(CNN)It turns out that Jupiter may be more than just an enormous ball of gas spinning a few hundred million miles farther out in the solar system. We earthlings might have the giant planet to thank for our very existence. Two scientists are suggesting that the inner solar system once played host to a bunch of "super-Earths" -- planets that were larger than our own but smaller than Neptune. Jupiter, however, put an end to those early occupiers of the inner orbits, bulldozing in and sweeping them into the sun, according to a paper published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Jupiter's epic, planet-shattering journey toward the sun and back out again laid the foundations for the creation of Earth and the other smaller planets nearby -- Mercury, Venus and Mars. "Our work suggests that Jupiter's inward-outward migration could have destroyed a first generation of planets and set the stage for the formation of the mass-depleted terrestrial planets that our solar system has today," said Konstantin Batygin of Caltech, one of the authors of the paper. The theory attempts to explain why our solar system is a bit of an oddball in our galactic neighborhood. Most other systems that have planets orbiting around a star similar to our sun look very different. They generally have at least one planet significantly larger than Earth that's in a closer orbit than Mercury's. But they don't have many objects farther out. Maybe that's because of Jupiter's destructive romp in the early history of the solar system. "There is no reason to think that the dominant mode of planet formation throughout the galaxy should not have occurred here," Batygin said. "It is more likely that subsequent changes have altered its original makeup." He and his co-author -- Gregory Laughlin of University of California, Santa Cruz -- are building on a scenario of Jupiter's migration that was previously put forward by other scientists. Known as the Grand Tack scenario, it describes Jupiter getting drawn toward the sun in the early era of the solar system thanks to its huge mass. What stops it from being sucked right into the sun is Saturn. The two gas giants start to exert gravitational influence on one another, entering a planetary dance that eventually sends them back farther out into the solar system. Batygin and Laughlin suggest that during its inward journey, Jupiter dragged a load of planetary building blocks, known as planetesimals, along with it. That sent the planetesimals smashing into debris in the inner solar system, causing them to break apart and fall into the sun at a faster rate. The scientists say they ran a simulation of what would happen if there were also a number of super-Earths in the vicinity as well. They found that a wave of decaying planetesimals would steer the super-Earths into the sun over the course of 20,000 years. "It's a very effective physical process," Batygin said. "You only need a few Earth masses worth of material to drive tens of Earth masses worth of planets into the

Summary: Scientists: An epic migration by Jupiter led to destruction of "super-Earths" The planet-shattering journey laid foundations for Earth, they say .


(CNN)CNN has learned that the manufacturer of the endoscope involved in two superbug deaths at UCLA never obtained permission to sell the device, according to an official at the Food and Drug Administration. Olympus started selling its TJF-Q180V duodenoscope in 2010, but the FDA didn't notice until late 2013 or early 2014 that the company had never asked for clearance to put it on the market, according to Karen Riley, deputy director of strategy for the FDA's Office of External Affairs. "Why didn't we notice it? I don't know," Riley said. "Can you imagine a prescription drug getting out on the market that didn't go through the approval process?" asked Dr. Steven Nissen, the chief of cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, who's testified to Congress about device safety problems. "Devices need to be regulated more vigorously. This is really disturbing." In a statement, Olympus said it didn't think needed the FDA's permission to sell the device, but now at the request of the agency, it has applied for that permission. That application is still pending. Seven hospital patients at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center were infected with the deadly superbug CRE -- also known as carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae -- from October to January, according to hospital officials. Two of those patients died. The patients caught CRE after routine endoscopic treatments. Hospital officials believe two medical scopes that still carried the deadly bacteria even after disinfection guidelines were followed were the cause of the superbug outbreak. The medical center has contacted 179 others who had endoscopic procedures between October and January and is offering them home tests to screen for the bacteria. Four other patients at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles have also been infected with the superbug linked to a contaminated duodenoscope, according to a statement released by the hospital. The medical scope was used in all four patients, between August and January 2015. Sixty-four other patients who had a duodenoscope procedure with that particular scope are being informed by mail, "out of an abundance of caution." According to FDA rules, a manufacturer must seek clearance for a new model if it includes changes that "could significantly affect the safety or effectiveness of the device." The TJF-Q180V duodenoscope, used to check out ducts in the gastrointestinal system, includes a modification to the exact part of the device that's been implicated in the superbug outbreaks. With this new model, Olympus sealed up that part of the device, known as the elevator channel, hoping to make it more impervious to infection. "The company clearly made these modifications to make the device safer, but it seems to be that it wasn't safer," Riley said. Last year, at the FDA's request, Olympus applied for permission to sell the scope. That application is still pending. Riley emphasized that duodenoscope procedures can be lifesaving, so the agency doesn't want to take them off the market. "More than 500,000 of these procedures are done every year in the U.S., and the risk of bacterial transmission is actually really very, very low," she said. "We believe the benefits outweigh

Summary: FDA official says Olympus never got permission to sell its endoscope . Medical device is connected to CRE outbreak in California that's left two people dead .


(CNN)A lawsuit that's stirring concern among drinkers of some California wine starts with a history lesson. The deaths of Napoleon Bonaparte, Simon Bolivar, King George III, King Faisal I and other prominent figures have been attributed to arsenic poisoning, the first paragraph of the 30-page complaint says. And, now, drinkers of some California wine have become "unwitting 'guinea pigs' of arsenic exposure," thanks to the negligent and misleading actions of dozens of California wineries, according to the class action complaint filed March 19 on behalf of two California couples. The lawsuit does not include any allegations of physical injury or death due to arsenic consumption associated with drinking the wines named in the complaint. The plaintiffs are seeking monetary damages and a court order requiring the defendants disclose on the bottles the risks of consuming inorganic arsenic in wines and engage in "corrective advertising" regarding their conduct. News of the lawsuit, which broke last week, struck fear in the hearts of frugal wine consumers nationwide, prompting many to share lists on social media of labels named in the lawsuit, all but declaring the outcome a foregone conclusion. The complaint names 28 companies that represent 83 low-cost labels familiar to supermarket wine aisle shoppers: Cupcake, Franzia, Flipflop, Rex Goliath and Korbel, among others. Even the maker of Trader Joe's Charles Shaw Zinfandel varietal (affectionately known among fans as "two-buck Chuck"), was called out for allegedly failing to warn consumers that it contained "dangerously" high levels of inorganic arsenic. But should consumers start looking to other winemakers or other wine-producing states for gallon-sized bottles of zinfandel? Or is the lawsuit a fearmongering tactic being used to drum up business for the beverage-testing company used for the lawsuit, as some defendants and industry insiders have insinuated? Most of the defendants said their wine was safe to drink when contacted by CNN. Some declined to comment, citing the pending litigation. Others referred CNN to the Wine Institute, a California trade group that called the claims "false and misleading." "We are concerned that the irresponsible publicity campaign by the litigating party could scare the public into thinking that wine is not safe to consume, which is patently untrue," said the group, which represents 1,000 California wineries, including 10 of the defendants. The lawsuit alleges that three separate labs "skilled in arsenic testing" independently confirmed that the defendants produce wines containing "dangerously" high levels of inorganic arsenic, in some cases up to 500% more than what is considered acceptable. "Put differently," the complaint states in bold letters, "just a glass or two of these arsenic-contaminated wines a day over time could result in dangerous arsenic toxicity to the consumer." A spokesman from the public relations firm representing the plaintiffs and BeverageGrades, which performed the analysis, said the company is confident that its data is "based on sound scientific research." Because the company expects testing methodology to be at issue in litigation, it declined to reveal specific data or testing methods. "We understand the public interest in this story and look forward to resolving the litigation to make these

Summary: A class-action lawsuit alleges some California wines contain unsafe levels of arsenic . Winemakers respond that their wines are safe and the suit amounts to fearmongering . Arsenic can be dangerous in high concentrations .


(CNN)Denise Huskins, who was reported kidnapped two days ago in Vallejo, California, has been found safe more than 400 miles away, authorities and her father said Wednesday. Huskins' boyfriend Monday afternoon called police and said she had been abducted that morning from his home in the Bay Area. About 48 hours later, she was located an hour south of Los Angeles. Officers from the Huntington Beach Police Department found Huskins at her father's apartment complex, department spokeswoman Jennifer Marlatt told reporters. Huskins, 29, is in good condition and had no apparent injuries, Marlatt said. Huskins left with police to meet several family members. Vallejo police Lt. Kenny Park said that the case was being treated as a kidnap for ransom and investigators hoped to get a clearer picture of what happened by talking to Huskins later that night. It was unclear whether that would happen in Vallejo or whether detectives would have to travel to Huntington Beach, some 420 miles away. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that her father, Michael Huskins, said in a telephone interview that he received a voice mail from his daughter Wednesday morning saying she had been dropped off at his apartment. He called police to ask that the authorities pick her up and make sure she was safe, he told the newspaper. "I almost had a heart attack," he said, according to the Chronicle. "I tried to get authorities to pick her up, but they kept asking me a bunch of questions. I said, 'Send a squad car.' I was hyperventilating." Earlier, Michael Huskins had made an emotional appeal through CNN affiliate KGO-TV in San Francisco directed at the kidnappers: Don't hurt her, please don't hurt her." "The biggest fear is the horror she might be going through ... that's my biggest fear. The horror, she doesn't deserve that, not from anybody." "It's like a nightmare that I can't wake up from," her father told the affiliate. "This is not supposed to happen." Police have not ruled anyone out as a potential suspect, Park told reporters. He declined to give much information about the case, including whether a ransom had been paid. He said he was unaware of any relationship between the man and woman. Park did say the man is both a witness and a "potential victim." Michael Huskins has said the couple had been dating for seven months. When asked whether police have considered that this might not be a kidnapping, Park said: "We're looking at all possible angles." The FBI is involved, he said. The Chronicle posted an audio clip on which Denise Huskins says she has been abducted. Her father confirmed the voice on the recording is hers. In it, she says: "My name is Denise Huskins. I am kidnapped, otherwise I'm fine. Earlier today there was a plane crash in Alps and 158 people died. And one thing that people know about me is that I went to my first concert, me and my mom, to Blink 182 (last word is inaudible): . The editor in chief of the Chronicle, Audrey Cooper,

Summary: Police say case is still being treated as a kidnapping for ransom . Father of missing woman tells newspaper she called him from his apartment . Abductors seized Denise Huskins on Monday, her boyfriend told authorities .


London (CNN)As the petition to reinstate Jeremy Clarkson as the presenter of Top Gear grows to include almost 700,000 signatures, it seems the controversial star has an influential ally -- UK Prime Minister David Cameron. "I don't know exactly what happened," the PM told the BBC. "He's a constituent of mine, a friend of mine. He's a huge talent. "Because he is such a huge talent and he amuses and entertains so many people, including my children, who'd be heartbroken if Top Gear was taken off air, I hope this can be sorted out, because it's a great programme and he's a great talent. "Every organ has to be free to manage its talent. I don't want to interfere in the running of the BBC. I hope it can be sorted out. "The prime minister has many responsibilities, sadly, securing the future of Top Gear isn't one of them." Cameron and Clarkson are part of a group dubbed as "The Chipping Norton Set" -- wealthy media, politics and showbiz individuals who live in the affluent part of central England known as the Cotswolds. Jeremy Clarkson: Hated by liberals, loved by the elite . Clarkson was suspended for allegedly hitting a producer, the BBC reported on Wednesday. The BBC said Clarkson, one of the corporation's highest earners, had "a fracas with a BBC producer" in a statement released on Tuesday. "Jeremy Clarkson has been suspended pending an investigation," they said. "No one else has been suspended. Top Gear will not be broadcast this Sunday." The BBC reported that the next two episodes, and possibly the third and final show of the series, will not be aired. The BBC director-general Tony Hall said that the incident is being investigated. Using the hashtag #BringBackClarkson, which is trending worldwide, some Twitter users lamented that the show would not be the same without him. Clarkson himself also took to Twitter, posting an apology (of sorts) to Labour leader Ed Miliband -- for knocking him down the news agenda. He also retweeted a "suffering" fan. "Save Clarkson?" his co-host James May tweeted. "Save empty cardboard boxes and off-cuts of string. They're far more useful." But a "Sack Jeremy Clarkson" petition is also doing the rounds, gathering 16,500 signatures so far. Some will be glad to see the back of him. Former CNN host Piers Morgan, who has had a series of run-ins with the presenter, also waded in with a cheeky jibe. This is not the first time that Clarkson has been at the center of controversy. In May last year, the television presenter asked forgiveness after using a racist term during a taping of the show. Clarkson had mumbled the n-word while reciting a children's nursery rhyme, but that version of the take was never aired. Last year, the BBC show hit the headlines when Argentina complained about a "Top Gear" special filmed in the country in which the number plate H982 FKL was used -- interpreted by some as a reference to the 1982 Falklands War. Forced to stop filming and leave the country, Clarkson said

Summary: Presenter was involved in an encounter with a BBC producer . Top Gear was due to air this Sunday, episode pulled from schedule .


(CNN)Early Thursday -- during the ongoing protests that continue to shake Ferguson, Missouri -- two police officers were shot. Such violence and lawlessness should never be tolerated. But the unrest during which it occurred demonstrates that the people of Ferguson have lost all confidence in their police department. And the resignation of the police chief this week won't be enough to restore faith in law and order. Everyone in the department needs to step down so the department can be rebuilt from the ground up. It is easy to see why. After a police officer shot Michael Brown, the U.S. Department of Justice conducted an investigation into the Ferguson Police Department. What investigators found was a "pattern and practice" of discrimination against African-Americans. In a town with a black population of 67%, black people represented 85% of vehicle searches, 90% of the traffic violations and 93% of the arrests. There is no way to justify this. Now, the Department of Justice has an opportunity to gut the Ferguson Police Department and rebuild it from scratch. In fact, it's more than an opportunity: It's a necessity. In the court of law, there is an old closing argument that goes like this: You sit down, pour yourself a bowl of stew and find that the first piece of meat that you taste is rancid. You don't put just that piece aside; you throw out the whole bowl. Lawyers use this story to say that if you catch a witness lying about one thing, then you can't believe anything they say. Unfortunately, it is an analogy that can be applied to the Ferguson Police Department. The Department of Justice report revealing unquestionable racist bias that permeated the entire department cannot be ignored, and the problems it reveals cannot be fixed from the inside. If there are a few good cops in the Ferguson Police Department, they need to leave, and they need to go elsewhere to continue their proud law enforcement career without being overshadowed by their involvement in a poisoned organization. In fact, everyone in the Ferguson Police Department needs to leave, from the top to the bottom. The police department should be completely reconstituted under Department of Justice control in a manner that ensures that citizens of Ferguson receive the type of public service they pay for and deserve -- and more importantly, in a manner that protects their rights, not only as citizens of Ferguson, Missouri, but as constitutionally protected citizens of our country. A completely rebuilt Ferguson Police Department, established with a charter to enforce the law with equality, could serve as an example for every law enforcement agency in the country. A new Ferguson Police Department could show what a concerted, roots-up effort toward nonracist behavior in a police department can be. Under Justice Department leadership, the Ferguson Police Department could become a model for practices such as equipping all police with body cameras, community policing and better use of force training. If we can create from the ashes of the Ferguson Police Department a model that works, it may

Summary: Mark O'Mara: Justice Department says Ferguson has record of racial discrimination . O'Mara says police force in Ferguson must be dismantled . He says a new department, with new practices to prevent replay of abuses, can be model for others, help repair injustices in Ferguson .


(CNN)At first Raymond Goldstein thought he'd received a spam email. The message to the Cambridge University physicist was asking for help working out the dynamics of hair, specifically the shape of ponytails. Goldstein thought he'd "won the Nigerian lottery." Poised to click delete, he scrolled through the message one more time and discovered it was from global consumer goods giant Unilever. Curiosity piqued, he met with a company representative, and the rest, as they say, is history. Assembling a team of balding physicists, Goldstein set out to tackle the subject, publishing their research in a peer review journal. It detailed the fluid mechanics of hair, drawing on a rich seam of scientific observation stretching back to Da Vinci. They even coined a new term: hairodynamics. Attention from the scientific community soon followed, and within a year they were collecting a Nobel Prize. An Ig Nobel Prize, that is. A satirical cousin to the more esteemed Swedish award, the Ig Nobel seeks to highlight research that first makes you laugh, then makes you think. This year marks their 25th anniversary, so what better time to celebrate the Ig Nobels' contribution to the research community? Every year thousands vie for the awards -- "always sourced from the cheapest materials" according to founder Marc Abrahams -- held at Harvard University. The ceremony is bathos at its finest. Winners receive their awards from genuine Nobel laureates, but speeches are curtailed by a screaming girl declaring her boredom. Each year a cast of professional singers and scientists perform a mini-opera. Last year's was set to Mozart and featured a chorus of microbial bacteria. Past recipients include a man who dressed up as a polar bear to scare reindeer and a study of homosexual necrophilia among mallard ducks (commended by Abrahams for "its high literary quality"). However, not all winners can have such high scientific kudos. The Ig Nobels skewered the U.S. Government in 2012, awarding them the Prize for Literature "for issuing a report about reports about reports that recommends the preparation of a report about the report about reports about reports." You can read it here. In 2009 the Math Prize went to Gideon Gono, then head of Zimbabwe's Reserve Bank, for printing a Z$100 trillion note (while also printing 1c). Last year the Italian National Institute of Statistics landed the Economics Prize for bringing the country out of recession through the use of prostitutes, drugs and smuggling. (The Italian government ended up setting a precedent in Europe, with the UK soon including the so-called "black economy" in its figures -- national GDP jumped by 5% that quarter, equivalent to $15 billion.) As proved by the Ig Nobels, the line between ridiculous and serious research has always been blurred. This is no better reflected than in Dutch-British physicist Andre Geim. In 2000 Geim scooped the Ig Nobel for Biology for using magnets to levitate frogs. Ten years later he went on to receive the Nobel Prize in Physics for his "groundbreaking experiments regarding the two-dimensional material graphene." It is hard to say which is the greater

Summary: The Ig Nobel Prizes will celebrate their 25th anniversary in September this year . Previous winners of the satirical awards have gone on to win an actual Nobel Prize .


(CNN)A shooting at a bar popular with expatriates in Mali on Saturday killed five people, including French and Belgian citizens, authorities said. One French citizen, one Belgian and three Malians were killed in the attack in the capital of Bamako, said Gabriel Toure, director of a local hospital. An additional eight people were wounded, he said. Authorities called the shooting a "criminal and terrorist act." "Mali remains committed to seeking peace and will not be intimidated by those who have no other motives than to do away (with) the prospects of peace and harmony amongst the Malians," the government said in a statement. A North African jihadist group, al-Murabitun, claimed responsibility for the attack, according to Mauritanian news agency Al Akhbar. The purported claim came in an audio message in which the group said it carried out the attack in retaliation for the killing of one of its leaders, Al Akhbar said. "Al-Murabitun may be considered a regional competitor to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM)," according to the Jamestown Foundation, a Washington-based research and analysis firm. The U.S. State Department said in January that al-Murabitun is a "newly-formed" militant group that has presence in northern Mali. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said the victim from his country was 31 years old. French President Francois Hollande released a statement condemning the attack. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry expressed his condolences to the victims' families in a news conference in Paris on Saturday. "This is an act of cowardice," he said. "But an act of opening fire in a restaurant filled with innocent civilians -- in the end, that only strengthens our resolve to fight terrorism in all of its forms, wherever it exists." The French Embassy in Bamako warned its citizens to be on alert if they go out in public. Though it's unclear whether any rebel group is responsible for the attack, Malian forces have battled Islamist militants in the northern part of the nation for years. Fabius said the Malian government was interrogating some suspects. Mali plunged into chaos after soldiers staged a coup three years ago. As a result, Tuareg fighters capitalized on the power vacuum to launch an insurgency that ended with their takeover of the north. After the Tuareg fighters seized the region, a power struggle erupted with local Islamist radicals. The extremists toppled the tribe and seized control of a large piece of northern Mali, an area the size of France. Since then, the nation has battled various rebel factions, mostly in the northern region, with the help of French and African forces. CNN's Brian Walker, Joshua Berlinger and Christabelle Fombu contributed to this report.

Summary: A jihadist group claims responsibility in an audio recording, news agency reports . The Malian government calls the shooting a "terrorist act" One French citizen, one Belgian and three Malians are killed .


(CNN)When Vladimir Putin reappears, he does it with style -- and an in-your-face attitude. The Russian President attended a large concert in Moscow's Red Square on Wednesday to commemorate the first anniversary of his country's annexation of the Ukrainian territory of Crimea, an act condemned by many in the international community as illegal. Only Putin doesn't call it annexation. He calls it reunification. According to the presidential website, Putin attended the "We're Together!" concert and meeting "celebrating the first anniversary of Crimea and Sevastopol's reunification with Russia." The peninsula became part of the Soviet Union in 1917, following the Russian Revolution. But in 1991, following the breakup of the Soviet Union, it became part of a newly independent Ukraine. On March 16, 2014, Crimea held a referendum on whether to continue as part of Ukraine or to cast its lot with the Russian Federation. The result was overwhelming, at least among those voting: 95% said they wanted to become part of Russia. A mere two days later, Russia annexed the territory. Putin said later that he had been planning the move even before the referendum was held. "Friends!" the President said in Red Square on Wednesday, according to his website, "Exactly one year ago, Russia, which we are speaking of so much right now, and the Russian people showed amazing togetherness and patriotism in supporting the aspirations of the people of Crimea and Sevastopol to return to their native shores." The issue, he said, was "our history, our spirituality and our statehood, the things that make us a single people and single united nation." Also participating, the website said, were "popular Russian music groups and singers." Putin was recently out of sight without explanation for 10 days, during which time various meetings were canceled. He reappeared only Monday. Lest anyone doubt he was still in charge, Putin, who prides himself on his fitness, has been displaying a different form of muscle this week -- the military kind. He mobilized Russia's entire Northern Fleet in a military exercise that reportedly ranks among the largest since the breakup of the Soviet Union. NATO reported that, on Tuesday, Estonian radar detected an unspecified number of aircraft over the Baltic Sea. NATO sent jets to identify the planes and later reported that "the Russian military aircraft" flew on into the airspace of the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.

Summary: Putin attends concert in Red Square to celebrate anniversary of Crimean annexation . NATO reports Russian military aircraft over the Baltic Sea .


(CNN)A video appears online. In it, fraternity members from your university are chanting a hateful, racist song about lynching African-Americans. The video goes viral. You're president of the university. Imagine being in that situation. What would you do? There are two ways to answer the question. The first is in the moment of crisis. The second is about the long term. As most everyone knows by now, David Boren, president of the University of Oklahoma, faced just this situation Monday. And I've been thinking about it intensely, not only because I care about race and civic leadership in America, but also because Boren was my first boss, when he was a U.S. senator. I'm not from Oklahoma but ended up working for Boren through a college internship. He was a mentor to me during my years in Washington, and a model for me when he left the Beltway to be of greater use and service as an educator. Though we haven't talked since the crisis broke, I see familiar patterns of leadership. Boren responded to the crisis swiftly, with a statement that went viral. Boren told the students from Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) he had a message for them: "You are disgraceful. You have violated all that we stand for. You should not have the privilege of calling yourselves Sooners" (the OU nickname). Boren went on to sever all ties between OU and SAE. The national fraternity closed the local chapter. Later, Boren said he'd be glad if the students in the video left campus because "we don't provide student services for bigots." The next day he expelled two of them. His actions have resonated across the country. On social media, people shocked by the video find themselves also stunned by Boren's response. Why? Because he did something rare in public life today. He expressed a decisive, judgmental view with moral clarity. Then he followed through. His statements have been free of mushy lawyer-talk or euphemism. He's led authentically, from the heart. Of course, people have carped. Some question whether Boren has the legal authority, as head of a public institution, to expel students on the basis of their free speech, even racist hate speech. Some lament that what he should have branded as disgraceful was the students' actions, not the students themselves. Legitimate concerns, perhaps. The First Amendment question, certainly, is being debated by legal scholars. But these concerns are eclipsed by the bigger picture. Boren wasn't just condemning wrongdoers; he was shifting social norms for all. A cynic might consider laughable a refrain from Boren's statement about "real Sooners." Boren said that real Sooners are not racists or bigots; they believe in equal opportunity, treat people with mutual respect and love each other like family. A cynic might say Oklahoma is a state both very white and very red, not known for flying the banner of anti-racism. Indeed, the original Sooners were the white settlers who raced in to claim land that had been wrested from Native Americans. But the point of Boren's "real Sooners" riff is not to describe

Summary: David Boren, president of the University of Oklahoma, responded to offensive video . Eric Liu: Boren did something rare in public life today -- he acted with moral clarity .


(CNN)The United States and Great Britain have pulled their last forces out of strife-torn Yemen, raising fears that the failed state will become even more of a breeding ground for terror groups plaguing the Middle East and the West. Over the weekend, the United States evacuated the last of its special operations forces -- including Navy SEALs and Army Delta Force troops -- amid the deteriorating security situation in the country, the U.S. State Department said. On Monday, a security source in the region familiar with the situation in Yemen told CNN's Nic Robertson that British special forces had also left Yemen in the last few days. The British Ministry of Defence declined to comment. The U.S. move came a day after terrorists bombed two mosques in the capital, Sanaa, on Friday, killing at least 137 and wounding 357 others, according to Yemen's state-run Saba news agency. The terror group ISIS, based in Syria, claimed responsibility for the attack. It also followed months of fighting between government forces and Houthi rebels, who on Sunday seized the international airport in Taiz. The rebels now control both the airport and Sanaa. Yemen has been a key U.S. ally in the fight against al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, allowing U.S. drones and special operations forces to stalk terrorists in the country. Now, that arrangement is in tatters, along with any semblance of peace in the Middle Eastern nation. While State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke said Saturday that the United States would continue to "take action to disrupt continuing, imminent threats to the United States and our citizens," the move left some wondering what role the U.S. could play with no forces on the ground. The country closed its embassy in Sanaa last month. "I don't think there is an active role for the U.S. other than intelligence and trying to see where the dust is going to settle," said U.S. Sen. Angus King, a Maine Independent who serves on the Senate Armed Services and Intelligence committees. That raises the possibility of the already unstable country becoming an even more fertile environment for terror groups to collaborate, grow and export violence, according to Robin Wright, a security and defense analyst with the Woodrow Wilson Center. "It's becoming much like Syria, much like Afghanistan was at the peak of its instability," she said. On Sunday, U.N. officials said the country appeared to be on a "rapid downward spiral." The Security Council again deplored the violence and called for an end to the fighting and for Houthi rebels to return government facilities to the elected government of President Abdo Rabbo Mansour Hadi. But officials said recent events "seemed to be leading the country further away from a peaceful settlement and towards the edge of civil war." In addition to counterterrorism issues, all sorts of geopolitical influences are at work in Yemen -- chief among them the regional power play between regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia. The Houthi rebels are Shiites with ties to Iran, who have long felt marginalized in majority Sunni Yemen. Sunni Arab countries

Summary: "Saudis are beginning to feel a little threatened here," CNN military analyst says . Country is in a "rapid downward spiral," U.N. officials warn . With U.S. and UK forces gone, fears rise that terror could blossom in Yemen .


(CNN)And breathe. Real Madrid squeezed through to the quarterfinals of the European Champions League -- but only just. The 10-time-winner escaped a humiliating exit from the tournament after going down 4-3 at home to German side Schalke allowing it to sneak through 5-4 on aggregate. Had it not been for Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored twice to ensure his place as the record goalscorer in European football competitions, then it could have been far more embarrassing. As it was, Real's players were met with the waving of handkerchiefs and whistles on an evening which threatened to spiral from disaster into ignominy. Real's malaise has been well documented but this latest chapter, where it was hugely fortunate to escape with its hands still on the trophy, offered yet more questions than answers. Carlo Ancelotti's team have endured a difficult few weeks, but if his players had arrived at the Bernabeu hoping to silence the sniping critics then they failed miserably. This was a dire display from one of the most expensively assembled teams on the planet, who but for arguably the world's greatest player, would have succumbed to one of the most embarrassing defeats in the club's illustrious history. Make no bones about it - Real was rumbled. Schalke, produced a fine performance, full of courage, energy and a zest which their opponent could scarcely match. Had it not been for one player on the opposing side then perhaps this would have been one of the most famous nights in Schalke's history. Unfortunately, that one player was Ronaldo. As lethargic and lackadaisical as Real was throughout the contest, Ronaldo's two goals, both headers, ensured its place in the next round. Nobody has scored more goals than Ronaldo in European club football -- his 77th and 78th taking him to the top of the chart ahead of his nemesis, Lionel Messi. His latest efforts may not have been the most spectacular, but they were so very precious given the nature of the tie. Leading 2-0 from the first leg in Gelsenkirchen, Real was firm favorite to progress. No team in the history of the competition had lost the first leg 2-0 at home and managed to progress -- and Schalke appeared unlikely to alter that statistic. Coached by Roberto di Matteo, who led Chelsea to Champions League glory in 2012, Schalke arrived hoping to give a good account of themselves, according to the Italian. Fifth in the German league, this was hardly a team which was supposed to send Madrid into a meltdown -- and yet that's what came to fruition. But, given the recent form of the Carlo Ancelotti's side, perhaps this was not so unexpected. Last weekend's league defeat at Athletic Bilbao brought about a new wave of criticism for Ancelotti. Toppled from the summit by arch rival Barcelona, Real has struggled in recent weeks for consistency by its own high standards. Its astounding 22-game winning streak was curtailed by Valencia on January 4 and the style and swagger which was so evident during that run soon fell away. A 4-0 defeat by

Summary: Real Madrid qualifies for the quarterfinals of European Champions League . Cristiano Ronaldo scores twice in 4-3 defeat by Schalke . Real wins 5-4 on aggregate following 2-0 first leg success . Porto through to last eight following victory over Basel .


Rome (CNN)As the dust settles after Italy's high court ruled on Friday to overturn the latest guilty verdicts for Amanda Knox, 27, and her former Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, 31, in the 2007 murder of Meredith Kercher, many questions still linger in the case. Knox and Sollecito were tried together and convicted of murder by two separate courts. But now they are free now, forever cleared. There won't be any civil trials like in the O.J. Simpson case because, according to Italian penal code, Italy's high court decision is final across all courts in the country. According to Italian lawyer Nicola Canestrini, who works on extradition and criminal cases between Italy and other countries, . "The high court decision is seen as the truth for the whole system." What now for the Kerchers? Francesco Maresca, lawyer for the Kercher family, told CNN that his clients are disappointed with the final ruling. "We expected more from the Italian judicial system," he said. "This is a failure to find justice for Meredith." Maresca says the Kerchers could try to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights and argue that Italy failed to find those culpable of killing their beloved daughter and sister but they have yet to make that decision. "If they think Italy hasn't fulfilled the duty, they could sue Italy," Canestrini told CNN. Such a claim could be made based on the final conviction handed down to Rudy Guede, a man from the Ivory Coast who was convicted for his role in Kercher's murder in 2008 in a fast-track trial that is still under seal. When the high court ruled definitively on his case in 2010, they wrote explicitly in their reasoning that he was one of three assailants but did not name who they were. Knox and Sollecito both spent four years in prison during their initial trial and first appeal. They applied to Italy's high court to be put under house arrest but because Knox was a foreigner and deemed a flight risk, they were both denied. Sollecito may now have cause to sue Italy for false imprisonment. Italy pays around €12 million every year for locking up people who are later cleared of charges, according to Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi who is introduced measures to reform the judicial system. But, Canestrini says if Sollecito at any time lied to investigators before he was arrested, he may forfeit his right to reimbursement for being held. Sollecito changed his story more than once before finally settling on an alibi with Knox, so a legal battle could focus on whether anything he told investigators led directly to his arrest. Canestrini also says that Knox could potentially sue Italy for one year of false imprisonment, but because she admittedly lied to investigators early on which led to her arrest, she would likely not have much of a case. "Because she initially admitted to a role in the crime, she wouldn't likely win. If a suspect lies to investigators before they are arrested, it is difficult to prove they were falsely imprisoned,"

Summary: Knox and Sollecito were tried together and convicted of murder, but now cleared . Family of victim Meredith Kercher "expected more from the Italian judicial system" Knox's lawyer says Knox doesn't feel any revenge or resentment towards Italy .


(CNN)The birthplace of Coca-Cola, "Gone with the Wind" and Martin Luther King Jr. is still home to the busiest passenger airport in the world. More than 96 million passengers went through Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in 2014, an increase of 1.9% over 2013, according to Airports Council International's preliminary passenger traffic data, released Thursday. With more than 86 million passengers last year, Beijing Capital International Airport remained in second place and continued to close the gap just a bit more with Atlanta, according to the worldwide association of airports. It saw an increase of 2.9% over 2013. ATL24: 24 hours in the world's busiest airport . London's Heathrow Airport continued to hold on to third place for another year, with more than 73 million passengers, an increase of 1.4%. Toyko's Haneda Airport was fourth with nearly 73 million passengers, a 5.7% increase over 2013. The airports in fifth, sixth and seventh places swapped spots. Los Angeles International Airport moved up from sixth to fifth, Dubai moved up from seventh to sixth, and Chicago O'Hare International Airport dropped from fifth to seventh. There were no changes to Paris Charles de Gaulle (eighth place), Dallas/Fort Worth (ninth) and Hong Kong (10th). Passenger traffic continued to grow around the globe, with the world's airports serving more than 6.6 billion passengers in 2014, an increase of 5.1% over the previous year, according to the report. Though the news was mostly good for Atlanta, the city did lose some bragging rights. Chicago/Atlanta airport rivalry heats up . Chicago O'Hare took the top spot from Atlanta in the number of takeoffs and landings, officially known as aircraft movements. A spokesman for the Atlanta airport says its carriers are adding more aircraft with higher passenger capacity, which means fewer planes. O'Hare took first place with 881,000 movements, followed by Atlanta with 868,359 and Los Angeles with 708,674. Rounding out that list were Dallas/Fort Worth, Beijing, Denver, Charlotte, Las Vegas, Houston and London. Airport movements in both Chicago and Atlanta actually decreased compared with 2013. Chicago's movements dropped by 0.2%, and Atlanta's dropped by 4.7%. Hong Kong's airport is still the busiest cargo airport in the world, transporting more than 4.4 million metric tons of cargo in 2014. Memphis, Tennessee, home to FedEx, came in second place with 4.2 million metric tons and Shanghai was third with nearly 3.2 million metric tons. (One metric ton equals 2,205 pounds.) Rounding out the top 10 were cargo airports in Incheon, South Korea; Anchorage, Alaska; Dubai; Louisville, Kentucky; Tokyo (Narita); Frankfurt, Germany; and Taipei, Taiwan. The Airports Council International preliminary traffic report was based on data from 1,095 airports worldwide. A final version will be released later in the year.

Summary: Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta is again the world's busiest passenger airport . But Chicago won the top spot in another key measurement . Hong Kong kept the title of busiest cargo airport .


(CNN)In tennis, a hitting partner is someone who often does more than just practice with a big star. They sometimes have to be psychologists, waiters, chauffeurs and even bodyguards. They may get to travel the world but the job isn't without its perils. Two years ago, for example, the father of Bernard Tomic, one of the most hyped players in the last decade, was found guilty of assaulting the player's former hitting partner, Thomas Drouet. Now, one of the longest lasting relationships -- and one of the highest profile -- has come to an end. Sascha Bajin, a constant in Serena Williams' life the past eight years, suggested on Twitter earlier this week that he was no longer working with the 19-time grand slam winner and has instead begun a partnership with Williams' friend and tennis rival, Victoria Azarenka. Williams wished him well. Their split was confirmed by Williams' agent, Jill Smoller, in an email to CNN.com, and Azarenka's coach, Wim Fissette, confirmed that Bajin is indeed the two-time grand slam champion's new hitting partner. They practiced together for the first time this week. "I'm very excited about having Sascha in the team," Fissette told CNN.com in an email. "Sascha is a great guy ... and has so much experience in working with Serena. "I saw Sascha hit many times so I know he is just a very good tennis player. To give the player the best rhythm is extremely important. "On the other hand I think it's very good there is someone else in the team with experience winning grand slams. That's always very important. Sascha knows what it is like to be in semifinals and finals in grand slams." No one has disclosed what led to the parting of ways but Bajin wasn't with Williams as she won the Australian Open in January. Bajin said he was injured, with Frenchman Jonathan Dasnieres de Veigy replacing him. Fissette, who was formerly alongside Kim Clijsters, Simona Halep and Sabine Lisicki when they either won or reached grand slam finals, said he was "very surprised" that Bajin became available. "Sascha was working so many years with Serena and I felt they had an excellent relationship, more than just player and hitting partner," he said. "I felt they were very good friends. "But it's not my business to know what went wrong. Maybe they both needed a new challenge. I think everybody will remember the many years they worked together and the excellent results she had during that time." Williams, about to make her return to Indian Wells after a 14-year absence, once likened Bajin to a brother. "Outside of my parents, I think he's probably the most important person on the team," Williams told USA Today in 2013. "He's much more than a hitting partner. He's my older brother. He's family." Bajin's alliance with Azarenka serves as another change for the Belorussian. Azarenka split with coach Sam Sumyk -- who quickly moved on to Eugenie Bouchard -- and hired Fissette in his place in February. Azarenka is attempting to recapture top form after

Summary: Serena Williams is no longer working with hitting partner Sascha Bajin . Bajin, who worked with Williams for eight years, is now with Victoria Azarenka . Bajin skipped this year's Australian Open as Williams won major No. 19 . Azarenka's coach, Wim Fissette, is thrilled to have Bajin in her team .


(CNN)For four years, William Bruce James II called the University of Oklahoma's Sigma Alpha Epsilon his home. He walked its halls, bunked in its rooms, held office as one of its leaders, considered his fraternity brothers his dearest friends. He was proud to be SAE. Now that pride is tainted. A video shot this Saturday of party-bound shows SAE members clapping, pumping their fists and chanting in unison: "There will never be a ni**** SAE," they sing. "You can hang him from a tree, but he can never sign with me." These young men are talking about him, James said. That's because not only is he an SAE alumni, he is also African-American. How do you make sense of the fact that those behind these hateful words wore the same pledge pins, occupied the same house, preached "the same motto that I hold dear to my heart" as James did? "I couldn't look at myself," he said, "still claiming to be that." Since the video surfaced Sunday, students have been expelled and SAE's Oklahoma chapter has shut down. The episode has left James disgusted, horrified that members of a fraternity that once welcomed him could espouse such hatred. Students expelled over racist chant . "I don't know what happened to the culture of my home," he told CNN on Tuesday. "That is not my home. That is not SAE. They are not my brothers." While the Oklahoma frat has never had a lot of black members, that didn't matter to James when he joined in 2001. SAE was where he forged lifelong friendships, where he and others grew into men. "We were becoming something while I was there," he said. "Something that I don't think these kids grasped. ... I don't think they know what it means to be a brother of any fraternity, let alone mine." James doesn't believe the racist chant was an isolated incident, not given how many on the bus seemingly sang it so easily and enthusiastically. Nor does he think that only those leading the chant deserve punishment. Just as easily as one person could have started it, someone else could have called for it to stop. That's what James thinks that his own fraternity brothers would've done, whether he was around or not. They understood the importance of stepping up to say: "This isn't right, this isn't what I stand for, this isn't gentlemanly, this isn't even human," he said. "That's what being an SAE is." "My pledge class ... wouldn't let that happen," he said. "And I don't know what's happened to (the Oklahoma SAE chapter) since then." Many members of that pledge class, as well others who he knew from SAE, have reached out to James in recent days by text, phone, email and Facebook. He knows he is not alone, including in his support for disbanding Oklahoma's SAE chapter. "That entire house has accepted the culture that accepts that song, those words, that imagery," James said. "So the whole house has to be punished." His former frat brothers are different from him, of

Summary: William Bruce James II was in Oklahoma's Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter from 2001 to 2005 . He's disgusted by the racist chant tied to the frat; "the whole house needs to be punished" While those involved are "not my brothers," James calls his former frat brothers "family"


Hong Kong (CNN)The search is on for China's teen top guns. China said Monday it has selected 16 high schools to offer pilot training as the country's armed forces seek to attract better qualified recruits. The schools, in 11 provinces across the country, will recruit 1,000 male junior high school students aged between 14 to 16, the China Daily reported. Successful applicants will receive flight training and "military standard" physical training in addition to their regular high-school studies. It's the latest attempt by the People's Liberation Army's air force to attract more talent. Last year, it said it would require wannabe pilots to take psychological assessments and a flight simulation test. China's military has traditionally been focused on winning land battles and is now making efforts to improve its air and naval power in the pursuit of what President Xi Jinping has called "balanced strength." "China has made many strides in the development of advanced aircraft, but it must make sure there can be sufficient, well-trained pilots to fly them," Wang Ya'nan, deputy editor-in-chief of Aerospace Knowledge magazine told The China Daily last month. The recruits will receive a stipend and board at the schools. Traditionally, serving in the military has not been a sought-after career in China and a U.S. report on China's military transformation released last month singled out the quality and professionalism of new recruits as a major challenge. Many are still drawn from rural areas with limited education, while country's one-child policy, which has created the "little emperor" phenomenon of spoiled children, produces recruits who "may not be tough enough to withstand military discipline," the report added. To this end, China has been making efforts to recruit more high school and college graduates as it modernizes its armed forces. On completing the three-year program, students will take a pilot selection test, and those who pass will join a PLA flight academy and those who fail can choose to enter other military universities or civilian institutes.

Summary: China wants 1,000 male junior high school students for pilot training . The country seeks to strengthen its navy and air force .


March 31, 2015 . Iran's controversial nuclear program, U.S. oil production, and the wealth of American presidents are three topics covered this Tuesday on CNN Student News. We're delivering a random fact about the height of a historic conqueror, and we're examining what it takes for rescue dogs to locate avalanche victims. And we have a follow-up on a pair of eagles who are excellent parents. On this page you will find today's show Transcript and a place for you to request to be on the CNN Student News Roll Call. TRANSCRIPT . Click here to access the transcript of today's CNN Student News program. Please note that there may be a delay between the time when the video is available and when the transcript is published. CNN Student News is created by a team of journalists who consider the Common Core State Standards, national standards in different subject areas, and state standards when producing the show. ROLL CALL . For a chance to be mentioned on the next CNN Student News, comment on the bottom of this page with your school name, mascot, city and state. We will be selecting schools from the comments of the previous show. You must be a teacher or a student age 13 or older to request a mention on the CNN Student News Roll Call! Thank you for using CNN Student News!

Summary: This page includes the show Transcript . Use the Transcript to help students with reading comprehension and vocabulary . At the bottom of the page, comment for a chance to be mentioned on CNN Student News. You must be a teacher or a student age 13 or older to request a mention on the CNN Student News Roll Call.


(CNN)A suicide bomb attack in Iraq this week was carried out by an American jihadist, ISIS claims. The terrorist group released a photograph on Tuesday of a masked fighter it identified as Abu Daood Al-Amriki, an alleged American jihadist who committed the suicide attack. The claim grabbed headlines, but days later, neither CNN nor U.S. government officials have been able to confirm the identity of the attacker. ISIS claims the attacker used an explosives-laden vehicle to mount an attack in Samarra, Iraq. Two senior Iraqi security officials confirmed that an attack matching the description did take place -- that a suicide attacker rammed a vehicle packed with explosives into a convoy of Iraqi forces. At least three Iraqi security forces were killed in the attack, the sources said. But ISIS has not released the birth name of the alleged American suicide bomber, or shown his face. U.S. officials tell CNN that for the moment there is nothing to corroborate the claim.

Summary: ISIS claims a suicide attack in Iraq was carried out by an American . The claim has not been confirmed .


(CNN)As the seventh full week of testimony in the first-degree murder trial against former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez came to a close this week, witnesses described him as acting strangely and glaring at the victim two nights before the killing. Hernandez is on trial in Fall River, Massachusetts, in connection with the shooting death of Odin Lloyd, a semi-pro football player who was found dead June 17, 2013. The former tight end had signed a five-year contract extension worth $40 million but, less than a year later, Hernandez was charged with the murder of the man who was dating the sister of his fiancée. Hours after his arrest on June 26, 2013, the Patriots dropped him from the team. Two of Hernandez's closest associates are co-defendants in the case. Evidence collected in Lloyd's death led to two more murder charges against Hernandez in a separate case in Boston. He is accused of shooting Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado in July 2012, allegedly over a spilled drink. Two witnesses who saw Hernandez at the Boston nightclub Rumor just 48 hours before Lloyd's killing said he looked angry and aggressive. Lloyd was with Hernandez at the club that Friday night. On Thursday, prosecutors called witness No. 100: Kasey Arma, a nightclub promoter. She told jurors she danced with Aaron Hernandez at the club in the early morning of June 15, 2013. Hernandez approached her. "He walked by me and he tapped my hip." Arma testified that she danced with Hernandez for about 10 minutes. "He was pleasant and kind of charming," she said. Then he left abruptly. When he returned about 10 minutes later, Arma said, Hernandez grabbed her arm and took her to another part of the club. His demeanor changed. He was "very aggressive," she testified. Then, she said, he asked her "to show what I could do with that thing," referring to her backside. "He was irritated and very aggressive," she told the jury. During cross-examination, defense attorney Michael Fee showed surveillance video of Arma dancing with Hernandez. There was bumping and grinding, mostly with her backside to him. It was uncomfortable to watch in court. Jurors watched the video with laser focus. Fee asked Arma, "What kind of dance is that called?" Arma said she didn't know. Some of the female jurors appeared to chuckle softly. Earlier in the week, witness Kwami Nicholas testified that he also saw Hernandez at Rumor and the ex-player "seemed like he was angry about something." Hernandez's mouth looked like a "grunt," he said. Nicholas, a college student, was at the club with friends -- some of whom were friends with Lloyd. When Lloyd was talking closely with one of his friends, Hernandez looked angry, according to Nicholas. Hernandez was standing near the DJ at the time, about 15 feet away from Lloyd and his friend. Nicholas said Hernandez glared at them for a few minutes. During tough questioning from Fee, Nicholas stood his ground. The defense showed jurors Nicholas' initial recorded interview with detectives in which he gave a different description

Summary: Aaron Hernandez on trial for the 2013 death of Odin Lloyd . Jurors hear of defendant's demeanor at club .


(CNN)Scientists at NASA are one step closer to understanding how much water could have existed on primeval Mars. These new findings also indicate how primitive water reservoirs there could have evolved over billions of years, indicating that early oceans on the Red Planet might have held more water than Earth's Arctic Ocean, NASA scientists reveal in a study published Friday in the journal Science. "Our study provides a solid estimate of how much water Mars once had, by determining how much water was lost to space," said Geronimo Villanueva, a scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. "With this work, we can better understand the history of water on Mars." To find answers to this age-old question about Martian water molecules, scientists used the world's three major infrared telescopes, in Chile and Hawaii, to measure traces of water in the planet's atmosphere over a range of areas and seasons, spanning from March 2008 to January 2014. "From the ground, we could take a snapshot of the whole hemisphere on a single night," said Goddard's Michael Mumma. Scientists looked at the ratio of two different forms -- or isotopes -- of water, H2O and HDO. The latter is made heavier by one of its hydrogen atoms, called deuterium, which has a neutron at its core in addition to the proton that all hydrogen atoms have. That weighed down HDO more, while larger amounts of hydrogen from H2O floated into the atmosphere, broke away from Mars' low gravity and disappeared into space. As a result, water trapped in Mars' polar ice caps has a much higher level of HDO than fluid water on Earth does, the scientists said. The scientists compared the ratio of H2O to HDO in Mars' atmosphere today to the ratio of the two molecules trapped inside a Mars meteorite, a stone that broke off from Mars -- perhaps when an asteroid hit -- and landed on Earth some 4.5 billion years ago. They were able to determine how much that ratio had changed over time and estimate how much water has disappeared from Mars -- about 87%. The findings indicate that the Red Planet could have had its fair share of blue waters, possibly even yielding an ocean. According to NASA, there might have been enough water to cover up to 20% of Mars' surface. That would amount to an ocean proportionally larger than the Atlantic on Earth. "This ocean had a maximum depth of around 5,000 feet or around one mile deep," said Villanueva. NASA scientists say that much of this water loss happened over billions of years, along with a loss of atmosphere. And as the planet's atmospheric pressure dropped, it was harder for water to stay in liquid form. Heat also contributed to its evaporation. As a result, the remaining primeval ocean water continued to move toward the poles, where it eventually froze. "With Mars losing that much water, the planet was very likely wet for a longer period of time than was previously thought, suggesting it might have been habitable for longer," said Mumma. CNN's Ben

Summary: Scientists studied water in Mars' atmosphere with three giant infrared telescopes . They compared the ratio of certain molecules on the planet with that of a Mars meteorite that landed on Earth .


(CNN)Lily wasn't moving when rescuers found her, hanging upside down in her mother's smashed car. It had flipped over into a frigid Utah river half a day before, and the baby was still strapped in her seat. As Officer Jared Warner dashed with the 18-month-old in his arms to an ambulance, she was barely alive. But she's doing better, her family said Monday. "Her improvement is astounding. Right now she's watching 'Dora (the Explorer)' and singing '(The) Wheels on the Bus' with Grandpa. She is smiling and laughing for family members. We're blown away by Lily's progress and so grateful to her rescuers," they said. Lily's mother, Lynn Jennifer Groesbeck, died in the crash that had landed their car on its roof in the Spanish Fork River. She was 25 years old. Lily might have died unseen with her mother, had a man not gone fishing in that particular spot Saturday. The angler waded into the river around noon, then noticed the car wheels-up in the water. "Where the car was, you couldn't see it from the roadway," police Lt. Cory Slaymaker said. The fisherman called emergency dispatch. Police and fire rescuers arrived and sprang into the water. The rest of what happened is now a frenetic blur for Officer Bryan DeWitt. "I don't remember doing anything but just doing it," he said. The water was so cold that, when the rescue was over, seven of the men involved had to be treated for hypothermia. They heaved the car onto its side and saw Groesbeck in the driver's seat. It was clear to them that she was dead. Then they noticed the baby. "She was definitely unconscious and not responsive," Warner said. But she was still alive, and rescuers were delighted to see it. She was still strapped into her seat, where she may have been for 14 hours, if the wreck occurred when police believe it did. The night before, a man living nearby heard a loud crash and stepped outside to check, but he saw nothing unusual, police said, and dismissed it. That was at about 10:30 p.m. on Friday. Groesbeck's car had probably just struck a bridge embankment. "The driver's side tire went up the cement barrier on the south end of the bridge, launching this woman and her baby into the freezing water," Slaymaker told CNN affiliate KUTV. The angler came along around 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, 14 hours later. Groesbeck's death is tragic, but the survival of baby Lily is a story filled with hope. But just how did the baby survive the ordeal? Above all, said CNN senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen, the biggest factor was the car seat. Lily was in the proper car seat and the seat appears to have been properly attached, Cohen said. Even though the child was trapped and upside down, her body remained in the seat and above the frigid water. Doctors say that such low temperatures are dangerous, but would be even more so if the baby were wet. Dry cold temperatures are more survivable than wet cold temperatures,

Summary: Family says Lily is awake -- smiling, laughing and singing with her grandfather . She was unresponsive when Officer Jared Warner rushed her into an ambulance . The baby girl may have been trapped in the car in the cold river for about 14 hours .


(CNN)Families of children killed at the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut have filed lawsuits against the estate of the shooter's mother, saying Nancy Lanza was careless and negligent in leaving a Bushmaster AR-15 rifle unsecured in her home. Adam Lanza, 20, used the assault rifle to kill 20 first-grade students and six adults in Newtown on December 14, 2012. The younger Lanza was mentally unstable and used his mother's Bushmaster to kill her before he went on the rampage at the school, and then killed himself. At least eight lawsuits have been filed in Connecticut courts since January on behalf of relatives of 16 people killed in the massacre -- four adults and 12 children. Court documents also list two people who suffered serious injuries. In December, the parents of nine children killed at the mass shooting, along with one teacher who survived, filed a separate lawsuit against the businesses behind the Bushmaster rifle. Report finds missed chances to help Newtown shooter . The wrongful death lawsuit, filed one day after the second anniversary of the killings, named Camfour, a gun distributor; Riverview Gun Sales; as well as the Freedom Group, the company that owns Bushmaster. It blamed the numerous lives lost in just 264 seconds on the shooter's weapon of choice, the Bushmaster. Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder, the law firm for the families in the Bushmaster lawsuit, is also representing some families in the cases against Lanza's estate. The lawsuits were first reported Friday in the Connecticut Post, which said Nancy Lanza is believed to have had insurance on the home worth more than $1 million. "Unlike our case against Bushmaster, Camfour (the distributor), and Riverview for the negligent entrustment and marketing of combat AR-15's designed for the military to inflict mass casualties against the enemy to civilians like Nancy Lanza, we expect this claim to be resolved quickly," attorney Josh Koskoff said of the estate lawsuits. The lawsuits claim that Nancy Lanza kept the rapid-fire Bushmaster in her home "unsecured" and that her "carelessness and negligence" contributed to the pain and suffering of the victims. A look at Newtown in 2013 . One lawsuit accused Lanza of allowing her son access to weapons "despite the fact that she knew, or should have known, that his mental and emotional condition made him a danger to others." The administrator of Nancy Lanza's estate, Samuel Starks, this month asked the courts for an extension to reply and asked that the cases needed to be consolidated. CNN's attempts to reach Starks were unsuccessful.

Summary: Lawsuits against estate of Nancy Lanza say she was careless and negligent . Her son, Adam, used assault rifle to kill 20 first graders and six adults on December 14, 2012 .


(CNN)When an officer kills an unarmed suspect, the question arises time and again: Can a police department investigate a high-stakes case involving one of its own, without bias? For Wisconsin residents decrying the death of unarmed teen Tony Robinson, the question isn't even an issue. "The investigation is being conducted by the state. We have a new law here in Wisconsin where departments are no longer conducting their own internal investigations for officer-involved shootings," Madison Mayor Paul Soglin said. In fact, Wisconsin is one of only two states with such legislation. The other is Connecticut. And that brings some comfort to Robinson's family. "I trust Wisconsin and the way they're handling the investigation," Robinson's uncle Turin Carter told reporters. "We spoke to investigators from DCI (Department of Criminal Investigation). We trust them, and we trust them to handle this with integrity and to treat it as it comes. We don't want our biases involved, we don't want anybody else's. We want them to act strictly as fact-finders, and that's what we believe in, and we have confidence in that." Wisconsin's law, which was enacted just last April, requires "an investigation that is conducted by at least two investigators ... neither of whom is employed by a law enforcement agency that employs a law enforcement officer involved in the officer-involved death." After that, investigators must provide a report to the district attorney. If the district attorney determines there are no grounds to prosecute the officer involved, then the investigators must release their report to the public. Connecticut's law requires the state's Division of Criminal Justice with investigating any deadly force by law enforcement, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The state's chief attorney can appoint a special prosecutor, and the law also allows anyone to make a written request to the chief attorney to appoint a special prosecutor, the NCSL said. After that, Connecticut's Division of Criminal Justice must submit a report to the state's chief attorney detailing whether the use of deadly force was appropriate. While such laws are rather novel, a dozen other states have proposed measures about appointing special prosecutors for, or providing independent investigation in, officer-involved deaths, according to the NCSL. They include California, Connecticut, New York, Texas, Missouri, Minnesota, West Virginia, Kansas, Illinois, Tennessee, Mississippi, Oklahoma. "Typically it doesn't work when you have to police yourself," said Mel Robbins, a CNN legal analyst who has began her career as a New York City public defender and now practices criminal law for Legal Aid Criminal Defense Society. "This is why we have whistle blower protective statutes because people inside an organization will do everything they can to shut that person up. "Having laws that require an outside agency to investigate would actually help police and prosecutors," she said. "There's a suspicion that many have that police are corrupt. Many are not, but that is the perception. To begin to address that, these laws are needed." She noted the case of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old Cleveland boy who was playing with a pellet gun when an officer shot

Summary: Wisconsin state investigators -- not local police -- will investigate Tony Robinson's killing by officer . Wisconsin and Connecticut are the only states that require independent probes in such cases . 12 states have pending legislation requiring outside entities to examine police involved shootings .


(CNN)For years, Native Americans have called on Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder to change the team's name. It's a dictionary-defined racial slur that's dehumanizing to Native Americans. And, in my view, that outweighs the arguments of Redskins advocates who defend the name as a symbol of team pride. But what about the thousands of high schools across the United States that have the name as its mascot? Where do they fit in the debate? Once you factor in freedom of speech, how should one approach this issue? Recently, in upstate New York, the Lancaster Central District School Board unanimously voted to retire its high school's mascot and moniker -- the "Redskins." The board called the mascot "a symbol of ethnic stereotyping" and said the school "cannot continue practices which are offensive and hurtful to others" -- namely Native Americans. Some students opposed the board's decision citing school legacy and tradition. A group of Lancaster High students hosted a walk out in protest with many carrying placards reading, "Redskins Pride" and "Once a Redskin, Always a Redskin." Coincidentally, around the same time in Delaware, the Conrad Schools of Science announced it will begin to take steps to drop its "Redskins" mascot before the beginning of the 2015-16 school year. Local school districts are responding to the growing chorus of voices who oppose antiquated Native American mascots. Furthermore, there's research that shows Indian mascots and monikers harm the mental health of Native American youths. According to one study, Native American students are reported to have low self-esteem and a suppressed sense of self-worth as a consequence of such images and language. Other research shows how all ethnic groups are hurt by poor representations of Native Americans. People "are more likely to negatively stereotype other ethnic groups as well," according to Wendy Quinton, clinical assistant professor of psychology at the University at Buffalo. What the Conrad Schools of Science and the Lancaster school board decisions represent for Native Americans are hope -- for us and our kids -- that broader awareness is changing perspectives and that hurtful stereotypical nicknames should not have to be tolerated by any ethnic group. Still, there's the issue of free speech. Many have made the argument that Native Americans like me are trampling on the First Amendment when we call for the Washington football team to change its name. Even the ACLU has chimed in on the matter. On March 6, the organization said in a blog it does not support the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's decision to cancel federal trademark protection of the Washington football team's use of the word "redskins." In June of last year, the USPTO had repealed six of the team's seven trademarks, finding the r-word is "disparaging to Native Americans." Although the ACLU agrees the team name is "offensive and perpetuates racism against Native Americans," it cannot support what it refers to as language policing. "... Because the First Amendment protects against government interference in private speech," staff attorney Esha Bhandari wrote. "It isn't government's role to pick and choose which viewpoints are acceptable

Summary: Recently, schools are deciding to retire the term 'redskins' for their mascots . Simon Moya-Smith: It's a dictionary-defined racial slur that's dehumanizing to Native Americans .


(CNN)There was a street named after Chuck Norris, but they had to change the name because nobody crosses Chuck Norris and lives. Chuck Norris counted to infinity. Twice. Death once had a near-Chuck Norris experience. Chuck Norris is celebrating his 75th birthday -- but the calendar is only allowed to turn 39. That last one is true (well, the first part, anyway). The actor, martial-arts star and world's favorite tough-guy joke subject was born March 10, 1940, which makes him 75 today. Or perhaps he IS 39. Because maybe YOU can't beat time, but Chuck Norris can beat anything. Happy birthday!

Summary: Tuesday is Chuck Norris' 75th birthday . The actor and martial arts master is now known as subject of tough-guy one-liners .


(CNN)George Zimmerman says he bears a grudge against President Obama, accusing him of inflaming racial tensions around the Trayvon Martin case. Zimmerman, who was acquitted of murder in 2013 over Martin's death, made the allegations against Obama in a video posted on his lawyers' website. The February 2012 killing of Martin, an unarmed black teenager, by Zimmerman, a Hispanic neighborhood watch volunteer, stirred fierce debate about race and the justice system. Zimmerman, who is now 31, said he shot Martin in self-defense during a confrontation in Sanford, Florida. But critics allege the death was spurred by racial profiling. In the new video, Zimmerman claims it was Obama who stoked racial tensions surrounding the case. He cites the President's remarks in March 2012, when the case was still being investigated, in which Obama said, "If I had a son, he would look like Trayvon." "To me, that was clearly a dereliction of duty, pitting Americans against each other solely based on race," Zimmerman says in the conversation with his lawyer Howard Iken, who does not appear on camera. Zimmerman notes that Obama's press secretary at the time, Jay Carney, had said previously that the White House would not wade into the case, calling it "a local law-enforcement matter." Asked if he felt there was one government agency or official who brought the most unfairness to his situation, Zimmerman is quick to respond. "By far, the President of the United States, Barack Hussein Obama," he says. Zimmerman's comments are the first since the U.S. Justice Department announced last month that it wouldn't bring any civil rights charges against him. He says that he feels that "the Department of Justice process worked," but also that it should have investigated whether his civil rights were violated. "They had various numerous examples of bounties place on my head, credible threats placed against myself and my family," he says, adding that "the President and the Attorney General and the federal government declined to do anything about it." Zimmerman says he has a clear conscience over Martin's death. "Only in a true life or death scenario can you have mental clearness to know that you cannot feel guilty for surviving," he says.

Summary: Zimmerman criticizes Obama's comments during the Trayvon Martin case . "To me, that was clearly a dereliction of duty," he says .


(CNN)I'm Candida Moss, and I am professor of New Testament and early Christianity at the University of Notre Dame. I was an adviser on the "True Cross" episode and served as one of the many on-camera experts in CNN's "Finding Jesus" series, which airs on Sundays. Viewers were invited during the show to tweet and post their questions on the "Finding Jesus" Facebook page. Below are some of the more interesting questions and my answers to them. They have been edited for style and clarity for this article. What's "true" about the cross that killed Jesus? Lynn Santos: Where might there be other pieces of the "true cross"? Is anyone attempting to carbon date these relics ? Moss: There are churches all over the world that claim to have fragments or splinters of the true cross. These aren't being carbon dated and there are a few reasons why. First, carbon dating is expensive, and your average church doesn't have the funds for this kind of endeavor. Second, carbon dating is seen as intrusive and a little destructive. Even if only about 10 milligrams of wood are needed, you're still chipping away at a holy object. This isn't something that churches like to do, especially as -- and this leads me to my third point -- almost all carbon dating tests end up discrediting the relics that are being tested. So, it's not in the best interest of the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches that claim to possess relics to have them tested. Matt Marino: Are you able to tell what type of wood the cross was built from? Moss: Unless we know with complete certainty that we have a fragment of the true cross, then we won't be able to assert what kind of wood was used. Nonetheless, we can make some best guesses. A number of scholars have thought that the cross was made of cedar because cedar is a sturdy wood found in the region. There is also evidence from the crucifixion of other criminals. In 1968, the remains of a crucified man named Yehohanan ben Hagkol were found during excavations in northern Jerusalem. We know he was crucified because there was a spike embedded in his ankle bone. The Department of Botany at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem concluded that the wood underneath the nail was olive wood. So perhaps that's a possibility. Daniel Pronych: How can we be certain the Romans didn't reuse Jesus' cross? Moss: This is a great question. Hewn wood and nails were more valuable in the ancient world than they are today. There are examples of the Romans discarding tools and other implements (for instance after the battle of Masada, when they left behind pottery vessels rather than haul them away), but this usually took place in situations where carrying these tools was more effort than it was worth. The Romans were efficient and would likely have reused the instruments of torture if they could. The Jewish historian Josephus tells us that wood was scarce around Jerusalem in the first century A.D. and

Summary: Religion professor Candida Moss appears in each episode of the program .


Moscow (CNN)Ever since Vladimir Putin came to power, there have been killings of politicians, of human rights activists, of journalists. Boris Nemtsov, one of Russia's most prominent opposition figures, is only the latest victim. The key thing all these crimes have in common is that none of them get properly resolved. Of course, the Kremlin will issue condemnation and condolences, as it has done over the assassination of Nemtsov. But the killers and the people who ordered the killings don't usually end up facing justice -- and if you are an opposition politician in Russia, or a human rights activist, or a journalist, you will know this. If the dangers weren't clear enough, the circumstances of the most recent killing are a stark reminder. It was late Friday night. Boris Nemtsov and his girlfriend Anna Duritskaya, a Ukrainian model, had eaten dinner at plush restaurant on Red Square. Afterwards, despite the chilly weather, they decided to walk back to his apartment, perhaps to take in the stunning views. The Kremlin looks spectacular at night. It was on this short journey, in the heart of Moscow, that the gunman struck, leaving Nemtsov dead within sight of the red Kremlin walls -- walls which, by the way, bristle with security cameras. In the days since, thousands have made pilgrimage to the place where the outspoken Putin critic was shot to pay their respects, leaving a mountain of flowers and personal messages. An opposition rally on Sunday, which Nemtsov was meant to lead, was canceled and replaced with a mourning march past the crime scene. It was the biggest pro-opposition rally in the Russian capital for years. But few who took part could have missed the symbolism, the real message the killers -- whoever they are -- sent by gunning down such a prominent Kremlin critic in the shadow of its towering walls. It's this: if you oppose the Kremlin, if you criticize its power, if you stand for greater democracy and reform, as Boris Nemtsov did, this could happen to you too. It's hard to predict what impact this message will have. "Yet another terrible page has been turned in the history we all share," wrote Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the once-jailed oligarch-turned Kremlin critic now in exile. "What the next page holds is up to each and every one of us," he said, commenting on the death of Nemtsov. The statement was issued under the banner "We Are Not Afraid". But many Russians I've spoken to since the killing are, in fact, very afraid. And while the hope among opposition activists is that Nemtsov's killing may at least invigorate their ranks, one very real possibility is that it will do the exact opposite: further silence an already very quiet minority opposed to the rule of Vladimir Putin.

Summary: A series of Kremlin critics have been murdered since Vladimir Putin came to power . The killing of Boris Nemtsov has struck fear into the hearts of Putin's critics .


(CNN)For the second time, a Georgia woman's execution has been postponed -- this time because of concerns about the drugs to be used. Kelly Renee Gissendaner was scheduled to die at 7 p.m. ET Monday. "Prior to the execution, the drugs were sent to an independent lab for testing of potency. The drugs fell within the acceptable testing limits," the Georgia Department of Corrections said in a statement. "Within the hours leading up to the scheduled execution, the Execution Team performed the necessary checks. At that time, the drugs appeared cloudy. The Department of Corrections immediately consulted with a pharmacist, and in an abundance of caution, Inmate Gissendaner's execution has been postponed." The 47-year-old was originally scheduled to die on Wednesday, but that execution was called off because of winter weather. A petition saying the mother of three has turned her life around, even earning a theology degree while in prison, had garnered about 80,000 signatures as of Tuesday morning. Organizers plan to deliver it to Gov. Nathan Deal, though in Georgia, the governor has no authority to grant clemency. Gissendaner has become a "powerful voice for good," the petition says of the woman convicted of orchestrating her husband's death in 1997. "While incarcerated, she has been a pastoral presence to many, teaching, preaching and living a life of purpose," the petition states. "Kelly is a living testament to the possibility of change and the power of hope. She is an extraordinary example of the rehabilitation that the corrections system aims to produce." On Sunday night, about 200 people attended a vigil at Emory University's Cannon Chapel, where they sang her praises. "Killing her is not going to bring anything back. It's not going to undo what's been done," priest Kelly Zappa told CNN affiliate WSB. The pleas did not sway Georgia's high court or its board of pardons. In a 5-2 decision Monday afternoon, the state Supreme Court denied her request for a stay, and it also dismissed a constitutional challenge claiming that her sentence was disproportionate. And the State Board of Pardons and Paroles said Monday evening that its decision last week to deny clemency in the case stands. Not since Lena Baker, an African-American convicted of murder and pardoned decades later, has Georgia executed a woman. The state was scheduled to snap that 70-year streak last week before Gissendaner's execution was first postponed. Just hours before she was scheduled to die by injection at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison in Jackson last Wednesday, the Georgia Department of Corrections announced it had postponed the execution until Monday at 7 p.m. "due to weather and associated scheduling issues," department spokeswoman Gwendolyn Hogan said. Gissendaner was convicted in a February 1997 murder plot that targeted her husband in suburban Atlanta. She was romantically involved with Gregory Owen and conspired with the 43-year-old to have her husband, Douglas Gissendaner, killed, according to court testimony. Owen wanted Kelly Gissendaner to file for a divorce, but she was concerned that her husband would "not leave her alone if she simply divorced him," court

Summary: The execution is postponed because the drugs "appeared cloudy," Georgia says . Gissendaner's was scheduled to die at 7 p.m. Monday for a murder plot targeting her husband .


London (CNN)A supporter of suspended "Top Gear" host Jeremy Clarkson delivered a petition with nearly 1 million signatures calling for his reinstatement to the BBC's headquarters in London on Friday -- driving an armored tank up to the building. Clarkson was suspended for allegedly hitting a producer, the BBC reported last week, and "Top Gear" -- a highly popular show with a big global audience -- was not broadcast as scheduled Sunday. The BBC's decision to take the show off the air pending an investigation has outraged many of Clarkson's die-hard fans. More than 990,000 of them have signed the petition posted on Change.org by Guido Fawkes, a right-wing political blogger, just a week ago. Whether the show of support will have any impact on the BBC's response is unclear. Clarkson tweeted his thanks Friday night to those who are calling for his reinstatement, saying he is "very touched." The findings of the internal investigation are due to be presented to the corporation's director general next week, the BBC said Thursday. "Once this has been considered, we will set out any further steps," a statement said. The BBC said in an earlier statement that Clarkson, one of the corporation's highest earners, had "a fracas with a BBC producer." In an indication of its popularity, "Top Gear" was named as the world's most widely watched factual program in the Guinness World Records 2013 Edition book, with an estimated 350 million global viewers. The show is sold to 214 territories worldwide. Clarkson vented his apparent frustration in an expletive-filled speech Thursday night in what seemed to be a spontaneous appearance at a charity auction in north London. A CNN reporter who was at the event heard Clarkson swear liberally as he talked about his suspension from the show, saying the BBC "have f***** themselves" and that it had ruined a great show. Clarkson also auctioned what he said would be one final lap of the "Top Gear" track in Surrey, outside London -- used in the show for putting vehicles through their paces -- for £100,000 ($148,000.) It's not clear whether he had the authority to offer the use of the track for auction -- but his words seem to suggest he doesn't expect his BBC career to continue, even if no decision is expected before next week. "I didn't foresee my sacking, but I would like to do one last lap," Clarkson said. "So I'll go down to Surrey, and I'll do one last lap of that track before the f****** b******* sack me." Whoever placed the winning bid would be able to ride in a car with him on that lap, he said, or in a rare LaFerrari supercar owned by a friend. Clarkson, who's been presenting the show since the late 1980s, added, "I'll be a bit tearful when I do it." The controversial star has at least one influential ally -- UK Prime Minister David Cameron. "I don't know exactly what happened," Cameron told the BBC last week. "He's a constituent of mine, a friend of mine. He's a huge

Summary: "Top Gear's" Jeremy Clarkson tweets his thanks to those supporting him . A petition with nearly 1 million signatures calling for Clarkson's reinstatement delivered to BBC .


Moscow (CNN)Russian President Vladimir Putin awarded medals Monday to Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and to Andrei Lugovoi, the suspect in the murder of former Russian security agent Alexander Litvinenko, among more than 30 other honorees. Kadyrov was given the Order of Merit. The decree signed by Putin states: "For work achievements, active social activities and many years of diligent work the Order of Merit is awarded to Ramzan Kadyrov, the President of the Chechen Republic." Lugovoi, the suspect in the poisoning death of former Russian security agent Alexander Litvinenko, was given a second-class medal of the Order of Merit for the Motherland, according to Putin's decree. Sergey Kislyak, a diplomat who's been serving as Russia's ambassador to the United States since 2008, was also among the honorees. He was cited as an "Honored employee of a diplomatic service." Lugovoi is an MP in Russia's lower house of parliament for the nationalist and pro-Kremlin Liberal Democratic Party. He is deputy chairman of the lower house's security and anti-corruption committee. He also has hosted a show called "Traitors" on Russian TV and runs a restaurant in Moscow. Kadyrov has spoken out about the assassination of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, defending Zaur Dadayev, one of the Chechens charged in the shooting. "Zaur Dadayev was a Russian Interior Ministry officer who served with distinction," Kadyrov said on his Instagram account. Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was a coincidence that the arrest of suspects in Nemtsov's killing happened around the same time as the award to the Chechen President. In an interview with Russian business outlet RBC, he stressed that the decree on awards was filed several months ago.

Summary: Russian President honors more than 30 people, including Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov . Also honored: Andrei Lugovoi, charged by the UK with London murder of former Russian security agent . Russian ambassador to the U.S. is cited as "honored employee of a diplomatic service"


(CNN)When Indiana Gov. Michael Pence signed his state's Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), he apparently did not anticipate the resulting uproar. Many of Indiana's businesses fear that the law could be used to allow store owners to deny service to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons. The NCAA has expressed concern about the Final Four, which Indianapolis is hosting this weekend, and other companies have threatened to move their businesses outside of the state. But, when pushed on the issue, Pence insisted that the law is "not about discrimination" but instead is "about protecting the religious liberty of every Hoosier of every faith." When asked whether he would allow an amendment to clarify that the law will not preclude anti-discrimination protections, the governor doubled-down, noting that "we're not going to change this law." But members of the Indiana legislature beg to differ with the governor, pledging to "fix" Indiana's RFRA. And now, the Governor has changed his tune, also calling for a fix to the bill. Can there really be an easy "fix," short of repealing the Act? The answer is, of course, it depends. Under RFRAs like Indiana's, people are not free to disobey any law in tension with their religious convictions. Instead, RFRAs create a standard to balance a person's religious interests against the governmental policy at stake. Under Indiana's RFRA, the government must show that its policy interest advances a compelling state interest and is the least restrictive means to address the problem at issue. The question would then become whether anti-discrimination laws advance a compelling interest in the least restrictive means. The answer to that question is easy: yes. The adoption of such laws have long been viewed as advancing compelling state interests, and the only way to eliminate discrimination is to ban it, so they are the least restrictive means. At present in Indiana, there is no state-level law that protects LGBT persons from discrimination by private parties. In certain cities and other, local jurisdictions, however, there are ordinances prohibiting such discrimination. Indiana would have two ways to "fix" the RFRA problem. The first would be to adopt state-wide nondiscrimination laws that protect LGBT persons. Such an act would confirm that, as a matter of state policy, protecting the LGBT community is viewed as a compelling state interest. This would bring Indiana into alignment with Illinois, which has a RFRA, but which also has a comprehensive nondiscrimination statute, ameliorating any concerns about the RFRA being used in discriminatory fashion. Given the wishy-washy answer that Gov. Pence provided when asked whether he thought discrimination against LGBT persons was appropriate, the likelihood of Indiana adopting a comprehensive nondiscrimination statute seems remote at best, eliminating this fix as an option. Another possibility would be to amend the statute to confirm that any federal, state, or local nondiscrimination laws constitute a compelling state interest for the purposes of the RFRA. Importantly, federal law does not protect LGBT persons from discrimination by private actors, and neither does Indiana state law. But this language would expressly carve out local ordinances from the

Summary: Tim Holbrook: Indiana's law allows discrimination against the LGBT community . He says the state governor and others are using religion act as an excuse .