is continuing," the FBI's David Couvertier told CNN. As part of the probe, officials are looking at whether Brown has ties to any organized group, he said. The FBI is being aided by Orlando police.
Airport officials said several ticket counters were temporarily closed during the incident, and 11 flights were delayed. Airport spokeswoman Carolyn Fennell said Air Jamaica, Air Canada, West Jet and Frontier flights were among those delayed. E-mail to a friend
CNN National Correspondent Susan Candiotti and Rich Phillips contributed to this report.
|
[
"Who admitted he planned to build a bomb?",
"What happened to Kevin Brown?",
"Who was honorably discharged from the Army?",
"Who was arrested for carrying a weapon?"
] |
[
"Kevin Brown,",
"arrested",
"Brown",
"Kevin Brown,"
] |
question: Who admitted he planned to build a bomb?, answer: Kevin Brown, | question: What happened to Kevin Brown?, answer: arrested | question: Who was honorably discharged from the Army?, answer: Brown | question: Who was arrested for carrying a weapon?, answer: Kevin Brown,
|
ORLANDO, Florida (CNN) -- A Florida woman accused of killing her toddler daughter made a rare court appearance Thursday for a hearing regarding "disturbing" images of the scene where her daughter's skeletal remains were found.
Caylee Anthony, 2, had been missing since June in a case that has received national attention.
The hearing began without Casey Anthony, as defense attorney Jose Baez saying she waived her right to appear. But prosecutors objected, saying Anthony should be brought into court and questioned before waiving her appearance.
Orange County Circuit Judge Stan Strickland agreed, sending deputies to retrieve Anthony from jail but starting the hearing without her.
She later was brought in, wearing navy jail scrubs. Answering Strickland's questions in a clear voice, Anthony confirmed that she had waived her right to appear in court. Watch Casey Anthony appear in court »
Strickland, however, had her remain for the rest of the hearing. She sat expressionless, appearing to listen closely as prosecutors and defense attorneys hashed out routine discovery and evidentiary issues.
Anthony, 22, is accused of killing her 2-year-old daughter Caylee, who was last reported seen in June. She was arrested in October and charged with first-degree murder and other offenses, even though Caylee's body had not been found.
The girl's skeletal remains were found last month in woods about a half-mile from the home of Anthony's parents, where Caylee and her mother had been living. Authorities have been unable to determine how the girl died but said she was the victim of a homicide.
In Thursday's hearing, prosecutors and defense attorneys wrangled over defense experts' access to images from the scene where the body was found. Prosecutors said they did not want the defense to copy, print or send any photos or X-rays of Caylee to their experts, many of whom were outside Florida, out of concern they might wind up in the media's hands.
Because the experts are outside the jurisdiction of the Florida court, Strickland would have little recourse if the photos wound up "displayed on some magazine at the checkout at the Publix," prosecutor Linda Drane Burdick said Thursday.
The pictures "are not necessarily gruesome, but they are disturbing," especially images of the child's skull when it was found and removed from the woods, she said.
Baez agreed he did not want the photos to be made public, and said he doubted his experts would jeopardize their reputations by leaking them, noting they have signed confidentiality agreements.
The parties agreed that the defense would set up a secure Web site for its experts to evaluate the photographs. Strickland also ordered Baez not to copy the images or transmit them in any way.
In an earlier hearing Thursday, another Orange County circuit judge ruled that a lawsuit filed against Anthony may proceed, but the judge is not requiring Anthony to submit to a deposition at this time.
In questioning after Caylee's disappearance, Anthony told police she had left the child with a baby sitter named Zenaida Gonzalez and had not seen her since. Checking out her story, authorities found that the apartment where Anthony said she left Caylee was vacant and located a Zenaida Gonzalez, who said she had never met Anthony.
Gonzalez filed a defamation suit against Anthony, saying that as a result of Anthony's statements, she has been suspected wrongly of involvement in Caylee's disappearance. Her attorney, John Morgan, told the judge Thursday that Gonzalez lost her job because of those claims.
Anthony's defense attorneys asked that proceedings in the Gonzalez suit -- specifically, Anthony's deposition -- be postponed until the criminal case against Anthony is resolved, because Anthony's answers to questions in the deposition could potentially incriminate her, meaning she would have to invoke her Fifth Amendment right in refusing to answer.
Circuit Judge Jose Rodriguez agreed that Anthony should not be compelled to undergo an oral deposition, but said Morgan could depose her with written questions and answers.
"No matter how much we want to separate these cases, they're intertwined," Rodriguez said in issuing his decision.
Morgan noted that Anthony
|
[
"Who did the judge call to the hearing?",
"what could wind up in hands of media?",
"what can proceed?",
"What was the focus of the hearing?",
"who is called?"
] |
[
"Casey Anthony",
"photos or X-rays of Caylee",
"lawsuit filed against Anthony",
"\"disturbing\" images of the scene where her daughter's skeletal remains were found.",
"Casey Anthony,"
] |
question: Who did the judge call to the hearing?, answer: Casey Anthony | question: what could wind up in hands of media?, answer: photos or X-rays of Caylee | question: what can proceed?, answer: lawsuit filed against Anthony | question: What was the focus of the hearing?, answer: "disturbing" images of the scene where her daughter's skeletal remains were found. | question: who is called?, answer: Casey Anthony,
|
ORLANDO, Florida (CNN) -- An ex-astronaut accused of assaulting a romantic rival in a Florida parking lot will stand trial December 7, a judge ruled.
Prosecutors accuse Nowak of driving nearly 900 miles wearing NASA diapers to track down her rival.
Lisa Marie Nowak, 46, is accused of stalking Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman and pepper-spraying her in a parking lot at Orlando International Airport in February 2007.
She has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted kidnapping with intent to inflict bodily harm, battery and burglary of a vehicle using a weapon. If convicted, she could face a sentence of up to life in prison.
Prosecutors accuse Nowak of driving nearly 900 miles from Houston to Orlando -- wearing NASA diapers to cut down on the number of stops she needed to make -- and donning a disguise before following Shipman from baggage claim to a parking lot. Her attorney, Don Lykkebak, has denied that she wore the diapers.
Shipman told police that after she got into her car, Nowak feigned distress and knocked on the window. When Shipman cracked it to talk to her, Nowak sprayed her in the face with pepper spray, Shipman said. Police said Nowak was apprehended as she was disposing of her disguise in an airport trash bin.
Nowak has said she went to the airport to talk to Shipman, who had begun dating Nowak's former love interest, Navy Cmdr. Bill Oefelein, who was also an astronaut but has since left the astronaut corps.
Judge Marc Lubet handed Nowak a legal victory in November 2007 when he ruled evidence found in her car and statements she made to police after her arrest were inadmissible at trial because both were unlawfully obtained.
Prosecutors appealed, however, and in July 2008, the Fifth District Court of Appeals ruled that evidence found in Nowak's car was admissible, although it agreed her statements to police were not.
At a hearing in August 2007, Orlando police detective William Becton testified that when he searched Nowak's car, he found maps showing how to reach the airport, maps of the airport's layout, a buck knife and papers including a letter Nowak appeared to have written to Oefelein's mother. He also testified he found used and clean diapers in the car. Police previously said they also found a BB gun, a steel mallet, a 4-inch knife and rubber tubing in the vehicle.
Nowak's attorneys have said they intend to utilize an insanity defense, saying in court documents her diagnoses include more than a dozen psychiatric disorders.
A pretrial conference in the case is set for November 10, Lubet ruled Tuesday.
A hearing set for Friday was canceled.
CNN's Rich Phillips contributed to this report.
|
[
"What is Lisa Marie Nowak accused of doing?",
"Who was Lisa Nowak stalking?",
"What kind of profession did Shipman have?",
"who was stalked",
"How many miles did Nowak drive to confront Shipman?",
"What was Lisa Marie Nowak accused of?"
] |
[
"assaulting a romantic rival",
"Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman",
"Air Force Capt.",
"Colleen Shipman",
"nearly 900",
"assaulting a romantic rival"
] |
question: What is Lisa Marie Nowak accused of doing?, answer: assaulting a romantic rival | question: Who was Lisa Nowak stalking?, answer: Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman | question: What kind of profession did Shipman have?, answer: Air Force Capt. | question: who was stalked, answer: Colleen Shipman | question: How many miles did Nowak drive to confront Shipman?, answer: nearly 900 | question: What was Lisa Marie Nowak accused of?, answer: assaulting a romantic rival
|
ORLANDO, Florida (CNN) -- Authorities cordoned off the home of missing toddler Caylee Anthony's grandparents on Thursday, hours after the remains of a small child were found nearby.
Investigators have sealed off the Anthony home, which shows a large Caylee poster.
The sheriff's office in Orange County, Florida, said it is seeking a warrant to search the home of George and Cindy Anthony.
Sheriff Kevin Beary said the home has been secured "pending more investigation." The house has the "possibility of being more of a crime scene later," he added.
A child's skull was found at about 9:30 a.m. by a utility meter reader who alerted authorities, sheriff's spokesman Jim Solomons said. Investigators, including those from the Anthony case, rushed to the scene, he added. Watch investigators swarm the scene »
CNN affiliate WFTV reported that the meter reader picked up a plastic bag at the site and a skull fell out. The remains have been removed by the medical examiner and will be sent to the FBI lab at Quantico, Virginia, Sheriff Beary said.
The agency has told its lab analysts that the case is top priority, Beary added. "If they have to work through the weekend, they'll work through the weekend."
"Bottom line, it's real simple, folks," Beary said. "We've recovered this human skull, it appears to be that of a small child, and now the investigation continues. We've got a lot of lab work to do, a lot of DNA work to do, a lot of crime scene work to do. We could be here all night." Watch the sheriff talk about what needs to be done »
Prosecutors have asked police not to disclose many details surrounding the discovery, Beary said.
Caylee Anthony, 3, has been missing since June in a case that has received national attention. Casey Anthony, the child's 22-year-old mother, was charged last month with murder and other offenses. She is being held at the Orange County Jail.
The area where the remains were found had been searched as part of the investigation into Caylee's disappearance, he said. But the precise spot where a county meter reader found them -- "45, 50, 60 feet back" from the street -- was flooded at the time of the search.
No clothes were found with the remains, Beary said.
Asked whether the remains could belong to another child, Beary said, "Not that we know of, but that's always a possibility, and that's why we've got a lot of work to do on this case still."
Earlier, authorities said the Anthony family had been notified of the discovery. The remains were found "in very close proximity" to the Anthony home, Solomons said. View a map of where the remains were found »
An attorney for Casey Anthony filed legal papers Thursday afternoon seeking a court order to preserve all evidence collected, and to permit the defense to conduct its own forensic testing. A hearing has been scheduled for Friday morning.
In a court hearing earlier Thursday, 9th Circuit Judge Stan Strickland postponed Casey Anthony's trial at the request of defense attorney Jose Baez. The attorney said he had not received all the evidence due him from prosecutors and was not ready to proceed with the January 5 trial.
Baez asked Strickland whether the trial could be delayed until March. The judge scheduled a hearing January 15 to consider a new trial date as well as a possible change of venue.
Casey Anthony remains in protective custody and has no contact with other inmates, corrections officials said.
"She has been seen by a Corrections Health Services psychologist and her status was reviewed," officials said in a statement, adding Anthony was under psychological observation -- which is not the same as suicide watch.
Baez arrived at the jail just before noon Thursday and stayed about an hour and a half, officials said.
Prosecutors said this month that they would not seek the death penalty against Casey Anthony. If convicted of
|
[
"When were the child's remains found?",
"What day were the remains found?",
"What are the names of Caylee Anthony's grandparents?",
"Whose home is the police going to search?",
"What was found nearby?",
"Who found the remains?",
"Whose home will the police search?",
"Where was the bag of remains found?",
"Where did the grandparents live?"
] |
[
"at about 9:30 a.m. by a utility meter reader who alerted authorities,",
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"George and Cindy Anthony.",
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"a utility meter reader",
"George and Cindy Anthony.",
"Anthony home,",
"Orange County, Florida,"
] |
question: When were the child's remains found?, answer: at about 9:30 a.m. by a utility meter reader who alerted authorities, | question: What day were the remains found?, answer: Thursday, | question: What are the names of Caylee Anthony's grandparents?, answer: George and Cindy | question: Whose home is the police going to search?, answer: George and Cindy Anthony. | question: What was found nearby?, answer: the remains of a small child | question: Who found the remains?, answer: a utility meter reader | question: Whose home will the police search?, answer: George and Cindy Anthony. | question: Where was the bag of remains found?, answer: Anthony home, | question: Where did the grandparents live?, answer: Orange County, Florida,
|
ORLANDO, Florida (CNN) -- Disney World has not been the happiest place on Earth for employees this year.
The Walt Disney World resort in Orlando, Florida, has lost some 1,600 jobs.
Imagine one day receiving recognition for decades of service from your employer only to be laid off the next day. That is what happened to one Walt Disney Parks and Resorts employee who asked not be identified.
Disney has eliminated 1,900 U.S.-based positions since mid-February. Some 900 salaried employees working at Disney's theme parks in Florida were laid off, and 700 open positions were eliminated, said communications Vice President Mike Griffin. In California, 200 workers were laid off and 100 open positions were cut.
Disneyland in California and Disney World are having their behind-the-scenes operations combined in a restructuring, said Griffin. Disney officials say theme parks, the Disney Cruise Line, Disney Vacation Club and off-property resorts have seen some people with decades of experience laid off during the restructuring.
The former employee let go after decades of service is still hoping to return once the economy improves. Several other employees said they did not want speak to CNN in fear of jeopardizing the generous severance packages offered by Disney.
Employees let go will receive pay for 60 days; extended medical coverage; and severance packages that vary according to their years of service, said a Disney source. Disney's Griffin said: "These decisions were not made lightly, but are essential to maintaining our leadership in family tourism and reflect today's economic realities."
Central Florida's unemployment rate is 9.7 percent -- a 33-year high, according to the area's job service agency, Workforce Central Florida. The rate is more than double from the same time a year ago.
The job agency's spokeswoman, Kimberly Cornett, said 40,000 to 50,000 people registered with the agency are vying for 1,000 jobs available through Workforce Central Florida. Fewer than 100 available job listings are in the tourism industry.
Cornett said she does not believe Disney's layoffs will have a significant effect to the area's overall economy, since currently 107,000 people are unemployed in Central Florida. Cornett said, however, that the effect would be huge for those laid off.
Orlando area hotels have been hit hard, too, with fewer tourist and business travelers. Orange County reported in February it collected 29 percent less revenue in a hotel bed tax in comparison to a year ago, said Brian Martin of the Orange County Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Martin said the large drop is due to fewer booked hotel rooms at reduced rates to attract visitors.
The convention and visitors bureau, in a survey of area hotels, has found companies are traveling less for meetings in Orlando. The hotels report that in the first two months of 2009, some 114 small business meetings were canceled, with $26 million in lost revenue.
Martin said the White House is partly to blame for the dropoff in business meetings. President Obama said companies that receive taxpayer bailout money should not use the money to "go take a trip to Las Vegas."
"When the president said 'don't travel,' business travel has been affected," Martin said. Las Vegas is the country's most popular convention destination, with Orlando No. 2.
Orlando has not seen any large convention cancellations in 2009, the convention bureau says.
Statistics from 2007, the latest available, show that even if Orlando saw a 10 percent drop in visitors, nearly 44 million people would still come to the city.
Disney's 2008 financial report showed income was down last year. Disney would not comment on whether park attendance was up or down. A source within Disney said that even though the theme parks are crowded, customers are not buying.
Disney's Mike Griffin said: "We continue to work through our reorganization and manage our business based on demand."
Griffin said the corporation's reorganization has been under way since 2005 and many of the recent positions eliminated would have eventually been cut. Due to the economy, Griffins said, the cuts took place sooner than expected. He added
|
[
"when was the Disney employee recognized for decades of service laid off?",
"what company is downsizing?",
"What happened to an employee of Disney?",
"what area hotels also hit hard by dropoff in business?",
"what happened to the disney employee that was recognized for decades of service"
] |
[
"the next day.",
"Disney",
"be laid off the next day.",
"Orlando",
"laid off the next day."
] |
question: when was the Disney employee recognized for decades of service laid off?, answer: the next day. | question: what company is downsizing?, answer: Disney | question: What happened to an employee of Disney?, answer: be laid off the next day. | question: what area hotels also hit hard by dropoff in business?, answer: Orlando | question: what happened to the disney employee that was recognized for decades of service, answer: laid off the next day.
|
ORLANDO, Florida (CNN) -- Hobbled with age, weathered with time, the World War II veterans stood at attention. One by one, a two-star general delivered flags flown over the Pentagon in their honor. He looked them in their eyes and snapped his right hand in salute.
Maj. Gen. Vincent Boles salutes Berga survivor Edward Slotkin, 84, at an event in Orlando Saturday.
"National treasures," Maj. Gen. Vincent Boles said Saturday evening.
It marked the first time in history the U.S. Army recognized 350 soldiers held as slaves inside Nazi Germany. The men were beaten, starved and forced to work in tunnels at Berga an der Elster where the Nazi government had a hidden V-2 rocket factory. Berga was a subcamp of the notorious concentration camp Buchenwald.
"These men were abused and put under some of the most horrific conditions," the general told a private gathering of Berga survivors. "It wasn't a prison camp. It was a slave labor camp."
No ranking Army official had ever uttered the words "slave labor camp" in reference to the men's captivity at Berga. Boles knew the gravity of his statement -- that he was setting the historical record straight after 64 years. Watch general set record straight after six decades »
"That's why I'm here. That's why the Army sent me here: To look them in the eye and tell them that."
It's a rare moment to witness history, even more rare when it pertains to America's greatest generation six decades later. But that's what happened at the Rosen Centre Hotel in Orlando, first in a private meeting and then in the larger ceremony to honor them. "It's humbling," Boles said.
It was a bittersweet moment. More than 100 of the Berga soldiers died at the slave camp or on a forced death march of more than 200 miles in April 1945. About 80 of the 350 soldiers had been singled out for being Jewish by the Nazis.
Dozens more survived captivity but died as the years passed. There are 22 known Berga survivors still alive, but only a handful made the trip here. "He used that term slave labor camp. That was never used by anyone before," said survivor Samuel Fahrer. "It was a long time coming." See photos inside the camp »
The six Berga survivors present -- Fahrer, 86; Morton Brooks, 83; Sidney Lipson, 85; Peter Iosso, 83; Wallace Carden, 84; and Edward Slotkin, 84 -- looked on stoically as Boles spoke privately with them.
The men's faces hid decades of pain from what they endured in the waning months of World War II in 1945. They'd given up decades ago that the Army would recognize them.
"It means a great deal -- that it's being recognized and understood," Brooks told the general. See excerpts from diary inside Berga »
Boles recited a soldier's war ethos: I will always place the mission first; I will never quit; I will never accept defeat and I will never leave a fallen comrade.
He looked at each of the weathered war heroes and said, "Just as they never left their fallen comrades, we will never leave them."
"You were good soldiers and you were there for your nation."
Boles added, "They're looking around and they're thanking me for coming. And I'm the one thanking them because I get to bask in the character of these great heroes."
If there was a skeptic coming into the evening, it was Fahrer, a U.S. medic held at Berga. He had dedicated much of his life in the years after the war seeking recognition for the men. He had been outraged that the government in 1948 commuted the death sentences of two Berga commanders, Erwin Metz and his superior, Hauptmann Ludwig Merz. Fahrer sought for their death sentences to be reinstated. See document from War Department letting commanders off »
A native of Long Island, New York, the typically talkative Fahrer was
|
[
"Where were the soldiers held as slaves?",
"What building were the flags flown over?",
"What was recognized for the first time ?",
"How many soldiers were held at Berg an der Elster ?",
"Who presented the six Berga survivors with flags?",
"In what conditions were the men imprisoned ?",
"What was Berg an der Elster?"
] |
[
"inside Nazi Germany.",
"the Pentagon",
"350 soldiers held as slaves inside Nazi Germany.",
"350",
"Maj. Gen. Vincent Boles",
"horrific",
"a subcamp of the notorious concentration camp Buchenwald."
] |
question: Where were the soldiers held as slaves?, answer: inside Nazi Germany. | question: What building were the flags flown over?, answer: the Pentagon | question: What was recognized for the first time ?, answer: 350 soldiers held as slaves inside Nazi Germany. | question: How many soldiers were held at Berg an der Elster ?, answer: 350 | question: Who presented the six Berga survivors with flags?, answer: Maj. Gen. Vincent Boles | question: In what conditions were the men imprisoned ?, answer: horrific | question: What was Berg an der Elster?, answer: a subcamp of the notorious concentration camp Buchenwald.
|
ORLANDO, Florida (CNN) -- Prosecutors will not seek the death penalty for a Florida woman charged with killing her missing 3-year-old daughter, according to court documents filed Friday.
Casey Anthony has been charged in an indictment with the premediated murder of daughter Caylee.
"It is not in the best interest of the people of the state of Florida to pursue the death penalty as a potential sentence," prosecutors concluded, according to the document.
"Therefore, the state of Florida will not be seeking the death penalty as to Casey Marie Anthony."
Anthony, 22, is charged with killing her daughter, Caylee Anthony, in a case that has received national attention. She was arrested last month and faces charges including first-degree murder in the disappearance of Caylee, who has been missing since June. Watch newly released jailhouse tapes »
She could face a sentence of up to life in prison.
Anthony waited about a month before telling her family that Caylee was gone. Cindy Anthony -- Caylee's grandmother and Casey Anthony's mother -- called the Orange County, Florida, sheriff July 15, saying her daughter would not tell her where Caylee was.
When questioned, Anthony gave conflicting statements to police, including some that were later disproved, according to hundreds of documents and investigative reports released in the case.
She claimed she dropped Caylee off with a baby sitter, but when police checked out her story, they learned that the address Anthony supplied belonged to an apartment that had been vacant for weeks. The woman Anthony named as her baby sitter told police she did not know her.
Investigators previously have said cadaver dogs picked up the scent of death in Anthony's car, as well as in her parents' backyard. They also said air quality tests conducted by the FBI found evidence consistent with human decomposition and chloroform in the trunk of Anthony's car.
A neighbor told police that Anthony had asked to borrow a shovel. Also, analysis of Anthony's computer found she had visited Web sites discussing chloroform, as well as Internet searches of missing children, according to information released in the case.
Last month, Florida 9th Circuit Judge Stan Strickland denied prosecutors' request to impose a gag order in Anthony's case, saying he could not state that continued publicity would pose a threat to her trial, or even that a gag order would stem the flood of media attention.
CNN's Rich Phillips contributed to this report.
|
[
"It's not in what state's best interest to seek the death penalty for Anthony?",
"Who is charged with first degree murder?",
"Caylee Anthony was missing for how long before her mother told anyone?",
"How old was Caylee when she went missing?",
"What was Casey Anthony charged with?",
"Who was charged with murder?",
"Age of Caylee when she went missing?",
"What is Casey's daughter's name?",
"What is not in Florida's best interest?",
"Who has been missing?"
] |
[
"Florida",
"Casey Anthony",
"about a month",
"3-year-old",
"the premediated murder of daughter Caylee.",
"Casey Anthony",
"3-year-old",
"Caylee Anthony,",
"to pursue the death penalty as a potential sentence,\"",
"3-year-old daughter,"
] |
question: It's not in what state's best interest to seek the death penalty for Anthony?, answer: Florida | question: Who is charged with first degree murder?, answer: Casey Anthony | question: Caylee Anthony was missing for how long before her mother told anyone?, answer: about a month | question: How old was Caylee when she went missing?, answer: 3-year-old | question: What was Casey Anthony charged with?, answer: the premediated murder of daughter Caylee. | question: Who was charged with murder?, answer: Casey Anthony | question: Age of Caylee when she went missing?, answer: 3-year-old | question: What is Casey's daughter's name?, answer: Caylee Anthony, | question: What is not in Florida's best interest?, answer: to pursue the death penalty as a potential sentence," | question: Who has been missing?, answer: 3-year-old daughter,
|
ORLANDO, Florida (CNN) -- Regrowing a fingertip cut off in an accident sounds like something from a futuristic movie. But with innovative technology developed by the U.S. Army, such regrowth is possible today.
This remotely controlled robot, called BEAR, could help remove injured soldiers from battlefields.
This research project and a hundred others were on display this month at the 26th Army Science Convention. Some the greatest minds in science from around the world gathered at the four-day conference to exchange ideas and showcase collaborative projects between the Army's research laboratories, universities and partner industries.
The main goal is to develop technology to make soldiers safer and more effective, said Thomas H. Killion, the Army's chief scientist.
The Army's regenerative medicine study combined properties from the intestinal lining and the urinary bladder to create a regenerative substance called Extracellular Matrix.
The cream-colored crystallized powder, called "magic dust," boosts the body's natural tendency to repair itself, said U.S. Army Biological Scientist Sgt. Glen Rossman. When the matrix is applied to a missing digit or limb, "the body thinks it's back in the womb," Rossman said.
One civilian participated in the regenerative-medicine study after cutting off the tip of his finger in a model plane's propeller. Researchers continually applied the matrix to the wound, and after four weeks, the body grew skin and tissue to replenish the damaged area.
The U.S. military branches have begun a consortium with private institutions to develop treatments for severely injured troops. With the help of grants, the Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine is studying nerve and vein transplantation, treating burns without scarring and regeneration of tissue, skin and even bone.
Through both animal studies and civilian clinical trials, the institute is developing therapies for the large number of soldiers injured by improvised explosive devices and other explosives in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"We are working on trying to regenerate limbs, to repair limbs and to keep them from being amputated," institute Project Director Col. Bob Vandre said.
Army scientists also have developed an engineered skin substitute made in a laboratory from patients' own cells. A postage stamp-sized patch of skin could grow several times larger than the original sample. The engineered skin could then be placed over a wound or burn, protecting it from infection, and eventually cover large portions of the body that have been damaged.
"Our goal is to restore the function to our wounded warriors who have given so much in battle," Vandre said.
Armed Forces Institute scientists also say they also have developed a process to rebuild missing or damaged bone. A web-like tube of calcium-phosphate ceramic, called hydroxyapatite, acts as a biodegradable scaffold that is set in place of the missing bone, giving the body a platform on which to rebuild.
Scientists say the scaffold allows the body to regrow its own natural tissue, bone and veins so it can support itself. Because of the complexity of the process, researchers so far have regrown only 3 centimeters of bone in clinical trials on rats, but they hope to reach 5 centimeters in two years. With the regrown bone, scientists could avoid placing titanium or other medical devices in the body.
Of course, to apply this technology, the Army needs a way to safely remove injured soldiers from combat zones. Enter the Battlefield Extraction Assist Robot, or BEAR, a human-shaped machine with eyes, ears and arms for lifting heavy objects.
Built by Vecna Technologies in association with the Army, BEAR is still a prototype. But its potential is promising. BEAR is outfitted with lights, two cameras and infrared abilities, and it can travel up to 10 mph. The device also can lift 250 pounds while balancing on its toes.
Vecna robotic engineer Andrew Allen says BEAR can be remotely operated, reducing the chance of injuries to soldiers' human rescuers.
"BEAR can easily be replaced; it costs money and not lives," Allen said.
Robot technology has exploded in the past six years, said Army scientist John Parmentola. Robot prototypes of all kinds were on
|
[
"Remotely controlled robots could help with what task?",
"Who gathered at the four-day conference in Florida?",
"What can robots do?",
"What is on display?"
] |
[
"remove injured soldiers from battlefields.",
"Some the greatest minds in science from around the world",
"help remove injured soldiers from battlefields.",
"This remotely controlled robot, called BEAR,"
] |
question: Remotely controlled robots could help with what task?, answer: remove injured soldiers from battlefields. | question: Who gathered at the four-day conference in Florida?, answer: Some the greatest minds in science from around the world | question: What can robots do?, answer: help remove injured soldiers from battlefields. | question: What is on display?, answer: This remotely controlled robot, called BEAR,
|
ORLANDO, Florida (CNN) -- Remains found last week in a wooded area have been identified as belonging to missing Florida toddler Caylee Anthony, authorities said Friday.
Caylee Anthony, 2, had been missing since June in a case that has received national attention.
The cause of the child's death will be listed as homicide by undetermined means, said Jan Garavaglia, medical examiner for Orange County, Florida. She said she does not expect enough additional evidence to surface for that finding to be revised.
The remains were identified through DNA testing, comparing a sample from the remains to a sample known to be from Caylee. Some of the remains had been sent to the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia, for testing.
The skull was found December 11 a half-mile from the home of Caylee's grandparents, where the girl and her mother, Casey Anthony, 22, lived before the girl disappeared. She was last seen in June.
Casey Anthony faces charges including first-degree murder in the case. Watch a Nancy Grace video tribute to Caylee Anthony »
Orange County Sheriff's Capt. Angelo Nieves said Thursday that searchers at the site had found "significant skeletal remains" since the discovery of the skull.
A "large percentage" of Caylee's skeleton has been recovered, Garavaglia said Friday. The bones showed no sign of trauma before death.
A child's skeleton has many more bones than an adult's, she said, and not all are fully developed. Some of the bones recovered are no larger than a pebble, she said. Watch the medical examiner discuss her findings »
Garavaglia said the manner of Caylee's death -- an opinion based on factors including an examination of the body and circumstantial evidence -- was determined to be homicide.
Caylee's grandmother Cindy Anthony was notified of the test results by the medical examiner's office, Garavaglia said.
Officials at the Orange County Corrections Department said Casey Anthony was notified of the results by a chaplain about 1:45 p.m., per jail policy. One of Casey Anthony's defense attorneys, Jose Garcia, entered the jail earlier, corrections officials said in a written statement.
"Due to happenstance, not policy, attorney Garcia was not in the presence of the inmate when the notification was made," the statement said. "We will not be commenting on the demeanor of inmate Anthony or her reaction to the news."
The Anthony family's pastor, Thomas Shane Stutzman of Eastside Baptist Church, arrived at the jail about 2 p.m. but left 19 minutes later because Casey Anthony had refused his visit, as she was meeting with Garcia at the time, jail officials said.
Casey Anthony could face a sentence of life in prison if convicted. Prosecutors said this month that they will not seek the death penalty against her.
Garavaglia would not disclose specific information regarding the remains other than to say they were completely "skeletonized." Toxicology tests on the remains are pending, she said.
"Our number one priority from day one was to locate little Caylee Anthony," Orange County Sheriff Kevin Beary said. "We have stayed the course, and we will continue to do so until we have thoroughly completed our investigation into this tragedy."
The sheriff grew emotional while responding to a reporter's question about the effect of the case on him personally.
"Having a kid ... I've raised two girls, goodness gracious," Beary said, his voice breaking. "The bottom line is, no child should have to go through this."
The case has left an "open wound" in the community, he said, but he thinks closure will not come until after trial.
George and Cindy Anthony, Casey Anthony's parents, did not give up hope that Caylee was still alive until they were notified of the test results, their attorney, Brad Conway, said Friday. He took no questions but read from a statement.
"They now know that their precious granddaughter is safe and hope that she will serve as the angel that protects thousands of missing children and their families," he
|
[
"Who's death was declared a homicide?",
"What did the medical examiner declare?",
"What was Casey Anthony notified about?",
"What has Caylee's death been declared as?",
"What was found in the wooded area?"
] |
[
"Caylee Anthony,",
"The cause of the child's death will be listed as homicide by undetermined means,",
"test results",
"homicide",
"\"significant skeletal remains\""
] |
question: Who's death was declared a homicide?, answer: Caylee Anthony, | question: What did the medical examiner declare?, answer: The cause of the child's death will be listed as homicide by undetermined means, | question: What was Casey Anthony notified about?, answer: test results | question: What has Caylee's death been declared as?, answer: homicide | question: What was found in the wooded area?, answer: "significant skeletal remains"
|
ORLANDO, Florida (CNN) -- Samuel Fahrer and Sidney Lipson shake hands and smile. It's the first time the men have seen each other in 64 years. They were U.S. soldiers back on a forced death march in Nazi Germany in April 1945.
Sidney Lispson, left, and Samuel Fahrer meet for the first time in 64 years. They were in a Nazi slave labor camp.
"How you doing?" Fahrer says.
It's a subdued moment for the two men. There are no tears, no pats on the back. The men have endured years of contained emotions from what happened six decades ago when they were prisoners of war and held as slaves inside Germany.
They have come to a hotel in Orlando to be honored by the Army this weekend for the first time. Watch slave camp survivors reunite »
Fahrer and Lipson were among 350 soldiers held at the slave labor camp called Berga an der Elster, a largely forgotten legacy of the war and a subcamp of Buchenwald where soldiers were beaten, starved and forced to work in tunnels to hide German equipment.
More than 100 soldiers died at the camp and on the death march. Buchenwald was one of the largest and first concentration camps on German soil. See photos inside Berga »
The Berga soldiers are being honored thanks in part to CNN.com users, who demanded the Army recognize the men, all in their 80s, after a series of reports late last year. The Army then conducted a months-long review of Berga at the urgings of Rep. Joe Baca, D-California, and Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Alabama.
"These soldiers endured extreme hardships of forced labor, beatings, poor living conditions, and ultimately a forced march of over 250 kilometers [about 155 miles] prior to liberation by advancing U.S. Armed Forces," Army Secretary Peter Geren said at the conclusion of the review.
"The survivors of Berga certainly deserve both our thanks and recognition for their service and sacrifice."
Geren is sending Maj. Gen. Vincent Boles to honor the survivors on Saturday. Six of the 22 Berga survivors will be at the event; most of those still living could not make it because of declining health.
Those here look forward to what the general has to say. They want desperately to know why the U.S. government commuted the death sentences of the two Berga commanders, Erwin Metz and his superior, Hauptmann Ludwig Merz.
Both were tried for war crimes and initially sentenced to die by hanging until their commutations in 1948.
"I'm very happy the Army is sending a general to see us," Fahrer says. "But they should've sent the general to see us a long time ago when some of the fellas were still alive. We're only 20 fellas left."
Fahrer was one of the primary survivors after the war who fought to get the government to carry out the death sentences for Metz and Merz.
In a letter to survivors in January 1949, he wrote, "Things are beginning to break our way. A little enthusiasm, a little more cooperation, a little more action, will accomplish a great, great deal now." Now, 60 years later, he may finally get some answers.
"Let's see what the general has to say when he gets here," Fahrer says.
His comrade, Morton Brooks, says, "I never wanted revenge, but I did think retribution would be proper. And I think they should've suffered a little bit longer for what they did. ... They wouldn't kick a dog, but they did that to us." Watch Morton Brooks describe the Germans' "work to death" program »
The two men finally hugged. "I'm glad to see you," Fahrer says.
Some of the Berga soldiers were killed in cold blood, such as Morton Goldstein, shot through the head and then machine-gunned. His bullet-riddled body was placed in front of the barracks for all to see.
Bernard Vogel and Izzy Cohen were forced to stand without food and water
|
[
"In what Nazi concentration camp were they held?",
"Who reunited six decades after surviving Nazi concentration camps?",
"What is the name of the camp where they were held?",
"Who reunited six decades after surviving Nazi camp?",
"What did prisoners endure?",
"Where did they reunite?",
"Name the persons that were reunited"
] |
[
"Berga an der Elster,",
"Samuel Fahrer and Sidney Lipson",
"Berga an der Elster,",
"Samuel Fahrer and Sidney Lipson",
"\"These soldiers endured extreme hardships of forced labor, beatings, poor living conditions, and ultimately a forced march of over 250 kilometers [about 155 miles] prior to liberation by advancing U.S. Armed Forces,\"",
"a hotel in Orlando",
"Samuel Fahrer and Sidney Lipson"
] |
question: In what Nazi concentration camp were they held?, answer: Berga an der Elster, | question: Who reunited six decades after surviving Nazi concentration camps?, answer: Samuel Fahrer and Sidney Lipson | question: What is the name of the camp where they were held?, answer: Berga an der Elster, | question: Who reunited six decades after surviving Nazi camp?, answer: Samuel Fahrer and Sidney Lipson | question: What did prisoners endure?, answer: "These soldiers endured extreme hardships of forced labor, beatings, poor living conditions, and ultimately a forced march of over 250 kilometers [about 155 miles] prior to liberation by advancing U.S. Armed Forces," | question: Where did they reunite?, answer: a hotel in Orlando | question: Name the persons that were reunited, answer: Samuel Fahrer and Sidney Lipson
|
ORLANDO, Florida (CNN) -- The meter reader who led authorities last week to remains believed to be those of Caylee Anthony called police four months ago, directing them three times to same site, authorities said Thursday.
Caylee Anthony, 2, has been missing since June in a case that has received national attention.
At a news conference, Capt. Angelo Nieves, an Orange County Sheriff's Department commander, said investigators are looking into whether the tips, called in August 11, 12 and 13, were properly followed up.
In one of those phone calls, the meter reader reported seeing a gray bag on the side of the road, Nieves said. On August 13, a deputy responded to the site and did a "cursory search" but found nothing, Nieves said.
Casey Anthony, 22, faces charges including first-degree murder in the June disappearance of her daughter, Caylee, who was 2 at the time. Remains described as being those of a small child were found last week a half-mile from Casey Anthony's parents' home, in the area where the meter reader first directed police.
Nieves said police were getting more information from the tipster and the deputy who responded to the tips. He said the department was investigating the "thoroughness" of the deputy's response but would not identify the deputy.
The meter reader "is not a suspect," Nieves said. "He is a credible witness."
Nieves' latest announcement is raising questions about whether police missed several chances to find remains believed to be Caylee's.
The meter reader is not the only one, or the first, to have pointed police toward the site containing the remains.
KioMarie Cruz, Casey Anthony's childhood friend, also told police to investigate the same wooded area near Hidden Oaks Elementary School a month before the meter reader, according to CNN affiliate WFTV.
In an interview with detectives, according to WFTV, Cruz said that she and Anthony "pretty much used to hang out there most of our time," would "snack on food for hours" and went there to "get away from our parents."
The sheriff's office followed up on that tip, but the wooded area was covered in floodwaters, preventing a search. Nieves said the water may have been present at the time of the meter reader's tips as well.
Nieves also said Thursday that searchers combing the site after the skull's discovery had found "significant skeletal remains" consistent with those of a small child on the outer perimeter of the search area.
The area will be enlarged, and processing and searching of the site will continue, probably into the weekend, he said.
Some of the remains have been sent to the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia, in an effort to identify them. Authorities have said the remains are believed to be Caylee's, but an identification is pending.
Sheriff's spokesman Carlos Padilla said last week that authorities believe the remains are Caylee's for three reasons: No other children have been reported missing in the area; the remains are consistent with those of a child of Caylee's age; and the remains were found near the home of the grandparents, where the 2-year-old and her mother were living just before Caylee disappeared.
FBI spokesman Richard Kolko said Monday that he did not know when tests would be complete, but an attorney for Anthony's parents said the FBI is likely to have results "within the next week."
Casey Anthony could face a sentence of life in prison if convicted. Prosecutors said this month that they would not seek the death penalty.
|
[
"How many tips did the worker call in?",
"What child's remains were found?",
"How long ago did the friend tell police to check the area?",
"Who went missing?",
"What was found in the search area?",
"Who called in several tips?",
"Who told police to check the area five months ago?",
"What news station reported on this case?"
] |
[
"three",
"Caylee Anthony",
"month before the meter",
"Caylee Anthony,",
"\"significant skeletal remains\"",
"meter reader",
"KioMarie Cruz,",
"CNN"
] |
question: How many tips did the worker call in?, answer: three | question: What child's remains were found?, answer: Caylee Anthony | question: How long ago did the friend tell police to check the area?, answer: month before the meter | question: Who went missing?, answer: Caylee Anthony, | question: What was found in the search area?, answer: "significant skeletal remains" | question: Who called in several tips?, answer: meter reader | question: Who told police to check the area five months ago?, answer: KioMarie Cruz, | question: What news station reported on this case?, answer: CNN
|
ORLANDO, Florida (CNN) -- The mother of missing Florida toddler Caylee Anthony was arrested and charged Friday with forgery, fraudulent use of personal information and petty theft, the Orange County Sheriff's Department said.
Casey Anthony was taken into custody Friday night at her parents' home in Orlando, Florida.
The charges relate to Casey Anthony's use of "some monies and checks in an account that did not belong to her and she knew that," Orange County Capt. Angelo Nieves said.
Orange County Sheriff's Department officers ushered a handcuffed Anthony through a crowd of protesters that had gathered outside her parents' Orlando home.
The protesters cheered as Anthony -- wearing a T-shirt with Caylee's picture and the words "Have you seen me?" -- was taken to a unmarked police car.
The dramatic scene played out live on CNN Headline News' "Nancy Grace." Watch Casey Anthony being taken into custody »
Anthony had been out on bail after being charged with child neglect, making false official statements and obstructing a criminal investigation into her daughter's disappearance. On Thursday, a bounty hunter who had posted bond for Anthony said he planned to revoke the bond. Watch bounty hunter Leonard Padilla explain why he wants to revoke bond »
The new charges carry an initial $3,000 bail, Nieves said.
Anthony reported her 3-year-old daughter missing in July, a month after the last known sighting of her.
Law enforcement sources said DNA evidence suggested that a strand of hair in the trunk of a car linked to Casey Anthony was Caylee's.
Nieves confirmed reports that tests had "indicated human decomposition was present and located in the defendant's vehicle."
After holding onto "high hopes" that Caylee could be found alive, Nieves said Friday, "that hope is somewhat diminished."
Anthony told police that a babysitter kidnapped Caylee, but police found inconsistencies in her story, according to police reports.
Police learned of the car from Anthony's mother, Cindy Anthony. At that time, Cindy Anthony told authorities that it smelled as if a dead body had been in the trunk.
Cindy Anthony has since said she believes that her granddaughter is alive.
|
[
"Where was Anthony leaving on Friday night?",
"Who cheered Friday night?",
"What had Anthony already been accused of?",
"What is the name of the child who disappeared?",
"What is Anthony charged with?",
"What was her daughter's name?",
"What are the latest charges against her?",
"Who disappeared?",
"What is she charged with?",
"Who was led past a cheering crowd?"
] |
[
"Orlando, Florida.",
"protesters",
"forgery, fraudulent use of personal information and petty theft,",
"Caylee Anthony",
"forgery, fraudulent use of personal information and petty theft,",
"Caylee Anthony",
"forgery, fraudulent use of personal information and petty theft,",
"Florida toddler Caylee Anthony",
"forgery, fraudulent use of personal information and petty theft,",
"Anthony"
] |
question: Where was Anthony leaving on Friday night?, answer: Orlando, Florida. | question: Who cheered Friday night?, answer: protesters | question: What had Anthony already been accused of?, answer: forgery, fraudulent use of personal information and petty theft, | question: What is the name of the child who disappeared?, answer: Caylee Anthony | question: What is Anthony charged with?, answer: forgery, fraudulent use of personal information and petty theft, | question: What was her daughter's name?, answer: Caylee Anthony | question: What are the latest charges against her?, answer: forgery, fraudulent use of personal information and petty theft, | question: Who disappeared?, answer: Florida toddler Caylee Anthony | question: What is she charged with?, answer: forgery, fraudulent use of personal information and petty theft, | question: Who was led past a cheering crowd?, answer: Anthony
|
ORLANDO, Florida (CNN) -- There was no trauma visible on the "completely skeletonized" remains of slain toddler Caylee Anthony, but there were overlapping pieces of duct tape over her mouth, according to the autopsy report released Friday.
Caylee Anthony was last seen June 16, 2008. Her mother, Casey Anthony, is in jail awaiting a murder trial.
The tape was still attached to head hair, and the skull was separate from the other body parts, said Dr. Jan Garavaglia, chief medical examiner for Orange County.
"This duct tape was clearly placed prior to decomposition, keeping the mandible in place," she says in the report. Garavaglia said animals had scattered the bones after decomposition began.
The cause of the child's death is listed as "homicide by undetermined means."
Caylee Anthony's remains were found in December in woods less than a mile from her grandparents' home. Her mother, Casey Anthony, is charged with murder. She could be sentenced to death if convicted. The mother was arrested July 16, 2008, while Caylee was still missing.
Earlier Friday, a judge denied a request from the child's grandparents, George and Cindy Anthony, to keep the autopsy report from the public.
Last week, their attorney filed a motion saying the report should be sealed because its release would cause the family great anguish.
Holding back tears, George Anthony on Friday asked the judge not to release the report until Casey Anthony's trial.
"Our family's memory of precious Caylee Marie is all we have left of her," he said as his wife appeared visibly shaken.
Judge Stan Strickland said George Anthony's testimony was not lost on him, but according to the law he had no choice.
"Their pain means a great deal to me. I don't like the ruling I'm making, but it's one that I legally have to make," he said.
George Anthony, angry after the ruling, left the courtroom before the hearing ended.
The autopsy report contains no X-rays or photos of the remains. Watch Nancy Grace's take on the coroner's findings »
According to Garavaglia, intermixed with Caylee Anthony's skeletal remains were two plastic garbage bags, a canvas laundry bag and a baby blanket with a Winnie the Pooh print. A pair of partially decomposed, multi-colored shorts were among the clothes, the doctor said.
Two sets of cloth letters were found intermingled with plant material and debris. Garavaglia said the first set spelled "big" and the second group appeared to spell "trouble."
"The roots growing into the vertebrae and bags indicate the body was placed there months prior to being found," Garavaglia said. "There is nothing inconsistent with the body being placed there soon after the date of [Caylee] being last seen alive."
George Anthony said he saw his granddaughter leave his house with her mother for the last time on June 15, 2008. Officials allege Caylee was killed by her mother a short time later.
Since her arrest in July, Casey Anthony, 23, has remained behind bars in Orlando.
The search for Caylee ended December 11, when a meter reader brought out a bag containing a skull from the woods. He said he had contacted police three times in August to report a suspicious bag in the area. A deputy was ultimately fired for not properly searching the area.
The remains were confirmed through DNA testing to be those of Caylee Anthony.
CNN's Natisha Lance and John Couwels contributed to this report.
|
[
"What did the report say?",
"What was the cause of death?",
"What did the judge denied the grandfather?",
"What is the cause of death?",
"What day was the report released?"
] |
[
"was no trauma visible on the \"completely skeletonized\" remains of slain",
"\"homicide by undetermined means.\"",
"to keep the autopsy report from the public.",
"\"homicide by undetermined means.\"",
"Friday."
] |
question: What did the report say?, answer: was no trauma visible on the "completely skeletonized" remains of slain | question: What was the cause of death?, answer: "homicide by undetermined means." | question: What did the judge denied the grandfather?, answer: to keep the autopsy report from the public. | question: What is the cause of death?, answer: "homicide by undetermined means." | question: What day was the report released?, answer: Friday.
|
ORME, Tennessee (CNN) -- The drought in the Southeastern United States means more than just brown lawns to the folks in Orme, Tennessee. Water flows from their taps for just three hours each evening.
A 1961 firetruck loads up with water from a hydrant in Alabama to haul back to Orme, Tennessee.
The mountain spring that supplies water to the town usually dries up at the end of summer, but just for a few days. This year it dried up early, on August 1, and hasn't revived, leaving the town's 145 residents high and dry and relying on water trucked in from the next state.
Every day at 6 p.m., Orme Mayor Tony Reames turns a big valve to release water from the town's tank. When he turns the crank again at 9 p.m., taps in the town run dry.
"When they cut it back on we jump for joy," Orme resident Debbie Cash said. "And then you only have it for three hours."
Three hours to do all the laundry, bathing, dishwashing and animal watering that has to be done. Watch how Cash copes »
The old mining town could be the canary in the coal mine for the rest of the region. Just 150 miles to the southeast, the 4.5 million people who live in and around Atlanta, Georgia, are nervously watching water levels go down at their major reservoir. The drought has highlighted an ongoing struggle between Georgia, Alabama and Florida over rights to water from the Chattahoochee River.
"All of these people that are on the river systems better take note, because once your streams and tributaries to the river start drying up, the river isn't far behind," Reames said. See photos of a Atlanta's shrinking Lake Lanier reservoir »
Volunteers take turns three days a week driving a tanker truck or Orme's diesel-belching 1961 fire truck to a hydrant near Bridgeport, Alabama, 2½ miles down the road. Making several round trips, they haul about 25,000 gallons of water back to Orme each day.
Bridgeport, which gets its water from the Tennessee River, doesn't charge its neighbor. Stevenson and New Hope, Alabama, also help out, occasionally bringing trucks full of water to the hydrant, where it's transferred to the Orme trucks. See where Orme has to go for water »
But things are looking up in Orme. A pipeline from Bridgeport is nearly complete, built with the help of a $378,000 grant from the federal government.
"With this new water coming in, then we'll have it made," Cash said. "Now we won't have to worry about it no more."
In addition, an Austin, Texas, company called H2O Guard is planning to donate water-saving sink aerators, shower heads and toilet valves to everyone in Orme on November 17, company spokesman Robert Easter said.
"We think we're going to get another 90 gallons' savings per day per household," Easter said. "That'll make that little water tower in that town go from three hours to four hours without any change in anyone's habits."
Reames said residents have found creative ways to conserve, flushing toilets with condensation water from air conditioners and undrinkable water from swimming pools that were filled early in the summer.
It's a lesson for everyone.
"Cherish the water you got and be kind of careful with it," Cash said, "because you never know if you will be out of water." E-mail to a friend
CNN's Jim Kavanagh contributed to this report.
|
[
"Will completion of pipeline finally solve problems?",
"where does donated water come from?",
"completion of pipeline will solve what?",
"Where is the donated water from?",
"When is there running water in Orme?",
"What caused the town's spring to run dry?",
"orme, tennessee, has running out of what?",
"Where is the donated water coming from?",
"What will solve the problem for good?",
"What time does Orme have running Water?",
"What drought did the spring to run dry during?",
"At what times does Orme, TN have running water?",
"Who has running water from 6 pm to 9 pm",
"Where is Orme, TN getting its donated water?",
"where is donated water trucked?",
"What made the spring run dry?",
"Where is water trucked in from?",
"What town in Tennessee has running water from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.?",
"When did the town's spring run dry?",
"What will solve the drought problem for good?",
"What time in the day does Orme have running water?"
] |
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"6 p.m.,",
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"6 p.m.,",
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"Alabama",
"Bridgeport, Alabama,",
"drought",
"Alabama",
"Orme,",
"August 1,",
"pipeline from Bridgeport",
"6 p.m.,"
] |
question: Will completion of pipeline finally solve problems?, answer: "With this new water coming in, then we'll have it made," | question: where does donated water come from?, answer: hydrant in Alabama | question: completion of pipeline will solve what?, answer: drought | question: Where is the donated water from?, answer: Bridgeport, | question: When is there running water in Orme?, answer: Every day at 6 p.m., | question: What caused the town's spring to run dry?, answer: drought | question: orme, tennessee, has running out of what?, answer: Water | question: Where is the donated water coming from?, answer: hydrant in Alabama | question: What will solve the problem for good?, answer: A pipeline from Bridgeport | question: What time does Orme have running Water?, answer: 6 p.m., | question: What drought did the spring to run dry during?, answer: in the Southeastern United States | question: At what times does Orme, TN have running water?, answer: 6 p.m., | question: Who has running water from 6 pm to 9 pm, answer: folks in Orme, Tennessee. | question: Where is Orme, TN getting its donated water?, answer: Alabama | question: where is donated water trucked?, answer: Bridgeport, Alabama, | question: What made the spring run dry?, answer: drought | question: Where is water trucked in from?, answer: Alabama | question: What town in Tennessee has running water from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.?, answer: Orme, | question: When did the town's spring run dry?, answer: August 1, | question: What will solve the drought problem for good?, answer: pipeline from Bridgeport | question: What time in the day does Orme have running water?, answer: 6 p.m.,
|
OSLO, Norway (CNN) -- A week of events to mark the presentation of the Nobel Peace Prize to former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari continues Thursday with a stellar concert in Oslo to be broadcast on CNN.com Live.
Former Finnish president Martii Ahtisaari was cited for his work in Namibia and Aceh, Indonesia.
Actors Michael Caine and Scarlett Johansson are due to host the gala event which features performances from Diana Ross, operatic quartet Il Divo and Swedish singer-songwriter Robyn.
The concert will be carried by CNN.com live beginning at 2 p.m. ET Thursday (7 p.m. GMT Thursday).
In an interview Wednesday, Ahtisaari called for a fresh Middle East peace initiative and warned that western powers risked losing credibility unless they acted to solve the conflict.
Ahtisaari told CNN's Jonathan Mann that peace was a "question of will."
"All conflicts can be settled and there are no excuses for letting them become eternal," said Ahtisaari, who was cited for his work promoting Namibian independence in southern Africa and for his "central role" promoting peace in the conflict-stricken Indonesian province of Aceh.
"It is simply intolerable that violent conflicts defy resolution for decades, causing immeasurably human suffering and preventing economic and social development."
Ahtisaari said that finding a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians was crucial to the future development of the entire Middle East and Muslim world.
"As Western nations we are losing our credibility... because we can't keep on talking, year after year, that we are doing something. And no one sees any results," he said.
"People are suffering on both sides, and the saddest thing is that if we don't help the parties to solve those problems that are in the way of getting the agreement in the Middle East, the situation will become even worse for both parties."
Ahtisaari also called for fresh efforts to eradicate world poverty: "We must all be able to contribute to our future and to the future of our communities. If the present trend continues, we will be faced with a situation where hundreds of millions of young people will be out of work in countries that are in the early stages in development.
"If nothing is done, we will be creating an effective breeding ground for crime, instability and war."
|
[
"Who was the former president?",
"Where will the concert be broadcasted?",
"Where is the concert taking place?",
"Who will be hosting the event?",
"Who is hosting?",
"Where is the gala being held?",
"What events will continue?",
"What time will the concert air?"
] |
[
"Martti Ahtisaari",
"CNN.com Live.",
"Oslo",
"Michael Caine",
"Michael Caine and Scarlett Johansson",
"Oslo",
"the presentation of the Nobel Peace Prize to former Finnish",
"2 p.m. ET"
] |
question: Who was the former president?, answer: Martti Ahtisaari | question: Where will the concert be broadcasted?, answer: CNN.com Live. | question: Where is the concert taking place?, answer: Oslo | question: Who will be hosting the event?, answer: Michael Caine | question: Who is hosting?, answer: Michael Caine and Scarlett Johansson | question: Where is the gala being held?, answer: Oslo | question: What events will continue?, answer: the presentation of the Nobel Peace Prize to former Finnish | question: What time will the concert air?, answer: 2 p.m. ET
|
OSWIECIM, Poland (CNN) -- Israel's vice prime minister compared Iran to Nazi Germany on Tuesday at the site of one of World War II's most notorious death camps.
Israel's vice prime minister Silvan Shalom said Tuesday "Israel can never live with" a nuclear Iran.
The Islamic republic's alleged efforts to acquire nuclear weapons are "not far away, not at all, to what Hitler did to the Jewish people just 65 years ago," Silvan Shalom said at the former Auschwitz camp.
"Israel can never live with the idea that Iran will hold a nuclear bomb," Shalom added, reiterating long-standing Israeli policy.
He was speaking as Israel observes its Holocaust memorial day, remembering the roughly 6 million Jews who were killed by the Nazi regime during World War II simply for being Jewish.
A day earlier, Iran's president caused an uproar at a United Nations anti-racism conference by accusing Israel of having a racist government and committing genocide.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the West made "an entire nation homeless under the pretext of Jewish suffering ... in order to establish a totally racist government in occupied Palestine."
Dozens of European diplomats walked out of the speech, but a majority of the conference delegates stayed, and there was some cheering.
Iran denies its nuclear program is aimed at building bombs, but Israel and the United States do not believe it.
CNN's Diana Magnay contributed to this report.
|
[
"who denies nuclear program has military purposes?",
"When did the vice prime minister speak?",
"who speaks on Holocaust remembrance day?",
"what was iran's nuclear effort compared to?",
"What does Iran deny the nuclear program is to be used for?",
"What is Iran's nuclear effort being compared to?",
"What does Iran deny?",
"Who will speak on Holocaust remembrance day?",
"What is the effort compared with?"
] |
[
"Iran",
"Tuesday",
"Silvan Shalom",
"Nazi Germany",
"denies its",
"Nazi Germany",
"denies its nuclear program is aimed at building bombs,",
"Silvan Shalom",
"Hitler did to the Jewish people just 65 years ago,\""
] |
question: who denies nuclear program has military purposes?, answer: Iran | question: When did the vice prime minister speak?, answer: Tuesday | question: who speaks on Holocaust remembrance day?, answer: Silvan Shalom | question: what was iran's nuclear effort compared to?, answer: Nazi Germany | question: What does Iran deny the nuclear program is to be used for?, answer: denies its | question: What is Iran's nuclear effort being compared to?, answer: Nazi Germany | question: What does Iran deny?, answer: denies its nuclear program is aimed at building bombs, | question: Who will speak on Holocaust remembrance day?, answer: Silvan Shalom | question: What is the effort compared with?, answer: Hitler did to the Jewish people just 65 years ago,"
|
OXFORD, England (CNN) -- You might expect Oxford and Cambridge universities to ask prospective students to compare the works of Chaucer to Boccaccio or to explain the theory of relativity.
Cambridge students may have to field questions in the application process that would baffle some observers.
Instead, Oxford wants to know: "Would you rather be a novel or a poem?"
Cambridge asks applicants: "What would you do if you were a magpie?"
The idea, say administrators at the two ultra-prestigious schools in England, is to see how well prospective students can think, not just how much they know.
"What we're trying to do is move students out of their comfort zone," said Mike Nicholson, Oxford University admissions director. "Many students will have a body of knowledge, and they may be expected to be trusted on that in the interview. What we want to do is take them beyond that point and get them to start thinking for themselves." See examples of the application questions »
In the United Kingdom, 90 percent of students are educated at state schools. But 53 percent of Oxford University's students come from state schools. That seems to indicate that wealthier students who can afford private schools have an advantage.
Tutoring company Oxbridge Applications -- founded by Oxford graduates in 1999 -- says 68 percent of the 35,000 clients it has helped are state-funded students. It costs $300 for a day of mock interviews or $1,500 for a full weekend course. Oxbridge says 47 percent of its clients get into one of the elite colleges. The overall success rate for all applicants to the two schools -- commonly referred to as Oxbridge -- is 24 percent, the tutoring company says.
"At Oxbridge Applications, we have a network of 500 former tutors and former admissions tutors as well," said company founder James Uffindell. "And we take the people that have been there and done it and help supply that information back to the people that want to go there."
Still, some of the questions seem a bit odd to the casual observer. Watch people on the street react to some brainteasers »
"It's totally out there really," said one passer-by interviewed on the street. "Are they on drugs, these people in Cambridge?"
Some of the questions seem downright sinister: "How would you poison someone without the police finding out?" Cambridge asks.
Others are perhaps downright practical: "Instead of politicians, why don't we let the managers of Ikea run the country?"
|
[
"What did Cambridge ask applicants?",
"What did Cambridge ask?",
"Oxford asked what to students?",
"What does Cambridge ask applicants?",
"What did Oxford ask prospective students?",
"What's the school's objective?",
"What does Oxford ask perspective students?"
] |
[
"\"What would you do if you were a magpie?\"",
"\"What would you do if you were a magpie?\"",
"\"Would you rather be a novel or a poem?\"",
"\"What would you do if you were a magpie?\"",
"\"Would you rather be a novel or a poem?\"",
"to see how well prospective students can think,",
"\"Would you rather be a novel or a poem?\""
] |
question: What did Cambridge ask applicants?, answer: "What would you do if you were a magpie?" | question: What did Cambridge ask?, answer: "What would you do if you were a magpie?" | question: Oxford asked what to students?, answer: "Would you rather be a novel or a poem?" | question: What does Cambridge ask applicants?, answer: "What would you do if you were a magpie?" | question: What did Oxford ask prospective students?, answer: "Would you rather be a novel or a poem?" | question: What's the school's objective?, answer: to see how well prospective students can think, | question: What does Oxford ask perspective students?, answer: "Would you rather be a novel or a poem?"
|
OXON HILL, Maryland (CNN) -- Crew members of the Maersk Alabama, safely back in the United States after being attacked by pirates last week off Somalia, recounted their ordeal Thursday.
Navy personnel recover the lifeboat from which Maersk Alabama Capt. Richard Phillips was rescued Sunday.
"They start firing before they climb, with AK-47," crew member Zahid Reza said.
"I was scared for my life. I was almost close to that. And they tried to shoot me many times," he said, pointing to his head. "Pointing gun all over. Here, there, in the back."
Pirates tried three times to board the U.S.-flagged cargo ship before their fourth attempt was successful, fellow crew member William Rios said, adding that the groups of pirates were different but that he thinks they were working together.
Rios said he was working on deck when he was called back to lock down the ship. Then, he said, there were gunshots, and an alarm went off to alert all crew members to wake up and get on deck.
"We went to our training," he said, declining to provide details: "If I tell you all what we did, pirates, they would know." Watch the crew praise their captain »
The pirates intended to ask for a $3 million ransom, Reza said.
He said he and the ship's chief engineer took one of the pirates hostage. Reza said he persuaded the pirate -- whom he described as a young man, maybe 18 or 19 -- to trust him, pointing out that he is Bangladeshi and the pirate was Somali.
"His name is Abdul," Reza said. "I told him, 'Trust me. I am Muslim; you are Muslim.' "
He told Abdul he would take him to the engine room to find more crew members. When they got there, the room was dark, he said, and he didn't know the ship's chief engineer was in there.
He said the chief engineer jumped the pirate first, then Reza stabbed him with his knife, and the two men tied the pirate's hands and feet. Reza said he intended to kill the youth, but the chief engineer told him, "No, we need him alive." Watch Reza talk about wanting to kill the pirate »
"He was fighting me and chief engineer, to get away from us. A lot of yelling, shouting and screaming."
Rios said he went to the lifeboat, where Capt. Richard Phillips was being held, to exchange Abdul for Phillips but was unsuccessful.
The captain -- who offered himself as a hostage in exchange for the freedom of his crew -- was rescued by U.S. Navy SEALs on Sunday. The SEALs, on the nearby guided-missile destroyer USS Bainbridge, fatally shot three pirates and rescued Phillips. A fourth pirate was arrested.
"I feel great they got killed," Reza said. "I am happy."
He said he was proud of the Navy.
Phillips arrived in Mombasa, Kenya, aboard the Bainbridge on Thursday. The crew arrived at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland overnight. Watch crew arrive in U.S. »
Rios said Phillips is "outstanding; he's extraordinary; he's [a] very brave man."
Another crew member, John White, said they were "damn lucky to be alive."
Rios called for more security in the Gulf of Aden.
"Put more military to patrol the waterway for us transporting material back and forth," he said. "... All the countries got to get involved with this."
Reza echoed the call.
"I think government should get involved," he said. "They should think about our safety, yes. ... This piracy is getting bigger and bigger."
CNN's Paul Courson, Virginia Nicolaidis and Dugald McConnell contributed to this report.
|
[
"Which crew was overtaken by pilots?",
"what Maersk Alabama crew tell about pirates'?",
"where Crew calls for international effort to secure?"
] |
[
"members of the Maersk Alabama,",
"\"They start firing before they climb, with AK-47,\"",
"in the Gulf of Aden."
] |
question: Which crew was overtaken by pilots?, answer: members of the Maersk Alabama, | question: what Maersk Alabama crew tell about pirates'?, answer: "They start firing before they climb, with AK-47," | question: where Crew calls for international effort to secure?, answer: in the Gulf of Aden.
|
OXON HILL, Maryland (CNN) -- Crew members of the Maersk Alabama, safely back in the United States after being attacked by pirates last week off Somalia, recounted their ordeal Thursday.
Navy personnel recover the lifeboat from which Maersk Alabama Capt. Richard Phillips was rescued Sunday.
"They start firing before they climb, with AK-47," crew member Zahid Reza said.
"I was scared for my life. I was almost close to that. And they tried to shoot me many times," he said, pointing to his head. "Pointing gun all over. Here, there, in the back."
Pirates tried three times to board the U.S.-flagged cargo ship before their fourth attempt was successful, fellow crew member William Rios said, adding that the groups of pirates were different but that he thinks they were working together.
Rios said he was working on deck when he was called back to lock down the ship. Then, he said, there were gunshots, and an alarm went off to alert all crew members to wake up and get on deck.
"We went to our training," he said, declining to provide details: "If I tell you all what we did, pirates, they would know." Watch the crew praise their captain »
The pirates intended to ask for a $3 million ransom, Reza said.
He said he and the ship's chief engineer took one of the pirates hostage. Reza said he persuaded the pirate -- whom he described as a young man, maybe 18 or 19 -- to trust him, pointing out that he is Bangladeshi and the pirate was Somali.
"His name is Abdul," Reza said. "I told him, 'Trust me. I am Muslim; you are Muslim.' "
He told Abdul he would take him to the engine room to find more crew members. When they got there, the room was dark, he said, and he didn't know the ship's chief engineer was in there.
He said the chief engineer jumped the pirate first, then Reza stabbed him with his knife, and the two men tied the pirate's hands and feet. Reza said he intended to kill the youth, but the chief engineer told him, "No, we need him alive." Watch Reza talk about wanting to kill the pirate »
"He was fighting me and chief engineer, to get away from us. A lot of yelling, shouting and screaming."
Rios said he went to the lifeboat, where Capt. Richard Phillips was being held, to exchange Abdul for Phillips but was unsuccessful.
The captain -- who offered himself as a hostage in exchange for the freedom of his crew -- was rescued by U.S. Navy SEALs on Sunday. The SEALs, on the nearby guided-missile destroyer USS Bainbridge, fatally shot three pirates and rescued Phillips. A fourth pirate was arrested.
"I feel great they got killed," Reza said. "I am happy."
He said he was proud of the Navy.
Phillips arrived in Mombasa, Kenya, aboard the Bainbridge on Thursday. The crew arrived at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland overnight. Watch crew arrive in U.S. »
Rios said Phillips is "outstanding; he's extraordinary; he's [a] very brave man."
Another crew member, John White, said they were "damn lucky to be alive."
Rios called for more security in the Gulf of Aden.
"Put more military to patrol the waterway for us transporting material back and forth," he said. "... All the countries got to get involved with this."
Reza echoed the call.
"I think government should get involved," he said. "They should think about our safety, yes. ... This piracy is getting bigger and bigger."
CNN's Paul Courson, Virginia Nicolaidis and Dugald McConnell contributed to this report.
|
[
"What was the quote?",
"What did the crew member do?",
"what was tookover by pirates?",
"What happened with pirates?",
"who tried to kill pirate?"
] |
[
"\"They start firing before they climb, with AK-47,\"",
"He said he and the ship's chief engineer took one of the pirates hostage.",
"Crew members of the Maersk Alabama,",
"was arrested.",
"Zahid Reza"
] |
question: What was the quote?, answer: "They start firing before they climb, with AK-47," | question: What did the crew member do?, answer: He said he and the ship's chief engineer took one of the pirates hostage. | question: what was tookover by pirates?, answer: Crew members of the Maersk Alabama, | question: What happened with pirates?, answer: was arrested. | question: who tried to kill pirate?, answer: Zahid Reza
|
On CNN's "State of the Union," CNN host and chief national correspondent John King goes outside the Beltway to report on the issues affecting communities across the country. King recently traveled to Arizona, to explore the debate over how to control illegal immigration.
A fence separates the United States from Mexico in the U.S. Border Patrol's Yuma Sector in San Luis, Arizona.
SAN LUIS, Arizona (CNN) -- The Yuma desert is below: San Luis, Arizona, to one side and San Luis, Mexico, to the other. On this clear day, the Colorado River is glistening, birds playfully circling over what any map defines as the U.S.-Mexico border in this area.
But from a helicopter above, the border is a steel barrier that stands out along the riverbank and against the desert sands, and is the dividing line that gets the most attention from those crying to cross illegally and those who believe recent efforts to bolster U.S. border security have been riddled with wrong choices.
Just this past week, eight Democrats in Congress wrote President Obama urging him to halt any further construction of the fence, one of the many border- and immigration-related political debates that have carried over from the Bush administration.
To the Border Patrol agents stationed in Yuma Sector, there is no debate. To them, the fence is a success story. From a Vietnam War-vintage Huey helicopter, pilot Chad Smith points across the border to Mexico's Highway 2 and then to the barriers that help stop illegal immigrants from making a sprint into southern Arizona.
"You can see the triple-layer fencing," Smith tells us as he lowers the helicopter and hovers over what was once a major crossing point for illegal immigrants and drug smugglers. "Steel fence right on the border, the pedestrian fence about 90 feet north of that, and then the chain-link fence with the barbed wire."
The fence has three layers in areas where there is an urban neighborhood on the Mexican side. Smith is among those who say their flights are less hectic now because while you can still clearly see the trails in the sand and in some hilly areas below, there is considerably less traffic.
"I've flown before and come back and had 70-plus [illegal immigrants logged in a tracking book]," Smith said. " I know guys who have gone on a flight and come back with 100-plus illegals in their logbook. Now it is in single digits, typically."
It is a fascinating view from above: Old trails in some places, and the remnants of newly placed white sandbags in others.
"It forms a pretty good bridge for them to drive across." Smith says of the sandbags. When they are spotted from above, Border Patrol agents on the ground are called in to destroy the makeshift crossings.
Congress in 2006 -- with then-Sen. Barack Obama's support -- authorized nearly $3 billion for 670 miles of fencing stretching from California to Texas. There are more lights, sensors and cameras, and there are also more agents like Mike Lowrie driving patrols and chasing tips called in from colleagues monitoring the camera feeds at the Yuma Sector headquarters.
Standing alongside the steel barrier at a point in which there is just one layer of fencing, Lowrie shakes his head when told that some in Washington want to stop additional construction in other areas.
"This used to be a very high-trafficked area, and now it is not," Lowrie told us.
Asked to define "high traffic," Lowrie says, "In the Yuma Sector, we would get about 800 a day. Now, 25 maybe, or 10."
Nodding toward the barrier, he continued: "Numbers don't lie. We didn't have it three years ago, and we were getting massive numbers of illegal entries. We have it now, and we don't."
But there are voices on both extremes of the immigration debate that say the role of the fence is exaggerated, or that say the barrier's benefit in slowing illegal traffic is offset by other costs.
|
[
"What has the fence achieved?",
"What has the fence made happen?",
"What did eight Democrats in Congress write Obama to do?",
"What do eight Democrats want?",
"What Border Patrol agents say that has drastically cut number of border crossings?",
"what do border patrol agents say?",
"how many democrats in congress?"
] |
[
"help stop illegal immigrants from making a sprint into southern Arizona.",
"help stop illegal immigrants",
"halt any further construction of the fence,",
"to halt any further construction of the fence,",
"Yuma Sector",
"their flights are less hectic now because while you can still clearly see the trails in the sand and in some hilly areas below, there is considerably less traffic.",
"eight"
] |
question: What has the fence achieved?, answer: help stop illegal immigrants from making a sprint into southern Arizona. | question: What has the fence made happen?, answer: help stop illegal immigrants | question: What did eight Democrats in Congress write Obama to do?, answer: halt any further construction of the fence, | question: What do eight Democrats want?, answer: to halt any further construction of the fence, | question: What Border Patrol agents say that has drastically cut number of border crossings?, answer: Yuma Sector | question: what do border patrol agents say?, answer: their flights are less hectic now because while you can still clearly see the trails in the sand and in some hilly areas below, there is considerably less traffic. | question: how many democrats in congress?, answer: eight
|
On CNN's "State of the Union," host and chief national correspondent John King goes outside the Beltway to report on the issues affecting communities across the country. This week, King traveled to Georgia to learn about the toll military service is taking on two veterans.
Chris Tucker, who served three tours in Iraq, suffers from hearing, back, foot problems and still has nightmares.
SAVANNAH, Georgia (CNN) -- As his tank rolled into Baghdad in April 2003, Chris Tucker mounted his camera to capture the moment.
"It's history; we made history," he told CNN back then. "It's my first war, hopefully my last war."
He could not have imagined then that six years later, Iraq would still be a combat zone.
"I thought we would get there quick and handle our business and we'd be out," Tucker told us this week. "At least, that's what we were told anyway."
Tucker received a medical discharge from the Army last year and he now is Officer Chris Tucker of the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department.
"You still get to serve your community and your country in other ways," he said.
At age 26, he is a veteran of three combat tours. The patrol skills he learned on the streets of Baghdad, Fallujah and Sadr City come in handy as he drives his police cruiser around the neighborhoods of his Savannah precinct.
"Some people -- you will be moving around the corner and they will just run," Tucker said as he drove his cruiser. "And you can tell they are favoring one side -- maybe they have a gun."
He loves his new job, and the joys of fatherhood. His daughter Callie was born three months ago. iReport.com: Send your salute to troops
"So my life is slowing down," Tucker said. "But I enjoy the slow pace."
But he hasn't left it all behind. As the war hits the six-year mark, Tucker is part of a history -- and a legacy -- still being written as the military tries to better understand the depth of the damage to those exposed repeatedly to the violence.
"I still have the nightmares and wake up and find myself downstairs and I don't know how I got there," Tucker said. "I still see and dream the same things. ... Faces. Kids' faces. People that you have engaged or you have had contact with. ... You see your colleagues blown up. Things like that."
He left the Army with a sour taste. He was sent back for his third tour despite the nightmares, depression, major hearing loss and painful injuries to his back and both feet. Then, the Army decided to give him a medical discharge for his back issues even though Tucker believes he could have recovered with rehabilitation. But he tries not to dwell on his frustration.
"I try to distance myself from it as much as I can, because for me, the more I think about it, the more I reflect on what happened and what we did, the more I think the dreams and the nightmares actually come back."
Tucker is as tired of the Iraq war as anyone, but his experience tells him things can suddenly take a turn for the worse, and so he is skeptical of President Obama's promise to get most combat troops out of Iraq by August 2010. Watch former VP Cheney discuss Iraq war strategy »
"I think we are in too deep to pull out," Tucker said. "You can't just commit the way we committed and then say, 'OK, we are done.' ... Politics should not be involved in the way the war is handled."
There will be no more tours for Tucker, but a colleague on the Savannah-Chatham force will soon deploy for his first Iraq tour, and is being ribbed around the precinct, by Tucker and others, as "the grandpa going off to war."
Police Cpl. Randy
|
[
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"What is the age of the colleague being called back into service?",
"What Veteran is skeptical about plans to pull out of Iraq?",
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"In which war was the police officer injured?",
"What are his feelings about pulling out of Iraq?",
"What are the injuries he lives with?"
] |
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"Iraq,",
"\"I think we are in too deep to pull out,\"",
"hearing, back, foot problems and still has nightmares."
] |
question: Where is the officer living with injuries from the Iraq war from?, answer: SAVANNAH, Georgia | question: What is the age of the colleague being called back into service?, answer: 26, | question: What Veteran is skeptical about plans to pull out of Iraq?, answer: Chris Tucker | question: Savannah police officer lives with the physical and mental injures from the Iraq war?, answer: suffers | question: In which war was the police officer injured?, answer: Iraq, | question: What are his feelings about pulling out of Iraq?, answer: "I think we are in too deep to pull out," | question: What are the injuries he lives with?, answer: hearing, back, foot problems and still has nightmares.
|
On CNN's "State of the Union," host and chief national correspondent John King goes outside the Beltway to report on the issues affecting communities across the country. This week, King traveled to New Hampshire, where diner patrons shared their thoughts on President Obama and the economy.
The Tilt'n Diner hosted all the major presidential candidates during the primaries in 2008.
TILTON, New Hampshire (CNN) -- Kate O'Leary voted for Barack Obama and began the year full of energy. But her hope is giving way these days to a sense that some things never change.
"I trust his motives," she said of President Obama. "I feel like he is an honorable guy, I am not sure if he can do it. That's the problem."
Too much too soon is one of her worries. Too much politics as usual is another. Add in too much bailout money and Kate O'Leary is more sober now than she was when Obama took the oath of office.
Across from O'Leary sat Debbie Lurvey, who took a job at the Tilt'n Diner after losing her job in the mortgage business.
"It was a forced unemployment because of the economy," Lurvey said. "So, you know, I decided that it was best to move on to something a little more stable."
O'Leary and Lurvey are among those who think the economy is going to get worse before it gets better. But our third guest for our weekly diner conversation, Jim Wells, isn't so sure.
"I think most of it is psychological," said Wells, a Republican who believes consumers need to be more confident. "The secret out of a recession like this is to spend money. And you have got to spend your own, you can't expect somebody else to spend it for you."
He makes the distinction between consumer spending and what he sees as too much government spending.
"We are going to have to pay the bill in another two or three years and it is going to be scary when it happens," Wells said.
All three agreed one thing missing from Washington is a spirit of cooperation and compromise.
Lurvey said the pain of losing her job and dealing with foreclosure have taught her there are some things the government can't do.
"It is a good time to get back to what this country was made on -- it's the family," she said. "And you know I think for awhile we were all going crazy and overspending and living beyond our means and this has kind of been a reality check for most people."
|
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] |
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"three",
"I am not sure if he can do it.",
"a reality check",
"\"I feel like he is an honorable guy, I am not sure if he can do it. That's the problem.\""
] |
question: what means livin beyond?, answer: overspending | question: What does Jim Wells believe consumers need to be?, answer: more confident. | question: who likes obama, answer: -- Kate O'Leary | question: How many diners say Washington is missing a spirit of cooperation, compromise?, answer: three | question: what does she doubt, answer: I am not sure if he can do it. | question: what has living beyond means been, answer: a reality check | question: What does Kate O'Leary think about Obama?, answer: "I feel like he is an honorable guy, I am not sure if he can do it. That's the problem."
|
On CNN's "State of the Union," host and chief national correspondent John King goes outside the Beltway to report on the issues affecting communities across the country. This week, King traveled to New Orleans, Louisiana, to look at recovery from Hurricane Katrina in the Lower Ninth Ward compared to the rest of the city.
The Lower Ninth Ward Health Clinic was clinic director Patricia Berryhill's home before Hurricane Katrina.
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- Patricia Berryhill sits behind a desk in what not too long ago was her living room, cheerfully greeting those who walk in and reaching for the phone as it rings yet again.
"Lower Ninth Ward Health Clinic, Patricia Berryhill, may I help you?"
Sometimes the questions are routine -- this time more anxious.
"As for the HIV testing, if you come in on Tuesdays from 11 to 1, there is no charge," Berryhill tells the caller. "As for the Herpes virus, you are going to have to see a physician and make an appointment for that."
The patient files in the cabinets behind her now number more than 1,300, and 95 percent of those who walk through the door have no health insurance. The clinic asks for a $25 "co-payment" but no one is turned away if they cannot afford it.
A half dozen patients are waiting as executive director Alice Craft-Kerney takes a visitor on a tour. In the reception area, there are health awareness brochures, hurricane preparedness brochures, and a bookshelf about half-filled with children's books. Craft-Kerney tries every day to give some away. Watch John King preview this Sunday's show »
"Because we have such a low literacy rate here in Louisiana," she says. "So they come by, browse, and take whatever books they want free of charge."
The staff is cheery; the clinic neat and clean. A sign in the window making clear there are no narcotic drugs inside is a sign of the clinic's rough surroundings. And within a few steps of the door is a reminder that 43 months after Katrina changed everything, the Lower Ninth Ward is still a mess.
During a helicopter pass over the neighborhood, we saw concrete slabs and weedy spaces where houses once stood. Yes, there is a fair amount of new home construction, and renovations under way at some homes gutted by Katrina.
But while the debris is mostly gone, much of the neighborhood remains an abandoned wasteland.
Overall, Tulane University geographer Richard Campanella says, the population of New Orleans stands at about 330,000 -- roughly 75 percent of its pre-Katrina level. Before the storm, it was about 70 percent African-American; now it's about 60 percent.
And it is a more affluent city. Campanella says median household income is up to $40,000 from $27,000 before Katrina, "and it is not because the city is doing better economically."
Significantly, Campanella says the "curves" suggesting major changes during the post-Katrina period are "flattening."
"My sense is the post-Katrina city we all wondered about 3½ years ago what would it look like -- that we are there now," Campanella said in an interview on the Tulane campus. "The patterns are stabilizing and we are in a 'new normal' period."
A new normal in which the Lower Ninth Ward trails significantly behind.
Only about 19 percent of its pre-Katrina population has returned; roughly 3,600 people live there today, compared to some 19,000 when Katrina hit.
There are new twists on the resentments and suspicions that dominated community discussions in the horrible days just after Katrina and Rita. In the place of resident complaints that their neighborhood was slow to get help in the hours and days after the storm are accusations their rebuilding hopes are being deliberately ignored or set on the back burner.
Craft-Kerney says a commitment to add a second school in the Lower Ninth, or enticements to bring in a supermarket or a major pharmacy, would help bring more
|
[
"What was the name of the hurricane?",
"What percentage of Lower Ninth Ward clinic's patients have no health insurance?",
"How many clinic patients have no health insurance?",
"What percent do not have health insurance?"
] |
[
"Katrina",
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"95"
] |
question: What was the name of the hurricane?, answer: Katrina | question: What percentage of Lower Ninth Ward clinic's patients have no health insurance?, answer: 95 percent | question: How many clinic patients have no health insurance?, answer: 95 percent | question: What percent do not have health insurance?, answer: 95
|
On CNN's "State of the Union," host and chief national correspondent John King goes outside the Beltway to report on the issues affecting communities across the country. This week, King traveled to North Carolina to look at the financial crisis' impact on health care.
Doug Pegram, of North Carolina, is one of many unemployed Americans struggling with medical bills.
WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina (CNN) -- For Doug Pegram, it is on the one hand simple math: His medical bills cost roughly $300 a month and a health insurance policy would cost $550.
"Two or three hundred dollars goes a long way," Pegram said. Especially when you are living on unemployment benefits.
Simple math, and a huge gamble: Pegram has a rare disorder, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, that in some patients can be life-threatening.
"If anything happens, that's another story," Pegram told us. "But you have to do what you have to do sometimes, and you just hope for the best. And do it." Watch Pegram describe his tough choices »
Life on the edge started in November, when Pegram lost his job at Hanesbrands Inc., the clothing manufacturer where he had worked for three years. Ironically, Pegram's job as a senior analyst included writing reports for Hanes management on sales and economic trends.
"Every couple months, it [layoffs] went through the company and a few people here and there and it got worse and worse," he said. "I knew it was in the future somewhere."
Now, he is looking for a job and keeping his fingers crossed his condition doesn't worsen. Ehlers-Danlos is a group of inherited disorders that affect connective tissues. In Pegram's case, it means constant pain in his legs and some other joints.
"One type is you can have heart failure if you don't get checked out, so it's pretty serious that you actually go to the doctor," Pegram said.
His monthly visit costs $150 -- and patients like Pegram who are without insurance are asked to pay up front. His medications run about $126 at a discount pharmacy. Pegram has old bills showing that when he was at Hanes and insured, the same medication cost the insurance company $68 because of its discount. His doctor also accepted a lower negotiated rate from the insurer.
"So everything is inflated," he said of his medical costs now.
He could have signed up for the COBRA health coverage available to workers as they lose their jobs. It was that policy Pegram said would have cost him $550 or "almost half of what you get every month" in jobless benefits and leave him "not able to pay for a place to live, and food, and all that." Watch President Obama's summit on health care »
In an interview at his condo, we asked Pegram: "Should you be doing more? If you had insurance, would you be doing more, seeing more doctors?"
"Yes, I would be."
"And what's the risk of not doing that?"
"I could go downhill quicker. It's a debilitating condition, so eventually I could, I don't know."
Yet he is remarkably upbeat about his health and about the prospects of finding a job before his benefits run out in a few months.
"I think I will find something before then," Pegram said, while conceding he might be forced soon to lower his sights and look for work that pays less than his Hanes position as long as it provides health care coverage.
The jobless rate in the Winston-Salem metropolitan area was 7.6 percent in December 2008, up from 4.4 percent one year earlier. With the higher unemployment comes increases in the number of residents without health insurance.
Dr. Bruce Wham has been a practicing dentist for 26 years and an amateur economist for the past year or so.
"Most people feel like it is going to get worse before it gets
|
[
"Is the jobless rate rising?",
"what are the results of jobless rates rising",
"What is also rising with unemployment?"
] |
[
"up from 4.4",
"increases in the number of residents without health insurance.",
"increases in the number of residents without health insurance."
] |
question: Is the jobless rate rising?, answer: up from 4.4 | question: what are the results of jobless rates rising, answer: increases in the number of residents without health insurance. | question: What is also rising with unemployment?, answer: increases in the number of residents without health insurance.
|
One doctor says the study "very clearly shows that autism did not arrive through a vaccine."
A new study published in the January 2008 issue of Archives of General Psychiatry found the prevalence of autism cases in California children continued to rise after most vaccine manufacturers started to remove the mercury-based preservative thimerosal in 1999, suggesting that the chemical was not a primary cause of the disorder. Researchers from the State Public Health Department found that the autism rates in children rose continuously during the study period from 1995 to 2007. The preservative, thimerosal, has not been used in childhood vaccines since 2001, except for some flu shots. The latest findings failed to convince some parents and advocacy groups, who have long blamed mercury, a neurotoxin, for the disorder.
For years, parents have been concerned that a mercury-containing vaccine preservative may play a role in autism. But a study conducted in California found that autism rates increased even after thimerosal was removed from most vaccines. The study authors say this is evidence that thimerosal does not cause autism, although advocacy groups say it's too soon to determine whether autism rates have been affected. Do these findings suggest that autism isn't linked to mercury in vaccines?
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, chief medical correspondent: Let me explain. In 1999, manufacturers began removing thimerosal - which is a mercury-based preservative - from vaccines. Some people believed autism would decrease as a result, because they thought the two were connected. A new study in the Archives of General Psychiatry says this just didn't happen. Researchers looked at cases of autism in California after 1999. They reasoned that if mercury exposure in vaccines was a major cause of autism, the number of affected kids should have dropped after thimerosal was removed.
Just the opposite happened. From 2004 to 2007, when exposure to thimerosal dropped significantly for 3- to 5-year-olds, the autism rate continued to go up, from 3 per 1,000 children to 4 per 1,000 children in California.
A child psychiatrist who supported the study said it "very clearly shows that autism did not arrive through a vaccine." But advocacy groups say it's too soon to determine whether autism rates were affected by removing thimerosal from vaccines. The National Vaccine Information Center says the study doesn't include children under the age of 3, which they say is the only group that was never exposed to mercury in vaccines. It says thimerosal wasn't completely off the shelves until 2002 or 2003. Their main point is that mercury is a neurotoxin, so why take a chance by putting it in vaccines?
What do scientists think causes autism?
As many as one in every 166 children in this country is found to have autism, and doctors still don't know why. Doctors point to genetics and environment as culprits, but it could be more complicated than that. The latest research shows these children are not necessarily born with autism but with the potential to develop it. What exactly are these outside factors? It's hard to pinpoint. What we eat, what we breathe, what we drink -- all these things could play a role. Some doctors say the increase is due to a change in the way the condition is diagnosed kids who were once labeled mentally retarded are now being labeled as autistic.
What are possible signs of autism in your child?
Doctors are now looking for signs of autism in children as young as 18 to 24 months.
Some red flags that indicate your child may have autism: no babbling or pointing by 12 months, no single words by 16 months, no brief phrases by 24 months, loss of language or social skills. If you see any of these signs, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends seeing a pediatric neurologist, developmental pediatrician or child psychologist.
What led companies to remove thimerosal from vaccines to begin with?
Several things pushed companies in this direction. Over the past decade, more and more attention was given to the health effects of mercury on humans. And then in the '90s, the CDC added new vaccines to the list of routine shots that children should get. Some of them used thimerosal
|
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"Removal of the what from most vaccines hasn't reduced the number of autism cases?",
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"Removal of thimerosal from most vaccines hasn't reduced the number of what?",
"what was removed from most vaccines?",
"What other causes of autism are they looking at?",
"Where was this action taking place?",
"Where did this take place?",
"Where were the cases diagnosed/",
"What hasnt reduced?",
"Does thimerosal cause autism?",
"What was revoved from most vaccines?",
"What has been removed from most vaccines?"
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question: Removal of the what from most vaccines hasn't reduced the number of autism cases?, answer: mercury-based preservative thimerosal | question: which state sees no reduction of autism cases?, answer: California | question: How many autism cases are there in the state of California?, answer: 4 per 1,000 children | question: Which state were the autism cases diagnosed in?, answer: California | question: When was thimerosal removed from most vaccines?, answer: 1999, | question: Removal of thimerosal from most vaccines hasn't reduced the number of what?, answer: autism rates | question: what was removed from most vaccines?, answer: thimerosal | question: What other causes of autism are they looking at?, answer: genetics and environment | question: Where was this action taking place?, answer: California | question: Where did this take place?, answer: California. | question: Where were the cases diagnosed/, answer: California | question: What hasnt reduced?, answer: autism | question: Does thimerosal cause autism?, answer: not | question: What was revoved from most vaccines?, answer: thimerosal | question: What has been removed from most vaccines?, answer: mercury-based preservative thimerosal
|
Only about one in 10 workers who lose their job opt to keep their employer-sponsored health insurance through the safety-net program COBRA, most likely because the premiums are too expensive, according to an analysis released Friday by the Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation that supports independent research on health care issues.
Only about one in 10 workers who lose their job opt to keep their insurance through the COBRA program.
Experts worry that the highest unemployment rate in 16 years, combined with a health care system dependent on employer-sponsored health insurance, is a recipe for disaster, and will swell the ranks of the uninsured particularly if people aren't using COBRA. About 46 million people in the United States (18 percent of those under 65) lacked health insurance in 2007. Health.com: Laid off? The healthiest ways to spend your time
The new report is based on a 2007 survey of 3,501 people. The researchers found that two-thirds of workers, if they were laid off, would be eligible for COBRA. Data from 2006 data suggest that only 9 percent would opt into the program. Health care insurance premiums have risen since then, so it's likely that the problem is getting worse not better, they say.
"The affordability issue gets worse every year, that's the big concern," says Meredith Rosenthal, PhD., an associate professor of health economics and policy at the Harvard School of Public Health, who was not involved in the study. "Of course [some people can] still get an offer of coverage through a spouse, but we're still talking about very, very serious increases in the number of uninsured." Health.com: Natural cold and flu remedies
COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act) was passed in 1985 to allow laid-off workers to continue their health insurance if they lose their job. (COBRA only covers workers in companies that offer health insurance, have 20 or more employees, and are still in business.)
But there's a catch. Most employers pick up 75 percent to 85 percent of the tab for their workers' health insurance, and once a person has been laid off, the entire bill falls on the ex-employee's shoulders. That means that health insurance costs dramatically escalate at a time when people have little or no money to burn.
The Commonwealth Fund estimates that the cost of COBRA is four to six times higher than what people pay when they are employed; $4,704 per year for an individual and $12,680 for a family. Health.com: Live healthy for way less
Erin McCullar, 26, of Birmingham, Alabama, has type 1 diabetes and was laid off from her job as an interior designer in October. At the time, she didn't sign up for COBRA, a decision she now seriously regrets. Overwhelmed, she didn't realize she had a 60 days to sign up for the program and missed the deadline by a couple of days.
"On the day I got laid off I got a packet slapped in front of my face and that was it," she says. "I was just totally in the dark."
She quickly found out that she couldn't get health insurance that would cover her type 1 diabetes, at least without a six-month or year-long waiting period, because it is considered a preexisting condition.
She stockpiled a six-month supply of lifesaving insulin in the two-week period before she lost her job, but since then has scrimped on the drug to make it last longer. At one point, she even disconnected her pump, which delivers a continuous dose of insulin, for about three weeks. She used only a couple of insulin injections in that time to control high blood sugar, a potentially serious threat to her health.
Even if she did sign up, she's not sure she could afford the premiums, which would have cost about $8,000 a year. Health.com: Healthy meals for under $10
"Ultimately, yes, I need it, but cost did factor into it," she says. "I don't know that
|
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question: how many people, answer: 46 million | question: What is the new report is based on?, answer: a 2007 survey of 3,501 people. | question: what was passed in 1985, answer: COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act) | question: how many people lacked?, answer: About 46 million | question: Who lacked health insurance in 2007?, answer: 46 million people in the United States | question: what is new report based on, answer: 2007 survey of 3,501 people.
|
Opelika, Alabama (CNN) -- At the Community Market food bank, two small alcoves -- each with three chairs and a desk -- are used for interviewing potential clients.
At the desk closest to the front door, Michael Davis sits across from an elderly woman with thick glasses. Dottie Battle is a volunteer at the food bank, and she asks for Davis' identification. He reaches into a worn Ziploc bag, pulls out his driver's license and social security card, and hands them to her.
Battle asks for his gas, electric and telephone bills, and Davis also pulls them from the same bag. Then Battle asks Davis if he has applied for food stamps, a requisite for this program. He shakes his head "no."
"You need the food stamps," Battle says firmly. "You need them badly. And we will need proof that you went and applied for them before you come back. ...You know that, you've shopped here before."
Failure to comply with all the requirements could mean denial from the Community Market program -- at a time when Davis says he's been hungry for about two days.
"It's not a good feeling," Davis says. "You have to think about it like fasting, like they did in the Bible, and pray for another blessing. That's really the only way to get through it."
After about 10 minutes, Davis is approved for 75 pounds of food from the Community Market this visit. He quickly picks up his documents and begins looking for food on the shelves.
Rising food prices expected to cause inflation
This week, the U.S. Labor Department announced that raw import grain prices rose 1.4% this past February -- that makes an 8.5% increase over the past twelve months.
Keystone food commodities like corn, soybeans and wheat have already increased 149% this past decade, according to the New America Foundation's Smart Strategy Initiative Director Patrick Doherty.
Doherty recently wrote for CNN that the U.S. is too vulnerable to rising food and oil prices, and that strong policy decisions are needed to steer the economy through the prolonged price spikes.
"With persistent high unemployment, oil fueling more than 95% of America's transportation system, and transportation costs running 24% of income in suburbia and in exurbia, 35%, America's middle class is extraordinarily exposed," writes Doherty.
For families already on the brink, such increases could be devastating.
"If prices go up any more, you are going to see more people here and other food banks," says Community Market director Elsie Lott. "You can see it every day. People that used to give us food are now asking for it."
Hunger already a 'social fever'
Over the past year in Lee County, Alabama, more than 3,000 families accessed the Community Market food bank. Nationwide, the Gallup Organization reports 16%have gone hungry during the year due to finances.
"Hunger is like a persistent social fever in our country," says Jim Weill, president of the Food Research and Action Center.
"It is like a malignant social ill that leaves the country weaker, and more susceptible to other problems like poorer educational performance and health problems."
FRAC advocates for federal funding of food programs as a way of solving hunger.
"If you look at other wealthy societies, mostly European, but also some Asian, they have a vastly different hunger problem than we do," Weill says. "Fewer people in those countries go hungry. The sharing of economic growth and the sharing of affluence lifts a lot of people out of poverty and hunger."
A recent New York Times data sheet shows those differences plainly. In Singapore 2% of the population goes hungry. Advanced economic countries of Sweden, Denmark, Germany France, England and Switzerland all have fewer hungry people than the United States.
Renewed focus on feeding children
To curb this trend, especially among children, many private businesses annually help fill the pantries of the poor. Bank of America, Xerox and Geico help
|
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"What are the rising prices having an effect on?",
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"What is the U.S vunerable to?",
"what do the rising food prices have a direct effect on"
] |
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"rising food and oil prices,",
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"rising food and oil prices,",
"People that used to give us",
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question: who are food banks now giving food to, answer: People that used to give us | question: What is effecting food banks?, answer: Rising | question: what is the u.s. vulnerable to, answer: rising food and oil prices, | question: What are the rising prices having an effect on?, answer: inflation | question: What is the US vulnerable to?, answer: rising food and oil prices, | question: Who are food banks now seeing who they didn't use to?, answer: People that used to give us | question: What is the U.S vunerable to?, answer: rising food and oil prices, | question: what do the rising food prices have a direct effect on, answer: inflation
|
Orlando, Florida (CNN) -- A former astronaut who was accused of assaulting a romantic rival in the parking lot of the Orlando airport will avoid prison after pleading guilty to lesser charges as part of a plea agreement.
Citing Lisa Marie Nowak's lack of a criminal history, Orange County Circuit Judge Marc Lubet sentenced her to a year of probation. She was given credit for the two days she served in the county jail after her arrest.
Nowak, 46, must also perform 50 hours of community service and have no contact with the victim in the case, former Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman.
She must also send Shipman a letter of apology within 10 days, "a sincere letter of apology, not one of these vanilla things that I see from other defendants," Lubet told Nowak. "It's been almost three years since the events took place that caused this nightmare for Ms. Shipman, and you are 100 percent responsible."
In addition, Nowak must complete an eight-hour anger management course within her first 30 days of probation, Lubet said. Nowak told the judge she had undergone counseling for 1½ years and the counseling is complete, so the judge said he would not order more.
Lubet said he was treating Nowak as any defendant would be treated, saying he doubts any judge would send a defendant to prison on a first offense.
Shipman delivered an emotional victim statement before Nowak's sentencing, telling the court she remains convinced Nowak planned to kill her.
"Shortly after I turned 30 years old, Lisa Nowak hunted me down and attacked me in a dark parking lot," she said, adding that she is "still reeling from her vicious attack" and attempting to piece her life back together.
"The world as I knew it before Lisa Nowak is gone," Shipman said. "Every stranger I see is a potential attacker. Going out in public is exhausting." She said she has undergone nearly three years of counseling, but suffers from nightmares, anxiety and health problems such as high blood pressure and chest pains because of the incident.
Nowak initially was charged with attempted kidnapping with intent to inflict bodily harm, battery and burglary of a vehicle using a weapon. If convicted, she could have faced a sentence of up to life in prison.
Prosecutors accused Nowak of driving nearly 900 miles from Houston, Texas, to Orlando -- wearing NASA diapers to cut down on the number of stops she needed to make -- and donning a disguise before following Shipman from the airport's baggage claim to the parking lot in February 2007. Nowak's attorney, Don Lykkebak, has denied that she wore the diapers.
Nowak has said she went to the airport to talk to Shipman, who had begun dating Nowak's former love interest, Navy Cmdr. Bill Oefelein.
But Shipman, in her comments Tuesday, called that claim "at best, ridiculous," saying that Nowak, whom she did not know, had ample opportunity to talk to her, as she "stealthily followed me for hours."
"I'm a very friendly person, your honor," Shipman said, adding that she would have welcomed Nowak's company "over some hot chocolate, while I was waiting for my suitcase to arrive."
She recounted the incident and her terror as she realized Nowak was following her in the dark parking lot, as she could hear the swishing of Nowak's pants as she walked. She said she sprinted to her car, and Nowak attempted to open the car door and beat on her window, then spun a tale of being a helpless traveler who was afraid of being in a dark parking lot. Shipman said she cracked her window, and Nowak sprayed her in the face with pepper spray.
"She blasted me with what felt like acid," Shipman said. "... I stomped on the gas and wondered if there was a gun pointed at my head."
At a hearing in November 2007, Orlando Police Detective William Becton testified that in a search of Nowak's car, he found maps showing how to reach the
|
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"Who was a former astronaut?",
"What is Lisa Marie Nowak accused for?",
"How many miles she drove in diapers?",
"Who is accused of assaulting a romantic rival?",
"Where was the Judge?",
"What was Nowak's sentence?",
"How many miles did she drive?",
"Who say she drove 900 miles in diapers?"
] |
[
"Lisa Marie Nowak's",
"assaulting a romantic rival",
"900",
"A former astronaut",
"Orange County Circuit",
"a year of probation.",
"900",
"Prosecutors"
] |
question: Who was a former astronaut?, answer: Lisa Marie Nowak's | question: What is Lisa Marie Nowak accused for?, answer: assaulting a romantic rival | question: How many miles she drove in diapers?, answer: 900 | question: Who is accused of assaulting a romantic rival?, answer: A former astronaut | question: Where was the Judge?, answer: Orange County Circuit | question: What was Nowak's sentence?, answer: a year of probation. | question: How many miles did she drive?, answer: 900 | question: Who say she drove 900 miles in diapers?, answer: Prosecutors
|
Orlando, Florida (CNN) -- An autopsy report released Wednesday confirmed that a SeaWorld trainer killed after a 12,000-pound killer whale pulled her underwater died of drowning and traumatic injuries to her body, including her spine, ribs and head.
Dawn Brancheau, 40, was working with a whale named Tilikum in knee-deep water at SeaWorld in Orlando on February 24 when the animal grabbed her by the ponytail and pulled her underwater in front of shocked onlookers at the park's Shamu Stadium.
The autopsy report by the Orange County, Florida, medical examiner's office says Brancheau's spinal cord was severed, and she sustained fractures to her jawbone, ribs and to a cervical vertebra, in addition to the drowning.
Rescuers were not immediately able to reach Brancheau because of the "whale's aggressive nature," the county sheriff's office said. SeaWorld staff members recovered Brancheau after Tilikum was coaxed into a smaller pool and lifted out of the water by a large platform on the bottom of the smaller tank, authorities said.
Video shows Tilikum performing before attack
A source at SeaWorld told CNN in February that after seizing her, the whale dove deep underwater. Brancheau's body was recovered about 40 minutes later.
Tilikum has been linked to two other deaths. He and two other whales were involved in the drowning of a trainer at a Victoria, British Columbia, marine park in 1991. The trainer fell into the whale tank at the Sea Land Marine Park Victoria and was dragged underwater as park visitors watched.
In 1999, Tilikum was blamed for the death of a 27-year-old man whose body was found floating in a tank at SeaWorld, the apparent victim of a whale's "horseplay," authorities said then. The Orange County Sheriff's Office said the man apparently hid in the park until after it closed, then climbed into the tank.
Because of Tilikum's history, as well as his size, trainers did not get into the water with him and specific procedures were in place for working with him, SeaWorld officials have said.
Two days after Brancheau's death, the head of SeaWorld said Tilikum "is a wonderful animal" and "will remain an active and contributing member of the team despite what happened."
"He's a very special animal that requires special handling," said Jim Achison, president of SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. "Obviously, the procedures that we've had in place are something we're revisiting at this point."
Tilikum's size and weight -- 12,000 pounds, compared with 6,000 to 9,000 pounds for the facility's other killer whales -- were one reason separate procedures were in place for him at the Orlando facility.
|
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"Where did Brancheau work?",
"What prevented rescuers from reaching trainer?",
"How many deaths had whale been linked to?",
"Where was she working with a whale at?",
"What prevented rescuers from reaching Brancheau?",
"What did Dawn suffer?"
] |
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"sustained fractures to her jawbone, ribs and to a cervical vertebra, in addition to the drowning.",
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"two other",
"Orlando",
"\"whale's aggressive nature,\"",
"spinal cord was severed, and she sustained fractures to her jawbone, ribs and to a cervical vertebra, in addition to the drowning."
] |
question: What injuries did she suffer?, answer: sustained fractures to her jawbone, ribs and to a cervical vertebra, in addition to the drowning. | question: Where did Brancheau suffer fractures?, answer: her jawbone, ribs and | question: Who died at seaworld?, answer: Dawn Brancheau, | question: Where did Brancheau work?, answer: SeaWorld in Orlando | question: What prevented rescuers from reaching trainer?, answer: the "whale's aggressive nature," | question: How many deaths had whale been linked to?, answer: two other | question: Where was she working with a whale at?, answer: Orlando | question: What prevented rescuers from reaching Brancheau?, answer: "whale's aggressive nature," | question: What did Dawn suffer?, answer: spinal cord was severed, and she sustained fractures to her jawbone, ribs and to a cervical vertebra, in addition to the drowning.
|
Orlando, Florida (CNN) -- Golfer Tiger Woods will be issued a careless driving citation for the crash outside his home last week, but he will not face criminal charges, the Florida Highway Patrol said Tuesday.
Woods, 33, struck a fire hydrant and a tree with his 2009 Cadillac SUV in his luxury neighborhood near Windermere, Florida, early Friday, police said.
Upon conviction of careless driving, a moving violation, Woods faces a $164 fine and four points on his license, Maj. Cindy Williams of the Florida Highway Patrol said.
"Mr. Woods' status in no way impacted our investigation or conclusion," Williams said. "The investigation has determined that Mr. Woods is at fault in the crash."
Woods satisfied the requirements of Florida law regarding motor vehicle accidents by providing his driver's license, registration and proof of insurance to authorities, Williams said.
"With the issuance of this citation, the Florida Highway Patrol has completed its investigation into this matter," she said.
There was insufficient evidence to request a subpoena for medical information in the case, said Sgt. Kim Montes, an FHP spokeswoman. There were no claims of domestic abuse.
Authorities have said they don't have details on why Woods was driving away from his home around 2:25 a.m. Friday. State troopers three times have asked to question him about the accident, but he has declined, the highway patrol has said. What do you think about the Tiger Woods saga?
Police have said the accident was not alcohol-related.
Woods canceled plans to attend the Chevron World Challenge in Southern California "due to injuries sustained in a one-car accident last week," according to a statement Monday from the golfer.
In a statement issued Sunday afternoon on his Web site, Woods offered no details of his accident except to say he had cuts and bruises and was "pretty sore."
"This situation is my fault, and it's obviously embarrassing to my family and me," he said. "I'm human and I'm not perfect. I will certainly make sure this doesn't happen again."
Woods is a four-time winner of the tournament. A knee injury kept him from competing last year.
"I am extremely disappointed that I will not be at my tournament this week," Woods said. "I am certain it will be an outstanding event, and I'm very sorry that I can't be there."
People holding tickets for the event -- which runs Wednesday through Sunday -- can apply for full refunds starting next Monday, tournament officials said. Ticketholders who do not ask for refunds can get a 20 percent discount when buying 2010 tickets, they said.
The annual charity event, which Woods hosts in Thousand Oaks, California, is a major fundraiser for the Tiger Woods Foundation, but it was not immediately clear how much money it would lose because of Woods' cancellation.
The incident has ended Woods' golf appearances until next season, according to a statement posted on his Web site.
The PGA Tour has ended for the year, but the first tournament of the 2010 season is just five weeks away. At least one other charity event is scheduled, but it is not clear if Woods had planned to attend.
Woods has won the Masters tournament and the PGA tournament four times each, as well as three U.S. Open Championships.
Last week, a story in the National Enquirer alleged that Woods has been seeing a New York nightclub hostess. The woman denied having an affair with Woods when contacted by The Associated Press.
The woman in question has retained Los Angeles lawyer Gloria Allred, who is know for handling high-profile cases, to represent her. Allred told CNN there were no immediate plans for a news conference, although she may soon release a written statement.
Windermere's mayor called on the news media to back away from the story, saying, "Our residents would like to put this behind us."
"It's time to move on," Mayor Gary Bruhn said. "Let the
|
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"a fire hydrant and a tree",
"four"
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question: How many dollars is Tiger Woods fine?, answer: $164 | question: There was evidence of abuse?, answer: insufficient | question: What caused Woods to skip the tournament?, answer: knee injury | question: Where did Tiger Woods hit a fire hydrant?, answer: in his luxury neighborhood near Windermere, Florida, | question: How much is the fine Tiger Woods faces?, answer: $164 | question: What did Woods hit?, answer: a fire hydrant and a tree | question: How many points will be added to Tiger Woods' license?, answer: four
|
Orlando, Florida (CNN) -- The Florida A&M University Board of Trustees reprimanded the school's president Thursday for his actions in the aftermath of the suspected hazing-related death of a 26-year-old drum major.
The trustees also voted to allocate money to hire a public relations firm to represent the board during the hazing controversy.
By an 8-4 vote, the board chose to reprimand President James Ammons instead of putting him on administrative leave as administrators have done to the band's director, Julian White.
During the board meeting, FAMU Trustee Rufus Montgomery proposed administrative leave for Ammons because he said the university "did not act" following the death of Robert Champion, who died last month after a halftime performance in a football game in Orlando, Florida.
But Montgomery dropped the proposal, and the board delivered a reprimand instead.
As he argued to put Ammons on leave, Montgomery noted how the board of governors of the State University System of Florida took action before the university's trustees could.
"It's been 19 days since the death of a student occurred, a death of a student that was in our structure of authority. I'm being advised don't say anything that could put us in a bad position here or there. What is right is right," Montgomery told the board Thursday.
"This student was under our care, under our authority. We did not act, we did not meet, we generally punted on this issue," Montgomery added.
"I'm of the opinion the (State University System of Florida) Board of Governors stepped in to fill the vacuum, when they did not have to. I believe that had we shown action -- prudent actions -- there would not have been a cause for them to have an investigation because we would have been conducting ourselves in a sound manner. The board of governors stepped in in an attempt to do our job," he said.
No cause of death has been released in Champion's case, but police and university officials both have said they suspect it was related to hazing.
Prior to Montgomery's remarks, Ammons said his administration took "these occurrences very seriously."
"We have taken all the actions that are part of policies, practices and procedures in dealing with allegations of hazing. Once allegations of hazing are (determined to be) true, they are immediately referred to our police department if it occurs on campus or to the Tallahassee Police Department if it occurs off campus," Ammons said.
Ammons said his administrators have "cooperated fully" with Orange County Sheriff's investigators and added that the school has provided grief counselors to the student body and heightened anti-hazing awareness.
White, who has served as director of bands since 1998, was placed on administrative leave with pay until the investigation is complete.
The university rescinded its earlier decision to suspend him, with termination scheduled for December 22.
The school also reversed an earlier decision to dismiss four students "who received disciplinary action regarding a hazing incident with Mr. Champion," Ammons said.
CNN's John Couwels reported from Orlando, Florida, and Michael Martinez from Los Angeles.
|
[
"What are authorities investigating?",
"Whose death are authorities investigating?",
"What comment did the trustee make?",
"The death of who are authorities investigating?"
] |
[
"the suspected hazing-related death of a 26-year-old drum major.",
"a 26-year-old drum major.",
"the university \"did not act\" following the death of Robert Champion,",
"a 26-year-old drum major."
] |
question: What are authorities investigating?, answer: the suspected hazing-related death of a 26-year-old drum major. | question: Whose death are authorities investigating?, answer: a 26-year-old drum major. | question: What comment did the trustee make?, answer: the university "did not act" following the death of Robert Champion, | question: The death of who are authorities investigating?, answer: a 26-year-old drum major.
|
Orlando, Florida (CNN) -- The massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has triggered heated debate about where the United States gets its energy supplies.
Some say domestic drilling is necessary to avoid U.S. dependence on foreign oil. Others say the country needs to look to other fuel sources.
But one man has found his own solution.
Patrick Vanderwyden uses solar power to run his water heater, hot tub, air conditioner, fans, and his refrigerator at his home of 24 years.
Three years ago, the self-described New Age hippie began a personal mission to cut his energy usage by switching to alternative energy.
"What I do now has an effect on future generations," said Vanderwyden, 49. "I don't want to leave future generations with a real problem if I can help it. And I think I can."
The sun also powers most of Vanderwyden's transportation. On any given day the conservationist can be seen throughout town quietly driving something with pedals or an electric motor.
He has a collection of recycled bikes, an electric cycle and one bike fashioned from spare parts that he calls "Frankenbike."
Vanderwyden carefully drives the strange-looking contraption, powered by a treadmill motor, since it can easily exceed the top legal speed of 18 mph allowed for electric bikes, he said.
He also has in his arsenal of alternative vehicles a Chevrolet pickup truck with an electric motor.
Vanderwyden stumbled upon the truck for sale on the internet auction site eBay. It already had been converted by a New Jersey electric company.
He says he reduced his energy use by nearly 30 percent last year compared with the year before.
That's in contrast to worldwide energy consumption, which has continued to rise for decades.
"What was started in the '70s was turned off in the '80s as far as the conservation and the use of renewable energy," said Vanderwyden.
The U.S. Department of Energy reports that demand for oil has almost doubled since 1970 and the demand will continue to increase for decades to come.
Oil accounts for more than one-third of U.S. energy use.
The Energy Department statistics show that in 2008, the vast majority of America's petroleum use went toward consumer vehicles, commercial vehicles and air travel.
Fuel-efficient hybrid cars only account for a small percentage of cars sold today, although the Alternative Fuel Vehicle Institute predicted that by 2035, alternative fuel cars will account for more than half of the cars bought.
Critics of electric vehicles point out that electricity is mainly produced by coal-powered plants which, in turn, create large amounts of greenhouse gases.
Acknowleging that concern, Vanderwyden said he reduces how often he drives his electric pickup truck. Instead, Vanderwyden drives his electric bike charged from his solar panels as often as possible.
The conservationist admits his actions are extreme but says if everyone would reduce their energy use a little, "all of us together would make an impact."
"I'm sad about this oil spill, but at least it's bringing some attention to this issue again," he said. "I really hope that [it] gets people to understand that it's our demand that ... makes them want to drill a mile deep in the Gulf of Mexico."
|
[
"What does he hope more Americans will do?",
"What is Vanderwyden's home fuelled by?",
"When did Patrick Vanderwyden begin his mission?",
"When did the mission to cut energy use begin?"
] |
[
"reduce their energy use a little,",
"solar power",
"Three years ago,",
"Three years ago,"
] |
question: What does he hope more Americans will do?, answer: reduce their energy use a little, | question: What is Vanderwyden's home fuelled by?, answer: solar power | question: When did Patrick Vanderwyden begin his mission?, answer: Three years ago, | question: When did the mission to cut energy use begin?, answer: Three years ago,
|
PADANG, Indonesia (CNN) -- As many as 4,000 people could be buried under the rubble in the aftermath of the devastating earthquakes in Indonesia, United Nations officials said Saturday.
Indonesian soldiers crawl under the rubble of a collapsed building to search for victims.
Local disaster management officials put the death toll from the quakes at 540.
Earlier U.N. figures that put the death toll at 1,100 were just estimates, said El-Mostafa Benlamlih, a U.N. humanitarian coordinator.
A 7.6-magnitude quake struck Sumatra on Wednesday and a 6.6-magnitude earthquake hit Thursday morning in the same region.
Wednesday's quake reduced buildings to rubble in the city. People used hammers, chisels and bare hands to dig through debris for survivors and belongings. Watch CNN's Arwa Damon report on search-and-rescue efforts »
Staff at a local hospital treated the injured outside the semi-collapsed building as bodies of the dead lay in makeshift morgues.
An area that now looks like a flattened mess of destruction was, just days ago, a group of three villages.
Officials believe 90 percent of the residents -- as many as a few hundred people -- were buried, just one piece of the devastation from two large earthquakes that struck Indonesia in as many days.
The stench of dead bodies fills the air.
Indonesia's health ministry and ministry of social affairs said Friday they believe thousands remain buried beneath rubble.
The West Sumatran capital, Padang, with about a million residents, is near the epicenter.
CNN's Arwa Damon spoke with a few dozen survivors from these villages in the area, most of whom only made it through because they weren't home during the quake. They remained huddled together in a tent, in shock over what had happened.
One older woman said eight of her family members were buried. She had been buried up to her chest and had to dig herself out.
Another survivor, a 27-year-old man, told CNN four of his family members were killed. His home used to be on top of a cliff in the area. Now, there is only mud.
Search and rescue teams are working with the military, but so far, only 25 bodies have been recovered.
With each passing day, the scope of the devastation grows. Watch aftermath at house leveled by quake »
President Obama spoke with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Friday after trying several times to reach him, the White House said.
Obama received an update on the situation on the ground from Yudhoyono in the five-minute call.
The White House statement says Obama "offered, on behalf of the United States, to do everything we can to help alleviate the suffering and provide assistance to the relief operation."
The U.N.'s Holmes told reporters Thursday that hundreds are believed to be injured. "These numbers, I fear, will rise as more information becomes available," he added.
Telecommunications are difficult in the region, roads are cut off, and the hardest-hit area, including Padang, lacks power and other services, Holmes said. In addition, heavy rainfall has hindered search and rescue efforts.
Some have suggested the damage may be worse than that of a 6.3-magnitude quake centered in the central Java city of Yogyakarta in May 2006, Holmes said. That temblor killed more than 5,000 people and triggered fears of an eruption from a nearby volcano.
Many people wandered the streets of Padang stunned and dazed. Some searched the rubble for survivors.
Staff at a local hospital treated the injured outside the semi-collapsed building as bodies of the dead lay in makeshift morgues.
Several of the hospital's buildings were severely damaged. Damage in the town itself was spotty; some buildings remained intact near others in ruins.
"Aftershocks can be just as devastating as the initial quake," said Adjie Fachrurrazi, emergency response coordinator in Indonesia for the CARE aid organization, in a statement. "After an earthquake of this size, we know the immediate needs are going to be getting safe water, food and emergency supplies to the survivors. The question now is:
|
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"What are people using to dig through the rubble?",
"What are the rescue efforts hampered by?"
] |
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question: Did the people use hammers to reach the survivors?, answer: used | question: What is the current death toll?, answer: 540. | question: what do the united nations fear, answer: "These numbers, | question: what is hampering rescue, answer: heavy rainfall | question: How many people were buried under the rubble?, answer: 4,000 | question: What did heavy rain, power outages and impassible roads do?, answer: hindered search | question: what are people using, answer: hammers, chisels and bare hands | question: What are people using to dig through the rubble?, answer: hammers, chisels | question: What are the rescue efforts hampered by?, answer: heavy rainfall
|
PADANG, Indonesia (CNN) -- As many as 4,000 people could be buried under the rubble in the aftermath of the devastating earthquakes in Indonesia, United Nations officials said Saturday.
Indonesian soldiers crawl under the rubble of a collapsed building to search for victims.
Local disaster management officials put the death toll from the quakes at 540.
Earlier U.N. figures that put the death toll at 1,100 were just estimates, said El-Mostafa Benlamlih, a U.N. humanitarian coordinator.
A 7.6-magnitude quake struck Sumatra on Wednesday and a 6.6-magnitude earthquake hit Thursday morning in the same region.
Wednesday's quake reduced buildings to rubble in the city. People used hammers, chisels and bare hands to dig through debris for survivors and belongings. Watch CNN's Arwa Damon report on search-and-rescue efforts »
Staff at a local hospital treated the injured outside the semi-collapsed building as bodies of the dead lay in makeshift morgues.
An area that now looks like a flattened mess of destruction was, just days ago, a group of three villages.
Officials believe 90 percent of the residents -- as many as a few hundred people -- were buried, just one piece of the devastation from two large earthquakes that struck Indonesia in as many days.
The stench of dead bodies fills the air.
Indonesia's health ministry and ministry of social affairs said Friday they believe thousands remain buried beneath rubble.
The West Sumatran capital, Padang, with about a million residents, is near the epicenter.
CNN's Arwa Damon spoke with a few dozen survivors from these villages in the area, most of whom only made it through because they weren't home during the quake. They remained huddled together in a tent, in shock over what had happened.
One older woman said eight of her family members were buried. She had been buried up to her chest and had to dig herself out.
Another survivor, a 27-year-old man, told CNN four of his family members were killed. His home used to be on top of a cliff in the area. Now, there is only mud.
Search and rescue teams are working with the military, but so far, only 25 bodies have been recovered.
With each passing day, the scope of the devastation grows. Watch aftermath at house leveled by quake »
President Obama spoke with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Friday after trying several times to reach him, the White House said.
Obama received an update on the situation on the ground from Yudhoyono in the five-minute call.
The White House statement says Obama "offered, on behalf of the United States, to do everything we can to help alleviate the suffering and provide assistance to the relief operation."
The U.N.'s Holmes told reporters Thursday that hundreds are believed to be injured. "These numbers, I fear, will rise as more information becomes available," he added.
Telecommunications are difficult in the region, roads are cut off, and the hardest-hit area, including Padang, lacks power and other services, Holmes said. In addition, heavy rainfall has hindered search and rescue efforts.
Some have suggested the damage may be worse than that of a 6.3-magnitude quake centered in the central Java city of Yogyakarta in May 2006, Holmes said. That temblor killed more than 5,000 people and triggered fears of an eruption from a nearby volcano.
Many people wandered the streets of Padang stunned and dazed. Some searched the rubble for survivors.
Staff at a local hospital treated the injured outside the semi-collapsed building as bodies of the dead lay in makeshift morgues.
Several of the hospital's buildings were severely damaged. Damage in the town itself was spotty; some buildings remained intact near others in ruins.
"Aftershocks can be just as devastating as the initial quake," said Adjie Fachrurrazi, emergency response coordinator in Indonesia for the CARE aid organization, in a statement. "After an earthquake of this size, we know the immediate needs are going to be getting safe water, food and emergency supplies to the survivors. The question now is:
|
[
"what caused this",
"What is the current death toll?",
"What are people digging through?",
"What kinds of tools have people been using to did through the rubble for survivors?",
"What has hampered the rescue efforts?",
"Who fears that 4,000 people are buried beneath rubble?",
"when did this happen",
"What has hampered rescue efforts?"
] |
[
"devastating earthquakes in Indonesia,",
"1,100",
"rubble",
"hammers, chisels and bare hands",
"heavy rainfall",
"United Nations officials",
"Saturday.",
"heavy rainfall"
] |
question: what caused this, answer: devastating earthquakes in Indonesia, | question: What is the current death toll?, answer: 1,100 | question: What are people digging through?, answer: rubble | question: What kinds of tools have people been using to did through the rubble for survivors?, answer: hammers, chisels and bare hands | question: What has hampered the rescue efforts?, answer: heavy rainfall | question: Who fears that 4,000 people are buried beneath rubble?, answer: United Nations officials | question: when did this happen, answer: Saturday. | question: What has hampered rescue efforts?, answer: heavy rainfall
|
PADANG, Indonesia (CNN) -- The first school assembly since the earthquake was charged with emotion and grief.
Students gather for the emotional assembly at their school in Padang, Indonesia.
Students at SMA1 High School in Padang have been arriving amid the ruins of their classrooms hoping life will get back to normal quickly.
They still don't know how many pupils were victims of the earthquake.
Only half the 800 students turned up Monday. But there was a gasp of shock as the vice principal informed them that one member of staff had been killed in the quake.
As prayers and a lament were sung in the yard, the emotion was too much for one teacher who fainted and was carried away.
Many students have stories of narrow escapes and cheating death by seconds. Haria Fitri told me she was taking a shower when suddenly the bathroom started shaking violently. She grabbed a towel and ran downstairs and jumped out of a window, just as her house collapsed behind her.
Many are clearly traumatized by what happened, mentioning how scared they are that another quake will again turn their world upside down.
The teachers too seem stunned by what's happened. Most of the classrooms here are full of rubble and lessons are now being conducted in a tent outside, provided by United Nations Children's Fund, or UNICEF.
17-year-old student Harris Putrareza, said: "When I see my school, very big destruction, I get a little sad, but I am very happy to be back to my school."
The school's English teacher, a warm, animated woman called Gustina said: "They feel very sad, they can't control their emotions, what pity our school is broken."
In some ways the very spirit of the school has been damaged. It was built in 1917 during the Dutch colonial period and has survived numerous earthquakes down the years. But this one ripped the place apart, leaving mountains of red bricks lying on the desks and huge gaping holes in the ceiling.
One building is simply too dangerous to enter and may have to be torn down.
Everywhere there are little reminders of the day the earth shook so violently: the trophy cabinet full of toppled sports awards, the covered walkways choked with smashed stone pillars.
The senior students are already wondering how they will cope when it comes to their important mid-term exams next week. The principal has announced a postponement, while they find a suitable room.
Slowly the students at this highly-acclaimed school will refocus on their studies, but no one will forget that day at the end of September when everything changed in Padang.
|
[
"How many are still missing officially?",
"Students at which school in Padang said prayers for dead and missing?"
] |
[
"half",
"SMA1 High"
] |
question: How many are still missing officially?, answer: half | question: Students at which school in Padang said prayers for dead and missing?, answer: SMA1 High
|
PADUCAH, Kentucky (CNN) -- Defense lawyers trying to save their client from the death penalty argued Tuesday that former U.S. soldier Steven Green exhibited clear symptoms of acute stress disorder in Iraq and that a military psychiatric nurse-practitioner failed to diagnose the troubled infantryman and pull him out of combat.
Former U.S. soldier Steven Green has been convicted of raping and killing a 14-year-old Iraqi girl.
Green was convicted last week in U.S. District Court in Kentucky of murder, rape, conspiracy and obstruction of justice.
A jury found Green guilty of a raping a 14-year-old girl, then killing her and setting her body on fire to destroy evidence. Green also was found guilty of killing the girl's parents and 6-year-old sister.
Green might become the first former U.S. soldier to face the death penalty for war crimes before a civilian court, where he was tried because he had been discharged from the military before his crimes came to light.
Four other former soldiers are in prison for their roles in the crimes and the cover-up that followed.
His lawyers offered testimony Tuesday from a psychiatrist who testified that a mental health review "did not meet acceptable mental health standards."
Dr. Pablo Stewart testified that a military nurse-practitioner who examined Green some three months before the crimes "had the answers in front of her that clearly marks all the symptoms of acute stress disorder or post-traumatic stress disorder."
Yet rather than pull Green out of combat or follow up with additional care, Stewart testified, the nurse-practitioner prescribed sleeping pills and sent Green back to his traffic checkpoint in an area known as the "Triangle of Death," one of the bloodiest areas of the Sunni-led insurgency.
Earlier, defense lawyers had identified the nurse practitioner as Lt. Col. Karen Marrs, and she was called by the defense to testify. She described Green's company as having the worst morale she'd ever seen, and she said the entire battalion was "red," meaning it was "mission incapable" -- the troops were "hostile, vengeful and needed increased control and command," without which there was a greater likelihood of misconduct.
The psychiatric nurse said it was important for soldiers to return to duty, not only to keep up troop numbers, but also because "soldiers evacuated prematurely have a hard time fitting in."
Marrs said procedures were followed, but it was difficult to keep precise records partly because soldier interviews took place under difficult conditions, in one case in a concrete structure that had a hole in the ceiling from a mortar shell.
She said troops often were counseled that "having sad and angry feelings are common," and that "you aren't a monster for having these thoughts in monstrous conditions."
At the time of Green's arrest, he told FBI agents, "You probably think I'm a monster."
Throughout the testimony Tuesday, Green repeatedly glanced at the jury. He appeared pale, wearing a light-blue button-down shirt and pressed khakis. He smiled at times while talking to his lawyers.
He seemed moved by the testimony of his uncle, Greg Simolke, who broke down several times while speaking about his nephew.
"(Steve) was one of these kids, everyone knows them, no matter what they do, nothing works out, like he had a black cloud hanging over him," Simolke said. Green lived with his uncle, an obstetrician, in North Carolina for a few months during his senior year in high school, according to testimony.
He moved back to Midland, Texas, where he was originally from, after a school counselor told him he was so far behind that he would have to take sophomore-level courses.
"I don't know if any of us realized how far behind he was," said Simolke, who went on to describe how proud he was when his nephew finished his military training.
"To me, that was a huge accomplishment for Steve," Simolke said before breaking down in tears.
Testimony in the penalty phase
|
[
"what is his defense",
"Are they trying to pursue the death penalty?",
"when disorder did they fail to diagnose?",
"who is convicted of rape?",
"what was steven green convicted of",
"Who was convicted of rape?"
] |
[
"acute stress disorder",
"save their client from the",
"acute stress",
"Steven Green",
"raping and killing a 14-year-old Iraqi girl.",
"Steven Green"
] |
question: what is his defense, answer: acute stress disorder | question: Are they trying to pursue the death penalty?, answer: save their client from the | question: when disorder did they fail to diagnose?, answer: acute stress | question: who is convicted of rape?, answer: Steven Green | question: what was steven green convicted of, answer: raping and killing a 14-year-old Iraqi girl. | question: Who was convicted of rape?, answer: Steven Green
|
PADUCAH, Kentucky (CNN) -- He arrives in the early morning hours, when the downtown streets here are empty and quiet.
Former U.S. soldier Steven Green has been convicted of raping and killing a 14-year-old Iraqi girl.
An electric gate jerks to life as the black sedan with tinted windows pulls into a parking lot protected by an iron fence. It's five blocks from the local county jail to the U.S. Federal Courthouse of Western Kentucky. Not even a five-minute drive.
This is the only freedom Steven Green knows.
He's ushered from the car by a contingent of U.S. marshals. It's 30 feet out in the open air. A brief chance to look up at the clouds. A moment to hear sounds not reverberated against cell walls: a bird, a car engine, a breeze in nearby trees.
He is a lanky 24-year-old. He looks lean, like he could grow a little more. Not really a man, but too old to be called a boy.
Regardless, he is a convicted murderer, rapist, and conspirator.
The orange prison coveralls make him look a bit taller. The jury never sees Green in the fluorescent jumpsuit. Inside the federal courthouse there is a change of clothes. Usually it's a button-down shirt and a pair of khakis. He keeps his cuffs buttoned.
He looks nerdish, and you half expect him to start working on the courtroom computers. Not like a man who once asked FBI agents if they thought he was "a monster."
Evidence comes in a steady display of pictures and videos that seem oddly connected. The snapshot of a smiling woman lying in a field of bluebonnets. The image of a dead Iraqi strapped to the hood of an Army Humvee. A high school yearbook photo of a Texas football team. The diagram of a brain cell. Video of a firefight shot from an insurgent perspective.
The most unusual trial exhibit sits against the wall behind the prosecutor's table: a small architectural mock-up of a home. Roughly 18 by 18 inches, it is like no home in Kentucky. A flat-topped square with a raised rectangular structure at the top providing access to the roof. It is beige in color. The tiny windows have tiny bars. It is a 3-D map of a crime scene.
Earlier this month, a jury found Green guilty of a raping a 14-year-old girl who lived in the home in Iraq, then killing her and setting her body on fire to destroy evidence. Green also was found guilty of killing the girl's parents and 6-year-old sister.
There is a casual manner to Steven Green's daily entrance into the courtroom. It defies the circumstances of the moment and the imagination without proper context. This is the sentencing phase of his death penalty trial and he is the defendant.
Testimony resumes Monday, with the expectation of closing arguments as early as Wednesday. Green faces life in prison without the possibility of parole, or death in prison.
The testimony transports the court to unusual places: across Texas following Green's dysfunctional childhood, into the sense of structure and order of Army basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia, and back to the chaos of horrendous combat situations four years ago in Iraq's Triangle of Death.
Green is a former member of the 101st Airborne Division, inserted into a very bad section of Iraq during some of the worst fighting of the war. His memories are of a place known as Yusufiya, 20 miles south of Baghdad. Jurors form a mental picture of his life then as former members of his unit, Bravo Company, take the stand.
Amid the military lingo, the witnesses pause occasionally, struggling to convey the contempt, confusion, exhaustion, and death they knew. They speak of being shot, of killings, booby traps and sudden bloody dismemberments.
This toxic emotional mix is what former Pfc. Green knew in 2005 and 2006 almost every day, along with the very real possibility of his own death. If the jury opts for its most extreme option -- the death penalty
|
[
"For which crimes was Steven Green convicted?",
"who was tried in the civillian court",
"What state is the jury in?",
"On what weekday could closing arguments start?",
"who decides the death penalty",
"who was convicted of murder",
"When will the closing arguments begin?"
] |
[
"of raping and killing a 14-year-old Iraqi girl.",
"Steven Green",
"Kentucky.",
"Wednesday.",
"the jury",
"Former U.S. soldier Steven Green",
"Wednesday."
] |
question: For which crimes was Steven Green convicted?, answer: of raping and killing a 14-year-old Iraqi girl. | question: who was tried in the civillian court, answer: Steven Green | question: What state is the jury in?, answer: Kentucky. | question: On what weekday could closing arguments start?, answer: Wednesday. | question: who decides the death penalty, answer: the jury | question: who was convicted of murder, answer: Former U.S. soldier Steven Green | question: When will the closing arguments begin?, answer: Wednesday.
|
PADUCAH, Kentucky (CNN) -- The aunt of former U.S. soldier Steven Green told jurors tearfully Monday that "We did not send a rapist and murderer to Iraq" as defense lawyers worked to save her nephew from a death sentence.
Former U.S. soldier Steven Green has been convicted of raping and killing a 14-year-old Iraqi girl.
Patty Ruth, a Texas elementary school principal, told a civilian jury about Green's childhood as a reader who loved to be hugged by relatives.
"I do not know how we got to this spot," Ruth said in emotional testimony. "I do not know how this happened."
Green was convicted last week in U.S. District Court in Kentucky of murder, rape, conspiracy and obstruction of justice in connection with a 2006 rape-and-murder south of Baghdad. A jury found him guilty of raping a 14-year-old girl, then killing her and setting her body on fire to destroy evidence. Green also was found guilty of killing the girl's parents and 6-year-old sister.
He could become the first former U.S. soldier to face the death penalty for war crimes before a civilian court, where he was tried because he had been discharged from the military before his crimes came to light. Four other former soldiers are in prison for their roles in the crimes and the cover-up that followed.
Green faces either death or life in prison without the possibility of parole. His fate will be in the hands of the jury by week's end.
The defense has presented relatives and medical professionals who have pieced together a picture of Green's childhood as troubled and stressful. It included the breakup of his parents' marriage, routine beatings to the point of injury by an older brother and being moved about through Texas by his mother.
Ruth, the final witness scheduled by the defense, said that when the idea of the military came up for her nephew, she was unsure the Army would accept him. Even after he received a high school diploma through a correspondence course, she said, "I could not picture or imagine how he could make it through basic training."
Ruth said when she saw a picture of her nephew before his September 2005 deployment, she knew he wasn't "Stevie" anymore, standing as tall as his father in the photo at Fort Benning, Georgia.
When he returned from Iraq 11 months later, he was "remarkably thin," Ruth said, and she noticed circles under his eyes. Green and his father spent a night at the Ruth home, his aunt said, and she remembered him pacing the yard while smoking. He fell asleep wearing his fatigues, she said.
When asked by the defense about the rape-murder plot that left an Iraqi family dead near Yusufiya, about 20 miles south of Baghdad, Ruth responded, "He's my Steve. You can't stop loving someone."
There were other family members in the court on Monday. Green's father, John, an oil field worker from Midland, Texas, looked on quietly. He did not testify.
Ruth, who is John Green's sister, noted for the jury that Green's mother is not at the trial this week. The mother is moving and had to attend a going-away party, Ruth said.
Final arguments are expected Wednesday.
|
[
"What is the potential sentence Green is facing?",
"Who is Steve Green convicted of raping and murdering?",
"When was he found guilty?",
"What did his aunt say about him?",
"Where was the incident in question?",
"What is Steve Green convicted of?",
"What was Green guilty of?"
] |
[
"death or life in prison without the possibility of parole.",
"14-year-old Iraqi girl.",
"last week",
"\"We",
"Yusufiya,",
"of raping and killing a 14-year-old Iraqi girl.",
"convicted of raping and killing a 14-year-old Iraqi girl."
] |
question: What is the potential sentence Green is facing?, answer: death or life in prison without the possibility of parole. | question: Who is Steve Green convicted of raping and murdering?, answer: 14-year-old Iraqi girl. | question: When was he found guilty?, answer: last week | question: What did his aunt say about him?, answer: "We | question: Where was the incident in question?, answer: Yusufiya, | question: What is Steve Green convicted of?, answer: of raping and killing a 14-year-old Iraqi girl. | question: What was Green guilty of?, answer: convicted of raping and killing a 14-year-old Iraqi girl.
|
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