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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- More troops, new legislation, improved troop training and added civilian expertise highlight President Obama's strategy to fight terrorism in Afghanistan and Pakistan. President Obama, here with Hillary Clinton on Friday, calls the situation in Afghanistan "increasingly perilous." Obama on Friday announced his plan to tackle what he called an "international security challenge of the highest order." Stressing soberly that "the safety of people around the world is at stake," Obama said the "situation is increasingly perilous" in the region in and around Afghanistan, where the United States has been fighting al Qaeda and the Taliban for more than 7½ years after attacks in New York and at the Pentagon. "The United States of America did not choose to fight a war in Afghanistan. Nearly 3,000 of our people were killed on September 11, 2001, for doing nothing more than going about their daily lives," said Obama, who has vowed to make Afghanistan the central front in the fight against terrorism. "So let me be clear: Al Qaeda and its allies -- the terrorists who planned and supported the 9/11 attacks -- are in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Multiple intelligence estimates have warned that al Qaeda is actively planning attacks on the U.S. homeland from its safe haven in Pakistan. Watch how the U.S. will target terrorist safe havens » . "And if the Afghan government falls to the Taliban -- or allows al Qaeda to go unchallenged -- that country will again be a base for terrorists who want to kill as many of our people as they possibly can." Obama said it is key Americans understand that Pakistan "needs our help" against al Qaeda. "Al Qaeda and other violent extremists have killed several thousand Pakistanis since 9/11. They have killed many Pakistani soldiers and police. They assassinated [former Pakistani Prime Minister] Benazir Bhutto. They have blown up buildings, derailed foreign investment and threatened the stability of the state. Make no mistake: Al Qaeda and its extremist allies are a cancer that risks killing Pakistan from within." Watch Obama's speech on Afghanistan, Pakistan threats » . Flanked by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Obama called on Congress to pass a bipartisan bill co-sponsored by Sens. John Kerry, D-Massachusetts, and Richard Lugar, R-Indiana. The legislation authorizes "$1.5 billion in direct support to the Pakistani people every year over the next five years -- resources that will build schools, roads and hospitals and strengthen Pakistan's democracy," he said. He also urged Congress to pass legislation that would create opportunity zones in the border region. The goal is to develop the economy and bring hope to places plagued by violence. Obama said, "We will ask our friends and allies to do their part," including at a donors conference next month in Tokyo, Japan. "After years of mixed results, we will not provide a blank check. Pakistan must demonstrate its commitment to rooting out al Qaeda and the violent extremists within its borders. And we will insist that action be taken -- one way or another -- when we have intelligence about high-level terrorist targets. " Obama said the United States must work with the World Bank and International Monetary Fund and others to help Pakistan get through the economic crisis. "To lessen tensions between two nuclear-armed nations that too often teeter on the edge of escalation and confrontation, we must pursue constructive diplomacy with both India and Pakistan." Afghan President Harmid Karzai watched the speech on CNN from Kabul, said Richard Holbrooke, Obama's special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan. Karzai "is extremely grateful and will issue his statement of support," Holbrooke said. Obama stressed that "Afghanistan has been denied the resources that it demands because of the war in Iraq" and now a commitment must be made. Obama said he is sending another 4,000 troops to Afghanistan, along with hundreds of civilian specialists, such as agricultural experts, educators and engineers. The troops -- which are in addition to the 17,000 announced earlier -- will be charged with training and building the Afghan army and police force. The stakes are high as al Qaeda and the Taliban have escalated the insurgency and the number of U.S. troops deaths spiked last year -- the highest yearly death toll for them in the war. Obama said the soldiers and Marines "will take the fight to the Taliban in the south and east" and will work with Afghan troops along the border. He said such an effort will bolster "security in advance of the important presidential election in August." Watch Obama tell terrorists U.S. will defeat them » . Obama said the coalition "will accelerate" efforts to "build an Afghan army of 134,000 and a police force of 82,000 so that we can meet these goals by 2011 -- and increases in Afghan forces may very well be needed as our plans to turn over security responsibility to the Afghans go forward." He said Afghanistan's government has been "undermined by corruption and has difficulty delivering basic services to its people" and its economy is undercut by "a booming narcotics trade that encourages criminality and funds the insurgency." Watch Obama's remarks on the Afghan situation » . Obama said the United States will set clear benchmarks for international assistance and won't ignore attention to corruption. He said the United States will develop a new contact group for Afghanistan and Pakistan that would include not only NATO allies and other partners but also Central Asian states, Gulf nations and Iran, Russia, India and China. Reacting to Obama's plan, Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wisconsin, said he is pleased the president is focusing on al Qaeda and is addressing the role of Pakistan but expressed concern the strategy could remain "overly Afghan-centric." Citing Friday's suicide attack on a mosque in the Pakistani tribal region near Afghanistan, Feingold said, "This new administration must ensure that we do what we must not only in Afghanistan but also in Pakistan." He said, "As the bombing near the Khyber Pass this morning highlights, we need to fully address the inextricable links between the crisis in Afghanistan and the instability and terrorist threats in Pakistan." The bombing killed at least 48 people and wounded 80 to 90 others. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell praised Obama's plan, saying it is "a significant pivot" away from the Democratic Party's left wing. "So the president's decision to continue Secretary Gates, follow [U.S. Central Command chief] Gen. [David] Petraeus' advice -- which may be somewhat exasperating to his own political left -- I think is in the best interest of the country and I think he's going to enjoy pretty strong Republican support for the plan," the Kentucky Republican told reporters.

Intelligence shows al Qaeda planning attacks on U.S., President Obama says . Part of Afghan strategy is $1.5 billion annually for five years in aid for Pakistan . U.S. to send 4,000 more troops to Afghanistan as well as 17,000 announced earlier . Hundreds of civilian specialists also to be deployed .

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Coca-Cola, the world's largest soft drinks group, has bought a minority stake in Innocent, the British fruit drink and "smoothie" maker that boasts of its ethical stance. Coca-Cola faces allegations about labor abuses as well as health and environmental concerns. Innocent said on its Web site the U.S. firm had paid £30 million ($44 million) for a stake of "between 10 and 20 percent" to fund plans to expand in Europe. Innocent employs 275 people, has a turnover of more than £100 million and sells about two million smoothies each week. Its three founders, who set up the company 10 years by selling smoothies at a London music festival, insisted its ethical stance would not be compromised and they would continue to run and manage the business. Are ethics and business compatible? Tell us what you think . "Every promise that Innocent has made -- about making only natural healthy products, pioneering the use of better, socially and environmentally aware ingredients, packaging and production techniques, donating money to charity and having a point of view on the world -- will remain," co-founder Richard Reed said. "We'll just get to do them even more." Coca-Cola "has been in business for over 120 years, so there will be things we can learn from them. And in some small ways we may be able to influence their thinking too." James Quincey, group business unit president for Coca-Cola Europe, said: "We are delighted to have the opportunity to invest in Innocent's future. We have long admired their brand, their products and their unique approach to business." But the investment is sure to open up Innocent to charges that its ideals are being diluted. Coca-Cola has been criticized over negative health effects resulting from consumption of its products. It has also faced allegations about labor abuses in Colombia and environmental concerns in India, among other places. Sales of Coke are holding up well amid the global economic crisis thanks to strong growth in China and India. In February the company reported a 4 percent rise in sales volumes in the last three months of 2008 and a 10 percent increase in comparable earnings.

Coca-Cola buys a minority stake in Innocent, the British fruit drink maker . Innocent said Coke paid £30 million for stake of between 10 and 20 percent . Company insists its ethical stance will not be compromised . Coca-Cola faces allegations about labor abuses and environmental concerns .

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(CNN) -- Two people were killed and two were severely wounded Tuesday in a shooting at a courthouse in Landshut, Germany, police said. A police car sits outside the courthouse in the German city of Landshut. The gunman, a 60-year-old man, was among the dead, Bavarian Police said in a statement. It happened around 10:15 a.m. (4:15 a.m. ET) during a break in a court proceeding about inheritance, Landshut police spokesman Leonard Mayer told CNN. The man began shooting once he stepped outside the courtroom, police said. He wounded three people before turning the gun on himself, Mayer said. One of the victims, a woman, died about 2 1/2 hours later, Bavarian Police said. Watch more about the shooting » . The lives of the two wounded victims are not in danger, he told CNN. The courthouse has no metal detectors or security checks that would have turned up the shooter's weapon, Mayer said. This latest shooting in Germany took place less than a month after a school massacre in the southwestern town of Winnenden, in which a total of 16 people were killed.

German TV: Two people killed in a shooting at a courthouse . Report: Gunmen believed to have killed himself . Court spokesman: Reported that there was "no more danger" Landshut is about 55 kilometers northeast of Munich .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Pirates in ships are searching for the lifeboat containing four pirates and their hostage -- the captain of a freighter they failed to hijack earlier this week -- according to a U.S. military official with knowledge of the situation. Capt. Richard Phillips of the Maersk Alabama is being held by pirates on a lifeboat off Somalia. The pirates are using ships they have already hijacked and larger ships from which they are launching skiffs, the official said Friday. One of the pirated ships is the German cargo ship Hansa Stavanger, seized April 4 off the coast of Somalia. The U.S. military has been monitoring communications between the pirates, the official said. The guided missile frigate USS Halyburton, with helicopter capabilities, has now joined the guided missile destroyer USS Bainbridge in the area. A third ship, the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer, which has a large medical facility on board, will be there within a day. Richard Phillips, the hostage, tried to escape from the pirates Thursday night by jumping out of the lifeboat, a U.S. official said Friday. Watch what it's like inside a lifeboat » . Phillips was believed to be trying to swim to the USS Bainbridge, which is in communication with the four gunmen holding Phillips in the 28-foot boat off Somalia's coast, the official said. Some of the kidnappers jumped into the water, recaptured Phillips, and returned him to the lifeboat, according to the official. Watch what happened when captain tried to escape » . The pirates fired shots, the military official said, but had no further details. A Defense Department official told CNN that Phillips appeared to be tied up by the pirates after the escape attempt. The U.S. official -- who did not want to be named because of the sensitive nature of the situation -- said the escape attempt is being viewed by negotiators as an "optimistic sign" that Phillips is in good health. He has been held since Wednesday, when the hijackers seized control of his U.S.-flagged ship, the Maersk Alabama. Watch expert talk about hostage escape attempts » . The captain's wife Andrea Phillips thanked everyone for their support in a statement. "My husband is a strong man and we will remain strong for him," she said. "We ask that you do the same. " Phillips' 20-man crew regained control of the vessel, and they and the vessel are en route to Mombasa, Kenya, according to the father of one of the crew members. The ship's owners -- the Norfolk, Virginia-based Maersk company -- would not say how the crew regained control. "There will be time for due diligence and retrospective review once we have the safe return of all parties and the opportunity for a full debriefing," it said in a statement. For the U.S. Navy, the show of strength is more than just a means to resolve a hostage situation, said Chris Lawrence, CNN's Pentagon correspondent. Attacks in the area have picked up so drastically in recent months that the Navy has to reposition some of its fleet to deal with the threats, he said. iReport.com: How should the U.S. respond? The pirates have shown no signs of giving in. The Maersk Alabama was on its way to Mombasa, Kenya, with a cargo of food aid when it was attacked Wednesday. It was the first time in recent history that pirates had targeted an American ship. The ship was hijacked some 350 miles off Somalia's coast, a distance that used to be considered safe for ships navigating in the pirate-infested waters. CNN's Mike Mount and Barbara Starr contributed to this report.

NEW: Shots fired in escape attempt, captain apparently tied up, military officials say . Pirates using other hijacked ships to look for lifeboat as Navy ships arrive . Captain's escape attempt viewed as "optimistic sign" of his vitality . Richard Phillips, captain of a U.S.-flagged cargo ship, is being held by four gunmen .

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MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- The Department of Veterans Affairs has launched an investigation into whether there is a connection between improperly sterilized endoscopy equipment and a veteran's positive HIV test. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, requested that the VA look into potential contamination at its facilities. This comes after more than 10,000 veterans were possibly exposed to HIV and hepatitis at three VA facilities while undergoing colonoscopies and other procedures with equipment that had not been properly cleaned. The VA sent letters to those veterans offering free testing for hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV. "The VA prides itself on being accountable, and we are extremely concerned about this matter, and as a result we have initiated an investigation," Dr. Michael J. Kussman, the VA's undersecretary for health, said in a news release Friday. "We have an obligation to provide those who have served and sacrificed for our Nation the care they deserve." Along with the positive HIV test, the VA says 16 other veterans have tested positive for hepatitis B and hepatitis C at two VA facilities. Of all the 17 positive test results, 11 were at the VA's Murfreesboro, Tennessee, facility, and six were from the VA's Augusta, Georgia, hospital. Thousands of other veterans are being tested at the VA hospital in Miami, and the VA says it is waiting to verify results there. So far, 3,174 veterans have been notified of their test results. VA officials decline to say where the veteran who tested positive for HIV was treated. Watch more on the contamination controversy » . Officials stress that the positive results don't necessarily mean the equipment is to blame. The VA is conducting an epidemiological investigation at the facilities to determine if the veterans who have tested positive for hepatitis have similar strains of the virus. Meanwhile, lawmakers are also calling for an investigation. In a letter last month to Gen. Eric Shinseki, the secretary of Veterans Affairs, Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, requested that the VA Office of Inspector General "begin an investigation into the potential problems of contamination; whether any patient has contracted an infection from unsterilized equipment; and, most importantly, how we can prevent such problems from happening again." The VA says it's reviewing procedures at other facilities. So far, it says, it has encountered no additional problems. In the meantime, the VA has brought in additional personnel to help with testing and counseling in Miami, Murfreesboro and Augusta. It has also set up a toll-free number that VA patients and their families can call, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for additional information: 1-877-575-7256. The VA says it will pay for treatment for the infected vets even if they didn't get hepatitis or HIV from the dirty equipment. "We are making sure to take corrective measures to ensure veterans have the information and the care necessary to deal with this unacceptable development," Kussman said.

Agency seeing whether veteran's AIDS infection, endoscopy equipment linked . 16 other vets at 2 VA facilities also test positive for hepatitis . More than 10,000 vets possibly exposed to HIV, hepatitis while having procedures . Equipment used in procedures at 3 VA facilities hadn't been properly cleaned .

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(CNN) -- For fans of The Beatles, 09/09/09 will mark a new invasion. The Fab Four will be made even more so when the remastered Beatles catalogue is released in September. Apple Corps Ltd. and EMI Music have announced that as the date for the release of the entire original Beatles catalogue, digitally remastered. That includes all 12 Beatles albums in stereo, with track listings and artwork as originally released in the UK. The package will also contain the LP version of "Magical Mystery Tour" (initially released as a double-EP in Britain, though available on CD since 1987) and the collections "Past Masters Vol. I and II" combined as one title. The release marks the first time that the first four Beatles albums are being made available in their entirety on compact disc, and it also coincides with the release of "The Beatles: Rock Band" video game. Robert Levine, executive editor for Billboard, said the timing is genius in terms of marketing. "Most bands, when they do a big project like this they pay for publicity," Levine said. "The Beatles got paid for 'Rock Band' and then they are using that for publicity to rerelease a catalogue. It's pretty amazing." Blog: A Beatles fan reflects on the news . Levine pointed out that media have evolved tremendously since 1964, when the band first burst onto the American scene with an appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show." Back then, there were only three major television networks, and engineering of albums was much less sophisticated, Levine noted. Previous rereleases have sold well in the past -- indeed, Beatles albums have sold steadily for decades -- and Levine said he expects this one to do even better. "I think if you were to look at pure catalogue, old bands selling old albums, the Beatles are the kings -- commercially as well as artistically," Levine said. "A lot of [music] has been remastered better in the past 22 years, and remastering technology has come a long way." Piers Hemmingsen, the author of two books on Beatles music and head of the Web site Capitol6000.com, said there has long been a clamor among fans for good, high-quality versions of Beatles songs. "The technology that was available back then was very limited, and with the newer technology they are able to do far more with what they have than they have ever been able to do before," he said. "For people who are plugged into iPods and the whole digital music scene, it's going to be a lot better for them." In acknowledgment of the more technologically advanced listeners, each CD will contain, for a limited time, an embedded brief documentary film about the album. The documentaries contain archival footage, rare photographs and never-before-released studio chat from the Beatles. The remastering project was four years in the making. Engineers used de-noising technology and cleaned up glitches like electrical clicks and microphone vocal pops, so long as it didn't affect the original integrity of the songs. They also slightly boosted the volume levels. Andrew Croft, publisher of Beatlology Magazine, said the announcement of the release of the remastered recordings "is long overdue in the Beatles community and for music fans alike." He also said the quest to improve the original recordings is not new. Croft said bootleg releases over the years used rare and obscure vinyl pressings from countries like Japan and Germany to compile the best of the best recordings of The Beatles songs, presenting to the public a better sound that Apple could not offer prior to the remastering. "While the new remasterings will replace a library full of bootlegs of their commercial releases, there remains a massive market for their more obscure tracks, outtakes and live performances," Croft said. The 14 remastered albums, along with a DVD collection of the documentaries, will also be available for purchase together in a stereo boxed set. A second boxed set, "The Beatles in Mono," includes all of the Beatles recordings that were mixed for a mono release. It will contain 10 of the albums with their original mono mixes, plus two additional discs of mono masters (covering similar ground to the stereo tracks on "Past Masters"). The mono "Help!" and "Rubber Soul" discs also include the original 1965 stereo mixes, which have not been previously released on CD. These albums will be packaged in mini-vinyl CD replicas of the original sleeves with all of the original inserts and label designs. Even with the release date, what is old has become new. Diehard Beatle-ologists may take note that the release date could be viewed as a nod to the Beatles track "One After 909" from the "Let It Be" album -- or a reference to the White Album's "Revolution 9." (John Lennon, who was born on October 9, occasionally talked about his fondness for the number 9.) Hemmingsen said making the music more accessible and attractive to a younger audience helps spread Beatlemania to a new generation. "Their music is catchy, memorable, interesting and listenable," said Hemmingsen, who was a youngster in England when the Beatles hit the scene and has been a fan ever since. "The time that they evolved their music was an interesting time and their music reflected that time." Levine said the band has always captured fans from across generations. "The songs have lasted for a long time because they are great songs," he said. "It's just that simple. Those are amazing, amazing albums."

The Beatles' remastered catalogue will be released in September . Release includes all 12 Beatles albums and two later works . Beatles expert says music now more accessible to digital music fans . Release date of 09/09/09 could be a nod to "One After 909" song .

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(CNN) -- Madonna is in Malawi this week attempting to adopt a second child from the African nation. A judge ruled Monday that she will have to wait until Friday to learn a decision. Dominic Nutt of Save the Children UK has urged Madonna to rethink her adoption of a girl from Malawi. In the meantime, a children's group is saying that she should not adopt and that the child would be better off in her own country. Madonna has brushed off questions from reporters, saying it is "none of their business." CNN's Kiran Chetry, spoke with Dominic Nutt, the spokesman for Save the Children UK, Monday on "American Morning." Chetry: You heard Madonna ... say it's no one's business. Over the weekend, you came out, though, and urged Madonna to rethink this adoption. What is your biggest concern? Nutt: Well, our biggest concern is that we believe that in the most -- in the majority of cases, orphans, so-called orphans, in fact [are] not orphans -- they have at least one parent living -- and even those that don't, have a wider family that can look after them. And we believe that children in poverty should be best looked after by their own people in their own environment. And that people like Madonna and organizations like Save the Children are best off helping those families by building schools and supporting them to look after these so-called orphans and not transporting them to live across the world in mansions, in pop stars' mansions, that sort of thing. Watch charity explain position on international adoptions » . Chetry: Now, Madonna also is doing both, I guess you could say, because she founded that organization, Raising Malawi, right, back in 2006, did a documentary as well, trying to bring attention and money to the plight of the children there. Nutt: Well, absolutely right. So she's obviously accepted the logic of the Save the Children argument, it's help children on the ground. If you really do love a child and you want the child to do well, then help them in their own world. Now, look ... something like 10 million children a year die across the world because of poverty before the age of 5. You cannot possibly help all those children by moving them. amFIX: Your thoughts on whether Madonna should adopt . So, what we're saying clearly is not that Madonna is wrong or families and parents or want-to-be parents who do go for international adoption are wrong. But it must be a last resort. They must make sure there is no family network to support them, and if they don't help that child, that child is in peril. The life of that child is in peril. Otherwise ... you are better off supporting that child in its own environment. Chetry: All right, well, here's what a couple of people who actually live there say. One of them is a resident of ... Malawi, who said, "We're poor people. If a child's mother dies, it's hard for the man to bring the child up." He's saying that because apparently in this situation, the child she's trying to adopt, Mercy James, both -- neither parent [is] living, according to our report. And then I want you to hear also from the Law Commission of Malawi, one member of it, and what he said about this adoption. Let's listen. Unidentified male: If you project 20 years from now, where will the child be if the child is left in the orphanage where it is, or if it gets a chance to get an education with Madonna. Chetry: The figures also from UNICEF show that for every 1,000 births in Malawi, 120 children die. The life expectancy in that country is only 44 years old. And most children over the age of 10 do not attend school. So, wouldn't life be better for some of these children who have no living parents, who would at least be in another country where their basic needs could be met and they could get a decent education? Nutt: Well, would it not be better to solve the problems of Malawi and help Malawians solve their own problems by educating their children and feeding their children and helping their children so they can get off that cycle of poverty? Not just literally transporting the whole population of Malawi. If we are concerned about the population of Malawi being in a very difficult situation, we can't transport them all to Queens in New York or to Kensington in London to make that difference. The difference has to be made on the ground. Otherwise, we really are shuffling the deck chairs on the deck of the Titanic. Chetry: All right, well, they're not necessarily mutually exclusive. So, the question that I have is: Is your issue really with Madonna? I mean, you mentioned celebrity and living in mansions. But what about just ... some middle-class ... working people who are unable to have children themselves and would like to try to help out a child in need overseas. Are you against that type of adoption? Nutt: No, no. All I'm saying is that it's definitely a last resort. Because I know the pain of trying to have a child. I've been trying, my wife, for years, and we just got lucky four weeks ago. But I know that heartache and that lack of being able to bring up a child in a loving environment. But we know from our case studies in working in Liberian orphanages that in many cases, these children are [picked] off the Internet, without much research going on, and sometimes it doesn't work out, and the children can be sent back to their own country. And all that has happened is that that child's life has been messed around with. So, of course, it's difficult. And I wish I could give you an easy answer and offer you a magic wand, but if you challenge poverty on the ground in these countries, you can in the end do very well by these children. Save the Children's been doing it for 90 years across the world, and it's making a difference. ... You say it's not mutually exclusive, of course, but you can bet your bottom dollar that by investing in children, you'll get a much bigger impact and better outcome than by taking one or two children here and there as a matter of willy-nilly choice. Chetry: All right, Dominic Nutt, spokesman for Save the Children UK, thank you for your point of view this morning. And we also want to let people know that we did reach out to Madonna's spokeswoman. So far, we're just getting "No comment."

Save the Children spokesman: Children should be raised by extended family . Celebrities, groups best help children by supporting their communities, he says . Madonna is trying to adopt a girl from Malawi .

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(CNN) -- Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's energetic response to Monday's earthquake has been generally praised despite his comparison of the ordeal of survivors staying in emergency tents to a camping weekend. An elderly local resident bursts into tears during a visit by Silvio Berlusconi, wearing a fireman's helmet. Berlusconi has visited the town of L'Aquila, the epicenter of the 6.3-magnitude quake, every day this week, talking to survivors and pledging government help to rebuild houses. He scrapped a visit to Russia that was planned for this week. The PM has even been greeted with applause on occasions, according to CNN correspondent Paula Newton, who interviewed him on Wednesday. "He was very tired when I saw him, you could tell he hadn't had much sleep," Newton said. "In general he thrives on these events and politically it will probably give him a boost, if only temporarily." However, she added that his visit to a dormitory where students were buried under rubble had upset some of the parents and relatives. "They were kept well back and he did not meet with them," she said. Watch Berlusconi talk about the disaster » (Italian version) » . "One relative, in obvious anger, asked another 'why is he here?' and another replied "he's taking care of elections, of course." And true to form Berlusconi has been unable to avoid putting his foot in it. During a visit to one tent village where thousands who had lost their houses were staying, Berlusconi told German television "they should see it like a weekend of camping." The trademark gaffe sparked predictable outrage. "He is a completely insensitive man who thinks wisecracks can solve every problem," Rina Gagliardi, a former senator of the Refoundation Communist Party, told Agence France-Presse. "He can never be negative, but an earthquake disorients him because he can't blame the left for causing it, so his response is extreme optimism," she said. Berlusconi is of course renowned for such off-the-cuff remarks. In November he described Obama as "handsome and suntanned." He was also forced to issue an apology to his wife, Veronica Lario, in 2007 after she read reports of him approaching several women at an awards dinner and declaring: "If I wasn't married, I would marry you straight away." Lario received the apology after sending a letter criticizing her husband to a newspaper in which she said his behavior was "unacceptable" and "damaging to my dignity." Despite the most recent criticism, Berlusconi has won praise from the media for his limelight-hogging visits to the region. People in the temporary camps also say they are being well looked after by the authorities although they are desperate to collect their own things from their homes. In his interview with CNN on Wednesday Berlusconi said every effort was being made to assess which houses were safe to enter. "This is an aerial view of Onno, and you can see, unfortunately, how the town has been totally destroyed," the prime minister told CNN. "Here, we can go into greater detail and concentrate on individual houses. This helps us to assess the damage right away and tells us how much it will cost to rebuild." The Italian government has said it will cost 1.3 billion euros (1.7 billion dollars) to repair or rebuild about 10,000 buildings damaged in the quake. "We have the plans for reconstruction and intend to start immediately with the building projects," Berlusconi told CNN. "We will build a new town near the capital, L'Aquila, and keep the possibility open for many families to stay, for the time being, in hotels along the coast, less than a hour away, in pleasant and comfortable circumstances." Berlusconi said the plan for the new town would involve low-rate mortgages. "This is not an alternative to the reconstruction," he said Wednesday. "These are additional houses."

Italy PM's response to Monday's earthquake has been generally praised . Berlusconi has compared ordeal of survivors in tents to camping weekend . PM has visited town of L'Aquila every day this week, assessing damage .

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MONT TREMBLANT, Quebec (CNN) -- Natasha Richardson came to Mont Tremblant ski resort in eastern Canada last month for what was supposed to be a skiing getaway. Actress Natasha Richardson died after suffering an epidural hematoma in a fall during a ski lesson. But what she may not have known is some doctors have been arguing that if a person here is in need of urgent care at a medical trauma center, he or she may not be able to get there fast enough. The only way to get to the closest trauma center from here is to drive 2½ hours to Montreal. No helicopter medical service is available. The Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail obtained 911 recordings from Monday, March 16, when Richardson fell on a beginners slope on a sunny, clear day at the resort. The first request for help came in at 12:43 p.m., an urgent call that a woman had fallen on the slopes. That woman was Richardson. Seventeen minutes later, at 1 p.m., an ambulance arrived, but Richardson had been able to walk away from the fall and was headed back to her hotel room. Ten minutes later the ambulance was told to stand down, the call canceled. What Richardson couldn't have known is that she suffered an epidural hematoma. It's a condition where a blood clot forms between the skull and the outer layer of the brain. Too much pressure can cause brain damage and even death. Symptoms include dizziness, headaches and nausea. "The person seems to be fine and walks it off, and that's one of the problems with an injury such as this," said Dr. Liam Durkan, a neurologist with the Montreal Neurology Institute. "Anytime there is any sort of process expanding in the skull, which is a closed space, once the symptoms are apparent, it can be a matter of 30 minutes to an hour to 90 minutes before there is a major deterioration." Two hours after her initial fall, while Richardson was back in her hotel room, she was feeling the symptoms. The clock was ticking and she needed to get to a trauma center fast. With the closest trauma center 2½ hours away, time may have been running out on her. It's recommended that anyone with an epidural hematoma get to the trauma center within 30-90 minutes. At 2:59 p.m., another ambulance was dispatched to the resort. This time, the paramedics went inside and worked on Richardson for 33 minutes before transporting her to the closest hospital an hour away, but it is not a trauma center. Inside the ambulance, Richardson drifted in and out of consciousness. "It is a rapidly deteriorating situation and the distance might have been just too much by ambulance, road ambulance or air ambulance. It's difficult to say," said Durkan, who did not treat Richardson. Depending on the severity of the injury at the time, he said, even helicopter services may have been too late. Some trauma doctors have argued for air transport here since the mid-1990s. They say the safest and fastest way to move anyone suffering a trauma injury such as Richardson's is by helicopter. Helicopter transport is common practice in the United States and other areas of Canada. But in the Quebec region, very few places have access to air transport. In an open letter to the citizens of Quebec sent to the Montreal Gazette, Dr. Michael Churchill Smith, director of professional services at the Montreal General Hospital, said incidents like Natasha Richardson's should serve as a wake-up call to Quebec. "It is no longer morally acceptable for our citizens who, in the moment of their greatest needs, do not have access to a rapid transit system that gives them the best chance to not only survive, but to survive with a quality of life." Daniel LeFrancois, director of Quebec's pre-hospital care, told the Gazette that cost is prohibitive when a one-hour flight costs $6,000. It's a question of resources and priorities focusing on "the biggest gain for the biggest need," he said. Richardson was taken from Mont Tremblant to a hospital in St. Agathe, which does not have the facilities to help someone with a severe head trauma. Richardson was transferred to the trauma center in Montreal about 7 p.m., more than six hours after her initial fall. Twenty-four hours later she was flown to a New York hospital, where she was taken off life support and died. No one can answer the question whether a helicopter service could have saved Richardson's life. She refused services immediately after her fall, but with the clock ticking immediately after she felt symptoms from her injury, 2½ hours may have been too far away even if she'd gotten help immediately.

Resort where Natasha Richardson was injured is 2½-hour drive from trauma center . No helicopter medical services are available . With epidural hematoma, survival window without treatment is about 90 minutes . Some Canadian trauma doctors have argued for air transport since 1990s .

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ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNN) -- Regular programming has just been interrupted by a news conference. A slender black man in a suit steps up to a podium, flanked by American flags and a White House logo. Michael Lamar was laid off in January but has a new job as a Barack Obama look-alike. "I wish I could announce such an economic package," he says, "but there is a bank in Turkey that did it. It is Garanti. I wish we had Garanti in America." Don't be fooled. This is a commercial on Turkish TV. The actor is a 44-year-old Barack Obama look-alike from Whitehall, Pennsylvania, named Michael Lamar. And he is shilling for a Turkish bank. In the month before the real Barack Obama is to visit Turkey, this ad campaign went out all across the country on television and on billboards, using the iconic, Warholian image of the American president to sell low-interest loans. The "Mad Men" behind the concept say their Obama look-alike was the perfect guy to sell what they described as Garanti Bank's own economic stimulus package. "We probably wouldn't be doing this commercial if it was the previous president," said Can Celikbilek, a copy writer at the advertising company, Alametifarika. "But in the case of Obama, he does represent hope, not only for the States but for the whole world." For Obama look-alike actor Lamar, there was some irony about getting flown to Turkey to star in a commercial for a bank. He is a recent casualty of the global economic crisis. "I was laid off in January of this year from JP Morgan Chase Bank in the U.S.," Lamar said, in a telephone interview from Pennsylvania. "After 18 years in the company, I was just laid off. One of the cutbacks. I'm currently unemployed right now." Or, was unemployed. Lamar's striking resemblance to the American president has suddenly offered the former software analyst a possible new career for supporting his wife and child. "I'm available full-time now," Lamar said. "I'm going to see where this leads me." Lamar is now being represented by a casting agency in Los Angeles that specializes in celebrity look-alikes. Since he discovered his new "talent," he has traveled to the Netherlands to appear in a commercial for a liquor chain and to Paris, where an activist organization brought him in to meet lawmakers at the National Assembly, as part of a campaign to raise awareness about racism and racial profiling in France. "This was very exciting for me, a true privilege!" Lamar said. During his brief visit to Turkey, locals did double-takes when they saw Lamar walk past. "Even in the studio, the crew [members] were like, 'Oh! Is that Obama?" said Celikbilek of Alametifarika advertising. Using the image of an American president to promote anything in Turkey is a remarkable reversal. U.S. approval ratings in Turkey plunged to 9 percent, according to a 2007 Pew Research poll, making America less popular in Turkey then almost anywhere else in the world, even though the two countries are NATO allies. There was widespread anger among Turks at the war in neighboring Iraq. But the election of Barack Obama appears to have dramatically improved perceptions of America. "Bush was a dictator who attacked other countries," said Abdurrahman Ozdemir, who sells cigarettes from a small stall on the street. "But we love Obama ... because he does not want to go to war with other countries." "We started to love and like America because of Obama," said a 33-year-old woman named Begum Arinc. "I don't want to see people dying. I don't want to see any war. That's why I want to believe in Obama."

Michael Lamar strikes an Obama-like figure in ads for a bank in Turkey . Lamar worked for JP Morgan Chase for 18 years before being laid off . President Obama will be in Turkey soon on presidential visit . U.S. approval ratings in turkey have plunged in recent years .

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(CNN) -- Josef Fritzl, the Austrian man accused of keeping his daughter in a cellar for decades and fathering her seven children, will go on trial March 16 on six charges including murder and incest. Josef Fritzl admitted fathering seven children by his daughter during her 24-year captivity. The Austrian Press Agency reported Thursday the trial was expected to last about five days and be held behind closed doors. Further details about the case would be announced Friday, it said. Fritzl, 73, was charged in November with incest and the repeated rape of his daughter, Elisabeth, for 24 years. But he was also charged with the murder of one of the children he fathered with her, an infant who died soon after birth. State Prosecutor Gerhard Sedlacek said Michael Fritzl died from lack of medical care. In all, Fritzl faces six charges at trial: murder, involvement in slave trade (slavery), rape, incest, assault, and deprivation of liberty, Sedlacek's office said. If convicted, he could face life in prison. The case first came to light in April 2008 when Elisabeth's then-19-year-old daughter, Kerstin, became seriously ill with convulsions. Elisabeth persuaded her father to allow Kerstin to be taken to a hospital for treatment. Hospital staff became suspicious of the case and alerted police, who discovered the family members in the cellar. Fritzl confessed to police that he raped his daughter, kept her and their children in captivity, and burned the body of the dead infant in an oven in the house. Elisabeth told police the infant was one of twins who died a few days after birth. When Elisabeth gained her freedom, she told police her father began sexually abusing her at age 11. On August 8, 1984, her father enticed her into the basement, where he drugged her, put her in handcuffs and locked her in a room, she told police. Fritzl explained Elisabeth's disappearance in 1984 by saying the 18-year-old girl had run away from home. He backed up the story with letters he forced Elisabeth to write. Elisabeth Fritzl and all but three of her children lived in the specially designed cellar beneath her father's home in Amstetten, Austria, west of Vienna. The other three children lived upstairs with Fritzl and his wife; Fritzl had left them on his own doorstep, pretending his "missing" daughter Elisabeth had dropped them off. Under Austrian law, if Fritzl is convicted on several offenses, he will be given the sentence linked to the worst crime. In addition to murder, he will face the following charges: .

Josef Fritzl accused of keeping daughter captive for decades, on trial March 16 . Fritzl faces murder charge as one of 7 children he fathered by daughter died . Other charges include incest, rape, assault and involvement in slave trade .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The federal government is establishing a new system for updating medical records of servicemen and women during and after their military careers, President Obama announced Thursday. President Obama made veterans' affairs a big priority in the 2008 campaign and continues to do so. The joint virtual lifetime electronic record will, among other things, help ensure a streamlined transition of health care records between the Pentagon and the Veterans Administration. It will provide "a framework to ensure that all health care providers have all the information they need to deliver high-quality health care while reducing medical errors," the White House said in a background statement. "When a member of the armed forces separates from the military, he or she will no longer have to walk paperwork from a [Defense Department] duty station to a local VA health center. Their electronic records will transition along with them and remain with them forever," Obama said in remarks delivered near the White House. The system will "cut through red tape" and allow new veterans to start receiving their benefits more quickly, he promised. During the announcement, Obama was joined by Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki. "We welcome this news. ... This is a huge day for veterans and troops," Paul Rieckhoff, head of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, told CNN. "This is a good way for [Obama] to come back from Iraq and make a powerful statement." The White House recently proposed a significant budget increase for the Veterans Administration, including an 11 percent hike in fiscal year 2010. In March, however, the administration abandoned a controversial plan to charge private insurers for treatment of veterans' service-connected ailments. Veterans' representatives and members of Congress angrily opposed the proposal, which White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said was never finalized.

NEW: "This is a huge day for veterans and troops," chief of veterans group says . Government is establishing a new system for updating medical records . Joint virtual lifetime electronic record aims to streamline data between Pentagon, VA . Obama: System will "cut through red tape," allow new vets to get benefits faster .

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Editor's note: Julian E. Zelizer is a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School. He is completing a book on the history of national security politics since World War II, to be published by Basic Books. Zelizer writes widely on current events. Julian Zelizer says it's not enough for Republicans to oppose Obama's plans, they must offer their own ideas. PRINCETON, New Jersey (CNN) -- One of the best Marx Brothers movies, "Horse Feathers," played in movie theaters at the height of the Great Depression in 1932. In the film, the comedian Groucho Marx played the new president of Huxley College, Quincy Adams Wagstaff. During one of the most memorable scenes, Groucho introduces himself to faculty and students by singing about his philosophy of governance: "Your proposition may be good/But let's have one thing understood/ Whatever it is, I'm against it!/And even when you've changed it or condensed it, I'm against it/ I'm opposed to it/On general principle. I'm opposed to it." If Republicans want to rebuild their party after the calamity of 2008, the party leadership needs to avoid the Quincy Adams Wagstaff approach to politics. When Obama proposed his economic recovery bill last week, the first words to come out of House Minority Leader's John Boehner's mouth sounded a bit like Wagstaff. With the economy imploding and the international economic crisis worsening, Boehner said: "Right now, given the concerns that we have over the size of the package and all of the spending in this package, we don't think it's going to work. And so if it's the plan that I see today, put me down in the 'no' column." Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has been more restrained in his response, leaving open the door to compromise. If Boehner is simply acting as Dr. No to get a better deal, Republicans can come out of the negotiations over the economic recovery bill as partners, planting the seeds for a new Republican approach toward dealing with economic matters. But if Boehner's plan is for his party to act as an oppositional force -- trying to block, delay and prevent legislative action -- then the GOP could find itself in big trouble. If the Republicans don't agree with Obama's approach, given the severity of the crisis, they need to offer an alternative rather than just sitting still. To be sure, there is the possibility that if the economy continues to deteriorate after a bill has passed and the public loses faith in Obama, the House GOP could reap the benefit from their opposition. They could say "we told you so." But even that would be a high-risk maneuver, particularly given the state of public opinion about the Republican Party. Even if a bill passes and the economy continues to struggle, voters would be looking at a Republican Party that didn't have anything better to offer. The public likes hard-working politicians. President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal ideas didn't always work -- some like the National Recovery Act were downright failures -- but voters valued a president who tried to offer arguments about how to end the crisis and who rolled up his sleeves to make the nation better. The election of 2008 revealed that the Republican Party lacks the kind of big ideas that Ronald Reagan used in 1980 to bring the conservative movement into power. The various factions of the conservative movement came together around the themes of anti-communism, deregulation and tax cuts. Reagan didn't just sell tax cuts for the wealthy as good in themselves, but connected them to supply-side economics, which claimed that cuts would stimulate investment, generate economic growth and ultimately bring more revenue into the coffers of Treasury. Even after the Soviet Union collapsed, Republican leaders found ideas to sell their movement to the public. Newt Gingrich and a cohort of young Republicans focused on sharp attacks about the dangers of government intervention and corruption of government. For a short time it seemed that under George W. Bush, the war on terrorism would provide a new thematic focus to Republican efforts. But this was not to be. The controversies over Iraq and the continued dangers in countries such as Afghanistan undermined Republican claims of superiority on national security policy. Controversies over the erosion of civil liberties and due process in the pursuit of terrorism also weakened their claims. When the economy collapsed in fall 2008, Republicans' arguments about the wisdom of tax cuts and deregulation were made suspect. Americans might not always like government, but they dislike being broke even more. Sen. John McCain struggled in his campaign, not just because of the weaknesses of his campaign, but because his party seemed to lack any answers as Wall Street and Main Street spun out of control. Furthermore, the fact that the federal government continued to expand under Bush -- both when Republicans and Democrats controlled Capitol Hill -- made it difficult to sell Republican arguments about the dangers of big government. Back in the 1970s, when Republicans felt as if they were in the political wilderness, they invested a great deal of their resources into the market of ideas. Conservatives built think tanks like the CATO Institute, established talk radio shows, and financed academic scholarship about conservatism so that when opportunities arose in the elections of 1980 and 1994, Republicans had something to say. At some point, Republicans have to tap into the 1970s enthusiasm about generating ideas if they want to rebuild their party and win over the hearts and minds of voters. Simply reviving the philosophy of the 1970s won't work. Rather the GOP needs to offer new arguments and new policies to achieve economic recovery. If they repeat what happened in the 1930s, when Republicans sounded a lot like Groucho Marx and just said no as FDR rebuilt the nation, they are likely to remain on the outskirts of power for decades to come. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Julian Zelizer.

Julian Zelizer: House Republicans are signaling they will oppose stimulus plan . He says Republicans are in trouble if they simply act as an opposition force . Democrats gained sway for decades by seeking to improve the economy, he says . Zelizer: If GOP opposes stimulus plan, it should offer alternatives of its own .

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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- A suspected U.S. missile struck a village Wednesday in Pakistan's tribal region, killing three Taliban militants and wounding four others, according to local officials and media reports. People inspect the damage from a suspected U.S. missile strike in northwest Pakistan last month. The strike is the 12th missile attack this year, compared with three attacks during the same period in 2008. The missile -- fired from an unmanned drone -- was targeting a pickup truck carrying suspected militants near the town of Wana in South Waziristan in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas, according to Nasim Dawar, an official with the South Waziristan administration. Witnesses and intelligence sources said the drone was flying low and the militants fired at it before the missile strike, Dawar said. Two nearby shops were destroyed in the missile attack, he said. The U.S. military in Afghanistan routinely offers no comment on reported cross-border strikes. However, the United States is the only country operating in the region known to have the capability to launch missiles from drones, which are controlled remotely. Journalists Janullah Hashimzada and Nazar Ul-Islam contributed to this report.

Witnesses say missile was fired from drone plane flying low over village, official says . Militants fired back at pilotless drone, according to official in Pakistan's tribal region . Strike is the 12th this year, compared to just three in same period last year . U.S. military in Afghanistan routinely doesn't comment on reports of drone attacks .

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NORFOLK, Virginia (CNN) -- Negotiators aboard a U.S. Navy warship are trying to secure the release of an American freighter captain who is being held by pirates on a lifeboat off the coast of Somalia, according to Maersk Line Ltd. Capt. Richard Phillips of the Maersk Alabama is being held by pirates on a lifeboat off Somalia. The crew aboard the destroyer USS Bainbridge could see the lifeboat where pirates have been holding Capt. Richard Phillips since Wednesday, the company said in a written statement issued at 5 p.m. ET. Phillips has not been hurt, the statement said. Phillips, who has received provisions and batteries for his radio, has been in touch with the crews of the Alabama and the Bainbridge, the statement said. The pirates are the same four men who hijacked Phillips' vessel, the U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama, early Wednesday hundreds of miles off the Horn of Africa. The Alabama's 20-person crew later regained control of the ship, which is owned and operated by the Norfolk-based Maersk Line Ltd. In a written statement, Maersk spokesman Kevin Speers noted that "there have been many questions about how the crew re-captured the ship and how the captain came to leave the ship." But he would not clarify the matter. "Our immediate focus has been to bring the current situation to a safe resolution," he said. "There will be time for due diligence and retrospective review once we have the safe return of all parties and the opportunity for a full de-briefing." The U.S. Navy, which is in charge of the situation, requested the help of the FBI. FBI negotiators in the United States are in touch with the crew of the Bainbridge, which arrived on the scene earlier Thursday to assist, a senior U.S. defense official said. According to Maersk's last communication with the Navy, the 28-foot lifeboat was disabled and "dead in the water," Speers said Thursday morning. "We are encouraged that most of the crew is safe. They have been resilient and courageous throughout this crisis," Speers said. "But we will remain on watch, staffing our situation room and our family hot line until this situation is resolved and the captain is safely returned." On Thursday, the Maersk Alabama resumed its journey to Mombasa, Kenya, with an 18-person armed security detail on board, according to Joseph Murphy, the father of the ship's first officer. Maersk and U.S. military officials confirmed the cargo ship had left the area on Thursday, but would not say where it was heading, citing security concerns. See how pirate attacks have increased » . Gen. David Petraeus, chief of U.S. Central Command, said Thursday that the Bainbridge would be getting backup shortly. "I can tell you, there are definitely going to be more ships in that area in the next 24 or 48 hours, because there are two more sailing to it right now," he said. "Needless to say, we want to ensure we have all the capacity that may be needed over the course of the coming days." Vice Adm. William E. Gortney, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, told CNN's Barbara Starr in Bahrain that, "We have been moving forces in that direction." White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said President Obama had been staying apprised of the situation. "Obviously, his main concern is for the safety of the captain and the rest of the crew on the ship, and he will continue to receive those updates," he said. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said an international coalition of countries is working to address the piracy threat, but the area in question is immense. "I think the ocean area we're referring to is three times the size of Texas," she told reporters. iReport.com: 'Stop the pirates, Obama!' Referring to continuing problems with piracy in those waters, she said instability in Somalia has contributed to the flourishing of "an old scourge." The Alabama was loaded with food aid when the pirates hijacked it Wednesday, 350 miles off Somalia's coast -- a distance that used to be considered safe from pirate attacks. It was the first time in recent history that pirates targeted an American ship. Watch how pirates work off Somalia » . The pirates were armed with AK-47 assault rifles while the ship's crew carried no weapons, according to Ken Quinn, the second officer of the ship. Crew members managed to take one of the four pirates hostage, Quinn said. The crew -- apparently minus the captain -- locked themselves in the compartment that contains the ship's steering gear, where they remained for about 12 hours with their captive, whom Quinn said they had tied up. Watch Quinn describe the hijacking to CNN » . The pirates reneged on their agreement to exchange Phillips for one pirate whom the crew had captured. The pirate was released unharmed, according to Quinn, who spoke to CNN on Wednesday via a satellite call. The pirates had scuttled the small boat they used to reach the ship, Quinn said, so Phillips offered them the Alabama's 28-foot lifeboat and some money. "We returned him, but they didn't return the captain," Quinn said. The U.S. Navy issued a warning several days ago to ships in the area that pirates were operating farther offshore. Watch former Navy captain discuss options » . There are emergency rations to last 10 days on the lifeboat, but the conditions are most likely "uncomfortable," according to Murphy. "There's no toilet facilities or anything like that," he said. "The captain has a VHF radio, and I'm sure that he's in voice communication with the ship itself. The problem is, of course, that ... the [radio's] battery is going to die, and I'm not really sure how they're going to continue communication after that." iReport.com: How should the U.S. respond? It is common for crews of merchant vessels to travel through the area unarmed despite the risk of pirate attacks, experts said. An armed crew could provoke a firefight that would endanger the crew's lives or its cargo, which often contains flammable or explosive material. John Reinhart, chief executive and president of Maersk Line Ltd., said the crew can try to outrun the pirate boats or turn fire hoses on anyone trying to board the ship, "but we do not carry arms." Watch company spokesman say how captain is held » . The vessel was carrying relief supplies for USAID, the U.N. World Food Program and the Christian charities WorldVision and Catholic Relief Services. The U.N. agency said its portion of the cargo included nearly 4,100 metric tons of corn-soya blend bound for Somalia and Uganda, and another 990 metric tons of vegetable oil for refugees in Kenya. CNN's Jason Carroll contributed to this report.

NEW: Backup heading to scene of standoff, Gen. David Petraeus says . Maersk Alabama leaves scene with armed detail as negotiations for captain continue . FBI assists in negotiations with pirates holding Capt. Richard Phillips in lifeboat . U.S. Navy warned that pirates increasing range of operations .

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(CNN) -- A man who was sought by police in Texas after four children were burned with sulfuric acid has turned himself in, authorities said Monday. Tracy Lynn Escobedo is taken into custody for allegedly burning four children with sulfuric acid. Tracy Lynn Escobedo, 27, called CNN affiliate KXII-TV and asked that a crew videotape him as he turned himself in Sunday. "I would never throw acid at nobody. It was an accident," Escobedo says repeatedly on the video as he surrenders to Cooke County sheriff's deputies. "I ran because I was scared. I hurt my kids. It was an accident. ... I would never hurt my kids. I love them." Escobedo is charged with four counts of injury to a child, the sheriff's office said. The children involved were ages 14, 7, 4, and 18 months, authorities said. In the incident last week near Gainesville, Texas, a container of sulfuric acid ruptured in a pickup truck, police said. Cynthia Stout -- a woman believed to be the mother -- and three of the children were left at a cafe by Escobedo, who took the baby with him, authorities said. Escobedo then gave the baby to another woman, believed to be a relative, at a residence, authorities said. When police arrived at the cafe, Stout attempted to flee and resist arrest, but was taken into custody, authorities said. She was being held on suspicion of child endangerment. It was unclear why sulfuric acid was in the truck. Cooke County Sheriff Michael Compton said all four children are being treated at Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas. Speaking to CNN early Monday, Compton said the condition of the 7-year-old "is not very good, I don't think. The others are stable." The state has temporary custody of the children, Compton said.

Suspect says four children accidentally burned with sulfuric acid . Tracy Lynn Escobedo's surrender documented by local TV station . Children hospitalized; three stable, one "not very good," police say .

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(CNN Student News) -- February marks the beginning of Black History Month, a federally recognized, nationwide celebration that provides the opportunity for all Americans to reflect on the significant roles that African-Americans have played in the shaping of U.S. history. But how did this celebration come to be, and why does it take place in February? We should emphasize not Negro History, but the Negro in history. What we need is not a history of selected races or nations, but the history of the world void of national bias, race hate, and religious prejudice. - Dr. Carter G. Woodson (1875-1950) on founding Negro History Week, 1926 . Dr. Carter G. Woodson, considered a pioneer in the study of African-American history, is given much of the credit for Black History Month, and has been called the "Father of Black History." The son of former slaves, Woodson spent his childhood working in coalmines and quarries . He received his education during the four-month term that was customary for black schools at the time. At 19, having taught himself English fundamentals and arithmetic, Woodson entered high school, where he completed a four-year curriculum in two years. He went on to receive his Master's degree in history from the University of Chicago, and he eventually earned a Ph.D from Harvard. Disturbed that history textbooks largely ignored America's black population, Woodson took on the challenge of writing black Americans into the nation's history. To do this, Woodson established the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. He also founded the group's widely respected publication, the Journal of Negro History. In 1926, he developed Negro History Week. Woodson believed that "the achievements of the Negro properly set forth will crown him as a factor in early human progress and a maker of modern civilization." Woodson chose the second week of February for the celebration because it marks the birthdays of two men who greatly influenced the black American population: Frederick Douglass (February 14), an escaped slave who became one of the foremost black abolitionists and civil rights leaders in the nation, and President Abraham Lincoln (February 12), who signed the Emancipation Proclamation, which abolished slavery in America's confederate states. In 1976, Negro History Week expanded into Black History Month. The month is also sometimes referred to as African-American Heritage Month. (Source: http://blackhistorypages.net/pages/cgwoodson.php, http://www.chipublib.org/002branches/woodson/woodsonbib.html)

Use this information to understand the origins of Black History Month .

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(CNN) -- Chronic seizures can present a risk for adolescents, whose bodies and metabolism are changing. Jett Travolta was the elder of John Travolta and Kelly Preston's two children. A seizure disorder caused the death of Jett Travolta, the 16-year-old son of actors John Travolta and Kelly Preston, a source at a Bahamas funeral home told CNN. "Literally dozens of different disorders can cause seizures: genetics, stroke, brain tumor, lack of oxygen, low blood sugar, drugs, even certain medications," said Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN's chief medical correspondent. Another expert said the teen years bring risks for those with seizures. "Adolescence is a time, even if you don't talk about children with any seizure disorder, where things change in a child," said Dr. Shlomo Shinnar of Montefiore Medical Center in New York. There are effective drugs to treat seizures. As children grow, their bodies and metabolism change, perhaps causing a need to adjust their dosage, said Shinnar, a professor of neurology and pediatrics and director of the Comprehensive Epilepsy Management Center at Montefiore. "Seizures during adolescence can get better or worse or stay the same," he said. And the risk of seizures is higher for children with disabilities such as autism and cerebral palsy, Shinnar said. Jett Travolta had a developmental disability that his parents have linked to Kawasaki disease, an inflammatory disorder of the artery walls that most commonly occurs in young children. An autopsy of the actors' son was completed Monday, and the body was cremated that evening, the funeral home source said. Jett was found unconscious in the bathroom Friday while on vacation with his family. Michael Ossi, an attorney for Travolta, told CNN last week that Jett had a seizure that morning at the family's home in a resort area. He was taken by ambulance to a hospital and pronounced dead on arrival, according to local police. People.com reported that Travolta, Preston and their 8-year-old daughter Ella Blue arrived in Florida on Monday night with Jett's ashes. The reports that a seizure disorder caused Jett's death were preliminary, Gupta said. "It tells us more about what did not happen than the ultimate cause of death. It rules out brain injury, bleeding on brain, skull fractures, rules out heart problems due to Kawasaki disease, which is the disease the Travoltas say their son suffered," he said. Kawasaki disease, believed to be caused by an infection, inflames the heart muscles. In 2001, Travolta told CNN's Larry King that his son had a near brush with death related to the condition. "I was obsessive about cleaning -- his space being clean, so we constantly had the carpets cleaned. And I think, between him, the fumes and walking around, maybe picking up pieces or something, he got what is rarely a thing to deal with, but it's Kawasaki syndrome," Travolta said of his then-2-year-old son. Dr. Cam Patterson, general cardiologist at the University of North Carolina and a genetics expert who follows Kawasaki disease, told CNN, "There is no real good link at all between Kawasaki disease and cleaning products. "Kawasaki disease is due to an abnormal immunnologic response, probably to an infectious agent or infection we don't yet understand," Patterson said. "There is nothing that links environmental toxins to this problem." Someone with Kawasaki could have seizures for one of two reasons, but they would be rare, he said. "One, sometime in the past one of the arteries in the brain ruptured and caused stroke," he said. "Two, if the artery had enlarged enough, it could be pressing on parts of brain and that could cause seizure. Both possibilities are unusual for Kawasaki disease." A very small study released in 1991 found an association between cases of Kawasaki disease in homes where carpet had been cleaned in the past 30 days. "It's very easy to find correlations, but doesn't mean causative," Patterson said. The next step would have been to conduct more tests, by taking toxicological tests and brain examinations to see what could have caused the seizure. "Even with physical evidence and a deeper look by neuropathologists, we still may never have an answer," Gupta said on CNN's American Morning. CNN's Stephanie Smith and Miriam Falco contributed to this report.

Seizures in teenagers can be caused by dozens of disorders, genetics . Seizure said to have caused the death of Jett Travolta, 16 . Family has linked seizures to Kawasaki disease; experts say it's unlikely .

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Editor's Note: Jack R. Nerad is Executive Editorial Director for Kelley Blue Book and kbb.com, and co-host of "America on the Road," heard on more than 300 radio stations. In the 1980s he served as Editor of Motor Trend magazine. Nerad is the author of "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Hybrid and Alternative Fuel Vehicles," published recently by Alpha Books. Jack Nerad says bankruptcy would drive car buyers away from GM and imperil suppliers. (CNN) -- The events of the past week have been unprecedented in the auto industry and in the annals of American business. As the events have unfolded, there is the strong implication from the administration's automotive task force that Chapter 11 bankruptcy, followed by restructuring and "cleansing" of General Motors' balance sheet, is a potential scenario in the ongoing efforts to keep the giant automaker alive. GM's new chief executive, Fritz Henderson, acknowledged as much on CNN Sunday. "You can't rule options off the table. So you basically say we will spend time to try to get it [done] outside of bankruptcy. But if we can't, we're not going to compromise our goals. We're going to get it done inside our bankruptcy. Our preferred approach is still to do it outside, but you can't rule out going in." Over the past few weeks pundits of all stripes have appeared on financial news networks suggesting that entering Chapter 11 is GM's only way to future viability. "Get on with it," they say, and save us the agony. It is the only way, they argue, General Motors can get relief from its immediate cash-flow issues, tear up or substantially modify its union contracts, dump unnecessary brands, close plants and "right-size" its operations. But those pundits who propose Chapter 11 fail to acknowledge that General Motors is a consumer-facing company whose success or failure is in the hands of millions of average Americans. This group will decide to buy or not buy General Motors vehicles based on what they know, hear and even feel about GM's future. As talk of imminent bankruptcy swirls in the press, the news they hear about General Motors certainly is not reassuring, as they consider which brand to buy. How does that manifest itself in the car-buying public? We at Kelley Blue Book asked 500 potential new-vehicle buyers a string of related questions that yield answers to that multi-billion dollar question. Their response is telling. Asked "How likely would you be to buy a car from General Motors if they were to go bankrupt," 42.1 percent of new-vehicle buyers said they were either "not at all likely" or "not very likely" to do so. Even with a warranty guarantee from the federal government, consumers are not very enthusiastic about considering a GM purchase. Such a guarantee only moves the needle about three percentage points with 39.8 percent saying they were either "not at all likely" or "not very likely" to purchase a GM vehicle in such a situation. Asked, "How likely would you be to buy a car from General Motors if they were allowed to keep operating but had to renegotiate their contracts and agreements with suppliers and laborers?" the responses changed. Given that scenario, only 31.6 percent of new-vehicle buyers said they were either "not at all likely" or "not very likely" to purchase a GM vehicle, and they were out-numbered by the 41.5 percent who said they were either "very likely" or "extremely likely" to do so. While one must keep in mind that consumers don't always do what they say they are going to do, the import of this is clear: Bankruptcy puts a damper on consumer confidence and vehicle demand. There are other reasons to question the wisdom of a Chapter 11 filing as well. Beyond its potentially chilling effect on consumer demand, there is a domino effect on the supplier community. Many GM vendors have operated for years on ever-declining, razor-thin margins and are heavily dependent on GM for cash-flow. If that cash-flow ceases for even a relatively short period of time it could well send many of those suppliers into bankruptcy and force others simply to close their doors. The likely bankruptcies of supplier companies would have a ripple effect through the entire American vehicle manufacturing industry, causing hardships for the healthier companies as well. Further, while a "quick-cleanse" bankruptcy is contemplated, it is very difficult to imagine that the Chapter 11 bankruptcy of one of the largest industrial companies in the world would not take a year or more to unravel, rather than weeks or months. And if GM languishes in bankruptcy it is hard to imagine consumers flocking to buy its new vehicles. Nor is it likely the government would subsidize those operations through the potentially lengthy proceedings. The implications of the pronouncements made by President Obama and the auto industry task force indicate clearly that they believe a figurative hammer is needed to move the stakeholders -- the United Auto Workers union, pensioners, bondholders and creditors -- to accept settlements that are, at best, unpalatable to them. The threat of bankruptcy is that hammer. But the question should be asked: Is the hammer the task force is holding over the head of the GM stakeholders in an effort to get concessions, the same hammer that will drive away consumers and require the federal government to make larger and larger cash infusions or see GM founder? So while some toss out the idea of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy as being a magic elixir for GM, which has found itself trapped in an unprecedented credit crunch and a sharp recession, we have to believe that bankruptcy is a bankrupt idea. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Jack R. Nerad.

Jack Nerad: Some argue that a quick bankruptcy is best course for GM . He says bankruptcy will reduce sale of GM cars, even with government warranty . Nerad says GM suppliers could be driven into bankruptcy by such a move . He says bankruptcy is being used as a hammer for GM to get concessions .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Vice President Joe Biden brushed aside recent criticism by predecessor Dick Cheney that moves by the Obama administration had put the United States at risk, telling CNN on Tuesday that the former vice president was "dead wrong." Vice President Joe Biden sits down for an interview with CNN's Gloria Borger and Wolf Blitzer on Tuesday. "I don't think [Cheney] is out of line, but he is dead wrong," he told CNN's Wolf Blitzer. "This administration -- the last administration left us in a weaker posture than we've been any time since World War II: less regarded in the world, stretched more thinly than we ever have been in the past, two wars under way, virtually no respect in entire parts of the world. "... I guarantee you we are safer today, our interests are more secure today than they were any time during the eight years" of the Bush administration. In an interview with CNN's John King last month, Cheney said President Obama had been "making some choices that in my mind will raise the risk to the American people of another attack." Biden said former President Bush had not been fully aware of the country's position in the world. Watch Biden lash out on Bush and Cheney » . "I remember President Bush saying to me one time in the Oval Office, and he was a great guy, enjoyed being with him. He said to me, he said, 'Well, Joe,' he said, 'I'm a leader.' And I said, 'Mr. President, turn around and look behind you. No one's following.' People are beginning to follow the United States again as a consequence of our administration." "... I think the biggest thing we're doing is, I'm operating in concert with the president," he said. "There are not -- there are -- look, everybody talks about how powerful Cheney was. His power weakened America, in my view." But he did not deny reports of disagreement within the Obama administration as well, over the president's plan to widen involvement in Afghanistan. A report last week said Biden had warned about the possibility of getting into a quagmire, while military advisers pushed for more troops. Watch more on Obama's Afghanistan plan » . "Well, look. Without commenting specifically on who took what position, there was a healthy debate. There is a healthy debate within our administration." The vice president said that he condemned a new Afghan law that would allow men to rape their wives, but that those issues were not the focus of the U.S. presence in that nation. "I am not prepared to send American troops to die for that," he said. As the president made an unannounced visit to Baghdad, Iraq, on Tuesday, Biden said that he had no concerns that a recent uptick in violence in Iraq might affect plans to withdraw most U.S. troops from that country by the summer of 2010. "I'm not worried about that at all. We will draw down along the timeline we suggested," the vice president said. Watch the full interview » . Also not a concern for Biden: the possibility of an Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear facilities. The vice president said he was not worried that Israel's new government, under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, would order such an attack. "I don't believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu would do that. I think he would be ill-advised to do that. And so my level of concern is no different than it was a year ago." A day after North Korea's rocket test sparked alarm from world leaders, Biden called for a tougher response from Moscow and Beijing. "What I'd like to see is a strong condemnation and a united effort on the part of the Chinese, Russians in the six-party talks to say, 'enough is enough, there will be greater sanctions, we will squeeze down even harder on North Korea,' " he said. He added that China could "do a great deal more," although he was uncertain it would. "I think this puts the onus on China and Russia and South Korea and Japan, et cetera, along with us, to be bolder in our condemnation." On the domestic front, Biden said that the administration's economic plan would prevent up to 4 million jobs from being lost and stabilize the economy, but that "it will take at least another year before you start to see employment," and in the meantime, jobs will continue to disappear. Watch Biden answer iReporters' questions » . "There will be an additional job loss. ... You're not going to see reports this calendar year saying there was no job loss this month. That is not going to happen. ...There will continue to be job losses the remainder of this year. The question is will they continually go down before they begin to rebound, and employment -- we go down to zero job loss and back to employment." He said it was "too premature" to begin discussing another stimulus package, though he has not ruled one out.

VP Biden speaks Tuesday with CNN's Wolf Blitzer and Gloria Borger . Biden says recent criticism from former vice president Cheney is "dead wrong" He says Bush administration left the country in weakest shape since WW II . Biden calls for tougher response from Moscow and Beijing on N. Korea rocket launch .

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(CNN) -- It took about 110 years and some delicate surgery on his most private parts, but Henry -- a lizard-like creature from New Zealand -- is now a dad. Henry, the oldest tuatara to mate at Southland Museum, enjoys a cold shower in his home in New Zealand. Henry, a tuatara who, as far as curators at Southland Museum in New Zealand know, had never mated before, hooked up with Mildred, a younger woman of about 80, in March. In July she laid 11 healthy eggs and, this week, all 11 of them hatched -- the last one on Wednesday. "Eleven out of eleven," curator Lindsay Hazley said Friday morning. "Bloody brilliant. We had a champagne breakfast to celebrate." Henry was the oldest tuatara ever to mate at the museum, on New Zealand's South Island, Hazley said. Tuataras are the only living descendants of an order, related to dinosaurs, that flourished 200 million years ago. They're endangered, only living on a handful of islands in New Zealand, which makes Henry's happy news all the more important to supporters of the species. But it didn't come easy. Until about six years ago, Henry was a nasty, irritable fellow who showed no interest in mating and would attack females when they were introduced. Hazley, who has been breeding tuataras for the past 35 years, eventually had to put him in "solitary confinement." But in 2002, veterinarians discovered that a lump in Henry's nether regions was a cancerous tumor. They removed it and, over the next few years, his mood -- and interest in the ladies -- improved. Now, Henry lives peacefully with Mildred and two other females. Breeders are hoping he'll show interest in Lucy, who is about the same age as Mildred, later this year. Female tuataras only lay eggs every two or three years, so Mildred likely won't be interested. Watch a curator take care of the reproducing dinosaur kin » . Henry's newfound libido does have some limits, however. Hazley said Juliet, a youthful 22 year old, appears to be too hot to handle for the centenarian -- who could live to be 200 years old if he stays healthy. "I think he's a bit shy to mate with such a young woman," Hazley said. "After a bit of experience with Mildred and Lucy, maybe he'll be interested in Juliet next year." Maxing out at about two-and-a-half feet long, tuataras are much smaller than their ancestors. The word "tuatara" is derived from a Maori word meaning "spiny back." In Maori legend, they are messengers of Whiro, the god of death and disaster, and they were featured on one side of a New Zealand five-cent coin that was phased out in 2006. It's been a baby boom at Southland Museum lately. Hazley said another 10 babies were born to another couple recently -- swelling the ranks of the 50 or so tuataras that were already there. Friday morning, Hazley was working to install a camera so Henry's international fan base can watch him and other tuataras on the Internet. But they shouldn't expect any images of the proud dad playing with his batch of hatchlings. "If it's small and it moves, it's food," Hazley said. "He'd have them for lunch."

110-year-old endangered male tuatara dinosaur descendant produces offspring . Henry and his near 80-year-old mate Mildred produced 11 eggs -- all hatched . Henry, disinterested in sex for four decades, lashed out at females . But his reptile dysfunction changed when a cancerous lump was removed .

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(CNN) -- The number of child abuse reports in Jamaica increased dramatically in 2008, the nation's Office of Children's Registry reported Saturday. The office received 3,784 child abuse reports last year, up from only 425 complaints in 2007, a significant increase for a nation with a population of about 2.8 million. OCR Registrar Carla Edie told the Jamaican government news service, JIS, that the people of Jamaica have become "increasingly mindful of their legal responsibility to report such incidents," and are increasingly concerned about child safety, given a recent trend of violence against minors in the country. According to JIS, a police report issued late last year said that, between January 1, 2008 and November 1, 2008, 73 children were murdered and 383 cases of carnal abuse were reported. Flogging and other forms of physical abuse are a part of Jamaican culture, Justice Minister Dorothy Lightbourne told JIS in an interview. "There are many parents who even threaten to 'murder' their children, even some as young as two years old," Lightbourne said. Regarding official child abuse reports, Edie also said that the large increase can be attributed to growing awareness that the Office of Children's Registry is the department responsible for tracking and acting on such information, and not other government and police agencies that handled those reports in the past. In addition, "if someone has information of suspected child abuse and fails to make a report to the Registry, that person can be charged a maximum fee of $500,000 or-and six months imprisonment," Edie told JIS. In response to increased demand, the OCR will increase its operating hours and staff.

Child abuse reports in Jamaica have risen dramatically in past year, officials say . Justice Minister: Flogging, other forms of physical abuse are part of Jamaican culture . In 2008, 73 children were killed in 10-month span, according to police report .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Obama administration is abandoning a controversial plan to charge private insurers for treatment of veterans' service-connected ailments. White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel met with veterans' groups on Wednesday. In an statement Wednesday night, the White House said that although the president believes the plan would raise more money for veterans' care, the administration is dropping the idea after hearing the objections of veterans groups. "The President listened to concerns raised by the VSOs [veterans service organizations] that this might, under certain circumstances, affect veterans and their families' ability to access health care," the White House said. "Therefore, the president has instructed that its consideration be dropped." News of the change of heart originally came from Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who disclosed the decision to reporters while meeting with a group of veterans on Capitol Hill. "President Obama has listened to the concerns expressed by veterans' leaders and veterans' service organizations," Pelosi said. "We will leave no veteran behind." Veterans' representatives and members of Congress have angrily opposed the proposal, which White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said was never finalized. Leaders from 11 veterans groups discussed their position in a meeting Wednesday afternoon with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. "We stood firm on our stance that there is no way to support charging veterans' insurance companies for service-connected treatment," said Jim King, executive director of AMVETS, a leading veterans' advocacy organization. Emanuel indicated that the proposal was "a dead issue," King added. "The administration was quick to say [that if veterans were] going to fight it, [the White House wasn't] going to push it." Another attendee, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America Executive Director Paul Rieckhoff, said Emanuel was quick to come back after hearing the veterans' groups stand firm and tell them, "Let's clarify, it is dead." "They made the right move -- they listened to us. Now we can move on to bigger more important issues," Rieckhoff said. The meeting was very short, said King. Despite the difference in opinion, King said the atmosphere was cordial and "everybody seemed comfortable." On Monday, the groups met with President Obama, Emanuel, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki and Steven Kosiak, director in charge of defense spending for the Office of Management and Budget. The administration saw the plan as a way of raising more than $500 million in revenues for the Department of Veterans Affairs. However, veterans groups saw it is a violation of what they said is the government's moral obligation to treat veterans injured during service to their country. In addition, they believed it would lead to veterans and their families losing their private insurance or premiums rising because of the high costs of treating many service-related injuries. The head of the Senate Veterans Affairs committee, Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, said Tuesday his committee would "not advance any such legislation." His counterpart in the House, Bob Filner, D-California, said his committee wouldn't take up the proposal either. In a statement released by his office, Filner said the idea is "DOA" and said the budget "cannot be balanced on the backs (or legs, or kidneys, or hearts) of our nation's combat-wounded heroes." The president pushed back during the meeting on Monday, telling the groups that private insurance companies were getting a free ride. He challenged the veterans to come up with an alternative way to raise revenues. AMVETS planned to propose that billings be pursued more aggressively for injuries not related to service. But AMVETS director King said Emanuel didn't ask for suggestions in Wednesday's meeting. A 2008 Government Accountability Office study found that about $1.7 billion in treatment that could have been charged to private insurance never was, nor was it collected by the VA. CNN's Deirdre Walsh contributed to this report.

White House chief of staff meets with veterans groups . Administration wanted to charge private insurers for treatment of veterans . Vets' groups and members of Congress have angrily opposed the proposal .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- You don't find many churches making theatrical films. You especially don't find many churches making films starring Kirk Cameron about a firefighter in a crumbling marriage addicted to online porn. Kirk Cameron stars in "Fireproof," a film he was attracted to for its many themes, he said. But that's the case for Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia. In fact, the film, "Fireproof," was the church's third movie. It was also an unexpected hit. In September it debuted at No. 4 at the box office, eventually bringing in $33.5 million and spawning two books: a novelization, also called "Fireproof," which is in The New York Times' best-seller list's Top 20; and a companion journal to the movie, "The Love Dare," which has sold more than 2 million copies. Last week "Fireproof" debuted on DVD and climbed to No. 3 on Billboard's DVD chart, beating out "The Hulk" and "Saw V," among others. "You don't often see movies made by churches do big numbers," said Billboard's Anthony Colombo. "Having [distributor] Sony behind it helps. Having Kirk Cameron helps, but for it to come out and do 136,000 pieces [DVDs] in its first week is pretty impressive." "It should not be working," said Alex Kendrick, one of the pastors behind the film. "All I can say is we prayed for months and asked for it to honor God." Kendrick said that Sherwood's pastors gathered for prayer two years ago and asked God to give them an idea for their next movie. They were just coming off making "Facing the Giants," a movie shot entirely in Albany on a $100,000 budget. It starred no professional actors -- just members of their church -- but made $10.2 million at the box office and sold 250,000 copies on DVD, launching the church into the national spotlight. The church leaders lit upon the idea of troubled relationships. "Families and marriages are crumbing and we want to do something about it," said Kendrick, recalling the idea's genesis. "God give us the idea. We had no clue what would happen with it." "Fireproof" began with a $500,000 budget and a fresh crop of church member/actors, but the film got a left-field boost when Cameron, best known as the 1980s heartthrob from the TV series "Growing Pains," read the script and asked to get involved. "All throughout the movie ... there are issues of communications, money, sex, addiction, porn, extramarital affairs, feeling respected at work but not at home, feeling respected by friends but not at home," Cameron told CNN. The themes resonated with the actor and devout Christian, a husband of 17 years, and father of six, he said. That and the "cool action scenes," he added. The makers of "Fireproof" tapped into the church market, arranging screenings for the National Baptist Pastors' convention before release and using word-of-mouth among church leaders. However, says Cameron, the film was pitched to general audiences, not necessarily Christians. "'Fireproof' was never marketed as a Christian movie. This is a movie about marriage," Cameron said. "The fact is, though, the gospel is presented, is done well, and it's a central part of the storyline." Although many critics panned "Fireproof" -- "as sincere, uncynical and subtlety-free as a Sunday school lecture," said Variety -- audiences embraced it. "There's a huge market out there that's underserved. That market is there and a lot of people don't want to go there but there is a huge untapped market," Cameron said. Paul Dergarabedian, a box office analyst for Hollywood.com, said he was shocked when the movie debuted in the top five its opening weekend. "With 'Fireproof,' they really cracked the code with the major success with the film and have this appeal across the board," he said. "They didn't follow traditional marketing methods but they didn't need them for this film. ... Maybe that's why it worked out so well." He added, "You're talking about a very successful property. ... The powers that be that put this together are really on to something." Churches are using "Love Dare" and its companion curriculum as a teaching tool, says publisher B&H Publishing's Andrea Dennis, who calls "Fireproof" "a marriage movement." For Valentine's Day more than 9,000 churches are scheduled to show the film, many displaying the admonition "Fireproof Your Marriage" on their signs. B&H believes "Love Dare" could hang around on the best-seller list -- where it's already been for 19 weeks -- along the lines of Rick Warren's "The Purpose Driven Life." And the filmmakers have kept their success close to home. Alex Kendrick said the church used the profits from the movie to buy 82 acres of land and build a recreation center for the town, equipped with eight tennis courts, eight basketball courts and an equestrian area. A baseball diamond is on the way. He's confident "Fireproof" will remain a successful brand. "When something grows the only reason it happens is people say it worked and you should try it," Kendrick said. "When it works and there's a legitimate impact, people want to be a part of it."

"Fireproof" about a firefighter having marriage problems . Film was produced by a church, aimed some marketing at churches . "Fireproof" successful in theaters, now success on DVD, has become a brand .

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LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Packing on the pounds over the holidays? Adam Sandler can sympathize. He recently put on some weight himself. Adam Sandler had to cope with more than just falling gumballs in his latest comedy, "Bedtime Stories." The comedian got buff for the movie "You Don't Mess With the Zohan" (in which he showed a lot of skin), but then he said he let himself go just a bit. "[For 'Zohan'] I worked out like a madman," he told CNN. "And then I started getting fat again." Concern over his physical conditioning led to an unintended consequence -- a broken bone. "[One Saturday] I ate so much food, that I was laying in bed. I was fat as heck and I said, 'I better play some ball.' I went out and played basketball, broke my ankle. I said, 'Maybe I should have stayed fat.' " The mishap occurred as he was filming his latest comedy, "Bedtime Stories." In scenes that involved walking around, Sandler needed a body double. "I'm shooting the movie with the cast on," he said. "We did about six, seven weeks of shooting. If I was standing here and I had to walk to the door, I would stand up [then the camera would cut to] a guy with my outfit on that took the walk." Sandler is on the mend, but he said his ankle is still a little swollen. "Bedtime Stories" opens Christmas Day.

Adam Sandler wore cast for part of "Bedtime Stories" filming . Some scenes required a body double after star broke ankle . Sandler says he let himself go after "You Don't Mess With the Zohan"

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RICHMOND, Virginia (CNN) -- Lawyers for convicted September 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui urged an appeals court panel Monday to throw out his guilty plea and grant their client a new trial. They argued Moussaoui did not have an adequate defense and lacked key information to defend himself. Zacarias Moussaoui is serving a life sentence at the federal prison in Colorado known as Supermax. Legal analysts believe the appeal has only a slim chance of success. In arguments before the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, lawyers for Moussaoui said he was confused about the charges he was pleading guilty to, and he did not have access to information that would have shown he was not supposed to be part of the 9/11 plot. One defense lawyer characterized Moussaoui as "unknowing." Defense lawyers point to statements, later made public, from the man who plotted the attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who said Moussaoui was not intended to be a participant. Moussaoui did not know what Mohammed had said because it had been classified. "A guilty plea that is invalid is invalid," defense attorney Justin Antonipillai told the three-judge panel. A Justice Department lawyer strongly countered, telling the court Moussaoui's plea was voluntary and unconditional. Referring to a letter Moussaoui sent the district court at the time of the plea, Justice Department attorney Kevin Gingras said, "He understands what he is pleading guilty to." Gingras told the court Moussaoui knew in general that there was information that could help his defense but chose to plead guilty anyway, thereby waiving any right to now challenge that decision. "He understood there was stuff out there," Gingras said. "He knew the gist," referring to redacted copies of appeal court rulings about what detainees might testify to and the 9/11 commission report. In April of 2005, Moussaoui pleaded guilty to terrorism conspiracy charges, and in May of 2006 he was sentenced to life in prison after a jury decided not to impose a death sentence. Moussaoui, who is being held at the maximum security federal prison in Colorado known as Supermax, was not in the courtroom for the hearing. It's expected to be several months before a ruling is issued. His attorney was met with mostly skeptical questioning by the judges. "He insisted on pleading guilty and was allowed to do so only after extensive efforts to assure that it was knowing and voluntary," said former U.S. Attorney Kendall Coffey, adding the district judge presiding over the case tried to make sure Moussaoui's rights were protected. Moussaoui's attorneys argued his original defense team, which vehemently tried to dissuade him from pleading guilty, should have been able in an unclassified way to brief their client on the contents of the classified information so he knew the full scope of the evidence. They had "one hand tied behind their backs," Antonipillai said. The judges hearing the case and the Justice Department attorney pointed out he probably would have received some of that material if he had gone to trial instead of pleading guilty. "It is his choice to pull the plug" on the process and plead guilty, Gingras said. Another argument made by Moussaoui's team was that he was denied the right of counsel because he could not hire a lawyer he wanted. After telling the court he did not want the court-appointed attorneys to represent him, Moussaoui tried to be his own attorney. But after constant outbursts the judge ended that effort. The court-appointed lawyers then took over the defense, but Moussaoui never had a good relationship with them. He wanted a Muslim lawyer from Texas, Charles Freeman, to be his attorney, but Freeman did not have security clearance. Moussaoui was arrested in August of 2001 in Minnesota after instructors at the flight school he was attending reported he was acting suspiciously and did not have much flying experience. Throughout his legal proceedings he changed his story -- at first claiming he was not supposed to be part of the September 11 attacks and then saying he was scheduled to fly a fifth plane that day and then reversing himself back to his original claim of non-involvement. His sentencing trial, which included evidence collected by the FBI relating to the 9/11 attacks, was supposed to showcase how a high-profile terrorism suspect could be tried in federal civilian court. But his trial ended up delayed for several years over a series of legal fights, including his attempt to defend himself, which included rants in the courtroom and the defense trying to gain testimony from some of the high-ranking al Qaeda detainees in U.S. custody. Several relatives of those who died in the 9/11 attacks traveled to Richmond for the hearing. Rosemary Dillard, whose husband was on the plane that went into the Pentagon, told CNN, "People need to know this process works." Abraham Scott, whose wife worked in the Pentagon, said attending the hearing shows "we are still interested. ... We are still supporting the legal process." Both Dillard and Scott attended every day of the 2006 sentencing trial. With the prospect that more terrorism suspects could be tried in federal courts with the promised closing of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, Dillard and Scott say Moussaoui's case shows the civilian trials can work. However, the appeal judges grappled with such key questions as how to guarantee a terrorism detainee access to classified information without compromising national security, and how to determine what degree of involvement in a terrorist plot is needed to justify a death sentence. Analysts say some detainees, because of evidence and other reasons, should be brought to trial in other systems. "The extraordinary challenges of balancing national security with the rights of a terrorism defendant in a civilian trial vividly illustrate why the new administration should consider the use of military tribunals for at least some of the Guantanamo detainees," said former U.S. attorney Coffey.

Defense lawyers say 9/11 conspirator lacked key info to defend himself . Zacarias Moussaoui sentenced to life in connection with September 11 attacks . Prosecutors say Moussaoui's guilty plea came voluntarily . Legal analysts believe appeal stands little chance of success .

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(CNN) -- I wanted to believe the man in front of me wasn't a rapist. I knew he was a former Sudanese soldier, I knew he wanted to talk about rape in Darfur. A humanitarian group working on Darfur issues had introduced him to us. They told us his testimony was important to hear. A woman left homeless by conflict in Darfur walks along railway tracks. Last year in Darfur aid workers told me children as young as five were being raped in the huge displacement camps that are home to several million Darfuris. In some camps, they told me, rape had become so common that as many as 20 babies a month born from rape were being abandoned. As I sat inches from Adam --not his real name -- I feared the revulsion I knew I would feel at my own questions as I asked about rape and his involvement. I have interviewed rape survivors in Darfur. I have two daughters. I am a human being with a conscience. It would be hard to listen to his replies. He told me he was conscripted by force in to the Sudanese army in the summer of 2002. He thought he was being taken for six months' national service and then would be released. The conversation was slow going at first. We were both holding off from delving into the sordid details he'd come to discuss. His answers were short, he told me he got no pay from the army, only food and drink. He said he was rounded up in an army truck from a market in Darfur and trained to kill. He said he was armed with Kalashnikovs and told to "shoot targets." Watch ex-soldier describe brutal attacks on children to Nic Robertson » . Then, he says, his officers told him "we will be taken to a patrol and then soon after that we were asked to join other people to go and burn and kill people". That's when he says he realized he wasn't getting national service training, that in fact, he was being forced into war against his will, with his own people. "They are black," he told me, noting the difference between the lighter skinned rulers of Sudan and the darker farmers of Darfur. "I am black," he said, "this shouldn't be happening." But, he said, worse than being told to kill his own people, was that if he tried to resist, he himself would be killed. "The order is that the soldiers at the front, and there are some people who are watching you from behind, if you try to escape or do anything you will get shot. The order is that we go to the village, burn it and kill the people." It felt as Adam was beginning to open up a little -- not easy, given the topic, and the lights and cameras all around us. He was beginning to talk a bit more, answer questions with more than one or two words. But it was following a pattern: I'd have to lead the way. We were both waiting for the inevitable. How he came to know of rape in Darfur. And that's when he said it. Watch warrant being issued for president » . He brought up the rape by himself. He was talking through a translator but his voice was quiet. I thought I heard anger, heard him slow and his voice drop: "I had no choice," he said "but I will say that I didn't kill anybody but the raping of the small children, it was bad" I knew this was going to be difficult and now it had begun. What happens with the children, I asked. "They cry out," he answered. "And what happens when they cry out?" "Two persons will capture her while she is crying and another raping her, then they leave her there," came his reply. Silence. "What do I ask now?" I thought. Be forensic. Get the story. This is important testimony, I reminded myself. And so we continued, Adam describing in detail how soldiers raped girls as young as 12. How officers ordered them to do this to make people flee their villages, run away and never come back. Through all of this, Adam didn't once mention whether he actually had been directly involved in the raping. He said he tried to desert the army as soon as he could, but was caught and tortured. He showed me the scars where he said he was tied down beneath a tree and officers set fire to tires above him, dripping burning rubber on his body. Eventually, he said, he did get away, went to his sisters, tried joining the rebels to fight the army. But even there, his troubles were far from over. Incredibly, he said, the rebels didn't trust him; he was kept at their camp and only escaped when it was bombed by the army. The end of his story, but we weren't really done. One more question. Had he been forced to rape children? "Yes I did, they were government orders," came his reply. How many? "Well it didn't feel like raping, I was feeling very bad but as I was ordered, I had to do something. What I did was take off my trousers and lay myself on top of the girl but I didn't feel like raping, so I lay there for about 15 minutes." I want to be sure I understand him. "So you didn't actually penetrate the girls?" I ask. No, he says, "because I had no feeling for it, my penis didn't actually wake up, so there was no actual penetration," he replied. There were other people in the room, the translator, a cameraman, our producer Jonathan Wald, but I had forgotten they were there. My thoughts were entirely locked on Adam. What more could I ask? I was emotionally drained. There was no way of knowing whether he was telling me the truth. Only in the measure of his voice was there a clue. Here, sitting on an office chair, thousands of miles away from Darfur, the memories come flooding back. The many, traumatized women and children we've interviewed, distraught families, unable to protect themselves. The pain we put them through, to recount, to relive, their nightmares. Each time, I've asked myself can I justify the suffering these questions cause? Each time, I tell myself it is only their own accounts that can cast light on the darkened corner of humanity they inhabit. Only their own accounts that can help break their cycle of suffering. Time and again, though, it seems telling the world their stories has little tangible impact on their reality of their lives. And now I'm face-to-face with a man who says he was part of the suffering, albeit by his own account not complicit and not guilty. I am left with the thought perhaps Adam's words carry even greater power. If his story is true -- and it mirrors other accounts emerging from Darfur -- then it implicates the government in these terrible crimes. He says he has trouble sleeping at nights. I can understand why. He is not alone. Aid workers say millions of women in Darfur not only have trouble sleeping at nights, but live in fear of rape 24 hours a day.

Former soldier says he was armed with a Kalashnikov and told to kill . "Adam" describes taking part in rape attacks on children in Darfur . Victims included girls as young as 12, he says .

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Vladimir Putin spent the Russian New Year boogying to the hits of ABBA after spending $30,000 to fly a tribute band to a lake town north of Moscow. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin flew an ABBA tribute band to Russia for a private concert. According to Bjorn Again founder, Rod Stephen, Putin disco pointed to the ABBA classics "Super Trouper" and "Mamma Mia" at a gathering of only eight guests. Stephen said he received a phone call from the Kremlin prior to Christmas. "It was pretty mad. It was the type of phone call everyone gets everyday from Moscow. I thought someone was taking the piss." Stephen said an agent in Moscow then set the gig up, and he was told it was for Russia's "number two." He said the band were flown to Moscow and then had a nine-hour bus trip to Lake Valdai -- where Putin has held high-level meetings in the past -- on January 22 (the traditional date of Russian New Year's eve). "The band and crew were searched at checkpoints by people with appropriately sized weapons," Stephen said. He said the band played behind a heavy gauze curtain, which made it hard for them to see the audience. However, the could make out Putin's profile and that of the other seven guests. Stephen said it was initially "roaring" at the venue. "When the band started people were sitting on sofas. But then Putin was up and dancing to Super Trouper and Mamma Mia, pointing fingers up and down." The band played for an hour before being shown out as the guests went to watch a fireworks display. Stephen said they were paid $30,000 and their expenses covered. He described it as the "weirdest" gig the band had done. "I've had phone calls from the agency saying 'don't talk to anyone else we are getting grief from the Kremlin,' but there was no non-disclosure contract."

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has revealed a love for ABBA's hits . ABBA tribute band founder says he flew group to Russia for private concert . Rod Stephen says there were only eight people in the audience .

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(CNN) -- Asked about part of the entertainment business he particularly enjoys, Greg Behrendt -- stand-up comedian, author, TV writer and producer -- had an unusual answer. Greg Behrendt co-wrote "He's Just Not That Into You," based on a popular episode of "Sex and the City." "My instrumental punk and ska band called the Reigning Monarchs," he said with a laugh. "There's seven guys in the band. ... We play shows around Los Angeles." But the co-author of "He's Just Not That Into You," now a film starring Jennifer Aniston, Scarlett Johansson and Ben Affleck, admits that stand-up comedy remains a longtime passion. In fact, it led -- in a roundabout way -- to "He's Just Not That Into You." "I was a stand-up who had an HBO special called 'Mantastic,' and it was directed by Michael Patrick King, who became an executive producer of 'Sex and the City,' " Behrendt said. One thing led to another, and Behrendt soon joined a mostly female writing team on "Sex and the City." He observed that he was the only straight male writer for the show and offered the group valuable and realistic insight into the world of men. "Sure, I felt a little bit like a token," he said. "It's not like those women needed my help, but I think there are days when you can't write in a perspective you don't live." That perspective, along with colleague Liz Tuccillo's female point of view, gave way to "He's Just Not That Into You." The book is based on a popular episode of "Sex and the City," in which Carrie's boyfriend (played by Ron Livingston) offers the line to Miranda as she puzzles over a date. The book is a wake-up call for women who obsess and worry about relationships, with an overarching message that if women find themselves doing the chasing, it's likely the guy simply isn't interested. "We were raised to pursue women. ... Most of the guys I know enjoy the pursuit," he said. "But that doesn't mean women should be wallflowers." As a comedian-turned-relationship expert -- one who is, by the way, now happily married and writing a book with his wife -- Behrendt said he hoped women would realize their worth when they read the book or watch the film. "[Women] deserve great things, and they get to decide what their relationships are, and not other people," he said. "You often hear women say, 'I don't know if he's ready to get married.' Why are you waiting for his decision? We always put our fates in other people's hands."

Greg Behrendt is the co-author of "He's Just Not That Into You," now a film . Behrendt joined a mostly female writing team on "Sex and the City" "He's Just Not That Into You" is a book for women who worry about relationships . "We were raised to pursue women," Behrendt says .

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LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Mandy Moore is getting a license to wed rocker Ryan Adams. Mandy Moore has been with Ryan Adams for about a year. Moore's publicist confirmed Thursday the 24-year-old singer-actress is engaged to marry Adams, 34, who is known for producing rock music with a country influence. Spokeswoman Tracy Bufferd gave no details about wedding plans. Rumors first surfaced almost a year ago that Moore and Adams were dating as paparazzi photos surfaced of the couple out together in Los Angeles. Moore's role as a bride in the 2007 movie "License to Wed" may help her as she moves toward the altar. The romantic comedy featured Robin Williams as "Reverend Frank," who put Moore's character and her fiance through a "marriage preparation course" before they could get hitched in his church. Her first success as a recording artist came in 1999 with her debut album, "So Real," which went platinum with the help of her top 10 single "Candy."

Singer-actress Mandy Moore engaged to rocker Ryan Adams . Moore has had top 10 music success, better known for movie roles . Adams a prolific singer-songwriter as soloist and with Whiskeytown, Cardinals .

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(CNN) -- A crusading Sri Lankan journalist shot dead last week knew he would be killed -- he said so in a dramatic, posthumously published column touching a raw nerve in his war-torn island nation. A candlelight vigil in the Sri Lankan capital in memory of slain journalist Lasantha Wickrematunga. Lasantha Wickrematunga, editor-in-chief of The Sunday Leader, was gunned down execution-style January 8 but spoke from the grave three days later when the newspaper published "And Then They Came For Me." That posthumous column anticipated his slaying by government forces and defended the craft of journalism in his country, a profession under fire during its bitter civil war. "Diplomats, recognizing the risk journalists face in Sri Lanka, have offered me safe passage and the right of residence in their countries. Whatever else I may have been stuck for, I have not been stuck for choice. But there is a calling that is yet above high office, fame, lucre and security. It is the call of conscience," Wickrematunga wrote. "People often ask me why I take such risks and tell me it's a matter of time before I am bumped off." Wickrematunga wrote that he was twice assaulted and his house was fired upon. "Despite the government's sanctimonious assurances, there was never a serious police inquiry into the perpetrators of these attacks, and the attackers were never apprehended. "In all of these cases, I have reason to believe the attacks were inspired by the government. When finally I am killed, it will be the government that kills me," he wrote. Sri Lankan President Mahindra Rajapaksa, asked about threats to journalists, voiced assurance that no journalist or media institution had cause to fear any threats or attacks by the government, according to a statement on the government's official Web site. Watch Sri Lanka's foreign minister discuss press freedom » . "The government had no interest whatever in seeking disgrace through any attacks on the media," he said, and he assured media leaders that the culprits would be captured and brought to justice, the statement said. Hostility against journalists and their institutions has been high as the Sinhalese-dominated government forces work to eradicate the last vestiges of Tamil Tiger separatists in the Jaffna peninsula, the rebel-held northern region. The 25-year-old civil war has left more than 65,000 people dead. Sunanda Deshapriya, spokesman for Sri Lanka's Free Media Movement, said harassment of journalists has been common, and cited these examples from the past year: two journalists killed, another journalist shot at, more than 50 reports of intimidations and threats, 12 media personnel arrested, 16 journalists physically assaulted, one tortured, one assaulted in an abduction attempt, the circulation of a list with 27 journalists targeted for killings, the proposal of a censorship law, and the naming of some journalists as terrorists or terrorist supporters. On January 6, 15 masked gunmen entered Maharajah TV studios outside the capital, Colombo. The journalism watchdog group Committee to Protect Journalists said the attackers shot at and destroyed broadcast equipment, held staff members at gunpoint, and attempted to burn down the station's facilities. CNN on Wednesday interviewed the head of Maharajah TV, Chevaan Daniel, about the incident. Afterward, Sri Lanka's defense secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, called for the arrest of a person who had talked to CNN, Deshapriya said. CPJ said the government-run media has criticized Maharajah TV for its coverage of a suicide bombing in the capital and "undermining" a presidential victory speech after government troops took Kilinochchi -- which had been the de facto capital of the Tamil Tigers movement. Government officials have condemned strikes on Colombo and have ordered probes. Bob Dietz, CPJ's Asia program director, said that "far too often the government or its unofficial allies have been prime suspects behind attacks on journalists and media organizations," despite government condemnations and investigations. As the civil warfare first unfolded, Tamil journalists were targeted, Dietz said. But in the past year and a half, mainstream journalists, such as those who raise questions about the government's military activity, have been facing a crackdown -- even if they are from the majority Sinhalese ethnic group or sharply critical of the Tamil rebel movement. This includes Wickrematunga, who questioned the government's successes and value of its military actions. "That really got under the skin of the government," Dietz said. "It's one thing to insult the president, but another thing to insult the military during wartime." "This killing is the worst," said Dietz, who compared it to the impact that would be felt if a New York Times or Washington Post columnist were killed in the United States. Wickrematunga's killing spurred a demonstration in Colombo by 4,000 people, which Reporters Without Borders said was the largest since the government of Mahinda Rajapaksa took power three years ago. Another protest was to be held on Thursday in London. The title of Wickrematunga's column was inspired by a poem by a German theologian about how Germans failed to react to Nazism in the past century before it was too late. In his rendition of the poem, Wickrematunga wrote: "First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for the Communists and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist. Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me." Wickrematunga pronounces his pride in his profession's attempt to chronicle life in a country at war and his paper's work to bravely represent all people -- "Sinhalese, Tamil, Muslim, low-caste, homosexual, dissident or disabled." He casts the paper as an independent organ that faithfully records events. He said the paper lacks a political agenda and wants to see Sri Lanka as a "transparent, secular, liberal democracy." "No other profession calls on its practitioners to lay down their lives for their art save the armed forces and, in Sri Lanka, journalism," he wrote, adding that "countless journalists have been harassed, threatened and killed. It has been my honor to belong to all those categories and now especially the last." "I have the satisfaction of knowing that I walked tall and bowed to no man. And I have not traveled this journey alone. Fellow journalists in other branches of the media walked with me: most of them are now dead, imprisoned without trial or exiled in far-off lands." He also castigates the country's president, who had been a long-time friend. "In the wake of my death I know you will make all the usual sanctimonious noises and call upon the police to hold a swift and thorough inquiry. But like all the inquiries you have ordered in the past, nothing will come of this one too."

Lasantha Wickrematunga gunned down execution-style January 8 . Posthumous column anticipated his slaying by government forces . Govt.: Says no journalist, media institution should fear attack by government . Civil war with Tamil Tigers has killed more than 65,000 .

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On CNN's "State of the Union," CNN host and chief national correspondent John King goes outside the Beltway to report on the issues affecting communities across the country. King recently traveled to Arizona, to explore the debate over how to control illegal immigration. A fence separates the United States from Mexico in the U.S. Border Patrol's Yuma Sector in San Luis, Arizona. SAN LUIS, Arizona (CNN) -- The Yuma desert is below: San Luis, Arizona, to one side and San Luis, Mexico, to the other. On this clear day, the Colorado River is glistening, birds playfully circling over what any map defines as the U.S.-Mexico border in this area. But from a helicopter above, the border is a steel barrier that stands out along the riverbank and against the desert sands, and is the dividing line that gets the most attention from those crying to cross illegally and those who believe recent efforts to bolster U.S. border security have been riddled with wrong choices. Just this past week, eight Democrats in Congress wrote President Obama urging him to halt any further construction of the fence, one of the many border- and immigration-related political debates that have carried over from the Bush administration. To the Border Patrol agents stationed in Yuma Sector, there is no debate. To them, the fence is a success story. From a Vietnam War-vintage Huey helicopter, pilot Chad Smith points across the border to Mexico's Highway 2 and then to the barriers that help stop illegal immigrants from making a sprint into southern Arizona. "You can see the triple-layer fencing," Smith tells us as he lowers the helicopter and hovers over what was once a major crossing point for illegal immigrants and drug smugglers. "Steel fence right on the border, the pedestrian fence about 90 feet north of that, and then the chain-link fence with the barbed wire." The fence has three layers in areas where there is an urban neighborhood on the Mexican side. Smith is among those who say their flights are less hectic now because while you can still clearly see the trails in the sand and in some hilly areas below, there is considerably less traffic. "I've flown before and come back and had 70-plus [illegal immigrants logged in a tracking book]," Smith said. " I know guys who have gone on a flight and come back with 100-plus illegals in their logbook. Now it is in single digits, typically." It is a fascinating view from above: Old trails in some places, and the remnants of newly placed white sandbags in others. "It forms a pretty good bridge for them to drive across." Smith says of the sandbags. When they are spotted from above, Border Patrol agents on the ground are called in to destroy the makeshift crossings. Congress in 2006 -- with then-Sen. Barack Obama's support -- authorized nearly $3 billion for 670 miles of fencing stretching from California to Texas. There are more lights, sensors and cameras, and there are also more agents like Mike Lowrie driving patrols and chasing tips called in from colleagues monitoring the camera feeds at the Yuma Sector headquarters. Standing alongside the steel barrier at a point in which there is just one layer of fencing, Lowrie shakes his head when told that some in Washington want to stop additional construction in other areas. "This used to be a very high-trafficked area, and now it is not," Lowrie told us. Asked to define "high traffic," Lowrie says, "In the Yuma Sector, we would get about 800 a day. Now, 25 maybe, or 10." Nodding toward the barrier, he continued: "Numbers don't lie. We didn't have it three years ago, and we were getting massive numbers of illegal entries. We have it now, and we don't." But there are voices on both extremes of the immigration debate that say the role of the fence is exaggerated, or that say the barrier's benefit in slowing illegal traffic is offset by other costs. Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, whose tough stance against illegal immigrants has earned him global media coverage, says the fence is fine, but: "We just arrested 150 in the past 14 days. They're still coming." And Father John Herman, a Roman Catholic priest whose Spanish language Masses are packed with illegal immigrants, blames the fence for more risky crossings in less-populated desert areas. "We know that the way enforcement has gone has driven many people into the desert and caused more deaths. Needless deaths. If we could only get together and work for comprehensive immigration reform."

Eight Democrats in Congress wrote Obama to halt building of border fence . Border Patrol agents say fence has drastically cut number of border crossings . Then-Sen. Obama voted to authorize almost $3 billion for building 670 miles of fence . Critic says barrier has forced illegal immigrants to make riskier desert crossings .

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(CNN) -- A one-of-a-kind bicycle belonging to U.S. cycling legend Lance Armstrong was stolen from a team truck in California just hours after he rode it Saturday on the first day of a nine-day race. Lance Armstrong is racing in the California Amgen Tour as he attempts a comeback after retiring in 2005. Cancer survivor and seven-time Tour de France champion Armstrong is racing in the Amgen Tour of California this week as he continues his latest comeback after retiring from the sport in 2005. Armstrong's first comeback came in 1998, two years after he was diagnosed with advanced testicular cancer that had spread to his lungs and brain. Doctors gave him a less than 50 percent chance of survival. Armstrong announced the bike theft on his Twitter account Sunday morning and posted a photograph. "There is only one like it in the world therefore hard to pawn it off. Reward being offered," the Texan wrote before going out and finishing fifth in Sunday's testing first stage won by Spain's Francisco Mancebo. Swiss Olympic champion Fabian Cancellara, who started the day in the yellow jersey after winning Saturday's time-trial prologue, pulled out midway through the stage feeling unwell. Armstrong improved from 10th to fifth overall, one minute five seconds adrift, with Astana teammate Levi Leipheimer, the two-time defending champion, in second place behind Mancebo. "Holy hell. That was terrible," commented Armstrong who had a puncture. "Maybe one of the toughest days I've had on a bike, purely based on the conditions. I'm still freezing." The bicycle that was stolen is not the one that Armstrong rides every day during the race. The stolen bike is used only for time trials, a race in which cyclists ride individually at staggered intervals over a set distance and try to get the best time. The thieves took four bikes from a truck Armstrong's Astana team had parked behind a hotel in Sacramento. The other three bicycles belonged to team members Janez Brajkovic, Steve Morabito and Yaroslav Popovych, Astana said. Armstrong, 37, won the Tour de France, considered the premiere bicycle race in the world, a record seven times from 1999-2005. The 750-mile Amgen Tour of California ends Sunday. It is the second major race in which Armstrong has participated since announcing his comeback in September. He raced last month in the Tour Down Under in Australia, finishing 29th. Armstrong said he is aiming for another Tour de France victory this summer and was not expected to contend in the Australian race, which he used to gauge his fitness level after more than three years out of the saddle.

Lance Armstrong's one-of-a-kind bicycle stolen from team truck in California . Four bicycles stolen from truck Armstrong's Astana team parked behind hotel . Cancer survivor Armstrong is currently fifth overall in Amgen Tour of California . Armstrong won the Tour de France a record seven times from 1999-2005 .

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(CNN) -- A gay rights group is welcoming the likely appointment of the world's first openly gay prime minister, Johanna Sigurdardottir of Iceland. Protesters in Reykjavik celebrate the prime minister's resignation on Monday. Sigurdardottir, the country's 66-year-old minister of social affairs and social security, is on track to succeed Prime Minister Geir Haarde, who resigned Monday following the collapse of the country's main banks, currency and stock market. Negotiations are underway between Sigurardottir's Social Democratic Alliance Party and potential coalition partners. If they succeed, she will become interim prime minister until Iceland next goes to the polls, which must happen by May. "We really warmly welcome that," said Gary Nunn, a spokesperson for Stonewall UK, a British gay-rights group. "At a time when we've just seen a black man elected to the highest office in America, it gives us hope that we will see an openly gay prime minister here some day." "It really does matter. It is helpful" to have an openly gay prime minister, Nunn said. "We are trying to foster the ambition that young people can be anything they want to be." Britain has only one openly lesbian member of Parliament, Angela Eagle of the Labour party, Nunn said. The United States currently has three openly gay members of Congress -- Democratic Reps. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Barney Frank of Massachusetts and Jared Polis of Colorado. Stonewall considers it a higher priority to have significant numbers of openly gay lawmakers than an openly gay prime minister. "For a head of state of to be gay is great and really encouraging, but it's really important for Parliament to represent the people it serves," he said. Sigurdardottir has been a member of Iceland's Parliament for 30 years, and is in her second stint as minister of social affairs. She started her career as a flight attendant for the airline that became IcelandAir. She was active in the flight attendants' labor union during her 11 years with the airline, according to her official resume. Sigurdardottir briefly led her own political party, which merged with other center-left parties to form the Alliance party. She would become Iceland's first female prime minister, although not the North Atlantic nation's first female head of state -- Vigdis Finnbogadottir became its fourth president in 1980. Sigurdardottir lists author and playwright Jonina Leosdottir, 54, as her spouse on her ministry Web site. She has two children from an earlier marriage.

Johanna Sigurdardottir is on track to succeed Prime Minister Geir Haarde . Haarde resigned after the collapse of Iceland's main banks, currency . Sigurdardottir is currently the minister of social affairs and social security . Negotiations are underway between Sigurardottir's party and potential partners .

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(CNN) -- Twenty-five years after the hit single "West End Girls," can the Pet Shop Boys pull off songs that make you want to dance like it's 1984, but still reflect a social consciousness of 2009? Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, shown at the BRIT Awards in February, are releasing their 10th studio album. The answer is the title of their latest album: "Yes." The British duo will release their 10th studio album on April 21 in the United States through Astralwerks. "Yes" has been out in the United Kingdom through Parlophone/EMI since March 23, and entered the Billboard UK albums chart at No. 4. "We thought that 'Yes' just kind of summed up the theme of the album. It's a positive, upbeat, euphoric pop album," keyboardist Chris Lowe said. "It's almost an answer to the question, 'Is that the Pet Shop Boys?' 'Yes!' " Given how many different projects the duo has been involved with, it's a valid question. In addition to the studio albums, they've written a musical, "Closer to Heaven," and a soundtrack to Sergei Eisenstein's 1925 silent film classic, "The Battleship Potemkin." For "Yes," the Pet Shop Boys worked with Xenomania, a production group known for collaborating with Cher and other pop stars. Xenomania co-wrote three of the tracks on "Yes" with Lowe and vocalist Neil Tennant, who write most of their own songs. Watch the official video for "Love, etc." on YouTube . The Pet Shop Boys, who recently won an award for outstanding contribution to music at the 2009 BRIT Awards, "felt very much at home" at the house outside London, England, that Xenomania has devoted entirely to music, Tennant said. Every bedroom has a studio, and bands hang around downstairs waiting to record amid the sounds of instruments, record mixing and talking. "You can hear this cacophony of music all day long," he said. Like a vinyl record, "Yes" is divided into two distinct halves: the happy pop introduction and the more "weird" experimental conclusion, Tennant said. The album also features guitar performances by Johnny Marr. "Love, etc.", the album's first track and currently No. 2 on the Billboard Hot Dance Singles Sales chart, is a social statement about how money, shopping and celebrity don't necessarily bring happiness, while the third track, "Beautiful People," imagines that it must be great to have wealth and fame, Tennant said. "At the end of the day, it's an old-fashioned sentiment, but love is more important, really," Lowe said of "Love, etc." "Pandemonium," a love song inspired by the relationship between actress Kate Moss and singer Pete Doherty, was originally written for Kylie Minogue to sing, but she didn't use it, Tennant said. Media reports that they'll never work together again are incorrect, however, he said. "I think they exaggerated that," Tennant said. "Yeah, so that's not true." (In a BBC story, Tennant and Lowe said they, like many songwriters, hadn't heard back from Minogue after submitting their material. "We won't be doing it again," Lowe told the BBC.) Perhaps the most out-of-character song stylistically is the finale, "Legacy," a meditation on politicians leaving office ("You'll get over it" is the main message). Tennant identified it as his favorite because of the poetry and the mystery in the music -- "it continues to fascinate me," he said. "The Way It Used to Be," a favorite track for both Boys, charts a relationship from its romantic beginning to its melancholic end, wondering "what is left of love" and longing to "leave our promises behind / rewind and try again." With all this talk of love, Tennant is private about his own love life. As far as love in the album goes, though, "Some of it's real, and some imagination; some of it's memory," he said. The duo did not meet in a pet shop, but in an an electronics shop in London in 1981. Tennant needed a piece of equipment for his synthesizer and, when he and Lowe started talking about music, the two hit it off. "I'm always struck since then by the sort of amazing look of our meeting," Tennant said. "We happened to be in the same place at the same time, and it changed the rest of our lives. I always think it was an extraordinary thing." They started making music as a hobby with an acoustic guitar and a synthesizer, and played drums by banging on the table, Lowe said. "It's all been a gradual process really. We never sat down really and said, 'Let's become pop stars,' " Lowe said. When they first recorded "West End Girls" together, the musical group did not have a name, Tennant said. They took the name Pet Shop Boys because they had friends who worked at a pet shop in West London known as the "pet shop boys." They thought the name fit with popular rap groups such as the Beastie Boys. "It has actually no meaning whatsoever. Chris used to be embarrassed by it," Tennant said. While influenced by hip-hop, electronic disco, and other genres from the beginning, the Pet Shop Boys have always emphasized the songs themselves, Lowe said, and they're not "purist" about what kinds of instruments get used. In the beginning, they sampled everything from animal noises to broken glass for their songs. They even recorded the sound of a woman walking down a street in high heels for "West End Girls," and the ambience of a cathedral for the 1987 single "It's a Sin," Lowe said. Their songwriting has perhaps gotten more sophisticated and experimental over time, Tennant said. "In the '80s I never sang any harmonies on records. Now I do loads of harmonies. I'm turning into Brian Wilson!" Tennant said. "Yes" continues the Pet Shop Boys' tradition of having one-word titles for albums, such as "Please," "Bilingual," and the more recent "Fundamental." The convention just developed and became a style that the duo decided to keep, Tennant said. "It's like e.e. cummings not having any capital letters -- it's a signature thing," Tennant said. The duo is determined to branch into new areas. Lowe and Tennant's next project is a ballet slated for 2011 based on a story by Hans Christian Anderson. Tennant said it is instrumental, and includes a mixture of electronic music and strings. "The challenge of telling a story through music and dance is something that we're interested in," Lowe said. Plans to tour the United States in the fall are under discussion, the duo said.

The Pet Shop Boys' new album comes out in the United States on April 21 . "Yes" has two distinct parts: the upbeat introduction and the more mysterious end . Singer Neil Tennant says he never sang any harmonies in the 1980s . Tennant and Lowe did not meet in a pet shop, but in an electronics shop .

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(CNN) -- A Singapore lawmaker was in intensive care Monday after a man set him on fire at a community event, a hospital official told CNN. Seng Han Thong of the ruling People's Action Party underwent skin graft surgery at Singapore General Hospital Monday morning and was in stable condition, said hospital spokeswoman Junaidah Hameed. Seng suffered burns to his face and chest after a man in his 70s came up behind him as he was sitting down for lunch, poured thinner on him and set him on fire, party official George Tan told reporters. An event organizer who rushed to Seng's aid and tried to douse the flames was also injured, the hospital said. Seng had gone to the community center in his parliamentary district to hand out money to residents -- a tradition among many politicians ahead of the Chinese New Year, which falls on January 26 this year. The attacker was a 70-year-old former cab driver who has been in and out of a mental clinic in recent months, the English-language daily newspaper the Straits Times reported. Tan, the party official, said the man had met Seng at several meet-and-greets and complained about "evil spirits in his house." "No matter what the reason is, and whatever condition the person is in, that is no reason to commit such a crime against anyone, not just against an MP [member of parliament]," Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng told reporters at the hospital. Two years ago, Seng was attacked at another community event by another cab driver, the newspaper said. In that incident, the cab driver punched Seng because he was upset that the lawmaker was not helping him get his revoked license reinstated. CNN's Saeed Ahmed contributed to this report.

Man in his 70s poured thinner on lawmaker and set him on fire while he had lunch . Seng Han Thong of the ruling People's Action Party is in intensive care . He suffered burns to his face and chest and underwent skin graft surgery . Attacker is a former cab driver who has been in a mental clinic, media says .

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SEATTLE, Washington (CNN) -- The park bench facing Lake Washington is covered with flowers, poems, a pack of Lucky Strike cigarettes and graffiti. Fans leave flowers and mementos in honor of Kurt Cobain near his Seattle home. "I miss your beautiful face and voice," one dedication reads. "Thank you for inspiring me," says another. "RIP Kurt." Fifteen years ago Wednesday, at a house adjacent to the park, Kurt Cobain's dead body was discovered by an electrician. The Nirvana frontman, 27, had committed suicide, police later ruled, killing himself with a shotgun while high on heroin and pills. His death ended a battle with hard drugs and added Cobain to a long list of legendary musicians, such as Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin, whose careers were cut short by their addictions. Cobain's ashes were reportedly scattered in a Washington state river and a New York Buddhist temple. Nirvana band mates Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl eventually formed other bands. Cobain's widow, Courtney Love, stayed in the limelight with an acting career and legal problems surrounding her own drug problems. Frances Bean, the couple's daughter, has largely lived outside the public eye. What was unclear when Cobain died was whether the music Nirvana created would endure or fade away like the grunge craze it helped to inspire. "At one point I thought, 15 years on, no one would really know who Kurt Cobain was outside of a group of diehard fans," said Jeff Burlingame, a Cobain biographer who grew up with the musician in Aberdeen, Washington, and knew him when he was a teenager who, without a place to sleep, crashed on mutual friends' couches. But Nirvana's music endured, and Cobain even found fans in his hometown of Aberdeen, which he had derided as a small-minded town. "The old-timers who were there when Kurt was around really took offense to some of the things he said about the area, so they had no real reason to honor him," said Burlingame, who co-founded the Kurt Cobain Memorial Committee. A famous son is a famous son, though. Now, visitors arriving in Aberdeen are greeted with a sign that reads "Come As You Are," after a famous Nirvana song. Cobain Memorial Committee members, who include Cobain's paternal grandfather, hope to establish a community center in the late rocker's honor that would give area youth a place to play music and pursue artistic interests. A concert will be held Friday in Seattle to honor Cobain and raise money for the center. When Cobain died, he left behind a fortune that was estimated in the millions. Even more money poured in over time from the royalties from his songs. But a lawyer hired by Love, Rhonda Holmes, says most of that money is missing. According to Holmes, Love recently discovered that "managers, assistants, CPAs, lawyers, people like that who were supposed to be entrusted with carrying for their well-being and finances basically looted the estate." Forensic accountants are now trying to determine where tens of millions of dollars from Cobain's estate ended up and how it could be recovered, Holmes said.

Kurt Cobain died 15 years ago, a suicide at 27 . Cobain, frontman for band Nirvana, has been influential in music . Even his hometown has honored him; Cobain had derided it . Attorney for Courtney Love, Cobain's widow, says many "looted the estate"

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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Five U.S. soldiers were killed Friday in a suicide bombing in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul -- the single deadliest attack on U.S. troops in more than a year, the U.S. military said. A suicide truck bomber breached the outer security barrier of Iraqi National Police headquarters in southern Mosul, and detonated his explosives, killing eight people and wounding 60 others, an Iraqi Interior Ministry official said. A U.S. soldier was also among the wounded, the U.S. military said. The ministry said those killed include five Americans, two Iraqi policemen and an Iraqi soldier. At least two individuals suspected of being involved in the attack were detained, the U.S. military said. It is the deadliest attack on U.S. forces since March 10, 2008, when five U.S. soldiers were killed in a suicide attack in Baghdad. Despite a number of military operations in this volatile city during the past year, Mosul remains one of the most violent places in Iraq. Last year the U.S. military said Mosul was the last urban stronghold of al Qaeda in Iraq. Mosul is the provincial capital of Nineveh and is about 260 miles, or 420 kilometers, north of Baghdad. Watch a suicide bomb attack kills 5 U.S. soldiers » . U.S. and Iraqi military forces plan to pull out of Mosul to allow Iraqi police to control security in the city. But police are not quite ready yet, according to an Iraqi general. "We need to bring the police to the required level. The deadline is the end of July, and it's not enough time to prepare the police," said Gen. Hassan Karim, commander of Nineveh operations for the Iraqi army. "(That) means we'll need U.S. forces to stay in Mosul." CNN's Nic Robertson contributed to this report .

NEW: Attack is deadliest on U.S. forces in more than a year . Suicide bomber explodes truck at national police headquarters in Mosul . Five Americans among eight dead; 60 others wounded . Mosul, 260 miles north of Baghdad, called last urban stronghold of al Qaeda in Iraq .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A form of liquid morphine used by terminally ill patients will remain on the market even though it is an "unapproved drug," according to a decision by the Food and Drug Administration. Last month, the FDA warned nine companies to stop selling unapproved pain-relief drugs. After talking with hospital and hospice organizations, which expressed concern that taking the product off the market would result in hardship for terminally ill patients and their caregivers, the agency decided to extend the usage of morphine sulfate oral solution 20 mg/ml. The agency wants to ensure there is no shortage of the drug while patients wait for an approved product to take its place. "While the FDA remains committed to ultimately ensuring that all prescription drugs on the market are FDA approved, we have to balance that goal with flexibility and compassion for patients who have a few alternatives for the alleviation of their pain," Dr. Douglas Throckmorton, deputy director of the FDA's Center for drug Evaluation and Research, said Thursday. "In light of the concerns raised by these patients and their health-care providers, we have adjusted our actions with regard to these particular products." Last month, the FDA sent warning letters to nine companies telling them to stop manufacturing 14 unapproved narcotics that are widely used to treat pain. Seven of those companies made or distributed the oral morphine. The morphine elixir is widely used by terminal patients in hospital and home hospice care settings and is manufactured by Lehigh Valley Technologies Inc., Mallinckrodt Inc. Pharmaceuticals Group, Boehringer Ingelheim Roxane Inc. and Cody Laboratories, Inc. In its warning letter last month, the agency gave the companies 60 days to stop manufacturing the drug before enforcement action was taken. Thursday's announcement did not prompt immediate reactions from the companies. A spokesman for Cody Laboratories said the firm did not have all the details of the decision. Other companies did not immediately return calls from CNN. The FDA estimates there are several thousand drugs, mostly older products, marketed illegally without FDA approval in this country. Once an illegally marketed drug is identified, enforcement action begins because the agency does not have information on the quality of these drugs and has not had an opportunity to approve their labeling. In 1976 the agency began a program to bring companies manufacturing these drugs into compliance. Thursday's announcement applies only to the morphine sulfate elixir 20mg/ml, and the warning letters sent to the other product manufacturers are still in effect. Currently there are no approved morphine sulfate oral solution 20mg/ml products on the market. Until there are, the FDA says it will allow companies making and distributing the unapproved drugs to continue, until 180 days after any company receives approval to manufacture a new morphine replacement drug of the same dosage. The FDA says it expects all companies marketing unapproved drugs to submit the necessary applications to get approval for those drugs.

FDA decides to extend the usage of morphine sulfate oral solution 20 mg/ml . Hospital, hospice groups had said pulling drug would cause hardship . FDA said until alternatives are developed, easing of pain must remain a priority . FDA estimates several thousand drugs marketed without approval .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- In a dramatic break from previous policy, the United States will join direct talks between U.N. and European powers and Iran over Tehran's nuclear program, the State Department announced Wednesday. Wednesday's announcement is the latest step by the Obama administration to engage Iran diplomatically. The Obama administration has asked the European Union's international policy chief, Javier Solana, to invite Iran to new talks with the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany, State Department spokesman Robert Wood said. "If Iran accepts, we hope this will be an occasion to seriously engage Iran of how to break the logjam of recent years and work in a cooperative manner to resolve the outstanding international concerns about its nuclear program," Wood said. Iran so far has refused Security Council demands to halt its production of enriched uranium, which it has said will be used to fuel nuclear power plants. The United States has accused Tehran of concealing efforts to develop a nuclear bomb, and the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog agency said it has failed to resolve questions about the aim of Iranian program. Watch how U.S. policy on Iran is changing » . The Bush administration had insisted that Iran first stop its nuclear program before any talks with the United States or its allies could go forward. Wednesday's announcement is the latest step in the Obama administration's efforts to engage the Islamic republic diplomatically after nearly three decades without formal ties. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, briefly addressing the administration's decision Wednesday, told reporters that "pursuing very careful engagement on a range of issues that affect our interests and the interests of the world with Iran makes sense." "And there's nothing more important than trying to convince Iran to cease its efforts to obtain a nuclear weapon," Clinton said at the State Department, where she was meeting Panama's foreign affairs minister. Her comments came in response to a reporter's question about engaging Iran. Washington, which has not had diplomatic relations with Iran since 1980, has participated in previous talks only as an observer. Wood would not speculate about whether a meeting involving Iran and the rest of the group might lead to direct one-on-one meetings of U.S. and Iranian officials. "It's a little early to talk about that right now," he said. Iran has so far responded coolly to the American overtures. In a statement carried on Iranian state television Wednesday evening, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Washington "has no right to suggest how other nations should live." "Those who have nuclear bombs are backward nations, because the time for threats is over," Ahmadinejad said. And in a statement carried by the official IRNA news agency, Ahmadinejad said Iran was "ready to cooperate" toward nuclear disarmament, as long as those efforts did not create obstacles for countries that wish to produce nuclear fuel for civilian power. No date has been set for the next meeting of the "P-5 plus 1" group, which includes the five Security Council permanent members -- the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China -- as well as Germany. But Wednesday's announcement comes amidst a variety of signals from both sides that a major diplomatic shift was in the winds. In March, President Obama delivered a televised message to the Iranian people offering new diplomatic engagement. And Clinton sat down with an Iranian official at a recent conference in the Netherlands on Afghanistan, but the two diplomats had no one-on-one contact. During his presidential campaign, Obama called for talks with Iran without pre-conditions -- a proposal sharply criticized by Clinton, then his chief opponent for the Democratic nomination, among others. Big obstacles to a U.S.-Iranian thaw remain, including reports from Tehran on Wednesday that Iranian authorities have charged an American journalist with espionage. Clinton told reporters that the the U.S. had asked the Swiss -- who represent U.S. interests in Iran -- for up-to-date information about Roxana Saberi, who has been jailed for nearly three months. During the March 31 meeting in the Netherlands, the United States delivered a note to Iran that asked for a response on the status of Saberi and American citizens detained or missing in Iran. U.S. officials say they are still awaiting a response from the Iranians to the note. CNN's Charley Keyes contributed to this report.

NEW: "Engagement" with Iran "makes sense," Secretary of State Clinton says . NEW: Ahmadinejad says U.S. "has no right to suggest how other nations should live" E.U. official asked to invite Iran to new talks with Security Council members, Germany . U.S., having no diplomatic relations with Iran, has stayed out of those talks to date .

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(CNN) -- A Texas couple who were burned to death in the Texas wildfires Thursday had been packing their truck to evacuate their home but were unable to escape fast-moving flames, a relative told CNN Friday. A house burns after wildfires raced through rural Montague County in Texas. "I think they underestimated how fast it was moving," said Carol Quinn, the daughter-in-law of victim Matt Quinn. "I think this was very fast and very hot. ... It is an awful story." Matt Quinn, 80, and his wife, Cathy, were two of the three confirmed fatalities in Thursday's fires. Matt Quinn was a former reporter for the Dallas-Fort Worth station WFAA-TV and had spent his life in journalism. The Quinns lived in rural Montague County. The couple's son Chris, 30, was hospitalized in fair condition with second- and third-degree burns and was expected to recover, Carol Quinn said. Chris had gone to look for his cat as the family prepared to leave in advance of the fires. "There were three of them. Chris went to get his cat and put the cat in the carrier," Carol Quinn, who lives in Orlando, Florida, told CNN. "When he came back, the truck was totally engulfed in flames. "The flames were closing in, and he didn't know if Matt and Cathy were in the truck, and he took off running." The family did not live in a mandatory evacuation area but faced gusty winds and a wall of flames 30 feet high, she said. She said they had called the sheriff's department shortly before their truck was engulfed. Another person was killed just west of Dallas and Fort Worth in what's being called the Cement Mountain fire, the Texas Fire Service reported Friday afternoon. Wildfires are also burning in Oklahoma. In Midwest City, one of the places hit hardest by the flames, fire officials said at least one of the fires appears to have been intentionally set -- although they stopped short of calling it arson. See where the fires are burning » . "We'd like to make the distinction and understand that there's a difference between being intentional and having intent with malice," said city Fire Marshal Jerry Lojka. "So we haven't proved that there was malice, but we do know that the fire was intentionally set." Winds that at times reached hurricane-force levels blew through towns and neighborhoods, fueling fires that burned some homes while sparing others. Watch what is left of homes -- rubble » . More than 101,000 acres in Texas were burned, destroying 32 buildings, according to Bill Beebee of the Texas Forest Service. About 140 structures in Oklahoma have been destroyed, most of them in south-central Oklahoma and Oklahoma County, according to the Department of Emergency Management. At least 49 people were injured. Health officials said that with two exceptions, injuries from the fires were moderate or minor. A motorist was severely injured after losing control of a vehicle on a smoky road. Also, a Lincoln County firefighter was in stable condition at the Integris Baptist Burn Center in Oklahoma City. The fires burned all the way into Oklahoma City, and by Friday afternoon, firefighters were once again battling blazes that had flared up again within the city limits. iReport.com: Are wildfires affecting you? Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry declared a state of emergency for 31 counties. The state also was hit with severe weather. Henry's order marks a first step toward seeking federal assistance, if necessary, by allowing state agencies to make emergency purchases. "We are doing everything we can to deliver resources to firefighters and first responders on the front lines. They have done an amazing job under very challenging conditions, and we owe them a great debt of gratitude. Their heroism has helped save lives and property," Henry said in a written statement. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the scores of families and individuals who lost homes or businesses," he said. Midwest City and the nearby towns of Choctaw and Nicoma Park were especially hard hit. By late Friday afternoon, the fires were under control and firefighters were putting out hot spots, the governor said. CNN's Hank Bishop, Mark Bixler, Aaron Cooper and Deb Krajnak contributed to this report.

NEW: One person killed in fire just west of Dallas and Fort Worth . NEW: Former television reporter, wife die in Texas wildfire while waiting for son . Number of injured in Oklahoma wildfires rises to at least 49 . Oklahoma governor declares emergency for 31 counties .

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LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- For Miley Cyrus, star of Disney's popular television series "Hannah Montana" and its big-screen adaptation "Hannah Montana: The Movie," art is not far from real life. Miley Cyrus, here in "Hannah Montana: The Movie," says filming in Tennessee was relaxing. The 16-year-old actress and singer reconnected with her Southern roots for the filming of "Hannah Montana: The Movie." Traveling to Tennessee to shoot the movie, Cyrus said, helped keep her grounded. "It actually gave me time to relax, and it was when my career was just starting to take off ... when I was just starting to travel," Cyrus said. "It was at a time when I needed to go back home and it couldn't have been more of a perfect time." In the film, opening in theaters Friday, Cyrus plays Miley Stewart, a typical teenage girl who lives a double life as a famous pop star named Hannah Montana. Eventually, Hannah begins taking over Miley's life, leading Miley to take a soul-searching journey back home to decide what she really wants: notoriety or normality. Miley shares the screen with her father, country musician Billy Ray Cyrus, who felt that a trip home would be beneficial to his daughter. Watch Miley and Billy Ray discuss the film » . "This is definitely an example of art imitating life imitating art. ... It's so important to be aware of where you're at and be focused on where you're going but, more importantly, never forget where you came from," the elder Cyrus said. "You can't fake going home. That was her home." Both on-screen and off, Miley said, she and her father share a close friendship, calling herself a "daddy's girl 100 percent." Between the endless tabloid headlines and the paparazzi's persistence, keeping friends and family near at hand, Miley said, helps remind her of who she really is: "I think just have good friends, good family and a good team. That's what people miss the most, just having a good team." Co-star Lucas Till, who plays Miley's love interest in the film, remarked on Miley's down-to-earth personality. "She's really nice and really [endearing], and she really cares about people," he said. "She's a good friend, very loyal." The two shared an on-screen kiss that, Till said, "could have been more meaningful." Watch Till talk about kissing Cyrus » . "There was a lot more there to that kiss than you see," he said. Asked whether Till was a good kisser, Miley replied, "Meh, he's OK. No, I'm just kidding. I don't know. I think I was too busy thinking about my next line to think about it." During her film's opening weekend, Miley is planning on surprising select audiences at undisclosed theater locations across the country. Moviegoers who see "Hannah Montana: The Movie" this weekend could also be treated to surprise appearances by stars of the film, live performances and more. Miley said she was excited to give back to her fans. "I have the best fans in the world," she said. After playing "Hannah" for three years, Miley said, she's not ready to quit anytime soon. "I can't be Hannah until I'm 30, but I want to keep doing it as long as possible," she said. CNN's JD Cargill and CNN.com's Elham Khatami contributed to this article.

Miley Cyrus stars in a big-screen version of "Hannah Montana" Much of movie shot in Tennessee; Cyrus said it gave her "time to relax" Cyrus kisses co-star Lucas Till in film but said she was focused on her lines .

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TEL AVIV, Israel (CNN) -- In Tel Aviv's wholesale fashion headquarters, where textile merchants follow in the legacy of fathers and grandfathers, many Israelis are looking for the latest in tech fashion: the iPhone. Mobile phone store Z-Tov Ltd. in Tel Aviv carries iPhones among other cell phones and products. It's at Z-Tov Ltd. that consumers shop for the latest models of Samsung, Philips and Motorola. The local mobile phone chain even carries the 8GB and 16GB models of the highly coveted iPhone. One customer asks the clerk whether the store sells the 16GB iPhone. But when he hears the price, the customer walks off in disappointment. Z-Tov sells the 8GB iPhone for about 2,600 NIS, or about U.S. $753. The current market price in the United States is $399. The store clerk says the store pays a 50 percent tax to import iPhones from outside the country. But the price doesn't hinder iPhone's popularity here, appealing mostly to young men quick to upgrade their 8GB to a 16GB model as if memory size is a barometer of male bravado. Apple has yet to make its presence official in Israel. The company has limited its iPhone products to four markets: the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and France. Still, as in other parts of the world, the iPhone has strong reception along Mediterranean shores. The coveted phones make their way through customs in both official and unofficial passages; consumers buy them abroad for friends and acquaintances to resell on the gray market. But before the phone can work on a local network, it must be unlocked or "jailbroken," tech lingo for reprogramming the iPhone to work on network carriers not affiliated with Apple. Apple maintains strategic deals with several hand-picked wireless carriers; namely AT&T in the United States. In order to protect these alliances, Apple issues this disclaimer to customers planning to reprogram the iPhone: Unlock at your own risk. The standard one-year warranty on jailbroken iPhones is null and void. At Z-Tov, unlocking the iPhone is big business, and Arik Steinman's services are in high demand. For 100 NIS (about U.S. $30), Steinman, a Russian immigrant, will unlock an iPhone in about 20 minutes, replacing the factory-provided SIM card with the customer's SIM of choice. For an extra 50 NIS (about U.S. $15), he'll change the language program to Hebrew. Steinman, who maintains a growing collection of unused AT&T SIM cards, said he unlocks an average of 30 to 40 iPhones a week. Steinman has no formal technical background; he said he learned the technique through various sources. "In the beginning, it wasn't simple; now it is simple," he said with a smirk. Last year, as many as 1 million iPhones may have been unlocked and activated by carriers not paying Apple a kickback, according to industry experts. Anosh Ishak, a businessman and developer based in Atlanta, Georgia, said his iPhone is a "valuable business tool" that he uses on international trips, notably to Israel, where he'll pop out his U.S. SIM and replace it with one that will run on a local network. Ishak said he paid $20 to a friend of a friend to unlock his phone so he can stay with his current phone carrier, T-Mobile. When he purchased the iPhone from an Apple retail store in Atlanta, he made it clear he wasn't planning to sign on with AT&T. "They told me that they wouldn't sell me the phone if they knew I was going to unlock it," Ishak said. Determined, Ishak told the salesperson that he had the right to buy the merchandise and that the store could not control it. How did the Apple salesperson respond? "To tell me he'll pretend like he didn't hear it," said Ishak. Apple representatives declined to comment on the unlocking phenomenon and iPhones making their way overseas, referring CNN to a Wired article that quoted Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook speaking at the Goldman Sachs Technology Symposium in February. Cook described the unlocked iPhones floating around the world as "a good problem to have," according to Wired, preferring to focus on Apple's 10 million quota -- even if it means doing away with its carrier exclusivity. "The demand for the iPhone is so intense in the markets where we aren't offering it that people are exporting it out of the U.S. in many different ways and then running it on local carriers," Cook said. "Of all the problems we face, this is the one I face looking at with a little bit of a smile. Because it means there's great demand for the phone. And to have people stepping over each other to have the phone isn't a bad thing," Cook said.

Z-Tov sells the 8GB iPhone for about 2,000 NIS, or about U.S. $790 . Apple has yet to make its presence official in Israel . In Israel, selling and unlocking the coveted iPhone is big business . Apple COO Tim Cook: Unlocked iPhones "a good problem to have"

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton had $6.4 million in presidential campaign debt at the end of November, according to a report filed Saturday with the Federal Election Commission. Hillary Clinton says she hopes to have her campaign debt paid before her possible confirmation as secretary of state. The amount, though still significant, represents the lowest level of debt the New York senator's failed presidential campaign has reported this year. Clinton's campaign debt reached its peak, $12 million, at the end of June and has gradually fallen since then. Clinton said she hopes to pay off her debt before her possible confirmation as secretary of state. Clinton has also officially forgiven the $13.2 million she personally loaned her campaign. Under the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law, presidential candidates who loan their campaigns money from personal funds may only be paid back if they do so by the national party convention -- in this case, the Democratic National Convention held last August in Denver. Clinton began November with $985,000 in her campaign account and raised nearly $290,000 by the end of the month. Her campaign paid out $1.2 million, mainly to unpaid vendors, ending the month with $188,000 in the bank. The $6.4 million in remaining debt is owed to a total of 16 creditors. The largest unpaid amount is owed to Penn, Schoen & Berland, a political consulting and polling firm that advised Clinton during her presidential bid. The firm's president, Mark Penn, served as chief strategist to Clinton for most of her campaign until he was forced out of his position in April after revelations that he lobbied for a U.S.-Colombia trade deal on behalf of the Colombian government despite Clinton's opposition to the measure. However, he never left the campaign entirely.

Hillary Clinton still owes more than $6 million in presidential campaign debt . Clinton has officially forgiven the $13.2 million personal loan to her campaign . She hopes to have debt paid before her possible confirmation as secretary of state .

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Editor's note: Mike Galanos hosts "Prime News" from 5-7 p.m. ET Mondays through Fridays on HLN. "Prime News" uses the day's most powerful headlines as a starting point for diverse perspectives, spirited debate and your points of view. Mike Galanos says child pornography charges are too harsh for teens caught "sexting." ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- "Sexting." Have parents out there ever even heard of this term? Whether you want to admit it or not, teenagers are sending sexual messages and naked pictures of themselves to their boyfriends and girlfriends. In most cases it's the girl sending a picture or message to the guy. If you're thinking to yourself right now, "What's the big deal?" then you should think again. This practice can ruin our teenagers' lives. Six teens in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, were charged as juveniles with possessing child pornography after three girls sent nude or semi-nude pictures of themselves to three boys. It gets even worse. A 13-year-old boy in Middletown, Ohio, is facing felony pandering obscenities charges after taping a sex act and showing it to friends at a skating party. A felony? Yes this kid needs to be punished but we don't need our 13 or 14-year-olds charged with child porn and lumped in with adult pedophiles and labeled as sex offenders. I've spoken with several attorneys on our show and it seems there is no one reason prosecutors are opting to charge teens with child porn instead of lesser charges. Some may be doing it to "send a message." Some may feel they have an obligation to charge these teens with the most serious offense possible and, according to the law, naked pictures of underage kids are usually considered child porn. And others may feel they are left with no options since there aren't really any laws that apply specifically to sexting. In any case, it's clear we need to change our laws to catch up with technology. A great illustration of why change is needed now is the story of Phillip Alpert, of Orlando, Florida. He didn't ask, but his girlfriend sexted him naked pictures of herself, according to the Orlando Sentinel. When they broke up, he mass e-mailed the photos to get back at her. Alpert, 18, was convicted of transmission of child porn and he will carry the label of "sex offender" until he is 43. He lost friends, was kicked out of school, he can't even move in with his dad because his dad lives near a school. Should Phillip be punished? Yes. Should the six teens in Pennsylvania face consequences? Yes. But let's kick them off cheerleading squads and sports teams. Make them do community service and take classes on sex crimes. Educate other teens on the dangers of sexting. Pay a price, yes, but these young people shouldn't pay for this for the rest of their lives. And if you think this couldn't happen to your kid, think again. Sexting is more prevalent than you think. The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy teamed up with CosmoGirl.com and asked over 1,200 teens about their sexual behaviors in cyberspace. According to their study, 39 percent of teens (that's ages 13-19) are sending or posting sexually suggestive messages over IM, text or e-mail and around the same number of teens are receiving such messages. Half of those teens, 20 percent, are sending or posting nude or semi-nude pictures of themselves. That's frightening. Why are our kids doing this? On our show, psychotherapist Stacy Kaiser said, "What I'm finding is a lot of girls are doing this because they're hoping it will help them get or keep a boyfriend." The numbers agree with Stacy. According to the study, 51 percent of girls say it's "pressure from guys" that's making them send sexual messages and pictures of themselves. So guys are expecting this and our girls are saying "OK." It makes me wonder how much progress we've really made in how young women are viewed and treated. The bottom line: We need to educate, not incarcerate, our teens and it has to start with parents. Don't let the culture indoctrinate your little boy or girl about sex before their time. So strike first as a parent. If your kids are older, let them know a digital record is for life. When little Suzie tries to win the affection of little Bobby by sexting him a picture, she is putting her future at stake. There is no control over that image or video once it gets out. But that doesn't mean little Suzie should be charged as a child pornographer. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Mike Galanos.

Mike Galanos: Teens are sending explicit photos of themselves to other kids . He says parents should be aware of what's happening and educate children . Galanos: Sexting should be punished but not treated as child pornography .

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(CNN) -- Voters in Nashville, Tennessee -- a city that has seen a dramatic increase in its immigrant population -- rejected a measure Thursday that would have made English the only language used for government business in its metropolitan area. Nearly 57 percent of those who cast ballots Thursday in Nashville, Tennessee, voted against the measure. With all 173 precincts reporting, 41,752 voters, or nearly 57 percent, voted against the proposed amendment, with 32,144 voters supporting it, according to unofficial results posted on the Nashville city government Web site. "No person shall have a right to government services in any other language," the proposal read. The measure would have included government meetings. The Metropolitan Council, which submitted the measure, could have mandated exceptions to protect public health and safety. Elise Shore, southeast director of the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said her regional office in Atlanta, Georgia, was monitoring the Nashville balloting. "We just elected our first black president. There are the forces of globalization and conducting business around the world ... in the face of this, we see these measures?" Shore asked. The proposal "sends a strong message ... this is a negative message. In fact, it invites discrimination," she said. In a newspaper editorial published Thursday, The Tennessean urged voters to defeat the proposal. "This amendment would exclude and marginalize those residents and visitors to Nashville simply because English is not their native tongue," the editorial said. The polls opened at 7 a.m. and closed at 7 p.m. Before the measure was defeated, a spokesman for U.S. English Inc., an action group that supports English-only laws nationwide, said the Nashville proposal was a good one. "Government programs are aimed at helping people reach self-sufficiency and success," Rob Toonkel said. "Allowing use of a second language doesn't encourage them to learn English." "The key word [of the amendment] is 'actions that bind the government,' " Toonkel said, which would cover transactions such as getting a city contract. If a non-English speaker needs help filling out a form, and someone in that agency speaks their language, they should be helped, he said. "But you shouldn't be able to come in, pick up a form [in another language] and leave." According to Toonkel, about 30 states and more than 100 localities have made English their official language, and he said his organization believes such laws are legal. Raul Gonzalez, legislative director for the National Council of La Raza, said the message of the proposal is discriminatory. "What it ... says is, 'If you speak a language other than English, you may not be welcome here,' " Gonzalez said. La Raza is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization focused on reducing poverty and discrimination and improving opportunities for Hispanic Americans. Gonzalez said similar English-only laws across the country "have so many exceptions they are meaningless." In an editorial earlier this month, The Tennessean quoted the referendum's sponsor, Councilman Eric Crafton, who said the bill was needed to save the city $100,000 to $150,000 in annual translation and related costs. However, metro officials told the newspaper such services are provided by employees already on the city's payroll. The council passed a similar bill in 2007, but it was vetoed by then-Mayor Bill Purcell, who called it "unconstitutional, unnecessary and mean-spirited," according to The Tennessean. U.S. Census data from 2000 showed an increase of 210 percent in the immigrant population of the Nashville metro area, including Davidson County, since 1990. During that decade, immigrants accounted for 45 percent of the overall population increase in the city. More than two-thirds, or 67 percent, of the area's foreign-born population had entered since 1990. This was much higher than the rate for the state overall, which was about 58 percent. The Census Bureau's American Community Survey, taken between 2005 and 2007 for the Nashville metro area, shows a population of 613,632. Of that number, 61,843 were foreign-born, with most of the immigrants coming from Latin America. About 73,000 residents speak a language other than English at home and, of those, 35,290 speak English less than "very well," the survey found.

NEW: 57 percent vote against English-only measure in Nashville, Tennessee . Proposal: "No person shall have a right" to government services not in English . Measure would "exclude and marginalize" some residents, newspaper says .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- On Inauguration Day, there's one scene at the White House that won't be playing out exactly as it has during past transitions: the traditional moving of the outgoing first family's belongings. President Bush walks out of the White House Oval Office on January 10. Anita McBride, chief of staff to first lady Laura Bush, tells CNN that the Bushes have moved almost all of their belongings out of the White House ahead of schedule. "There won't be ... the moving trucks for the Bushes coming here," McBride said, adding, "The only things really left for President and Mrs. Bush are their personal belongings and luggage that they'll take that day." McBride said Mrs. Bush directed residence staff early -- in the summer of 2008 -- to prepare the White House for the personal transition. "It's probably the librarian in her," McBride said of Mrs. Bush, a former librarian. "Maybe we've got a bit of a Dewey Decimal system of move-out process, but that certainly made it easier for the residence staff, and they very much appreciate it," McBride said. The actual clearing out of the Bushes' belongings began over the summer, McBride says, when many items were packed and taken to Crawford, Texas. Then, during the Christmas holiday, the Bushes moved their personal things out of Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland, according to McBride. That means on Inauguration Day, while President Bush and Mrs. Bush, along with President-elect Obama and his family, are at the Capitol, staff in the White House residence will have more time to unpack and prepare the Obamas' personal belongings. "They have rehearsed this over the last few weeks, everyone has their marching orders, it will be all hands on deck," said McBride. "The residence staff will be here that morning, and they know what their jobs are when the moving truck for the Obamas' move-in arrives," she said, adding, "Their things will be unpacked, and their clothes will be in their rightful place, and whatever furniture that they may have selected from the White House furniture collection will be in the place that they want it to be."

The Obamas' belongings will be moved into the White House on Tuesday . Most of the Bush family items are already moved to Crawford ranch, Dallas home . Bush move started last summer, according to a White House aide .

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- The international race among sailors, kite surfers and wind surfers to be the fastest wind-powered boat on the planet is rapidly gaining momentum as speeds reach all-time highs. Quick sailor: French trimaran l'Hydroptere is one of the boats battling for the outright world sailing speed record. The outright world sailing speed record -- which did not change hands for 11 years after 1993 -- has been bettered four times this year alone. The new holder of the record, Alexandre Caizergues, of France, claimed it with an average speed of 50.57 knots (almost 60 miles per hour) over 500 meters on his kite board off the coast of Namibia last month. Caizergues' attempt was eventually ratified by the World Sailing Speed Record Council (WSSRC) this month, when it was decided that kite boards would be eligible for the outright record. Meanwhile, another Frenchman, Alain Thebault, has also been closely challenging for the record on his vessel l'Hydroptere. Thebault's crew hold the 500m speed record in the boat class, and also have the overall speed record in the one nautical mile category. Then there is the Australian sailor hoping to spoil the party for the French . Paul Larsen, aboard British yacht Vestas SailRocket, has unofficially nabbed the fastest boat record from l'Hydroptere with an average speed of 47.4 knots. Larsen achieved the speed in 22 knot winds, and shortly before his unusual "boat" became airborne and flipped. Larsen's speed is just awaiting formal approval from the WSSRC. Thebault held the record with a speed of 46.88 knots. Even the round-the-world Volvo Ocean Race has had a speed record of its own with current leader Ericsson 4 claiming the world record for the most distance sailed in a 24-hour period during the event's first leg. According to a spokesman from the WSSRC, interest in speed sailing is steadily building, and the close competition has been giving it a boost. "Certainly towards the end of the year it's been very hectic. I think what has happened is that a number of competitors have been at the top end and they have all been competing against each other at the same venues. The development of new technologies is one factor that has increased interest in trying to break these records. "The fact that kite boards have developed has helped ... but there is still a lot of people out there that want to achieve these records," the spokesman said. He said that a lot of syndicates had been involved in speed sailing for some time, and that many were only now starting to feel the benefits of their developmental work. "It does seem if you are going for a specially designed boat it takes a few years before you get the design right," he said. The spokesman said the WSSRC had received about 50 formal applications for speed attempts during 2008. He said the council's job was not to promote the attempts but simply to oversee them in a fair and independent manner and ratify successful efforts. The WSSRC had a number of commissioners based around the world, he said.

Kite boarder Alexandre Caizergues, of France, holds the world sailing speed record . The World Sailing Speed Record Council oversees and ratifies record attempts . The WSSRC had about 50 formal applications for record attempts in 2008 .

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BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) -- Demonstrators stormed a hotel Saturday where Asian leaders were to meet, forcing the indefinite postponement of the Association of South East Asian Nations summit. Thousands of anti-government protesters block a busy intersection during rush hour in Bangkok. Participating Asian leaders were on their way out of the country, according to Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. He declared a state of emergency in Chonburi province and the southern coastal city of Pattaya, where the summit was to be held, but rescinded the order hours afterward. Thousands of "red shirt" protesters, named for the color of their attire, have rallied for days to demand Abhisit's resignation. The demonstrators flooded into the summit site after smashing through the hotel's glass doors, but were otherwise nonviolent. Hundreds of them streamed in, without police interference. Protesters hugged the officers and shook their hands. The red shirts have given the prime minister repeated deadlines to resign, but those have come and gone. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon he was disappointed by the summit's delay. "I understand the circumstances that led the Thai government to take this difficult decision. While I had hoped to have exchanges with the leaders of ASEAN and its dialogue partners, I continue to look forward to engaging again with them in the near future," Ban said. "I strongly value the long-standing relationship between ASEAN and the United Nations, and their cooperation in various fields. I hope for an early restoration of normalcy in Thailand and for the settlement of differences through dialogue and peaceful means," he added. The protesters are loyal to former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup. Thaksin now lives outside of Thailand. The protesters have said Abhisit's government was not democratically elected and want him to resign and schedule elections. Abhisit, who has held the position for four months, has rejected calls for him to step down. Lawmakers named the 44-year-old, Oxford University-educated Abhisit prime minister in December in the wake of months of demonstrations against Thaksin and his ruling party, People Power Party. On Tuesday, protesters rushed Abhisit's motorcade while it was struck in traffic. He escaped unharmed. Protesters opposed to Thaksin took to the streets last year wearing yellow shirts, occupied the Government House and blockaded Bangkok's major international airport, stranding throngs of tourists who provide much of the country's revenue. The demonstrations ended in early December when a court ruled that the People Power Party was guilty of electoral fraud and threw Thaksin's brother-in-law out of the prime minister's seat. The red shirt protesters said this week they would not take over the airports. Dan Rivers and Kocha Olarn contributed to this report.

Demonstrators storm a hotel Saturday where Asian leaders were to meet . Thousands of "red shirt" protesters demand resignation of Thai Prime Minister . State of emergency declared in Chonburi province and coastal city of Pattaya . Protesters are loyal to ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in 2006 coup .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A form of liquid morphine used by terminally ill patients will remain on the market even though it is an "unapproved drug," according to a decision by the Food and Drug Administration. Last month, the FDA warned nine companies to stop selling unapproved pain-relief drugs. After talking with hospital and hospice organizations, which expressed concern that taking the product off the market would result in hardship for terminally ill patients and their caregivers, the agency decided to extend the usage of morphine sulfate oral solution 20 mg/ml. The agency wants to ensure there is no shortage of the drug while patients wait for an approved product to take its place. "While the FDA remains committed to ultimately ensuring that all prescription drugs on the market are FDA approved, we have to balance that goal with flexibility and compassion for patients who have a few alternatives for the alleviation of their pain," Dr. Douglas Throckmorton, deputy director of the FDA's Center for drug Evaluation and Research, said Thursday. "In light of the concerns raised by these patients and their health-care providers, we have adjusted our actions with regard to these particular products." Last month, the FDA sent warning letters to nine companies telling them to stop manufacturing 14 unapproved narcotics that are widely used to treat pain. Seven of those companies made or distributed the oral morphine. The morphine elixir is widely used by terminal patients in hospital and home hospice care settings and is manufactured by Lehigh Valley Technologies Inc., Mallinckrodt Inc. Pharmaceuticals Group, Boehringer Ingelheim Roxane Inc. and Cody Laboratories, Inc. In its warning letter last month, the agency gave the companies 60 days to stop manufacturing the drug before enforcement action was taken. Thursday's announcement did not prompt immediate reactions from the companies. A spokesman for Cody Laboratories said the firm did not have all the details of the decision. Other companies did not immediately return calls from CNN. The FDA estimates there are several thousand drugs, mostly older products, marketed illegally without FDA approval in this country. Once an illegally marketed drug is identified, enforcement action begins because the agency does not have information on the quality of these drugs and has not had an opportunity to approve their labeling. In 1976 the agency began a program to bring companies manufacturing these drugs into compliance. Thursday's announcement applies only to the morphine sulfate elixir 20mg/ml, and the warning letters sent to the other product manufacturers are still in effect. Currently there are no approved morphine sulfate oral solution 20mg/ml products on the market. Until there are, the FDA says it will allow companies making and distributing the unapproved drugs to continue, until 180 days after any company receives approval to manufacture a new morphine replacement drug of the same dosage. The FDA says it expects all companies marketing unapproved drugs to submit the necessary applications to get approval for those drugs.

FDA decides to extend the usage of morphine sulfate oral solution 20 mg/ml . Hospital, hospice groups had said pulling drug would cause hardship . FDA said until alternatives are developed, easing of pain must remain a priority . FDA estimates several thousand drugs marketed without approval .

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(CNN) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has added his brother-in-law to a military board in a move analysts say paves the way for an heir, according to South Korea's state-sponsored Yonhap news agency. Kim Jong-il has named his brother-in-law Jang Song Thaek to a top military board. The addition of his kin to the powerful National Defense Commission also solidifies his standing, Yonhap said. Kim was reappointed Thursday as chairman of the military board in his first major public appearance since a reported stroke in August. His brother-in-law, Jang Song Thaek, is considered his right-hand man, according to Yonhap. Jang, who has been married to Kim's sister since 1972, currently serves as a director of the Workers' Party, Yonhap said. "Kim wants to keep the military in check and secure loyalty to both the military and the party," Cha Doo-hyeogn, a North Korea expert, told Yonhap. Kim also increased the number of members in the military agency to 13, from eight, Yonhap said. "Overall, the power of the National Defense Commission was strengthened," Seoul's Unification Ministry spokesman, Kim Ho-nyoun, told Yonhap in a briefing. There were no other major changes in the new parliament, which signifies that Kim, 67, is prepared to maintain the status quo as he readies someone to take over from him, analysts told Yonhap. Kim's recent health problems and long absence from public functions have prompted speculation on whether he is ready to groom an heir to the world's only communist dynasty. But the secretive nation shields its internal affairs from international scrutiny. Analysts told Yonhap that Jang may serve as caretaker for Kim's successor, who will possibly be one of his three sons.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il added his brother-in-law to a military board . Analysts say move paves the way for an heir to be named . Jang Song Thaek is considered to be Kim's right-hand man .

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(Mental Floss) -- Owning a professional sports franchise is my dream job. (I'm willing to relocate.) Of course, I could never afford my own team. There's a better chance I'll miraculously develop an unhittable slider, or learn to punt. NFL team owner Robert Kraft got his start in the paper business. You obviously must be exceedingly wealthy to become an owner. Did you ever wonder how all these people made all that money? I sure hope you did, because we went and did all this research. Here's a list of nine billionaire owners and how they built their fortunes. 1. Rich DeVos, Orlando Magic (NBA) In 1959, DeVos and high school friend Jay Van Andel started selling all-purpose cleaner. Their business grew to become Amway, which now brings in $6 billion each year under the ominous-sounding Alticor name. Whether you see Amway as an empowering direct sales company or a something resembling a cult, it sure was good to DeVos. Forbes estimates his wealth at $3.5 billion, making the paltry $85 million he spent on the Magic in 1991 a minor investment. 2. Robert L. Johnson, Charlotte Bobcats (NBA) Lower on my list of dream jobs is running a cable network that caters to urban youth. So I'm all kinds of envious of Robert L., who founded BET and sold it to Viacom for $3 billion in 2001. His fortune was depleted by an expensive divorce, but Johnson's estimated net worth is still $1.1 billion. His resume is full of firsts BET was the first African-American owned company traded on the NYSE. He was the first African-American billionaire in the U.S. And, in 2002, he became the first African-American majority owner of a professional sports franchise. 3. Robert Kraft, New England Patriots (NFL) I'd never given it much thought, but I'd always assumed Kraft bought the Patriots with big cheese money he'd inherited. But Kraft got his start in the paper business. His wife, Myra, is the daughter of Massachusetts philanthropist Jacob Hiatt. After Kraft finished Harvard Business School, he went to work with his father-in-law's packaging company. In 1972, Kraft founded International Forest Products, which is now part of the Kraft Group -- a diversified collection of companies ranging from Gillette Stadium to the New England Revolution (Major League Soccer) to Carmel Container Systems (Israel's largest packaging plant). Kraft is seen as a savior in New England -- before he bought the team in 1994, the Pats seemed destined for relocation to St. Louis. Plus he's made them really, really good, winning three Super Bowls this decade. Another reason I'm so keen on owning a team is the access to foreign heads of state. In 2005, Kraft met Vladimir Putin, who walked off with one of Kraft's Super Bowl rings. Kraft now claims it was a gift, but that might just be what you say when a Russian leader steals your jewelry. Mental Floss: How ex-presidents and prime ministers make ends meet . 4. Hiroshi Yamauchi, Seattle Mariners (MLB) Despite America's strong resistance to Japanese ownership -- and despite his admitted lack of interest in baseball -- Hiroshi Yamauchi became majority owner of the Seattle Mariners in 1992. Yamauchi is the man credited with transforming Nintendo from playing-card company to video game giant. His 55-year tenure saw incredible growth. But that doesn't mean there weren't a few bumps along the way. Forays into instant rice, taxi service and short-stay hotels (also known as "love hotels") did not pan out. 5. Jerry Jones, Dallas Cowboys (NFL) Jerry Jones built an oil empire in the early 1970s, striking gas in the first thirteen wells he drilled. His father had given him a head start; Pat Jones sold the Modern Security Life Insurance Company for millions. An undersized guard, Jones was captain of the 1965 Cotton Bowl-winning Arkansas Razorbacks. Future Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson was a teammate, and Johnson's successor, Barry Switzer, was a Razorbacks assistant. Jones bought the Cowboys for an estimated $140 million in 1989. He immediately made waves by firing Tom Landry -- the only coach in Cowboys history -- and replacing him with his college buddy (the aforementioned Jimmy Johnson, who was coaching the University of Miami). After a rocky 1-15 start in 1989, the Cowboys went on to win three Super Bowls in the 1990s. Mental Floss: A brief history of stadium naming rights . 6. Malcolm Glazer, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (NFL), Manchester United (English Premier League) Malcolm Glazer inherited a small jewelry repair business from his father. But it was Malcolm's investments in Florida trailer parks that started his financial ascent. He went on to become president and CEO of First Allied Corporation, which now owns 6,700,000 square feet of retail space. He was also chairman of Gilbert/Robinson, Inc., which managed over 100 restaurants, including Houlihan's and Darryl's. Today, the Glazer family oversees strip malls and nursing homes throughout the land. Glazer also has a large stake in Zapata, an oil company founded by George H.W. Bush. Glazer made five previous attempts to join the elite ranks of NFL ownership, including a failed 1993 bid to bring an expansion team to Baltimore. The New York Times said Glazer had "a reputation as a franchise window shopper, one who looks at virtually every team that comes up for sale." But in 1995, he outbid George Steinbrenner for the downtrodden Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Under his leadership, the franchise was righted, earning a Super Bowl title in 2003. Glazer also bought Manchester United, and fans weren't exactly pleased. 7. Stanley Kroenke, Denver Nuggets (NBA), Colorado Avalanche (NHL), St. Louis Rams (NFL -- partial owner) Kroenke is a self-made man who also married mega-rich. He earned his estimated $2.1 billion fortune in real estate, developing shopping centers across the country. Then he went ahead and married a Walton -- Ann Walton. Sam's niece. She's worth another $3+ billion. A sports junkie, Kroenke also owns Major League Soccer franchise Colorado Rapids and a share in Premier League's Arsenal F.C. 8. Daniel Gilbert, Cleveland Cavaliers (NBA) With $5,000 he'd earned delivering pizzas -- and after a stint as a TV reporter -- the future Cavs owner started a small mortgage company called Rock Financial in 1985. In 1999, the company was bought by Intuit for $532 million. Three years later, Gilbert bought it back for $64 mil, renaming the company Quicken Loans. He purchased the Cavaliers for $375 mil in 2005. He also owns Fathead, which makes wall decals and tiresome ads. On the side, Gilbert is working to beat Michigan's steroid-free bench-pressing record. 9. Stephen Bisciotti, Baltimore Ravens (NFL) At 48, Stephen Bisciotti is one of the NFL's youngest owners. He made his money in staffing -- specifically, finding talented engineers for the aerospace industry. With Jim Davis, Bisciotti founded Aerotek in 1983 (he was 23). Their staffing company, now known as the Allegis Group, had revenues of $4.4 billion in 2005. Bisciotti bought 49 percent of the Ravens in 2000, and purchased the rest from Art Modell in 2004. Mental Floss: What your favorite teams were almost called . For more mental_floss articles, visit mentalfloss.com . Entire contents of this article copyright, Mental Floss LLC. All rights reserved.

The NFL's Malcolm Glazer got started as an owner of Florida trailer parks . The Cleveland Cavaliers head was a pizza deliveryman and TV reporter . Baltimore Ravens chief found talented engineers for the aerospace industry . Russia's Putin walked off with NFL owner Robert Kraft's Super Bowl ring .

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(CNN) -- Incumbent leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika has won a third term in office after a landslide victory in Algeria's presidential election, media reports said Friday. Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika arrives to cast his vote at a school in Algiers. Bouteflika's victory came despite calls from his political opponents for voters to boycott the polls. They claim the election was a charade, with the other presidential candidates -- from left-wing parties to Islamists -- standing no real chance. The 72-year-old was elected with over 90 percent of the vote, Reuters.com quoted the official in charge of organizing Thursday's presidential election as saying. "Bouteflika has won ... 90.24 percent of the votes cast," Interior Minister Minister Noureddine Yazid Zerhouni told a news conference. Algerian lawmakers, most of them loyal to the president, cleared the way for him to stand for re-election last year by abolishing constitutional term limits. Critics said that would allow him to serve as president-for-life. Supporters of Bouteflika say he deserves credit for steering the North African country, an oil and gas producer, back to stability after a bloody civil conflict in the 1990s that killed an estimated 150,000 people. But critics say he is using the threat of renewed violence from Islamic militants to mask the country's deepening economic problems. "I continue to regard the restoration of civil peace as a national priority, as long as hotbeds of tension and pockets of subversion survive," Bouteflika, running for a third term, said in his final campaign speech on Monday, Reuters.com reported. He has also promised to spend $150 billion on development projects and create 3 million jobs, his remedy for an economy in which energy accounts for about 96 percent of exports but where other sectors have been choked by red tape and under-investment.

Bouteflika, 72, win third term comfortably with 90 percent of vote . Lawmakers abolished constitutional term limits last year . Political opponents claim vote was a charade . Algeria is fighting an Islamic insurgency and an ailing economy .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Top Democrats have expressed concern over President Obama's plan to draw down nearly two-thirds of U.S. forces in Iraq by August 2010, while some key Republicans are offering praise. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi earlier this week questioned the need to keep 50,000 troops in Iraq until 2011. At issue: Obama plans to leave between 35,000 to 50,000 residual forces in the war-torn country, serving in a training or advisory role to the Iraqi military. All U.S. troops have to be out of Iraq by December 31, 2011, under an agreement the Bush administration signed with the Iraqi government last year. There are currently 142,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, indicated earlier this week that the residual force Obama is planning to leave in Iraq is too large. Pelosi on Wednesday told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow: "I don't know what the justification is for 50,000, a presence of 50,000 troops in Iraq. ... I do think that there's a need for some. I don't know that all of them have to be in [the] country." Pelosi clarified her concerns after Obama announced the plan at an event Friday at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. iReport.com: Do you think troops should be pulled, or should numbers increase? "As President Obama's Iraq policy is implemented, the remaining missions given to our remaining forces must be clearly defined and narrowly focused so that the number of troops needed to perform them is as small as possible," Pelosi said in a press release. "The president's decision means that the time has come at last for Iraq's own security forces to have the prime responsibility for Iraq's security." Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-California, co-founder of the Out of Iraq House Caucus, was critical of the plan. "I am deeply troubled by the suggestion that a force of 50,000 troops could remain in Iraq beyond this time frame," she said in a statement Friday. "Call such a troop level what you will, but such a large number can only be viewed by the Iraqi public as an enduring occupation force. This is unacceptable." Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, said that while he supports Obama's "step in the right direction," the new troop plan does not "go far enough." "You cannot leave combat troops in a foreign country to conduct combat operations and call it the end of the war. You can't be in and out at the same time," Kucinich said in a release Friday. And top Senate Democrats echoed some of their House colleagues' skepticism. "That's a little higher number than I expected," Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, said Thursday. The third-ranking Senate Democrat, Sen. Charles Schumer of New York, said, "It has to be done responsibly, we all agree. But 50,000 is more than I would have thought." On Thursday afternoon, the president briefed bipartisan leaders from the House of Representatives and Senate -- including Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, at the White House about the troop plan. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Michigan, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said that 50,000 is "somewhat larger" than what he expected. However, he said he has always believed "a few tens of thousands" of troops would be needed for noncombat missions such as training and fighting terrorism. Watch Obama announce the new Iraq plan » . Before the White House meeting, Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Senate Democrat and a close Obama ally, said he was anxious to get the troops home. But he defended the administration, saying it is "trying to strike the right balance" between ending the war and maintaining stability in Iraq. Rep. John McHugh of New York, the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, said later that Obama assured him the plan to withdraw all combat forces will be revisited if conditions on the ground in Iraq deteriorate. "The president's objective to withdraw U.S. combat troops from Iraq is one we should pray for, plan for and work toward," McHugh said in a statement. "However, I remain concerned that the security situation in Iraq is fragile, and we should work to mitigate any risks to our troops and their mission. I specifically raised these points with the president this evening." McHugh added, "Our commanders must have the flexibility they need in order to respond to these challenges, and President Obama assured me that there is a 'Plan B.' " On Friday morning, McCain, who criticized Obama's plan to pull combat troops from Iraq in the presidential race, offered warm praise for the new proposal. In a speech on the Senate floor, McCain said Obama's decision is "reasonable" and that he is "cautiously optimistic that the plan that is laid out by the president can lead to success." McCain, the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said that a "failing situation in Iraq has been arrested and reversed" due to the "dramatic success of the surge strategy," referring to President Bush's plan in 2007 to send additional troops to Iraq. He also praised Obama's willingness to leave behind a significant residual force and reassess the situation if conditions change in the future. "We are finally on a path to success" in Iraq, McCain said. "Let us have no crisis of confidence now." Obama touted his opposition to the Iraq war during the presidential campaign, a position popular with liberal groups such as MoveOn.org. But according to a new CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll, many Democrats may not be satisfied with Obama's plan. When asked if the U.S. should keep the same number of troops in Iraq that are currently stationed there, 12 percent of Democratic respondents agreed -- compared with 58 percent of Republican respondents. Watch more on the poll » . Asked if U.S. forces should be removed by "next spring," 87 percent of Democrats and 39 percent of Republicans surveyed were in favor. But the survey suggested that half of all Americans think the United States is winning the war in Iraq, the highest percentage since that question was first asked in a CNN poll in 2004. "This indicates that the public thinks the surge worked, but that hasn't changed their view of the war in Iraq at all," said Keating Holland, CNN polling director. "As a result, nearly seven out of 10 favor the idea of removing most U.S. troops from Iraq by next spring, a proposal that was a key part of Obama's presidential campaign last year." The CNN/Opinion Research poll was conducted February 18-19, with 1,046 adult Americans questioned by telephone. The survey's sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points. CNN's Ted Barrett, Mark Preston and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

President Obama announces drawdown of combat troops in Iraq by August 2010 . Some Democrats question size of residual force to remain in Iraq . Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich says new troop plan does not "go far enough" Sen. John McCain offers praise, calling Obama's plan "reasonable"

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(CNN) -- A mother and her infant were killed by a tornado that hit Murfreesboro, Tennessee, on Friday, a family member told CNN. Powerful tornado winds ripped through Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Friday, leaving a trail of destruction. About 36 people were injured, at least two of them critically, officials said. Early Saturday, officials said about 250 homes had been damaged or destroyed. The woman who was killed, Kori Bryant, was at home with her daughter, Olivia, when the tornado struck, said family member Mark McClure. Another family member, who found the mother and daughter after the tornado, said attempts were made to resuscitate the infant, but she couldn't be saved, according to McClure. The baby was found in her car seat. Her parents had put her in the seat, thinking it would be safer for her, McClure said. The Bryants were in the hallway with the baby when the tornado struck. The woman's husband, John Bryant, was found about two houses away, McClure said. His back and ribs were broken, and a lung had collapsed. He was taken to Vanderbilt University Hospital, and he will undergo surgery when his blood pressure stabilizes, McClure said. John's brother told him yesterday that his wife and daughter had died, McClure said. The bad weather began about noon when a band of severe thunderstorms swept across the state from the southwest, said Donnie Smith, a public information officer with the Tennessee Department of Emergency Management in Nashville. Just before 1:40 p.m., the tornado hit Murfreesboro in Rutherford County, 30 miles southeast of Nashville, he said. Thirty-six people were treated for tornado-related injuries at Middle Tennessee Medical Center in Murfreesboro, said hospital spokeswoman Martha Tolbert. The search-and-rescue effort was continuing into the evening, Smith said. Watch damage caused by tornado in Murfreesboro » . Elsewhere in the region, the town of Mena, Arkansas, is cleaning up after a tornado roared through, killing three people and damaging or destroying more than 100 homes, an Arkansas official said. The town looked like a "war zone" as soldiers from the Arkansas National Guard went house to house searching for victims of the twister that hit Thursday night, said Capt. Christopher Heathscott. About 50 soldiers also helped with security and food distribution. Mena, population 6,000, took a heavy hit on the west side of town, as the storm swept through downtown before heading up state Highway 71, said Tommy Jackson from the state Department of Emergency Management. "It looks like a war zone out here," said James Reeves, also from the department. Watch scenes of devastation in Mena » . The tornado damaged the county hospital, Mena City Hall, a middle school, churches, a library, the Masonic lodge and the courthouse -- which houses the 911 emergency dispatch center and a detention center, Reeves said. He said electricity and gas were out in the western half of the city. Two plants at an industrial park were destroyed, said reporter Charles Crowson of CNN affiliate KTHV-TV. He said utility crews were trying to stop a gas leak there. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd told Crowson the county detention center was "uninhabitable." There were 18 inmates in the jail at the time of the tornado, and they were moved to neighboring jurisdictions, he said. iReport.com: Are you there? Send photos, video . CNN's Melissa Roberts and Dave Alsup contributed to this report.

NEW: Parents in hallway with baby in car seat when tornado hit Murfreesboro . Mother died, father found two houses away when tornado hit . Tornado hit Mena, Arkansas, on Thursday; 3 people confirmed dead .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Pirates off the eastern coast of Africa fired on U.S. sailors Saturday as they tried to reach the lifeboat where an American captain is being held, a U.S. official familiar with the situation told CNN. The guided missile frigate USS Halyburton, with helicopter capabilities, is now at the scene. The gunfire forced the sailors, who did not return fire, back to the guided missile destroyer USS Bainbridge, the official said. Capt. Richard Phillips reportedly offered himself as a hostage to the pirates during an attack Wednesday on the U.S.-flagged container ship Maersk Alabama in the Indian Ocean. The Alabama was en route to Mombasa, Kenya, with a cargo of food aid when it was hijacked about 350 miles off the Somalia coast. The American crew regained control of the vessel, but the Maersk company would not say how. There are about 20 crew members. The Alabama arrived Saturday in Mombasa, along with an 18-person armed security detail on board. "For security reasons, the vessel will berth in a restricted area of the port and will not be accessible to the media. FBI agents will debrief members of the crew on board the vessel before they disembark. The crew will not be available to the media in Mombasa," Maersk Ltd. said. Watch the latest Maersk briefing » . The U.S. Navy -- which is in charge of the situation -- requested help from the FBI to resolve the standoff. The FBI is launching a criminal investigation into the hijacking and hostage-taking, two law enforcement officials told CNN. The probe will be led by the FBI's New York field office, which has responsibility for looking into cases involving U.S. citizens in the African region. Agents from the office were scheduled to leave for Africa sometime this weekend, the officials said. Phillips lives in Underhill, Vermont, where neighbor and longtime family friend, Tom Walsh, told CNN the captain's wife, Andrea, was surrounded by relatives. "If they need us to help with anything. That's kind of the way it is in these communities. ... just showing that we're concerned. We want to do whatever she needs," Walsh said. "She has a lot of family there." Watch more about the hostage situation » . Earlier Saturday, pirates sailing a hijacked German cargo ship returned to port after failing to reach the area of the standoff with the Bainbridge, a local journalist told CNN. The German ship Hansa Stavanger was among several pirated vessels trying to sail to the area some 300 miles off the Somali coast, a Somali journalist told CNN. The pirate crew had intended to help the pirates holding Phillips but turned back because of the U.S. naval presence, the journalist said. The Hansa Stavanger is now at the Somali port of Eyl, the journalist said. The Hansa Stavanger was hijacked April 4 off the Somali coast. Pirates have been searching the waters off Africa's coast for the Alabama's lifeboat, a U.S. military official with knowledge of the situation said Friday. They are using hijacked vessels and skiffs launched from larger ships, the official said. The guided missile frigate USS Halyburton, with helicopter capabilities, has joined the Bainbridge in the area. A third ship, the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer -- with a medical facility aboard -- should be there by the end of the day. iReport.com: Share your thoughts on how the pirates are being handled . Phillips is being held by four gunmen in the covered, fiberglass lifeboat. He jumped overboard at one point to try to escape, but one of the pirates jumped into the water after him and brought him back onboard the 28-foot boat. The pirates fired shots, the military official said, without providing further details. Phillips appeared to be tied up by the pirates after the escape attempt, a Defense Department official told CNN. For the U.S. Navy, bringing in more firepower is more than just a means to resolve a hostage situation, said Chris Lawrence, CNN's Pentagon correspondent. Attacks in the area have picked up so drastically in recent months that the Navy has to reposition some of its fleet to deal with the threats, he said. The pirates have shown no signs of giving in. Meanwhile, the acts of piracy were having an effect on tourists disembarking from ships in Mombasa. "Well, we got the international news stories on television on the ship and everybody's concerned about the route that we were on because there was always the possibility that we would be approached by pirates," one male passenger said. CNN's Stephanie Elam, Mohammed Jamjoom and Barbara Starr contributed to this report.

NEW: Gunfire from pirates forces sailors, who did not return fire, to turn back . NEW: FBI launches criminal investigation into hijacking, hostage-taking . Maersk Alabama arrives in Mombasa, Kenya under armed guard . Capt. Richard Phillips is being held by four gunmen in covered, fiberglass lifeboat .

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(CNN) -- When Brian Burton, a little known DJ operating under the name of Danger Mouse, released "The Grey Album" in 2003, he brought to mainstream attention a new form of musical genre made possible by the advance of modern technology and the Internet. He also inadvertently sparked a debate about record labels' monopoly of music ownership. "The Grey Album" consists of a series of "mash-ups," songs made by splicing together elements from two or more separate tracks, the vocals from one, the music from others. Burton used the vocal tracks from rapper Jay Z's "Black Album" and music from The Beatles' "White Album". The album was well received. His decision to bring together the world's biggest hip hop star with the best-selling band of all time probably contributed to its positive reception by the critics. It was described as "the most creatively captivating" album of the year by The Boston Globe and voted best album of 2004 by Entertainment Weekly. But its success probably owes just as much to the controversy it caused. While Jay Z had released his "a capella" vocal tracks with the intention that they could be used as sampling material, Burton had borrowed the Beatles' music without permission from the copyright holders, EMI Music. EMI moved swiftly to block sales of the album but anti-copyright activists stepped in, and battle lines were drawn. Downhill Battle, a group that campaigns for a fairer music industry, organized an online protest, dubbed "Grey Tuesday" in which they offered up the album to download for free on approximately 170 Web sites as a form of deliberate civil disobedience. With over 100,000 downloads, Downhill Battle claims that "The Grey Album" was the number one album in the United States on the day. The two groups represented polar opposite points of view. EMI's position was that they earn a livelihood out of the music. By blocking the sale of this album they were simply protecting their investment. Downhill Battle, on the other hand, argued that while copyright holders should get a cut of the proceeds from the sale of music, the licence fees were far too high and too large a proportion goes to the music label and not to individual artists. Moreover, they argued, music was built on a tradition of sharing and much that is good has come from one artist passing the baton to another, who might give a different interpretation, even improve, on an original work. "The reason we have copyright is to ensure that creators are able to benefit from the things that they do so that they can keep creating," says Nicholas Reville, Director at Downhill Battle. "What's happened to copyright with music recently is that it has been used as a way to restrict creativity, limit art and censor what people are allowed to do. "What made 'The Grey Album' so significant was that it brought together two of the most popular musical acts from two different eras into a totally new piece of art that was considered by everybody as culturally significant. There's no reason why any society would not want that creation to exist." Reville says that Downhill Battle's argument is that copyright should exist but that laws should be reviewed so that bedroom musicians everywhere can have access to sample music without needing a lawyer to guide them through the legal quagmire. The "mash-up" is not a new phenomenon. In Indian music there is a tradition of borrowing tunes and melodies and incorporating them into new compositions. Western folk music also encouraged the practice of passing on songs for reinterpretation by new generations. As a musical genre, the "mash-up's" origins lie in the birth of hip hop, when DJs such as Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash began using the drum sections form vinyl records as a back-beat for MC's to rap over. The development of the Internet has simply fast-forwarded the culture of borrowing by making it all that much easier -- "mash-up" artists have access to so much more music than their forebears. And peer-to-peer and social networking sites mean that "mash-ups" have found a distribution system that by-passes the usual gate-keepers - record companies and music stores. "There are elements of this idea that have been around for a long time," says Rupert Evans of yourspins.com. "Mozart wrote a piano concerto where every time you finished a bar you're meant to roll a dice to see what it was you played next. "People have always been into the idea of how you can break things down and put them back together and I think it's something that's been highlighted recently due to technology and the hip hop 'vibe' has taken it and tried to twist it around. "When people first started recording music it meant you were stuck with just one version. There isn't supposed to be a definitive version." It would seem that artists are beginning to cotton on. At yourspins.com musicians such as Moby, Robbie Williams, Roots Manuva and Natasha Bedingfield have released their work for remixing by the public. The musicians provide the user with a selection of variations on the different elements of a song -- bass line, drum, vocals, etc. -- which can be put together in any order. The result is "as many versions of the song as there are atoms in the universe," says Evans. There is one large distinction between what Danger Mouse was doing with "The Grey Album" and the music produced by remixers on yourspins.com. While "The Grey Album" was championed as an original work of art, Evans does not believe that the same can be said of yourspins.com's remixes. "It's a hard distinction to defend but [Danger Mouse] picked a couple of things himself. There was some creativity in saying: 'I can put this and that together', whereas we are giving people a toolkit," says Evans. In yourspins.com's legal framework, the copyright still belongs to the artist who can even sell on the remix if they wish. Evans says that the laws have relaxed since he first set up yourspins.com. "At the beginning a lawyer was telling me that every time someone wanted to go on my Web site they would have to sign a paper saying that they weren't going to claim copyright over what they had created, and the artist was going to have to sign a paper giving permission every time, which obviously wouldn't have worked," he says. Technology is breaking down the barriers between musicians and their audiences, allowing both sides to interact in ways that would have been unimaginable thirty years ago, but the record companies are still holding on stubbornly to their monopoly of the market, and it seems there is still a fair way to go before musical culture becomes truly democratic. E-mail to a friend .

A little-known DJ, Danger Mouse, released "The Grey Album" in 2003 . It pioneered a new genre -- "mash-ups" -- splicing elements from two different tracks . Vocals are from Jay Z's "Black Album" and music from The Beatles' "White Album" It ssues of copyright and the relationship between artists and audiences .

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(Oprah.com) -- Are you truly happy? If you were presented with a group of people you've never met, could you determine who was really satisfied with their life? A panel of five people took a test to see how happy they really are. Based on this picture and a brief description, see if you can tell who is the happiest! From left to right: Peggy, Noreen, Lachelle, David and Lorrie. Peggy (pictured on far left) is a 44-year-old married mother of two teenage boys who works as the bookkeeper of the family business. Last year, both her father and her sister died, and her mother has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Noreen (second from the left) is a 52-year-old divorced mother of two college kids. She's an avid swimmer and works in the operations department of a major airline. Lachelle (middle) is 27 years old, married and has no children. She works two jobs and has two dogs. Last year, four of her friends and two of her family members died within six months of each other. David (second from the right) is 53 years old, and he's been a funeral director for 30 years. He is married and has two sons. Lorrie (pictured on far right) has been married for 15 years and has six children. She works in retail and also serves as the vice president of her PTA. Peggy, David and Lachelle scored the highest on the satisfaction scale, while Noreen and Lorrie scored the lowest. Satisfaction for Peggy is achieved by surrounding herself with happiness. The most important thing? Her husband. "He is there for me. He doesn't only love me, he appreciates me and makes me feel good," Peggy says. Happiness doesn't depend on money, she says. It's about enjoying the simple things. "Every morning I have a ritual. After the boys have left, [my husband and I] get in the hot tub, and it's our time. We talk about what is going on for the rest of the day. It is just our quality time just to stay connected." David, the funeral director, says he's developed phrases that help him keep a positive outlook. "I will say, 'It's a marvelous Monday. It's a terrific Tuesday,'" he says. Although he deals with death daily, David says his job is anything but depressing. "Most people look upon funeral service as a sad profession. I look upon it as a profession where I'm helping people at a very difficult time in their lives," he says. "Being successful in life is not what really matters. Being significant in life is really the core root of what matters." Lachelle says she lives by the philosophy, "Negative out, positive in." She says she believes happiness is a conscious effort. "It's about claiming what's yours. If you want a positive life, you need to think positively and act positively," she says. "I do my best not to compare myself with others. I've always felt that what one person has may not be destined for me." Dr. Robert Holden has dedicated his life to studying the pursuit of happiness. The psychologist is the founder of the Happiness Project in England and the author of 10 best-selling books, including "Happiness Now!" Dr. Holden says those looking for happiness often don't realize they already have it. It's a lesson that he says he was lucky to learn at age 18 from a spiritual teacher. "He said, 'Look, actually, Robert, you're already happy.' And I said, 'Well, that's great, but I don't feel it. So tell me, what do I have to do?'" Dr. Holden recalls. "And he said, 'You have to understand that the pursuit of happiness is a mistake. It's like, you don't chase happiness out there. You learn that you're happy inside you, and then you go running. Then you go into the world.'" When looking at the guests who scored the highest on the happiness scale, Dr. Holden says he instantly recognizes the keys to their satisfaction. For David, it's his job. "Your job just helps you to have a great perspective on life, which is, 'We're just here for a short spell, and it's really important to make the most of it,'" Dr. Holden says. Lachelle uses the law of attraction to stay happy, Dr. Holden says. "Lachelle, basically what I see is that you've chosen to be an optimist. You have had some difficult times in your life, and you've had bad circumstances, but you've made great choices. And this is how the law of attraction works," he says. "What I found is that basically we have beliefs about life, and our perception gathers evidence to prove that our beliefs are right. So an optimist believes that good things can come from bad situations." After taking the happiness test, Noreen found that she received the lowest score possible -- a 5 out of 35. So how can Noreen find fulfillment? Dr. Holden says to look within her heart. "What really occurs to me is ... you are such a good person. ... But I realized that you've not made some of the best choices in your life in the past," Dr. Holden says. "Those choices, I think, are being motivated really by a lack of what I call self-acceptance, which is where we somehow don't believe we deserve any more than we have." The law of attraction could make a big difference for Noreen, Dr. Holden says. "The way the law of attraction works is that as we increase our self-acceptance, we attract more happiness," he says. Dr. Holden says Noreen needs to realize she is, indeed, a great person. One way she can do that is to surround herself with people who already know that. "I think it's also great to have some friends around you who can remind you, because we do forget," Dr. Holden says. Noreen says she feels like she's taking her first step on the road to happiness. "I feel like I'm starting. I can feel it," she says. Lorrie scored in the middle range of the satisfaction test and says people often mistake her for being happy because she puts on a false front, whether she's being a room mom for one of her six children or attending a PTA meeting. Dr. Holden gets to the root of her dissatisfaction. "You're so good at helping everybody else, I think you're in danger of leaving yourself out of your own life," Dr. Holden says. "What we have here is a classic what I call a martyr ethic, which is where we're putting everybody else first instead of ourselves." In fact, Dr. Holden says Lorrie can help herself and give an important gift to her family -- her own happiness. "I know you ... want your children to be happy, and I tell you this: You can't just tell them to be happy. You show them with your example. And that's the big key," Dr. Holden says. Lorrie can start today by simply asking for help. "I think the big mistake here, and it's a common one, is that we try to do our lives by ourselves," Dr. Holden says. "It's time to stop being a super mom and start being a real mom." From "The Oprah Winfrey Show" "How Happy Are You?" E-mail to a friend . Subscribe to O, The Oprah Magazine for up to 75% off the newsstand price. That's like getting 18 issues FREE. Subscribe now! TM & © 2009 Harpo Productions, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Expert: Many looking for happiness don't realize they already have it . Funeral director finds happiness in job by helping grieving people . Lachelle claims happiness even in a bad situation . Expert: Good friends can remind you that you're a good person .

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(CNN) -- Nearly eight years later, Connie Chung still remembers being surprised. "Stonewalling is what gets politicians in trouble, when they ... try to cover up," Connie Chung says. It was one of those television moments that linger in the national consciousness, like Barbara Walters sitting down with Monica Lewinsky, Dan Rather with Saddam Hussein, or Jay Leno asking Hugh Grant what the hell he had been thinking. Chung was with ABC then, and she got the "get" -- the first interview with Gary Condit, the California congressman at the center of the Chandra Levy media frenzy. The former Washington intern, you'll recall, had been found murdered in Rock Creek Park, and law enforcement sources let it be known that the married Condit had been having an affair with her. In an interview airing Sunday on "Reliable Sources" (10 a.m. ET, during CNN's "State of the Union with John King"), Chung says she was surprised when Condit refused to acknowledge the romantic relationship. "Stonewalling is what gets politicians in trouble, when they stonewall or they try to cover up," she says. "I think that the general public and the news media wanted him to be honest, and if he could be honest about that part of the story, then he could be -- then he would be believed when he was answering other questions as to whether or not he had anything to do with her disappearance." I often focus on media excess and media mistakes on the program, but we also try to highlight good journalism. The segment includes two Washington Post reporters, Sari Horwitz and Scott Higham, who cracked the Levy mystery in a 13-part series last year. They did what the D.C. police could not: They identified Ingmar Guandique, an illegal Salvadoran immigrant, as Levy's likely killer. Authorities issued an arrest warrant for the imprisoned suspect this week. But Horwitz and Higham talk about how they were roundly criticized for resurrecting the case and accused of sensationalizing it. It's clear that Levy's case became a huge deal in 2001 because of the Condit connection. At the same time, Chung says, "The news media had changed. This was the gradual evolution of what the news media was doing. There was flavor of the week, the story du jour." The Levy frenzy became the precursor for the missing-women TV melodramas that followed: Laci Peterson, Stacy Peterson, Natalee Holloway. The stories of women who were not celebrities, whom no one had heard of before, became national soap operas because they drove cable and morning show ratings. At least, in Levy's case, the soap opera appears to be drawing to a close.

Congressman wouldn't admit affair with murdered former intern . Honest answer might have helped Gary Condit, news anchor says . Chung recalls scandal for "Reliable Sources" Sunday on CNN .

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(CNN) -- The United Nations Security Council passed a resolution on Tuesday aimed at combating piracy along the Horn of Africa by allowing military forces to chase pirates onto land in cases of "hot pursuit." French troops on the lookout for pirates in the Gulf of Aden on November 25. Military forces from various countries, including the United States, are patrolling pirate-infested waters off Somalia, where attacks have surged this year. Nearly 100 vessels have come under fire, according to the International Maritime Bureau, and almost 40 vessels have been hijacked. The Security Council resolution, which passed unanimously, expands upon existing counter-piracy tools, including a stipulation that would allow for national and regional military forces to chase pirates onto land -- specifically into Somalia where many of the pirates are based. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was at the U.N. on Tuesday for a discussion of the piracy problem and the Security Council vote. "I wouldn't be here seeking authorization to go ashore if the U.S. government -- perhaps most importantly the president of the United States -- were not behind this resolution," Rice said after the vote. Asked if she thought U.S. troops would soon be on land chasing pirates, Rice would not speculate. "The United States is part of an international effort," she said. "We do have naval forces that have been involved in this effort. What this (resolution) does is to authorize that the boundary of the maritime cannot become a safe haven boundary for pirates. What we do -- or do not do -- in issues like hot pursuit, we'll have to see ... case by case." Earlier, in remarks to the Security Council, Rice described the growing problem of piracy off the coast of Somalia as "a symptom." "It's a symptom of the instability, the poverty, the lawlessness that have plagued Somalia for the past two decades," she said, adding that the Bush administration "does believe that the time has come for the United Nations to consider and authorize a peacekeeping operation." Asked about reports that two more ships were attacked by pirates this week, Rice said those show "the increasing problem that this is. The pirates are a threat to commerce, they are a threat to security and perhaps most importantly they are a threat to the principle of freedom of navigation on the seas." With increased patrols in the area by several countries, reports of exchanges of fire have become more frequent. In one of the most recent piracy attacks, Indian officials said Saturday they had captured 23 people suspected of trying to take over a merchant vessel in the Gulf of Aden. In addition to the 12 Somali and 11 Yemeni suspects, Indian navy officials also seized two small boats and "a substantial cache of arms and equipment," the Indian military said in a statement.

Military forces from various countries are patrolling pirate-infested waters off Somalia . Nearly 100 vessels have come under fire in the area, with almost 40 being hijacked . The resolution allows national, regional military forces to chase pirates into Somalia . U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Bush backed the move .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Gen. Ray Odierno, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, said Sunday he believes U.S. troops will be out of the country by the end of 2011. Gen. Ray Odierno says the U.S. is working with Iraq to maintain security improvements as it looks to withdraw. On CNN's "State of the Union," chief national correspondent John King asked Odierno to rate his confidence, on a scale of 1 to 10, that U.S. troops would be out by the end of the timeline agreed by the U.S. and Iraqi governments. "As you ask me today, I believe it's a 10 -- that we will be gone by 2011," Odierno responded. One of the key architects of the troop "surge" strategy in Iraq, Odierno said conditions in the war-torn country have "improved significantly" in the past year or so. "Obviously, we still have some very serious incidents ... but, again, it's much safer," he said. Nine U.S. troops were killed in March, the lowest monthly toll since the beginning of the Iraq War in 2003, he said. Watch Odierno share his assessment with CNN's John King » . "So, there's been a clear improvement of security here," Odierno said. "The issue is: Can we maintain that? Can the Iraqis maintain it? And that's what we're working through now. We want them to be able to maintain this stability as we pull out." But less than two weeks into April, the U.S. toll for the month is already at nine. Asked whether the attacks were a sign of increased coordinated violence, Odierno responded that "there are some cells out there who are still capable of conducting suicide attacks," though he described the cells as "very small." Watch as general discusses joining Facebook » . The U.S. military has made it more difficult for foreign fighters to get into Iraq through Syria, but there is still support for the Iraqi insurgency coming from Iran, he said. Mowaffak al-Rubaie, Iraqi national security adviser, said the Iraqi government is making improvements in handling its own security. "We, the government of Iraq and the security forces in Iraq are much more suited now for this fight," al-Rubaie told "State of the Union." "And we believe that now we are leading and we are planning and carrying out most of the combat operations in the country, " he said, "and the United States forces are moving or transitioning to a more support role, more training, more providing more logistical support, rather than engaging in a huge military or kinetic combat operations." Al-Rubaie was mum when asked how President Obama has differed from former President George W. Bush. Watch al-Rubaie discuss Iraq's future » . "I don't want to elaborate on differences," al-Rubaie said. "But I believe that President Obama understands the situation in Iraq and I believe he wants to stick by ... the withdrawal agreement." Odierno described Obama as "very attentive." "He listens. He's incredibly intelligent. He talks through the issues," Odierno said. "He makes a decision and then we execute those decisions, and that's all you can expect out of your commander-in-chief. And I've been very pleased with the interaction that I've been able to have with him."

On scale of 1 to 10, "I believe it's a 10," Gen. Ray Odierno says of timetable . U.S., Iraq agreed that U.S. troops will be withdrawn from Iraq by end of 2011 . Conditions in Iraq have "improved significantly" in the past year, general says . Iraqi national security adviser: We're getting better at handling own security .

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Editor's note: Eric Cantor, a Republican serving his fifth term representing the 7th District of Virginia, was elected last month as the Republican Whip, the party's second-highest position in the House of Representatives. He also serves on the House Ways and Means Committee. Rep. Eric Cantor says Republicans want to make sure the massive economic stimulus plan is used wisely. WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Bolstered by wide Democratic margins in both chambers of Congress, the new administration assumes power Tuesday with a broad public mandate to repair the feeble economy. But with such a free hand over current stimulus efforts comes great danger. Costing at the very least a hefty $825 billion, the plan's potential for taxpayer waste and special-interest-driven giveaways is enormous. We Republicans believe we can help mitigate those risks if we are given a meaningful place at the table. President-elect Barack Obama was correct to point out recently that no one party has a monopoly over sound ideas. Rather than presenting an obstacle, House Republicans intend to use the full force of our ideas to help Democrats produce a better package to help pull the country back from the economic abyss. Specifically, we want to keep the stimulus bill -- as well as all other future economic "rescue" measures -- limited in scope and transparent. Our country has no other choice. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issued a sobering report that this year's deficit will likely climb to over 8 percent of U.S. gross domestic product, or $1.2 trillion. That's higher than at any point since World War II -- and those figures don't even account for the forthcoming stimulus. Such heavy borrowing runs the risk down the line of rampant inflation, which scares away foreign capital while making the purchasing power of the dollar weaker for American consumers. While deflation may be the more immediate threat that the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department are correctly focused on, uncontrolled spending and borrowing could easily necessitate much higher Treasury interest rates to keep foreigners financing our mounting debt. Especially given the looming entitlement crisis, this poses heavy danger for businesses and families alike. Let's not lay the groundwork for future financial catastrophe. Let's lay it for future growth. The stimulus can do that by focusing exclusively on strengthening businesses, boosting job creation and lifting consumer confidence. Our preferred strategy is to provide meaningful tax relief directly to middle-class taxpayers and the small businesses that they operate or work for. Particularly in down times, tax cuts can lift an economy by encouraging work, investment and business expansion. That should be the aim of the $300 billion in tax cuts the president-elect has pledged -- an apparent recognition, however overdue, that tax cuts are in fact stimulative for the economy. But we also accept that these are dizzyingly uncertain economic days for our country. The Democrats have proposed additional spending for infrastructure and the like, ostensibly to compensate for stagnation in the private sector. Like bears sniffing out food at a campfire pit, those looking for a piece of the multi-billion dollar pie have flooded Washington with a cascade of requests, some capable of spurring immediate and lasting growth, others falling hopelessly short. In order for the public to know that money is not wasted, two things are needed. First, we need to reconcile the American people's demands for swift action with the fact that a good bill requires time -- time to hold hearings, read the bill in painstaking detail, and root out waste. Second, Democrats have to live up to President-elect Obama's vow for "unprecedented transparency." The GOP welcomes and strongly encourages the president-elect's idea to post all contents of the bill online for the American people to judge. Lastly, any new spending must be introduced with the clear understanding that it is temporary rather than permanent. It is not always easy to terminate spending programs once they have been funded, but our bleak long-term budget outlook requires significant sacrifices over the coming years. We trust the Democrats' assurances that the economic stimulus will not be turned into a grab bag for favored interests. Serving as the honest and fair check on majority power, we will work to ensure they keep their word. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Eric Cantor.

Rep. Eric Cantor: Obama has a mandate for plan to spark the economy . Plan's potential for waste and special-interest giveaways is enormous, he says . Cantor: We support Obama's idea of making the plan transparent . He says best strategy is to provide tax relief to middle class, small business .

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(CNN) -- Sen. Barack Obama on Monday detailed what his campaign called a four-part "economic rescue plan" for the middle class. "I'm proposing a number of steps that we should take immediately to stabilize our financial system, provide relief to families and communities, and help struggling homeowners," Obama said at a campaign event in Toledo, Ohio. "It's a plan that begins with one word that's on everyone's mind, and it's easy to spell: J-O-B-S." Obama's plan comes as aides to Sen. John McCain said their candidate would likely wait to lay out any further plans until the Treasury issues a report or recommendations on what to do with the bailout. McCain has already unveiled a plan to buy $300 billion in troubled mortgages and renegotiate the terms directly with homeowners. On Friday, he endorsed the idea of suspending the current requirement that seniors start drawing down their retirement plans -- IRAs and 401(k)s -- once they reach age 70½. Obama on Monday proposed a temporary tax credit for firms that create new jobs in the United States over the next two years, and penalty-free withdrawals from IRAs and 401(k)s in 2008 and 2009. The Democratic candidate called for new legislation that would give families the option of withdrawing as much as 15 percent of their retirement savings --- up to a maximum of $10,000 --- without facing a tax penalty this year or next. He also called for a temporary lifting of taxes on unemployment insurance benefits. The Illinois senator also proposed a 90-day foreclosure moratorium for homeowners acting in good faith, and a new effort to address the growing credit crisis at the state and local level. Under the Obama plan, the Federal Reserve and the Treasury would provide much the same kind of backing to state and municipal governments as the recent federal bailout did to the commercial credit market. "We can't wait to help workers and families and communities who are struggling right now -- who don't know if their job or their retirement will be there tomorrow; who don't know if next week's paycheck will cover this month's bills," Obama said. "We need to pass an economic rescue plan for the middle-class ... and we need to do it right now." The McCain campaign said Obama's economic rescue plan was a political move that would not provide solutions. "It is clear that the economy is hurting, that Americans need across-the-board tax relief, and yet Barack Obama has proven unwilling to break with the left-wing of his party and stand up for the American taxpayer," spokesman Tucker Bounds said. Fact check: Obama's tax plan and small businesses . "Interestingly, Barack Obama called [for] a moratorium on foreclosures, which is a policy he had previously labeled 'disastrous' when it was proposed by a political opponent. Proving yet again that Barack Obama's positions on the issues are tied to elections, not solutions for the American people," he said. During the primaries, Obama criticized Sen. Hillary Clinton's plan, which, unlike his, included a freeze on interest rates. Earlier Monday, McCain delivered a speech that a senior aide predicted would "begin a turnaround for the campaign." On the new tone, the aide said the campaign decided to go "back to basics" with McCain on what he can offer. McCain told voters Monday that they should elect him because "what America needs in this hour is a fighter." "I will fight to take America in a new direction from my first day in office until my last. I'm not afraid of the fight, I'm ready for it," McCain said at a rally in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Watch what's going on in battleground Virginia » . "Let me give you the state of the race today and some straight talk. We have 22 days to go. We're 6 points down. The national media has written us off," McCain said to a sea of boos. CNN's most recent poll of polls shows Obama leading McCain by 8 percentage points, 50 to 42 percent. "Sen. Obama is measuring the drapes, and planning with Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi and Sen. [Harry] Reid to raise taxes, increase spending, take away your right to vote by secret ballot in labor elections, and concede defeat in Iraq. ... But they forgot to let you decide. My friends, we've got them just where we want them," he said. Obama's campaign dismissed the Arizona senator's remarks as a "political speech about where he is in the polls." Watch where the election stands » . "Less than 12 hours after his campaign announced that Sen. McCain would finally have some new ideas on the economy, he decided that it was more important to give a new political speech about where he is in the polls," said Obama-Biden communications director Dan Pfeiffer. McCain advisers downplayed weekend reports that the Arizona senator would be unveiling several economic proposals over the final three weeks of the campaign, saying it was likely he would lay out one or two new ideas, but not the swarm that had been rumored. They also downplayed a Sunday suggestion by McCain surrogate Lindsey Graham that a new economic plan rollout might focus on plans to cut taxes on capital gains and dividends, saying that the South Carolina senator had good ideas but that they had not yet been approved by the campaign. CNN's national poll of polls consists of six surveys: ABC/Washington Post (October 8-11), Fox News/Opinion Dynamics (October 8-9), Newsweek (October 8-9), Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby (October 10-12), Gallup (October 10-12) and Diageo/Hotline (October 10-12). It does not have a sampling error. CNN's Dana Bash and Rebecca Sinderbrand contributed to this report.

NEW: Barack Obama lays out four-part plan for middle class . NEW: Obama proposes 90-day moratorium on foreclosures . John McCain says Obama would drive country further into debt . McCain to voters: "What America needs in this hour is a fighter"

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GENEVA, Alabama (CNN) -- The gunman who authorities said launched a shooting rampage over three south Alabama towns, slaying 10 people in his path before killing himself, was once a police officer in Samson, the small town hit hardest by the deadliest crime in the state's history. Authorities identified the shooter, seen in a yearbook photo, as Michael McLendon, 28, of Kinston, Alabama. Authorities identified the shooter as Michael McLendon, 28, of Kinston, Alabama, in Coffee County. Speaking at several news conferences on Wednesday, authorities also released a detailed timeline of the rampage -- which lasted less than an hour -- and identified the victims. Investigators late Wednesday said they were closer to finding a motive behind why McLendon would fatally shoot his mother in his hometown of Kinston before moving on to open fire in Samson and then Geneva. "Evidence collected does indicate his reasons -- what the reason are I can't get into right now," said Lt. Barry Tucker of the Alabama Bureau of Investigations. "He was somewhat depressed about job issues, but the information we have does not specify [the motive] was job-related." Coffee County District Attorney Gary McAliley told the newspaper in nearby Dothan that McLendon likely planned the rampage for a while. He said investigators have found dozens of ammunition boxes, military and survival gear and medical supplies at McLendon's Kinston home. The Alabama Bureau of Investigation said authorities recovered a phone list and a notebook from the home, "but there is no evidence that indicates a hit list of any kind." Tucker said the notebook contained, "a couple of pages of notes, people he worked with, places he worked -- it was over a year old." Asked whether the notes expressed grievances against others, Tucker said no. The assault Tuesday ended at the Reliable Metal Products plant in Geneva, 24 miles from Kinston. Police said McLendon engaged in a shootout before killing himself inside the building. McLendon shot and killed at least 10 people, including two children, and wounded at least four others, officials said. McLendon, who had no known criminal record before carrying out the rampage, worked briefly as a police officer in Samson, but failed to complete the "required training" at the police academy in Montgomery in 2003, according to Alabama State Trooper Capt. Marc McHenry. He "didn't last a week and a half" at the academy and received no firearms training there, Murphy said. "We believe he fired in excess of 200 rounds during the assaults," Alabama State Police Cpl. Steve Jarrett said. See photos of the shooting scenes » . The rampage began Tuesday afternoon when McLendon shot and killed his mother before setting fire to the home he shared with her in Kinston, near the Alabama-Florida state line. He then headed to Samson, where he opened fire on his uncle's front porch as his uncle and other relatives stood outside with the neighbors from across the street. Mayor: "Shock and disbelief" » . Those neighbors happened to be the family of Geneva County Sheriff's Deputy Josh Myers, who was later involved in a shoot-out with the gunman, unaware that McLendon had shot and killed his wife and young daughter and critically injured his nearly 4-month-old baby, Ella Kay. A family friend found the couple's 4-year-old son hiding in the Myers' home after the shooting. Five people, including Myers' wife, Andrea, and their 1½-year-old daughter, Corinne Gracy, were killed on the porch. McLendon then opened fire on his grandmother, who was standing in the doorway of her home next door. Watch deputy ask for prayers for wounded daughter » . Alina Knowles was in her home in Samson when she heard the gunman fire on the porch so many times that it sounded like a horror film. After the shooting stopped, Knowles saw the gunman flee the area and drive around the block. Watch the aftermath of the shooting spree » . Knowles, a certified nurse assistant, looked around for survivors. She saw members of Myers' family dead on the porch, but nobody's chest was moving to signal they were alive. Then she heard Myers' baby girl, Ella Kay, crying. "[I] picked her up, came between the two vehicles," she said. "Saw him coming up the road, ducked so he wouldn't see me, as he was coming up this way I ducked, was still ducking and moving around their van trying to keep him from seeing me with that baby." Knowles said she knew if she wasn't careful, the gunman would target her. "I would have been dead," she said. "I would have been on that ground there." Knowles was able to get the deputy's child and herself to safety. But the horror of the events sticks with her. "I was scared," she said. "The scene I saw, there was no words for it. None at all. There is no describing what I saw." McLendon then shot and killed two bystanders in Samson before heading to Reliable Metal Products. There, he exchanged fire with Myers and another officer in the parking lot before entering the building, where he shot and killed himself. "We truly are shocked at this," said Col. Christopher Murphy, the director of the Alabama Department of Public Safety. "This event formed the single deadliest crime recorded in Alabama." Watch a timeline of the shootings » . Samson Mayor Clay King said he knew McLendon and all of the victims in the small southern Alabama town. Watch CNN's Anderson Cooper talk about the investigation » . "I coached him in both T-ball and Little League baseball along with my two sons," he said of McLendon. McLendon worked nearly two years at food manufacturer and distributor Kelley Foods in Elba, about 25 miles north of Samson. He quit his job last week, the company said. The company didn't specify what his position was, but said he was a "reliable team leader" who was well-liked. "I can't describe what happened, why it happened," Geneva County Sheriff Greg Ward told CNN affiliate WTVY. "It's just a sad day for Geneva County." Watch Sheriff Ward talk about the shootings » . "He was shooting at just ordinary people going about their business," said Alabama state Sen. Harri Anne Smith. Smith represents Geneva County, where all but one of the victims were killed. Smith said she had been briefed about the incident by state and local law enforcement. Watch CNN's Sean Callebs say who was shot first » . Another mass killing occurred in southern Alabama in 2002, when Westley Devon Harris gunned down six members of his 16-year-old girlfriend's family at their farm in Luverne. Harris was convicted and sentenced to the death penalty in 2005. CNN's Saeed Ahmed and Dave Alsup contributed to this report.

NEW: Officials say suspect was depressed about job issues . Police say gunman "fired in excess of 200 rounds" during the assaults . Shooter trained briefly at state police academy but "didn't last," officials say . Police say Michael McLendon killed his mom, grandparents, aunt, uncle .

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NEW YORK (CNN) -- New York celebrates the centennial of its most famous New Year's tradition Monday, as organizers of the Times Square ball drop have given the crystal globe an environmental makeover. Technicians prepare the New York Times Square ball Thursday for the event's 100th anniversary. This year the 1,415-pound ball has been outfitted with more than 9,500 energy-efficient light-emitting diodes that will illuminate the ball's more than 600 crystals. The LEDs will use the same amount of electricity as about 10 toasters, say event officials. That's a dramatic overhaul from 1907's first Times Square ball, which was made from iron and wood and was covered with about 100 light bulbs. Watch the computer-controlled ball » . New York police estimate about a million people will crowd Times Square to watch the ball drop from a flagpole atop the One Times Square building at midnight. Another billion people worldwide are expected to watch the spectacle on video, said Tom Chiodo, a spokesman for the Times Square Alliance. Of those viewers, 100 million will be in the United States, he said. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg will be joined by Iraq war veteran Karolina Wierzchowska, who was also a Ground Zero guard worker and a New York Police Academy valedictorian -- to push the button for the ball drop at 11:59 p.m. Weather forecasts indicate clear skies for the celebration, with temperatures in the 40s -- a mild departure from inclement weather gripping much of the Northeast. In an effort to help people stay warm, New York City sanitation workers will be passing out "goody bags" from the Times Square Alliance that will include mittens and hats, said Chiodo. The event will include musical performances from Hannah Montana, the Jonas Brothers, Kid Rock, Lenny Kravitz, Lifehouse, The Bravery, and alums from Fox TV's "American Idol," Carrie Underwood, Jordin Sparks and Blake Lewis. Security inside Times Square will be tight and everyone should expect to have their bags searched at least three times, said New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly on CNN's "American Morning." In addition to a heavy police presence on the ground, Kelly said the NYPD's counterterrorism unit, radiation detectors and helicopters will also be patrolling the crowds. Kelly said that once the Times Square attendees pass the entrance gates, they will not be able to leave. New York's terrorist threat level remains at orange -- the nation's second highest level -- as it has since the September 11, 2001, attacks. "We certainly haven't let our guard down," Kelly said. As the ball drops, the new year will be greeted with a massive fireworks explosion, some 168 shots in the first five seconds alone, and a downpour of two tons of fireproof confetti. Some of the confetti includes New Year's wishes that were written by visitors to the city in nearly two dozen languages. Over the past week, visitors from across the country wrote their messages on a Times Square "Wishing Wall." "I want to turn the world green and the water clean," one person wrote. "Let my husband stop snoring," another wrote, while others were more serious: "That my mom will get her kidney transplant" and "Peace in Pakistan." E-mail to a friend .

Times Square ball fitted with energy-saving light-emitting diodes . A million people to attend, officials say, a billion expected to watch on video . Performers: Hannah Montana, Kid Rock, Lenny Kravitz, Carrie Underwood . 1907 ball was made of iron and wood and covered with about 100 light bulbs .

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NEW YORK (CNN) -- A few hundred people on Sunday marched in Brooklyn to protest last week's fatal beating of a 31-year-old Ecuadorean man -- an incident authorities say may have been a hate crime. Jose Sucuzhanay was beaten December 7 after leaving a party at a church. The demonstrators -- holding signs reading "No more hate crimes" -- walked a half-mile in the neighborhood where police say Jose Sucuzhanay was hit in the head with a bottle and beaten with an aluminum baseball bat on December 7. Sucuzhanay died of his injuries Friday at Elmhurst Hospital, hours before his mother arrived in New York from Ecuador, his family said. Police said Sucuzhanay's attackers yelled racial slurs; no arrests have been made in the case. One of his brothers, Diego Sucuzhanay, said Sunday he is convinced the attack was a hate crime. "Nothing was taken from him," said Diego Sucuzhanay, who didn't join the demonstration, opting instead to help his mother make arrangements to return the body to Ecuador. Watch marchers protest against hate crimes » . Police said Jose Sucuzhanay and his brother Romel had left a party at a church when several men approached them in a car in Brooklyn's Bushwick section, about a block from the brothers' home. The men shouted anti-gay and anti-Latino vulgarities and attacked the brothers, police said. Romel, 34, escaped with minor scrapes and has talked with detectives. Police have released a sketch of one possible suspect in the case. Police are offering a $22,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in the attack. In a statement, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg called the attack "a pointless and gutless crime." He promised authorities would find and prosecute those responsible. Family spokesman Francisco Moya said Jose Sucuzhanay had lived in the United States for more than a decade and was a legal resident. Diego Sucuzhanay said Jose set up a successful real estate business in a low-income area, thinking he could make a difference there. He said his brother wanted to help everyone and hired a diverse team, including four African-Americans and two Latinos. He was raising two children: a 9-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter. "We were proud of him," Diego Sucuzhanay said. He said the family had wanted Jose's mother to get to his bedside before he died. Doctors told them Jose was brain dead since the attack, and that machines kept him alive until his heart failed Friday. At a press conference Sunday outside the hospital, Diego Sucuzhanay touched his chest and said: "My heart is broken, but my brother's [memory] will live on. " Asked in an interview with CNN how his brother would be remembered, he paused several seconds and answered: "For being the victim of a hate crime." Though he didn't participate in the demonstration, he said he was grateful to those who did, and that everyone needs to practice tolerance. "We definitely have to speak out," he said.

Police say December 7 beating of Jose Sucuzhanay may have been a hate crime . Authorities say attackers shouted racial slurs; Sucuzhanay died Friday . Brother: He'll be remembered as "a victim of a hate crime"

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President-elect Barack Obama called his former Republican presidential rival, Sen. John McCain, a hero at a bipartisan dinner Monday night and encouraged politicians to reach across the aisle. President-elect Barack Obama greets Sen. John McCain on stage after praising him at a bipartisan dinner. "I could stand here and recite the long list of John's bipartisan accomplishments ..." Obama said. "Campaign finance reform. Immigration. The Patients' Bill of Rights. All those times he has crossed the aisle and risked the ire of his party for the good of his country. And yet, what makes John such a rare and courageous public servant is not the accomplishments themselves, but the true motivation behind them." McCain returned the gracious feelings at the dinner. "I am very grateful to the president-elect and to all of you for this very considerate gesture, and for allowing me to play a small role in the inauguration of the 44th president of the United States, even if it isn't the one I had in mind a few months ago," McCain said. "Tomorrow, the President-elect will accept the burdensome privilege of leading America to its next accomplishments and its future greatness," McCain went on to say. "He has my sincere best wishes for his success, and my promise of assistance. For his success will be our success." After praising McCain, Obama urged everyone to take the bipartisan dinner past "just an inaugural tradition" and turn it into a "new way of doing the people's business in this city." "We will not always agree on everything in the months to come, and we will have our share of arguments and debates," Obama said. "But let us strive always to find that common ground, and to defend together those common ideals, for it is the only way we can meet the very big and very serious challenges that we face right now." On the eve of his inauguration, the president-elect even made time for a joke. "I'm here tonight to say a few words about an American hero I have come to know very well and admire very much -- Sen. John McCain," Obama said as he opened his speech. "And then, according to the rules agreed to by both parties, John will have approximately 30 seconds to make a rebuttal." Obama's speech at the bipartisan dinner capped a day filled by appearances, including visiting wounded soldiers and exhorting Americans to spend more time in the service of others. In Washington people took in the sights of pre-inauguration activities and concerts. "The energy on the streets is something I've never seen before," said Nancy Wigal, who lives in Vernon Square. "People are walking lighter, standing taller and are reaching out to one another. It feels like hope. It feels like shared happiness." Wigal said Obama's inauguration has given residents hope that change actually will happen. "It's all because of Obama -- we dare to feel positive that we may have actually elected a leader, not just a politician," she said. "There are impromptu progressive dinner parties, cookouts and house parties. We finally feel like a real change has come to town." Obama began his day with a surprise visit to wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He met with 14 patients injured in either Iraq or Afghanistan. Obama visited a National Day of Service project, stopping by the Sasha Bruce House, an emergency shelter for homeless teenagers in the Washington area. Watch Obama speak about service on the eve of his inauguration » . The shelter provides a variety of services, including counseling, job training, and substance abuse prevention assistance, for up to 15 teenagers at a time. Roughly 30 teenagers are spending the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday volunteering at the shelter by helping to renovate a dorm room. Obama rolled up his sleeves and pitched in during the visit, using a roller to help paint a couple of walls and a piece of furniture. He also quoted King to the teenagers, noting that "everybody can be great [because] everybody can serve." "Don't underestimate the power of people who join together to accomplish amazing things," Obama added. Given the crisis America is currently in, "we can't allow any idle hands. Everybody's got to pitch in." Wigal said Obama's actions and words make her believe the president-elect has the skills needed to help the country move forward. "Those of us who live and work here, who try to create, shape, influence and move policy forward, are feeling as if we can finally do something that'll result in forward motion," Wigal said. "We believe we have a leader who listens to those who work the issues every day and know the real solutions." For Wigal, that's exactly what makes Inauguration Day so important. "Tomorrow is going to be the biggest day in our country's history since its creation," she said. During Monday's activities Obama also cited the heroics of U.S. Airways pilot Chesley Sullenberger, who safely landed a crippled commercial airliner in the Hudson River last Thursday, saving the lives of all 155 people on board. "If everybody did their job as well as he did [his] job, we would be in pretty good shape," Obama said. Obama has personally invited Sullenberger to the inauguration. Obama later joined Vice President-elect Joe Biden at a high school where students were making blankets and greeting cards, among other things, for soldiers overseas. Speaking to the students, Obama again invoked King's memory, noting the slain civil rights leader had "dedicated his life to working at the grassroots level ... on behalf of justice and equality." "I am making a commitment to you, as your next president, that we are going to make government work," Obama said. But, he warned, "government can only do so much. If we're just waiting around for someone else to do it for us ... it never gets done. We're going to have to take responsibility, all of us." Incoming first lady Michelle Obama, joined by Jill Biden, the wife of the vice president-elect, spent the morning at a separate volunteer service event at RFK Stadium, where people were assembling care packages for soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Martin Luther King Jr. Day is traditionally viewed as a day to encourage greater volunteerism.

NEW: John McCain: President-elect "has my sincere best wishes for his success" Barack Obama praises Sen. John McCain's leadership at bipartisan dinner . "The energy on the streets is something I've never seen before," D.C. resident says . Obama urges students to join him and take responsibility .

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(CNN) -- Japan is grappling with its worst economic crisis since the end of World War II, the nation's economic and fiscal policy minister said Monday. A businessman walks past a homeless man taking a nap at a Tokyo park. The comments from Kaoru Yosano followed news of Japan's gross domestic product falling 12.7 percent in the fourth quarter in 2008. "This is the worst economic crisis in the post-war era," Yosano said at a press conference, according to Japan's Kyodo news agency. The global economic crisis has pummeled Japan, which depends largely on its auto and electronics exports. The slump in exports has led to tens of thousands of layoffs across Japan. "Behind [the contraction in GDP for] the October-December quarter is a terrific downturn in exports," he said, according to Kyodo. "Like other major countries, our country cannot avoid the pains of structural change," Yosano said. To stimulate the economy, the Japanese parliament needs to act quickly on key budget measures, he said, referring to bills related to a second supplementary budget for fiscal 2008 and early passage of the state budget for fiscal 2009. Asked about Japan possibly producing a new economic stimulus plan in the short term, Yosano said wide-ranging discussions would be needed first. "After seeing this level [of GDP], it is our duty to think of various policy options," he added.

Economic and fiscal policy minister says worst economic crisis since end of WWII . Japan's gross domestic product fell 12.7 percent in the fourth quarter in 2008 . A slump in exports has led to tens of thousands of layoffs across Japan .

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AURORA, Colorado (CNN) -- In her best year as a mortgage broker, Laura Glick says she made "six figures." This week she was one of more than 1,200 people attending a job fair and applying for one of 150 jobs paying between $7 and $12 an hour at a new Kohl's department store in a Denver, Colorado, suburb. Laura Glick says she has a good resume but even getting an interview is difficult. She has been out of work for seven months and never thought it would take her this long to find a job. It's not the kind of job she thought she would be applying for, but she has a case of the jitters just the same. "Your heart starts to race, and you get nervous even though it is not some big job like you used to have," she said. "I'll take anything at this point." Glick is not alone. Many other people have lost their jobs in this tough economy. A record number of jobless claims was set last month, when first-time claims hit a 26-year high of 589,000 claims in one week. Last week's claims also broke the half-million mark, 524,000, according to a new government report cited on CNNMoney.com. Glick, 29, has been living on about $1400 a month in unemployment benefits, barely enough to cover her rent and health insurance. To get by she has stopped eating out, given up cigarettes and has stopped taking her pets to the vet for regular checkups. "Its feels very degrading, some of the places I'm applying," Glick said. "It's really difficult, and its hard to stay positive, but that's the only way you're going to get something is staying positive. And I'm hoping everything happens for a reason and the doors that have been closed are going to be the ones that lead to open ones." Watch could you be an entrepreneur » . Job seekers have been pouring into a hotel ballroom all week for one of the prized jobs. They fill out paperwork and then are taken up to a hotel room in groups of ten or so. The beds have been removed from the room, and they sit in a circle while store managers holding clipboards ask questions. Most are told they will hear back within three weeks. But some get word right away. "Hey guess what. I got the job," exclaimed Rebecca Erickson, speaking to her mother on her cell phone. When the other applicants filed out the managers asked her to stay behind and offered her a job. She was so excited she forgot to ask how much the job pays. "It's only part-time, but I'll take it. There's always room for advancement, and with it being a new store opening you never know, a full-time position may open up," she said. Erickson, a 31-year old single mother of three, has been unemployed for about two months and has been supporting her family on about $1400 a month in unemployment benefits and food stamps. "It's awesome; It's great; I love it," she said. "To know that I got a job and they have had over a thousand applications come in for this job, and to know that I am the one to get it is just awesome." A store opening such as this one is rare. With unemployment at 7.2 percent nationwide and retail sales down for six straight months, there are more going-out-of-business signs than grand-opening signs. Most of the applicants came alone, but a set of identical twins came here as a team. "Where ever he goes, I go," said Jeri Hines, here with his brother Jerell. The 23-year-olds seem to always have a smile on their faces and insist on working together. They have spent the past year doing odd jobs such as raking leaves and shoveling snow while working on a comic book. "Its about a girl running around looking for treasure," Jerell said. As the Hines twins make their way up to the interview room, their strategy is simple. "Be really energetic and be sure they know everything they can about you," Jerell Hines said . On the way out their smiles are still in place, they flash a thumbs up sign and in unison call out, "Keep your fingers crossed."

1,200 people hoping for a job applied at Colorado store hiring 150 . Mortgage broker once earned six figures, hopes for $7- to $12-per-hour job . Store openings are rare with retail sales down for six straight months . A single mother of three is excited after getting a part-time job .

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MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- A newspaper advertisement for a Miami car dealership reads more like a coupon for bags of potato chips: "Buy one, get two!" It's estimated that 900 automotive dealerships will have shut their doors by year's end. The ad speaks to the desperation of car dealers as Big Three auto manufacturers beg Washington for billions in bailout dollars to combat sales that keep dipping to all-time lows. "The first thing people think when they come in is, 'It's a fake ad. It's a normal car dealer ad. It's a gimmick.' But it's not," said Ali Ahmed, sales manager at Rob Lambdin's University Dodge in Miami. To be fair, there is a catch to the buy-one-get-one-free offer: You must first buy a new Dodge truck at full retail price before you're eligible to receive a second truck for about $3,000 in tax, tags and dealer fees. "We've been fielding phone calls and e-mail inquiries from every state in the country looking to get this buy-one-get-one deal," Ahmed said. About 700 dealerships, most of them selling cars from U.S. automakers, have shut their doors since the beginning of the year. The number is expected to hit 900 by year's end. Last month, National Automobile Dealers Association Chairwoman Annette Sykora told the House Financial Services Committee some 19,700 dealerships will still be around by the end of 2008, compared with 50,000 in the 1940s. Auto sales are at a 15-year low, she said, which affects more than the Big Three automakers. Dealers are slashing personnel and expenses. Sykora herself has had to cut staff by about 20 percent at her dealerships, she said. iReport.com: Ask the automakers your questions . Sykora, a third-generation car saleswoman who sells Big Three automobiles at dealerships in Slaton and Levelland, Texas, said she recently sat down with the superintendent of Slaton schools. "We started discussing what would happen if the dealerships in my hometown were to close," she said during her November 19 testimony. "The loss of tax revenue would force them to cut programs and teachers. "Many displaced dealership families might have to leave town in search of work in other places, compounding the loss. This same scene would play out in hundreds of communities in the U.S." Dealerships, Sykora explained, are independent businesses, not arms of the automakers. They invest in land, equipment, buildings and take out millions of dollars in loans to put the vehicles on their lots and showroom floors. She also said car dealerships are a prime source of advertising revenue for local media, they support charities and Little League teams and they are integral to the tax base, she said. "One-fifth of the nation's retail purchases are automobiles. By getting automotive retailing back on track, Congress can effectively leverage the economic engine of the automobile industry to get this economy running on all cylinders again," she said, pleading with Congress not to let the Big Three file for bankruptcy. Watch what the automakers are asking for » . With the world's economy reeling, expensive items like cars are not high priorities for families and businesses. It doesn't help that the credit crunch is making it difficult to get loans, which the majority of U.S. consumers need to purchase vehicles. Also compounding matters is consumer confidence, which hit an all-time low in October and didn't improve much in November, according to the nonprofit Conference Board, which maintains indices on consumers' trust in the marketplace. According to Autodata, car sales have plummeted since last year. In the United States, the number of sales of passenger cars and light trucks in November 2008 was down 36.7 percent from November 2007 -- from about 1.18 million to 747,000. Also, as of November 2008, automakers had sold about 12.35 million cars and light trucks, compared with 14.76 million during the same time period last year -- a drop of 16.3 percent, according to Autodata's summary of U.S. light vehicle retail sales. Comparing November 2008 sales with those in November 2007, Autodata reported that General Motors saw a 41.3 percent drop, Ford a 30.5 percent drop and Chrysler 47.1 percent. But it's not just U.S. automakers taking a hit: Toyota's vehicle sales declined 33.9 percent, Honda's dipped 31.6 percent and Nissan's dropped 42.2 percent during that time period, Autodata reported. "It's definitely a tough climate right now," said Matt Lee, floor manager for Major World Auto in New York. "A lot of people are saying it's a perfect storm of gas prices and financing and consumer confidence." Major World Auto used to sell about 150 cars a month. It now sells about half that, Lee said. And of the 15 to 20 salespeople who used to roam the salesroom floor, about 10 are left, he said. "Salesmen actually just walked out because they're not making enough money to support their family," he said. Major World has stopped bringing in new models because it can't sell the cars it has. Like University Dodge in Miami, it is resorting to some creative sales pitches, including zero-percent financing for 72 months and rebates of up to $7,500. But even with the bargains, car dealers are having trouble getting customers into the showrooms. In a recent CNN visit to Major World, which lasted about two hours, only one customer walked onto the lot -- to browse. "Where you would see five people a day coming in to at least look at a car per salesmen, you're getting maybe one person a day or two people a day," salesman Jamie Krinsky said. If the Big Three file for bankruptcy, Sykora told Congress last month, sales and confidence will continue to plummet. "Imagine how banks would react to a dealer who has asked for millions of dollars to finance new and used inventories from an automaker going through 'reorganization,' " she said. Watch whether a bailout would come too late for dealers » . The government can help boost auto sales in many ways, Sykora said, citing two proposed tax incentives: one that would make interest payments on car loans tax deductible and another that would encourage consumers to upgrade their older cars for more fuel-efficient models. "Cash for clunkers" programs are in place in Texas and California, she said. "Whether it's my dealerships in Texas or it's the dealership in your community, the fact is local dealerships will be a major factor in our economic recovery," she told the House committee. "To get the economy back on track, we must restore consumer demand, and the only way to do that is to restore consumer confidence." CNN's Alina Cho and Eliott C. McLaughlin contributed to this report.

Dealer: Dealerships to dwindle to 19,700 by 2009, compared with 50,000 in 1940s . Consumer confidence, credit crunch major factors in plummeting auto sales . Autodata says November sales about 747,000, compared with 1.18 million last year . New York dealership: Salespeople "walked out" because pay won't support families .

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(CNN) -- Rick Warren -- the man at the center of an inaugural firestorm -- has built his career on an uncontroversial reputation. President-elect Barack Obama has chosen Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at his inauguration. The irony of the furor over Warren's selection to deliver the invocation at Barack Obama's inaugural ceremony is that the California minister first drew notice for his determination to expand the evangelical agenda beyond hot-button social issues like opposition to same-sex marriage. Warren has been described as the next Billy Graham, an evangelical leader with a moderate reputation and mass-market appeal -- although instead of massive open-air rallies and an out-sized television presence, Warren focused on forging partnerships with unlikely allies working to protect the environment and fight AIDS. As a pioneer of the mega-church movement, Warren looked to translate traditional evangelical messages for a wider audience. He penned "The Purpose-Driven Life," a spiritually based self-help guide that brought mainstream best-seller status to a muted religious message. In his model, everyday concerns were a top priority: Attendees at his Saddleback Church -- now more than 20,000 strong -- could expect free classes on home finance, or assistance with child care needs. Warren urged ministers to adopt a Madison Avenue approach: to super-charge the growth of congregations by fine-tuning their pitch for the "un-churched." He released bullet-point sermons with crossover potential, along with material to help churchgoers follow along. The church atmosphere he called for was a relaxed one, with dressed-down ministers leading services in nontraditional venues, featuring easy-listening music chosen with younger listeners in mind. But even as Warren's nonpartisan appeal led to increasingly high-profile roles -- like host of this summer's presidential faith forum, featuring Sens. Obama and John McCain -- controversy grew over his conservative stands on social issues. The headlines may be new, but Warren's positions aren't. During the last election cycle, he sent thousands of pastors an e-mail laying out what he viewed as non-negotiable issues for evangelicals deciding on their pick at the polls, from stem-cell research and abortion to same-sex marriage. On Wednesday, after Obama announced Warren as his choice, prominent liberal groups and gay rights proponents criticized the selection. Some said the choice signaled that Obama is not interested in advancing gay rights or protecting abortion rights. iReport.com: What do you think of the choice? Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, said Wednesday that he feels a "deep level of disrespect" because of the choice of Warren and is calling on Obama to reconsider the move. Read more about the criticism of Obama's choice . On Thursday, Obama defended his decision to tap Warren. "And I would note that a couple of years ago, I was invited to Rick Warren's church to speak, despite his awareness that I held views that were entirely contrary to his when it came to gay and lesbian rights, when it came to issues like abortion. ... "And that dialogue, I think, is part of what my campaign's been all about: That we're not going to agree on every single issue, but what we have to do is to be able to create an atmosphere ... where we can disagree without being disagreeable and then focus on those things that we hold in common as Americans." But progressive commentators said Warren is a symbol of division. "When Obama advances a progressive agenda on social issues, as he's certain to do, Warren will continue to speak out on the other side," wrote the Washington Monthly's Steve Benen. "Only now, he'll do so with the added authority that comes with being the president's hand-chosen pastor for the inauguration's invocation. Warren's status will soar, and his criticism of Obama's policies -- or Democrats' in general -- will resonate that much louder." Warren himself is working to contain the fallout from his support for California's Proposition 8. In an interview set to air this week, he denied that his stand against same-sex marriage meant he was homophobic. "Of course not. I have always treated them with respect," he said. "When they come and wanna talk to me, I talk to 'em. When the protesters came, we served them water and doughnuts."

Pastor Rick Warren first drew notice for trying to expand past hot-button issues . Warren looked to translate traditional evangelical messages for a wider audience . President-elect Barack Obama chose Warren to deliver invocation at inauguration . Gay, abortion rights activists angry about Obama's choice .

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(CNN) -- Numerous wildfires were roaring Thursday through parts of Oklahoma and Texas, engulfing one town and searing neighborhoods in others, including one in Oklahoma City. Hurricane-force winds continued to kick the flames even higher. Firefighters in Bowie, Texas, try to get a grass fire under control. Bowie is about 70 miles northwest of Fort Worth. The fires had engulfed so many miles of turf, and flying embers had sparked in so many different places, that hours after the first blazes were reported Thursday morning, safety officials still weren't sure how many fires they were facing. In Texas, the 100-person town of Stoneburg was "burned over," by a 25,000-acre fire said Texas Forest Service spokeswoman Misty Wilburn. The town, northwest of Dallas near the Oklahoma state line, had been evacuated, she said. Seventy-five to 100 homes had been destroyed in Oklahoma, and 13 people were confirmed injured -- two of them critically, according to emergency officials. Watch homes in Oklahoma burn » . Wilburn said Texas authorities were working at least nine major fires Thursday evening, seven in the west of the state and two in the north. "Everything we have is committed to fires," she said. "Everyone is maxed out." Feeding the flames were strong winds that were gusting as high as 76 mph, the strength of a Category 1 hurricane, and grounding many emergency aircraft that can't fly safely in those conditions. On the southwest side of Oklahoma City, fires had engulfed eight homes, and were believed to be destroying many more. In Choctaw, Oklahoma, dozens of homes had been destroyed, and the high school was on the verge of burning, police dispatcher Silva Schneider said just before 8 p.m. Aerial video footage of the central Oklahoma city of about 9,000 people showed row after row of houses in several different neighborhoods engulfed in flames. The Oklahoma towns of Velma, Sparks, Wellston, Healdton and Midwest City, a suburb of Oklahoma City, had all been ordered into mandatory evacuations because of the fires, which officials say are finding plenty of easy fuel because of dry conditions throughout the Southwest. "It's a bad day in Oklahoma," said Albert Ashwood, director of the state's emergency management department. Grass fires were being reported west of the Dallas-Fort Worth area, with the smell of smoke already wafting through the cities. Ashwood said weather experts fear that heavy winds as night falls could drive the wildfires into more heavily populated areas. A spokesman for the Texas Forest Service said fires in the state were burning in numerous counties in areas near Fort Worth, Wichita Falls and Amarillo. Watch video of wildfires in Bowie, Texas » . He said there were so many blazes that firefighters were having to ignore some of them, and that winds were so high that most fire-fighting aircraft were unable to fly. The National Weather Service had categorized much of Texas and Oklahoma an "extremely critical fire weather area" Thursday because of the dry conditions and winds. Large portions of western and central Texas and western Oklahoma are in a drought, according to the service. A firefighter who was working near Lindsey, Oklahoma, was in critical condition with third-degree burns over 35 percent of his body, according to a hospital spokeswoman. A motorist in Oklahoma also was hospitalized after driving into an area with heavy smoke, authorities said. iReport.com: Are wildfires affecting you? While the blazes seemed overwhelming in spots, firefighters were making some progress on some fronts. In Breckenridge, Texas, a fire that started in an old landfill and burned several hundred acres had been contained just north of the city limits, according to fire officials. But even as that blaze came under control, the fire department received reports of another fire. Wilburn said that as nightfall approached, Texas had been able to get some firefighting aircraft in the air and that five of the fires were at least partially contained. CNN's Hank Bishop and Aaron Cooper contributed to this report.

NEW: In Texas, the 100-person town of Stoneburg has been "burned over" NEW: In Oklahoma,13 people are confirmed injured, two of them critically . Whole neighborhoods of Oklahoma City have been seared . Texas, Oklahoma officials say fires multiplying so fast they've lost count .

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HARARE, Zimbabwe (CNN) -- Zimbabwe's prime minister believes the driver of the truck that struck his car, killing his wife, deliberately drove toward them, his party told CNN. Morgan Tsvangirai leaves the hospital Saturday after being treated for injuries from a car crash. Members of his political party, the Movement for Democratic Change, and former U.S. diplomat also say the crash raises suspicions of foul play. The prime minister left a hospital Saturday, a day after his wife, Susan, was killed in the collision, officials said. A ball cap covered Tsvangirai's bandaged head. Tsvangirai was taken to a hospital in Gaborone, Botswana, on Saturday for medical treatment, a Botswanan government source and a source with the prime minister's party. "He's badly bruised and is receiving treatment," the Botswanan government source said. The source with the prime minister's party said Tsvangirai will return to Zimbabwe on Wednesday to attend the funeral of his wife. The couple, who were married in 1978, have six children. The crash happened on a two-lane highway between Tsvangirai's hometown, Buhera, and the capital, Harare. It comes only weeks after the start of a power-sharing agreement between Tsvangirai and his political rival, President Robert Mugabe. Tsvangirai's political party said Friday that it was too early to tell whether the crash was anything other than an accident. But on Saturday, MDC members told CNN that Tsvangirai thought the crash was deliberate. Tendai Biti, the MDC secretary-general, speaking during a tearful press conference, said Tsvangirai should have had better security. Watch how the accident threatens to derail the unity government » . "If there had been a police escort maybe what happened yesterday could have not have happened," Biti said. "(A) police escort would have warned oncoming vehicles of a VIP arriving. I think authorities must understand the omission. "We hope that this omission will be rectified, that the prime minister must be given the protection that ought to be accorded to a prime minister." Biti said the MDC would launch its own investigation. Analysts say the crash raises suspicions of foul play. One former U.S. diplomat called for an outside investigation, saying it was not the first time one of Mugabe's political foes had been killed or injured in a car crash. Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe's main opposition leader, took office last month under a power-sharing deal with Mugabe following a contentious election. The MDC reached the agreement with Mugabe in September after months of angry dispute that included violence. More than 200 deaths, mainly opposition supporters, were reported leading up to and after the election. "I'm skeptical about any motor vehicle accident in Zimbabwe involving an opposition figure," said Tom McDonald, the U.S. ambassador to Zimbabwe from 1997 to 2001. "President Mugabe has a history of strange car accidents when someone lo and behold dies -- it's sort of his M.O., of how they get rid of people they don't like." Watch more on the fatal crash » . McDonald cited the car crash deaths of Defense Minister Moven Mahachi in 2001, Employment Minister Border Gezi in 1999 and Elliot Manyika, a government minister and former regional governor, last year. "So when I hear that Tsvangirai was in an accident, it gives me pause," McDonald said. Now an attorney with the Washington law firm Baker Hostetler, he urged a full independent investigation. However, he added that traffic accidents are common in Zimbabwe. The highway Tsvangirai was traveling on was only two lanes and tractor-trailers were common, McDonald said. Vehicles in the country were often in bad shape and drivers inexperienced. "It's certainly plausible that this was just one of those tragic things," he said. CNN's Nkepile Mabuse contributed to this report.

NEW: Morgan Tsvangirai in Botswana for medical treatment on Saturday . NEW: Prime minister will return to Zimbabwe on Wednesday to attend wife's funeral . Tsvangirai believes fatal car crash was deliberate, officials say . Head-on collision bound to raise suspicion of foul play, analysts say .

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LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- For Miley Cyrus, star of Disney's popular television series "Hannah Montana" and its big-screen adaptation "Hannah Montana: The Movie," art is not far from real life. Miley Cyrus, here in "Hannah Montana: The Movie," says filming in Tennessee was relaxing. The 16-year-old actress and singer reconnected with her Southern roots for the filming of "Hannah Montana: The Movie." Traveling to Tennessee to shoot the movie, Cyrus said, helped keep her grounded. "It actually gave me time to relax, and it was when my career was just starting to take off ... when I was just starting to travel," Cyrus said. "It was at a time when I needed to go back home and it couldn't have been more of a perfect time." In the film, opening in theaters Friday, Cyrus plays Miley Stewart, a typical teenage girl who lives a double life as a famous pop star named Hannah Montana. Eventually, Hannah begins taking over Miley's life, leading Miley to take a soul-searching journey back home to decide what she really wants: notoriety or normality. Miley shares the screen with her father, country musician Billy Ray Cyrus, who felt that a trip home would be beneficial to his daughter. Watch Miley and Billy Ray discuss the film » . "This is definitely an example of art imitating life imitating art. ... It's so important to be aware of where you're at and be focused on where you're going but, more importantly, never forget where you came from," the elder Cyrus said. "You can't fake going home. That was her home." Both on-screen and off, Miley said, she and her father share a close friendship, calling herself a "daddy's girl 100 percent." Between the endless tabloid headlines and the paparazzi's persistence, keeping friends and family near at hand, Miley said, helps remind her of who she really is: "I think just have good friends, good family and a good team. That's what people miss the most, just having a good team." Co-star Lucas Till, who plays Miley's love interest in the film, remarked on Miley's down-to-earth personality. "She's really nice and really [endearing], and she really cares about people," he said. "She's a good friend, very loyal." The two shared an on-screen kiss that, Till said, "could have been more meaningful." Watch Till talk about kissing Cyrus » . "There was a lot more there to that kiss than you see," he said. Asked whether Till was a good kisser, Miley replied, "Meh, he's OK. No, I'm just kidding. I don't know. I think I was too busy thinking about my next line to think about it." During her film's opening weekend, Miley is planning on surprising select audiences at undisclosed theater locations across the country. Moviegoers who see "Hannah Montana: The Movie" this weekend could also be treated to surprise appearances by stars of the film, live performances and more. Miley said she was excited to give back to her fans. "I have the best fans in the world," she said. After playing "Hannah" for three years, Miley said, she's not ready to quit anytime soon. "I can't be Hannah until I'm 30, but I want to keep doing it as long as possible," she said. CNN's JD Cargill and CNN.com's Elham Khatami contributed to this article.

Miley Cyrus stars in a big-screen version of "Hannah Montana" Much of movie shot in Tennessee; Cyrus said it gave her "time to relax" Cyrus kisses co-star Lucas Till in film but said she was focused on her lines .

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Editor's Note: John Kerry, a Democrat, is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the junior senator from Massachusetts. John Kerry says Barack Obama sent a message that fight against terror will respect America's values. WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Thursday was an important day for the rule of law in the United States of America. With a handful of signatures to executive orders, President Obama ordered the eventual closure of Guantanamo Bay prison and CIA "black site" prisons, and placed interrogation in all American facilities by all U.S. personnel under the guidelines of the Army Field Manual. In a season of transformational changes, these are among the most meaningful, because they send a powerful message that America's struggle against terrorism will once against honor some of the most cherished ideals of our republic: respect for the rule of law, individual rights, and America's moral leadership. The president understands all too well that the threat our nation faces from terrorism is all too real. And we should all agree that sometimes, in the name of national security, it is necessary to make difficult ethical decisions to protect the American people. However, I and many others believe that the use of torture and indefinite detention have not only tarnished our honor but also diminished our security. In this global counterinsurgency effort against al Qaeda and its allies, too often our means have undercut our efforts by wasting one of our best weapons: the legitimacy that comes from our moral authority. Torture plays directly into a central tenet of al Qaeda's recruiting pitch: that everyday Muslims across the world have something to fear from the United States of America. From Morocco to Malaysia, people regularly hear stories of torture and suicide at Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, and other overseas prisons. The result has been a major blow to our credibility worldwide, particularly where we need it most: in the Muslim world. Once permitted, torture and lawlessness are not easily contained. Coercive interrogation techniques found their way from high-level terrorists at Guantanamo to low-level detainees at Abu Ghraib. Years later, images of abuse there remain fixtures across the Arab and Muslim world. And as John McCain has argued, the use of techniques like waterboarding leaves its scars on a democratic society as well. Torture elicits lies -- not just from those experiencing it, but from those who seek to conceal it. After years of Orwellian denials and legalistic parsing, what a relief it was to hear our new attorney general-designee finally acknowledge what we know to be true: that yes, "waterboarding is torture." As we move forward, President Obama is wise to "reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals" -- but the American people should know that closing a prison conceived outside the rule of law will not be easy. Reclaiming Guantanamo and its inhabitants into our legal system from what former Vice President Dick Cheney called "the dark side" will be an enormous challenge and a thicket of thorny legal and policy issues. However, we are already seeing the international system reorganize itself around an America that is willing to be a moral leader. Countries such as Portugal and Ireland have made welcome offers to join Albania in resettling detainees who cannot be returned to their home countries. Already we are seeing the fruits of a good faith effort with our allies. Still, it will take time and effort to overcome numerous hurdles, many handed over from the previous administration: looming questions about the inadmissibility of evidence improperly coerced; the difficulty of returning detainees -- including many cleared for departure -- who would face torture or worse in their home countries; and the fact that we already know some released from Guantanamo have returned to the battlefield. In some cases we simply lack evidence to charge men we know to be extremely dangerous to the American people. And even as we embrace long-overdue change, we owe it even to those we believe made grave mistakes to acknowledge the urgency of the moment they inherited, the sacred responsibility to protect American lives which they strove to honor, and the humbling reality that there are no easy answers when it comes to such life-and-death matters. But the American story is one of perfectibility and striving for ever-greater fidelity to our ideals -- it is a journey from colony to republic, from slavery to freedom, from sexism to suffrage, from stark poverty to shared prosperity. The president himself famously said, "The union may never be perfect, but generation after generation has shown that it can always be perfected." It is true that today we face unprecedented, unorthodox, and vastly destructive enemies that respect neither borders nor rules of war. But this is not the first new challenge America has evolved to meet. Sometimes that evolution requires us to admit mistakes, learn from them and grow as a nation. The desire to do better has always been a core part of America's greatness. Last week Barack Obama and his administration wrote a new chapter in that old story. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of John Kerry.

John Kerry: Barack Obama's early decisions were victories for rule of law . He says president sent message that America's values will guide terror fight . Kerry: Torture weakened U.S. national security by sending wrong message . He says closing Guantanamo will be an enormous challenge for administration .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Pirates in ships are searching for the lifeboat containing four pirates and their hostage -- the captain of a freighter they failed to hijack earlier this week -- according to a U.S. military official with knowledge of the situation. Capt. Richard Phillips of the Maersk Alabama is being held by pirates on a lifeboat off Somalia. The pirates are using ships they have already hijacked and larger ships from which they are launching skiffs, the official said Friday. One of the pirated ships is the German cargo ship Hansa Stavanger, seized April 4 off the coast of Somalia. The U.S. military has been monitoring communications between the pirates, the official said. The guided missile frigate USS Halyburton, with helicopter capabilities, has now joined the guided missile destroyer USS Bainbridge in the area. A third ship, the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer, which has a large medical facility on board, will be there within a day. Richard Phillips, the hostage, tried to escape from the pirates Thursday night by jumping out of the lifeboat, a U.S. official said Friday. Watch what it's like inside a lifeboat » . Phillips was believed to be trying to swim to the USS Bainbridge, which is in communication with the four gunmen holding Phillips in the 28-foot boat off Somalia's coast, the official said. Some of the kidnappers jumped into the water, recaptured Phillips, and returned him to the lifeboat, according to the official. Watch what happened when captain tried to escape » . The pirates fired shots, the military official said, but had no further details. A Defense Department official told CNN that Phillips appeared to be tied up by the pirates after the escape attempt. The U.S. official -- who did not want to be named because of the sensitive nature of the situation -- said the escape attempt is being viewed by negotiators as an "optimistic sign" that Phillips is in good health. He has been held since Wednesday, when the hijackers seized control of his U.S.-flagged ship, the Maersk Alabama. Watch expert talk about hostage escape attempts » . The captain's wife Andrea Phillips thanked everyone for their support in a statement. "My husband is a strong man and we will remain strong for him," she said. "We ask that you do the same. " Phillips' 20-man crew regained control of the vessel, and they and the vessel are en route to Mombasa, Kenya, according to the father of one of the crew members. The ship's owners -- the Norfolk, Virginia-based Maersk company -- would not say how the crew regained control. "There will be time for due diligence and retrospective review once we have the safe return of all parties and the opportunity for a full debriefing," it said in a statement. For the U.S. Navy, the show of strength is more than just a means to resolve a hostage situation, said Chris Lawrence, CNN's Pentagon correspondent. Attacks in the area have picked up so drastically in recent months that the Navy has to reposition some of its fleet to deal with the threats, he said. iReport.com: How should the U.S. respond? The pirates have shown no signs of giving in. The Maersk Alabama was on its way to Mombasa, Kenya, with a cargo of food aid when it was attacked Wednesday. It was the first time in recent history that pirates had targeted an American ship. The ship was hijacked some 350 miles off Somalia's coast, a distance that used to be considered safe for ships navigating in the pirate-infested waters. CNN's Mike Mount and Barbara Starr contributed to this report.

NEW: Shots fired in escape attempt, captain apparently tied up, military officials say . Pirates using other hijacked ships to look for lifeboat as Navy ships arrive . Captain's escape attempt viewed as "optimistic sign" of his vitality . Richard Phillips, captain of a U.S.-flagged cargo ship, is being held by four gunmen .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Obama declared Monday that his stimulus plan is "starting to work" and that 2,000 transportation projects -- costing much less than expected -- are under way. President Obama on Monday says the transportation projects will help create or save jobs. "Competition for these projects is so fierce, and contractors are doing such a good job cutting costs, the projects are consistently coming in under budget," Obama said Monday. The president gave a rapid-fire list of savings: a bid for road work in Connecticut is $8.4 million less than the state budgeted; Louisiana has a project coming in $4.7 million less than expected; projects in Colorado are averaging about 30 percent under the state forecast; and some bids in California are nearly half of what the state projected. The administration said those savings will stretch the agency's $48 billion stimulus budget. "Our recovery dollars can go further, and we can do more projects," said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said. "This is great news." LaHood hosted the president and vice president at his department's headquarters in Washington for the announcement. Officials did not give an overall estimate of money saved from competitive bids. The three leaders also claimed a victory in the amount of transportation work approved so far, saying the agency has approved its 2,000th infrastructure project as part of the stimulus. "Some may have thought it would have taken months to get to this point," Obama said, "but we have approved these projects in just 41 days." Watch as Obama says projects are coming in ahead of schedule » . The stimulus bill was signed February 17, but transportation dollars did not begin flowing until later. The president said the 2,000th transportation project to receive stimulus funds is one to widen and add an overpass to a stretch of Interstate 94 near Portage, Michigan. Vice President Joseph Biden plans to attend the groundbreaking in June. Obama said the highway projects from the stimulus bill will create or save 150,000 jobs by the end of next year. He pointed to the aggressive contractor interest in transportation projects, along with tax cuts going to millions of families from the stimulus plan, and implied it marks a turning point in the economic recovery effort. "Today, I think it's safe to say that this plan is beginning to work," the president said.

NEW: President Obama: "Projects are consistently coming in under budget" Stimulus dollars have funded 2,000 transportation projects, officials say . Administration says savings will stretch $48 billion stimulus budget for infrastructure . Officials didn't give overall estimate of money saved from competitive bids .

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(CNN) -- Todd Palin and nine aides were found in contempt Friday by the Alaska Senate for failing to appear to testify in the Legislature's "troopergate" investigation of his wife, Gov. Sarah Palin, a spokeswoman for the Alaska Democratic Party said. Todd Palin, shown campaigning in Virginia in 2008, didn't testify, but submitted a statement in the case. But a Senate resolution said no one should be punished, because the 10 did submit statements to the investigator, the Anchorage Daily News reported. The governor's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The investigation concerns the governor's firing of the state's public safety commissioner, Walter Monegan. A bipartisan commission in the state Legislature investigated allegations that Palin fired Monegan after he refused to sack her ex-brother-in-law, State Trooper Mike Wooten. The governor, first elected in 2006, has denied wrongdoing. In court papers, Palin called her sister's ex-husband a "rogue trooper" who threatened the governor's family during a bitter divorce and custody battle. Complaints from Palin's family led to a five-day suspension for the trooper in 2006 after his superiors found he had illegally shot a moose using his wife's permit, drove his patrol car while drinking beer and used a Taser on his 10-year-old stepson "in a training capacity." In an interview last year, Wooten said, "I made mistakes. I 'fessed up to them. I was punished appropriately, and I'm moving on." Palin was Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona's running mate in his unsuccessful campaign last year for U.S. president.

Todd Palin, nine aides found in contempt by Alaska Senate for failing to appear . The 10 won't be punished because they submitted statements, newspaper says . Legislature's "troopergate" investigation concerns firing of public safety chief .

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(Entertainment Weekly) -- If anybody had a reason to doubt whether Tyler Perry has become one of the most bankable brands in all of movies, be skeptical no longer. The domestic dramedy maestro's latest release, Tyler Perry's "Madea Goes to Jail," ran away with a big victory on the typically slow Academy Awards weekend, grossing a hefty $41.1 million, according to early estimates from Media by Numbers. That opening sum is the biggest of all time for a Tyler Perry film, besting the $30 million debut of 2006's "Madea's Family Reunion." Too, it's the top bow in the history of indie studio Lionsgate, improving upon all the Tyler Perry and "Saw" flicks that came before it. The movie's per-theater average of $20,236 ranks in the top 40 for all wide openers ever. And, no surprise, "Madea Goes to Jail" achieved all this success with a solid A CinemaScore grade from a crowd that included mostly older women. Watch Tyler Perry talk about his success » . Second place went to "Taken," which added another $11.4 million to its four-week tally, bringing said total to $95.2 million. Fellow strong holdover "Coraline" (No. 3) was next with $11 million. "He's Just Not That Into You" (No. 4) declined a sharp 56 percent to bank $8.5 million on its third weekend. And Best Picture favorite "Slumdog Millionaire" rounded out the top five with $8.1 million -- a sum that brings its domestic total to $98 million. Reigning champ "Friday the 13th" suffered one of the biggest drops ever, a stunning 81 percent, to finish in sixth place with $7.8 million. And this weekend's other major new release, the cheerleader comedy "Fired Up!" (No. 9), grossed a weak-but-expected $6 million. The film garnered an okay CinemaScore grade of B from a crowd comprised of mostly younger ladies. Overall, the weekend was up nearly 30 percent over the same frame a year ago, when "Vantage Point" led the way. Eight of the past nine weekends have improved upon the previous year's grosses. And I'd be remiss if I didn't take a quick peek at the main Oscar contenders, for whom the box office report is mixed headed into the ceremony. "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" leads the way with $124.2 million. The aforementioned "Slumdog Millionaire" should clear the $100 million mark in the next several days, whether it wins the top prize or not. Then it's a big jump down to "Milk" ($28.2 million), "The Reader" ($23.2 million), and "Frost/Nixon" ($17.4 million). And let's not forget multiple nominee "The Dark Knight," which may not be up for Best Picture, but did finally become the fourth movie ever to cross the $1 billion mark at the worldwide box office. CLICK HERE to Try 2 RISK FREE issues of Entertainment Weekly . Copyright 2009 Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc. All rights reserved.

"Madea Goes to Jail" won big this weekend, grossing a hefty $41.1 million . Per-theater average of $20,236 ranks in the top 40 for all wide openers ever . Second place went to "Taken," which added another $11.4 million to its tally .

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LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- The romantic comedy "New In Town" puts co-stars Renee Zellweger and Harry Connick Jr. at odds through most of the film. But behind the camera, the story was completely different, the pair told CNN. Harry Connick Jr. and Renee Zellweger enjoyed working with one another on the set of "New In Town." "I had a great time. [Connick is] such a nice guy. He shows up on set and makes everyone laugh, and it's just a nice day at work," Zellweger said. Connick agreed, saying the off-camera friendship with his co-star made the on-camera experience an enjoyable one. "Renee is the type of person that I got to know quickly. Well, I became friends with her quickly. She's a very mysterious, wonderful young lady," Connick said. Directed by Jonas Elmer, the film follows Zellweger as Lucy Hill, a Miami, Florida-based corporate shark who travels to a small Minnesota town to oversee the closing of a small factory. Upon arrival, Lucy clashes with the factory's union representative, Ted Mitchell, played by Connick. As the two begin to understand one another, their icy relationship soon melts into romance. But the romance between Lucy and Ted is only one side of the story. Zellweger said she was instantly drawn to the role for its humor. "I loved the physical comedy part of Lucy Hill's experience. I laughed out loud when I imagined the scenarios, and I could not wait to go and play around with that," she said, "I wanted to go to work every day and laugh, and I did." Famous for her roles in such comedies as "Nurse Betty" and "Bridget Jones's Diary," Zellweger is no stranger to the comedic scene. With "New In Town," the actress was eager to once again play a part that would make audiences laugh. "I think the laughter, that's therapeutic," she said. At a time when the country is struggling through a financial recession, Connick said, "New In Town" provides that necessary therapy. While the film centers on the troubles of one rural American town, it showcases a dilemma familiar to the entire country. "I think there's a good balance of what people are really feeling right now, and you walk away from this movie with a real feeling of hope and like, 'We're going to be all right,'" he said. "New In Town" opens in theaters everywhere this Friday. CNN's Jack Hannah contributed to this story.

Zellweger and Connick became friends quickly on the "New In Town" set . "I wanted to go to work every day and laugh, and I did," Zellweger says . The film offers hope during the country's hard times, Connick says . "New In Town" opens in theaters everywhere this Friday .

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(CNN) -- A 24-year-old teacher from Holyoke, Massachusetts, is in custody after allegedly leaving town with a 15-year-old student, city officials said Tuesday. Lisa Lavoie, a 24-year-old teacher, is charged with enticement of a child. Lisa Lavoie and the male student were found in Morgantown, West Virginia, Monday night after apparently being together for a week, Holyoke Mayor Michael Sullivan said. Investigators have charged Lavoie with enticement of a child. On February 13, the student's parents informed school officials of a possible relationship between the teacher and their son. That was late on a Friday afternoon, and when officials went to the school to question Lavoie, she was gone for the day. The next week was a vacation week for the school. The student was reported missing on February 16, at the start of the vacation week. Lavoie wasn't reported missing until she didn't show up for school Monday. Officials said the pair were in Vermont on Thursday before showing up in West Virginia on Monday. No details were provided on how their alleged movements were traced. Officials couldn't take the pair into custody until after gathering enough evidence to obtain a warrant from the district attorney's office, said Holyoke Police Chief Anthony Scott. They got the warrant Monday and asked police in Morgantown to arrest Lavoie. She has been placed on administrative leave pending conclusion of the investigation, Sullivan said. If convicted, Lavoie could lose her teaching license in Massachusetts, the mayor said. She has been with the school only five months and her job is not protected under contract, he said.

A missing teacher and her 15-year-old student were found in West Virginia Monday . Police say the two were together during a weeklong vacation . The teacher, 24-year-old Lisa Lavoie, has been suspended pending an investigation . Investigators have charged Lavoie, of Massachusetts, with enticement of a child .

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(CNN) -- David Beckham was upstaged on the day his AC Milan future was finally resolved as teammate Filippo Inzaghi fired a hat-trick in the 3-0 success over Atalanta at the San Siro on Sunday. David Beckham congratulates hat-trick hero Filippo Inzaghi as the San Siro enjoys a double celebration. Milan confirmed in a brief statement a deal had been reached with Los Angeles Galaxy over England international Beckham. "AC Milan announces that the player David Beckham will remain at the club until June 30, 2009," it read. The 33-year-old midfielder will then return to the United States to play for the Galaxy between July and October. "I'm grateful to both clubs for allowing this dream to come true," Beckham said in a statement posted on www.gazzetta.it. What do think of Beckham's move to play in the U.S. and Italy? "It will enable me to play for Milan and the Galaxy in the same season, with the possibility of been able to keep up my commitments with Major League Soccer and the development of soccer in the United States, something which I'm very passionate about." The deal follows weeks of negotiations between the two clubs during which Milan baulked at the size of the transfer fee Galaxy were demanding -- thought to be around £12million. Galaxy's chief executive, Tim Lieweke, admits the deal is one which suits both clubs. "I'm sorry that it had to go for so long, for him and for us and particularly for the fans," he told the Los Angeles Times. "This is a good solution. It allows him to finish the season with Milan. We will see him in July." Coach Carlo Ancelotti admits Beckham has exceeded all expectations during his first two months as an AC Milan player. "Beckham has done more than we could have possibly expected from him," Ancelotti told PA Sport. "He has settled in very well with the squad and given a huge contribution up to now. "He is very professional and we are all very, very happy that he is staying." He added: "The aim was to keep him until June 30 and we have done that. He is very happy with the solution that has been found and we will make the most of having him now and then we will see." Sunday's victory gave Milan a five-point gap over fourth-placed Fiorentina, who lost 2-0 at home to Palermo. Ancelotti said Inzaghi had helped lift the club out of a crisis after their UEFA Cup exit. "He gave us a real helping hand. It was a tough match and for most of the first half Atalanta caused us problems," he said. "Then Pippo's ability to find the right place to be in allowed us to end the match well. We were in a crisis and now I hope that this result has put an end to the crisis." Only the top three in Serie A will go straight into next season's Champions League group stages with the fourth place finisher having to negotiate two qualifying rounds. With his contract uncertainty behind him, Beckham seemed to have a new lease of life and he was even given a free role behind forwards Inzaghi and Pato by Ancelotti. The former England captain dictated the play and helped open the way for Milan to take a seventh-minute lead when Marek Jankulovski firied across goal for the unmarked Inzaghi to score. Milan had to wait until the 71st minute for Inzaghi's second. He beat the offside trap to latch onto Pato's chip and take the ball around Consigli before slotting home. Moment's later Inzaghi was once again in the right place at the right time to tap in Gianluca Zambrotta's pass from close range. After that Ancelotti took both Inzaghi and Beckham off to give the fans the chance to show their appreciation for both players. There was no change to the top three in Serie A as Inter Milan and Juventus both won on Saturday, 2-0 at Genoa and 1-0 at Torino respectively. Serie A top scorer Marco Di Vaio also scored a hat-trick as Bologna thrashed Sampdoria 3-0.

Filippo Inzaghi fires hat-trick in Milan's 3-0 win over Atalanta at the San Siro . Double celebration for fans as David Beckham's Milan future is also resolved . Beckham will stay at San Siro for rest of season and the rejoin L.A. Galaxy .

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Friedrich Nietzsche said, "Without music, life would be a mistake." Music is a big part of many people's lives. For some, music is life. Sean Forbes, 26, started a nonprofit called D-PAN, or Deaf Performing Artists Network. But not everyone can have music in their lives, and one man is trying to change that for the deaf community. Sean Forbes, 26, started a nonprofit called D-PAN, or Deaf Performing Artists Network, which creates American Sign Language-enhanced music videos. Forbes spoke with CNN's Nicole Lapin about how D-PAN works. The following is an edited transcript of the interview. Forbes: Really, the story here of how the whole thing came up was, I was in a car with three girls, and I went to school at Rochester Institute of Technology in New York. So we took a road trip to Gallaudet University, and on this trip I was singing all of these songs to my friends. And it's just something I've been doing for a while. So I'm signing all of these songs and all the sudden, a light bulb goes on above my head, when I'm like, wouldn't it be cool if there were music videos with deaf performers in them, signing the song, signing the lyrics of the song. Watch Nicole Lapin's interview with Sean Forbes » . That was really where the idea started from, and I instantly went back to RIT, and I had a friend make me a video of me signing an Eminem song and that's how the whole thing really started. Lapin: Eminem, Christina Aguilera. You started translating really popular music videos, and tell me about these shoots, because this is a really big production you put on. Forbes: Yeah. I mean, we had hearing and deaf people behind the scenes creating this. We had interpreters; there were probably about 20 people on the production set for these videos. Lapin: What was the reaction from some people in the deaf community that never experienced music before, never experienced it before you and D-PAN? Forbes: For me it was just awesome to see all of these deaf people who have never been involved with music be involved in these videos for the first time. A lot of the people who are in the videos never experienced music before. So for them, it was just an awesome experience, and they were really thrilled to be a part of it. Lapin: And a lot of people on our Web site, CNN.com, are thrilled to be part of your experience, being introduced to your story. A lot of questions also came in; I want to bring some to your attention. Ashley has this question for you Sean. "Has anyone ever told you that D-PAN would not be successful and if so, how did you respond?" I'm sure you had some haters out there. Forbes: I've had, you know, I've approached a few situations before where they didn't only tell me that D-PAN wouldn't be successful, but they told me that I would never be successful as a deaf musician. And I always laughed it off, because I knew deep inside of me, this is what I wanted. And I wouldn't let anyone tell me no, I wouldn't take no for an answer. So those people who told me no, look at me now.

Sean Forbes, 26, started a nonprofit called Deaf Performing Artists Network . D-PAN creates American Sign Language-enhanced music videos . Forbes: 'A lot of the people ... in the videos never experienced music before' Inspiration came during road trip when he was performing for friends in car .

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(CNN) -- Staffers at a federal prison in central Florida fired shots to break up a large-scale fight that sent eight inmates to hospital emergency rooms Sunday afternoon, officials said. Eight inmates were injured Sunday in a fight at Coleman Federal Correctional Complex in Florida, officials said. Authorities did not say what led to the fight at the Coleman Federal Correctional Complex in Sumter County. A statement from the prison said one inmate suffered a gunshot wound, but did not say whether the person was struck by a prison staff member's bullet. The other seven were "stabbing/shooting victims," said a spokesman for Orlando Regional Medical Center, where the inmates were taken. The hospital did not elaborate. No prison staffers were seriously hurt in the incident, which the FBI is investigating, said Charles Ratledge, spokesman for the prison. The fight broke out in the recreation yard of the United States Penitentiary No. 2, a high-security facility, about 2:20 p.m. The Coleman complex consists of four institutions. The other three facilities -- another U.S. penitentiary, a medium-security and a low-security facility -- were not affected, said Bureau of Prison spokeswoman Traci Billingsley. "The inmates ignored staff orders to stop their assaultive behavior, and shots were fired by institution staff to prevent possible loss of life," Ratledge said. Five medical evacuation helicopters -- three from the hospital -- landed at the prison and transported the injured inmates on the 15- to 20-minute flight to Orlando Regional, hospital spokesman Joe Brown said. The prison complex is in near Coleman in Sumter County, about 50 miles northwest of Orlando, Florida. The community was never endangered by the fight, U.S. Justice Department spokeswoman Laura Sweeney said. CNN's Nick Valencia, Susan Candiotti and Terry Frieden contributed to this report.

NEW: Staffers had to fire shots to break up large-scale fight, officials say . Eight inmates wounded, one by gunshot, at prison complex in Florida, officials say . Officials: Fight happened at Coleman Federal Correctional Complex's recreation yard . No staff members were hurt during the brawl, spokeswoman says .

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(CNN) -- Two crew members were taken to a hospital after a FedEx cargo plane crashed on landing Tuesday morning at the Lubbock, Texas, airport, officials said. A damaged FedEx ATR-42 lies beside a runway early Tuesday at the Lubbock, Texas, airport. The injuries appeared to be minor, said James Loomis, director of Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport. There was a small fire on the plane, the Federal Aviation Administration and FedEx spokeswoman Sandra Munoz said. Munoz said she was not sure about the extent of the damage. The plane is an ATR-42 twin-turboprop aircraft and landed short of the touchdown zone at 4:37 a.m. CT (5:47 ET), Loomis said. Munoz said the plane had been traveling from Fort Worth Alliance Airport and skidded off the runway amid light freezing rain. iReport.com: Are you there? Send photos, video . Neither official could immediately say what caused the accident, and Munoz didn't know why parts of the plane caught fire. The plane was operated by Empire Airways, which is under contract with FedEx Corp., based in Memphis, Tennessee.

Fire reported as plane goes off runway in freezing rain at Lubbock, Texas, airport . Two crew members hospitalized with apparently minor injuries, official says . ATR-42 twin-turboprop operated by Empire Airways under lease to FedEx .

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(CNN) -- The new district attorney of Boulder County, Colorado, said he plans to take a fresh look at the investigation into the 1996 slaying of JonBenet Ramsey. The DA's office assumed responsibility for the investigation in 2002. But District Attorney Stan Garnett told CNN that he wants to decide during his first 30 days in office whether the case should be returned to Boulder police. "I'm trying to determine whether it's efficient to have the ongoing investigation handled by my office or somebody else," said Garnett, who was sworn in as district attorney January 13. The DA's office is relatively small, he said, with 27 lawyers and six investigators handling between 2,000 and 2,500 felony cases a year. Although the Ramsey case has not generated news since last year, tips and information regularly come in to authorities. Whoever is handling the investigation is charged with checking them out and deciding whether they are worth pursuing, Garnett said. He said reports that he is considering reopening the case are inaccurate. "It's not closed. It hasn't been solved, and it's been open the whole time." The case is one of the nation's most famous unsolved murders. On December 26, 1996, John Ramsey discovered the body of his 6-year-old daughter, JonBenet, in the basement of the family's Boulder home. The girl had been strangled and beaten. A ransom note was found on the stairs of the home, demanding $118,000. Early in the case, Boulder police said JonBenet's parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, were under "an umbrella of suspicion" in her death. But they were never formally named as suspects, and a grand jury refused to indict them. Patsy Ramsey died in 2006 after a lengthy battle with ovarian cancer. In July, Garnett's predecessor, Mary Lacy, issued a public apology for the suspicion surrounding the Ramsey family after a DNA test performed using new technology showed that DNA found on JonBenet's underwear and under her fingernails belonged to an unidentified man. The test results, Lacy said, were "powerful evidence" that allows investigators to think the Ramsey family were victims, not suspects. That same third-party DNA exonerated John Mark Karr, a one-time teacher, after he was arrested in Thailand and brought to Colorado. Authorities said Karr told a University of Colorado professor in e-mails that he was involved in JonBenet's death. He told reporters after his arrest that he was with the child when she died, although he called her death an accident and said he loved her. Lacy was widely criticized, including by then-Gov. Bill Owens, for the handling of Karr's arrest. Boulder police also have long faced criticism over their handling of the investigation. But, Garnett said Friday, "I've been very impressed by the Boulder P.D. They are a fine department now and have handled a number of cases very well. ... They've done a very nice job." The department has 24 investigators, four times as many as the DA's staff, he said. Garnett was elected DA in November to replace Lacy, who could not run again because of term limits. Before he was elected, he served as a trial lawyer for 22 years, according to the DA's Web site.

Stan Garnett says he'll take fresh look at JonBenet Ramsey case . Garnett says he hopes to decide who should follow up on tips . Case was taken from Boulder police in 2002 . Last year, prosecutors exonerated JonBenet's mother, father and brother .

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(CNN) -- Severe winter weather was creating Christmas week travel headaches across the country Monday, canceling flights and closing major highways. Traffic backs up Monday on a Chicago, Illinois-area highway after an early-morning accident. Air travelers heading for three major East Coast airports -- Newark-Liberty International Airport in New Jersey and John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport in New York -- faced delays of almost two hours on Monday, the FAA said. More than 130 miles of the New York State Thruway were shut down for a time Monday morning from Henrietta, near Rochester, to the Pennsylvania state line. Dozens of vehicles slid off the icy roadway, CNN affiliate WIVB-TV in Buffalo, New York, reported. Even after the highway was reopened, officials warned of icy pavement and poor visibility from blowing snow. See the scenes of winter across the U.S. » . According to the National Weather Service, Buffalo got a record 7.4 inches of snow on Sunday, and several more inches were in the forecast for Monday, the first full day of winter. Police agencies in western New York were advising motorists not to leave home. Two New York towns, Wales and Lancaster, banned travel altogether, WIVB reported. iReport.com: What's it like where you are? Schools were closed Monday in Boston, Massachusetts, as icy roadways prevented buses from operating, CNN affiliate WCVB-TV reported. On the other side of the country, long lines formed before dawn Monday at airline counters at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, where two major carriers, Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, suspended service Sunday. The Federal Aviation Administration was reporting no delays at the airport Monday afternoon, but Alaska and Horizon said they would only resume limited operations. Some travelers may have to wait until midweek or later to get flights out of the airport, CNN affiliate KOMO-TV reported. Supplies were running low at airport concessions for those enduring the wait, the Seattle station said. To the south, travelers also spent the night in the Portland, Oregon, airport after airlines canceled many flights on Sunday. Airlines canceled more than 100 flights at Portland International Airport on Monday, CNN affiliate KATU-TV reported. Watch a roundup of the worst winter weather » . More than 11 inches of snow was on the ground Monday morning in Portland, CNN affiliate KGW-TV reported, an amount not seen since 1968. Vehicles on all Portland roads were required to have snow chains, KGW said, but drivers were advised to stay off roads completely. Seattle's Amtrak station also was packed with stranded holiday travelers after the winter storm stopped trains in their tracks Sunday in the Pacific Northwest. Watch driving woes in Walla Walla, Washington » . In Marysville, Washington, workers at an industrial complex Monday morning found the roof of a building there had collapsed, apparently because of heavy snow, according to CNN affiliate KIRO-TV. The structure is used by a company that manufactures steel buildings; no injuries were reported. The icy cold in Indianapolis, Indiana, likely caused water pipes to burst at Martin University early Monday, officials told CNN affiliate WRTV-TV. "We had just installed brand new computers in the building, and so we're really just still trying to assess the damages to the university," university spokeswoman Danita Hoskin told WRTV. It was 2 degrees, with a wind chill of minus 17 degrees, at 7 a.m. Monday in Indianapolis, according to the National Weather Service. In Greene County, Ohio, near Dayton, a 79-year-old woman died after being found outside her home on Sunday, CNN affiliate WHIO-TV reported. It was 6 degrees in the area at noon Monday. Car travel was often dangerous Sunday in parts of the northern United States. In Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, a newspaper deliveryman died of heart failure caused by hypothermia a day after his car became stuck in a snowdrift on his route early Sunday, officials told CNN affiliate WISC-TV. A snowplow driver found Donald L. Blum, 54, of Monticello, about seven hours after Blum's car became stuck. Blum was taken to a hospital, where he died Monday, WISC reported. Before he died, he told authorities that he had stayed with the vehicle because of the severe weather and because he had certain health conditions, WISC reported. In western Michigan's Berrien County, drivers blinded by blizzard conditions drove into a 30-vehicle pile-up on Interstate 94 on Sunday afternoon. Dozens of other vehicles also were involved in a series of other nearby wrecks, including one that killed a 31-year-old Illinois man, police said. Michigan resident Eric Teschke said he had just told his friend who was driving that they should probably slow down when trouble began. "I look up and I just see a sea of cars and I go, 'Oh, crap, oh, crap.' And I just go 'We can't stop,' " Teschke said. "So we're sliding for about 15 seconds, knowing what's going to happen. Bam, slam into the back of several cars and a semi." Michigan State Police's Matthew Churchill said it was the worst pile-up he's ever seen. "Vehicles were actually crashing right in front of us, and there was really nothing we could do except to try to stay out of the way and try to get to the people and keep them in their vehicles where they could be safe," Churchill said. White-out conditions and the pile-ups forced police to shut down a six-mile stretch of I-94 near Lake Michigan for hours Sunday afternoon. Watch people cope with the wintry blast » . Many Californians, however, welcomed the snowfall that blanketed the Sierra Mountains. "We're Southern Californians, so a chance to be in the snow is a wonderful, wonderful day for the kids," said one mother as she waited for snow chains to be fitted on her tires for a day trip into the mountains Sunday. Even more heavy snow will be dumped Monday on the Great Lakes region, New York state and New England, said forecaster Michael Eckert with the National Weather Service in Camp Springs, Maryland. The wind and cold will add to the misery of those who are snowbound, he said. "Some gusts have been 30 to 40 mph," Eckert said. "Temperatures over the upper Great Lakes have fallen below zero, and those cold temperatures are going to move to New England states on Monday. We'll see wind-chill temperatures below zero over much of the Northeastern U.S." In Illinois, Chicagoans were warned to stay inside as subzero temperatures and high winds continued to sweep the area, WGN said. About 9,300 customers in northern Illinois were without power Sunday night. It was so cold in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, the Target Holidazzle Parade was canceled Sunday night because of dangerous wind chills, KARE-TV reported. By Christmas Eve, the high is forecast to reach only 16 degrees, but with mostly sunny skies. CNNRadio's Patty Lane contributed to this report.

Woman freezes outside of Ohio home, TV station says . Delays of almost two hours reported at Newark, New Jersey, airport . More than 11 inches of snow on ground in Portland, Oregon, CNN affiliate reports . Broken water pipes cause damage at an Indiana university .

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(CNN) -- A man shot and killed seven patients and a nurse at a Carthage, North Carolina, nursing home Sunday before being wounded during a shootout with a police officer, authorities said. Relatives of the nursing home's patients gathered at a nearby church, where they learned details of the shooting. Three other people, including the police officer and a visitor to the nursing home, were wounded in the attack, Carthage Police Chief Chris McKenzie said. The police officer was treated and released, McKenzie said. The slain patients ranged in age from 78 to 98, Moore County District Attorney Maureen Krueger said. The man accused of carrying out the attack, 45-year-old Robert Stewart, was in custody, and his condition was unknown Sunday night, McKenzie said. Stewart was not an employee of the Pinelake Health and Rehab Center, and he did not appear to have been related to any of the patients, she said. "There is still more to be uncovered as far as his purpose in being there," she said. A witness told CNN affiliate WRAL-TV that Stewart was armed with a rifle, a shotgun and other weapons. The officer who stopped him, Justin Garner, "acted in nothing short of a heroic manner" and probably stopped the carnage from being worse, Krueger said. Watch stunned community react » . Jerry Avant Sr. told WRAL that his son, Jerry Avant, a 39-year-old registered nurse, was the employee who was killed in the shooting. He said a doctor told him that his son had been shot more than two dozen times. Watch father of slain nurse and ex-wife of suspect react » . The doctor "said he undoubtedly saved a lot of lives," Avant Sr. said, speaking of his son. Stewart faces eight counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony assault on a police officer, and other charges are pending, she said. Carthage is about 60 miles southwest of Raleigh. See map showing Carthage, Raleigh » . Sunday's slayings were the latest in a series of high-profile in March, including the killings of 10 people by an Alabama man who was then killed by police. In addition, a man shot and killed a pastor in a southern Illinois church and stabbed two parishioners, and a 17-year-old in Germany killed 15 people in two small towns before dying in a shootout with police. In Carthage, crisis counselors were setting up in the town's First Baptist Church to aid survivors of the latest killings. "I don't know the emotion entirely has set in," McKenzie said. "This is a small community built on faith, and faith will get us through."

Slain patients ranged in age from 78 to 98, district attorney says . Nurse also among those killed at nursing home in Carthage . Man suspected of carrying out attack was shot; condition unknown, police say . Police officer also wounded in shooting .

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(CNN) -- The body of a tourist was found off the coast of Thailand Tuesday, but six others remain missing after a ferry sank over the weekend near a popular diving destination, authorities said. Survivors of the ferry sinking disembark the Thai police boat that rescued them. The body is believed to be that of Austrian tourist Gabrielle Jetzinger, the Phuket Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Office told the Thai News Agency. A Thai naval helicopter spotted the body floating face down about 12 nautical miles from Phuket's Promthep cape, and a Thai navy patrol retrieved the floating corpse. The body has been sent to a government hospital for an autopsy, the agency reported. Authorities are still searching for the five tourists and one crew member who remain missing. They are thought to be German, Austrian, Japanese, Swiss and one Thai crew member, the news agency said. The tourist boat, the Choke Somboon 19, was taking passengers from the Similan Islands to Phuket -- an area popular with tourists from around the world. It capsized during a heavy storm Sunday night, said Lt. Sattawat Srirattanapong with the Phuket City police. Survivors included 15 international tourists and eight Thais, who were picked up by a rescue boat Monday morning. Phuket and the Similan Islands are famous for their diving spots, attracting international tourists each year from November to May.

Body thought to be of Austrian tourist found off Thai coast . Five tourists, one crew member still missing after ferry sank at the weekend . Body was spotted by Thai rescue helicopter near Phuket's Promthep cape . The ferry sank during heavy storm about 12 miles from shore .

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(CNN) -- Todd Rundgren has it backward. Todd Rundgren's new album was inspired by touring and his thoughts on militarism. Not just his songwriting and recording methods, though those, too, are unorthodox. It's the whole music business-pop star arrangement, which is based on musicians determined to hit the Top 40 and then doing it again and again -- with occasional artistic detours -- that he's subverted. He likes it that way. He describes the creation of his music as "very plastic," in the sense of flexible: He creates songs in the studio, piece by piece, and "it allows me to edit the stuff practically all the way up to the final mix process." One can easily look at his career the same way, with the detours having been the point of the journey. "It's unconventional, but if you have those tools available, it becomes the logical way to do things," he said of his creative process. Rundgren's new album, "Arena" (Hi Fi), sounds like a throwback to his more song-friendly works, which was (mostly) deliberate, he says. The album's 13 power-chord rockers are a tip of the guitar to his recent touring with the New Cars (filling in for Ric Ocasek) and his subject matter, militarism and "what I saw as a loss of masculine integrity," he explained. "The people who have been running the country are liars and cowards and hypocrites and perverts," he said. "And I wouldn't want all the rest of the men in the world to think that's how you succeed in life. Now that they are out of here, we have to ... reclaim what our traditional ideals were: You protect the weak, you bear up under the horrible burdens, and you seek the truth. ... You sacrifice for others." Not exactly Top 40 material, but in Rundgren's career, it's the Top 40 hits that have been accidents. He started his solo career in the early '70s with a handful of them -- "We Gotta Get You a Woman," "Hello, It's Me," "I Saw the Light" -- but quickly began devoting his time to album-length experiments, with occasional hit-single forays ("Can We Still Be Friends," his band Utopia's "Set Me Free"). Rundgren also became an in-demand producer, with results ranging from No. 1 singles (Grand Funk Railroad's "We're an American Band" and "The Loco-Motion") to classic albums (XTC's "Skylarking," Meat Loaf's "Bat Out of Hell"), no two of which sounded exactly alike. Listen to Rundgren talk about his work with XTC and Grand Funk Railroad » . He says his goal is to bring out the best in whomever he's working with, to make a record that's true to the artist's personality. Ironically, for someone so steeped in technology, he's not a fan of using studio tricks -- AutoTune and the like, which remove all the rough edges from performances -- for the sake of creating something "perfect." "Part of the problem is, there are two ways to make music. One is to be revelatory, and one is to be obfuscating," he said. "You create a different image of yourself for people instead of actually revealing something truly about yourself. And you can say the difference is the difference between Michael Jackson and Tom Waits, or something like that. ... The material Madonna writes is to a persona. The persona is what's being marketed, and the music is just part of the merchandise." Rundgren himself composes from the inside out, putting technology at his disposal. (He's often been ahead of the tech curve, going back to the late '70s, when he created music videos and software programs and Utopia played on the interactive television service QUBE.) "I start with a rhythm idea and then add chords," he said, creating arrangements as he goes. Lyrics often come last. "Most people have the song before the arrangement," he said. "I do it the other way around." On "Arena," the songs -- which all have one-word titles ("I'm close to a haiku," Rundgren joked) -- include "Mad," in which Rundgren sings about being "at the end of my patience"; "Gun," which offers the warning, "You better run/'Cause I'm young, dumb and I've got a gun"; and "Today," which says, "Now it's time to break the chain." The work is timelier than he could have imagined, he says. "The irony of it is that the album was finished by June 1; then the s*** hit the fan three months later," he said, referring to the economic meltdown. "It's what I've been talking about. We've been indulging ourselves for a long time, and the record is about the kind of militance required to solve problems that tower so high we can't see the top of them." For someone who writes such audience-friendly hooks, he's skeptical about much of today's pop music -- and its performers. The music may sound technically perfect, but it lacks soul and grit. "That kind of approach is reinforced all the time by programs like 'American Idol,' where you have to look a certain way and smile a certain way and deliver the song a certain way," he said. "And if you're outside of that, you're going to get bumped. It just makes music all come out kind of the same. "The thing that makes it different -- the thing that makes it interesting every once in a while -- is when someone comes along and you think that they're not simply using this as a marketing tool for themselves," he continued. "You see them, and obviously music is the thing that redeems them. ... That to me is what makes music exciting, is when suddenly you see someone and you realize they were meant for music." And Rundgren? He's still meant for music, too. He's preparing to produce a new New York Dolls album, 36 years after he produced the group's debut. There's also talk he'll perform his 1973 album "A Wizard, A True Star" live. It's a full schedule doing something he loves, even if there's virtually no chance he'll be topping the charts. "The record I made now is kind of a result of where I found myself at. I'm only going to be able to do this for a while longer; I'm 60 now. And regardless of how I behave when I'm on stage, I have the same issues that any 60-year-old does," he said, admitting to post-concert aches and pains. He laughed. "I know I can't stop time, but there will be plenty of time to croon for people."

Todd Rundgren's new album is "Arena," full of power-chord rockers . Rundgren started career with pop hits, quickly detoured into new areas . New album, about threats to masculinity, is timelier than he imagined, he says .

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ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Millard Fuller, who founded Habitat for Humanity International along with his wife, has died, officials said Tuesday. He was 74. Millard Fuller appears with President Bush at a Habitat for Humanity event in Tampa, Florida, in 2001. Fuller died early Tuesday "after a brief illness," said a statement on the Web site of the organization he currently headed, Fuller Center for Housing, in Americus, Georgia. "Family and friends are mourning the tragic loss of a great servant leader and a genuine heart," the statement said. Fuller had suffered from chest congestion for three to four weeks, said Holly Chapman, spokeswoman for the Fuller Center. He died about 3 a.m. en route to a hospital, she said. With his wife, Linda, Fuller founded Habitat for Humanity International in 1976. The Alabama native rose "from humble beginnings" to become a "young, self-made millionaire," according to his biography on Habitat for Humanity's Web site. He and a college friend began a marketing firm while still in school, "but as his business prospered, his health, integrity and marriage suffered," the biography said. "These crises prompted Fuller to re-evaluate his values and direction. His soul-searching led to reconciliation with his wife and to a renewal of his Christian commitment," it said. The Fullers sold all their possessions, gave money to the poor and began searching for a new direction. They found Koinonia Farm, a Christian community near Americus in rural southwest Georgia, the biography said. Along with Koinonia founder Clarence Jordan and a few others, the couple initiated several enterprises, among them a housing ministry that built modest homes on a no-interest, nonprofit basis and made them affordable to low-income families. Homeowner families were expected to use their own labor to help defray costs on their home as well as homes for other families. Money to build homes was placed into a revolving fund, enabling more to be built, according to the biography. In 1973, the Fullers moved to Africa to test their housing model, the biography said. Their project was launched in Zaire -- now the Democratic Republic of the Congo -- and was a success. "Fuller became convinced that this model could be expanded and applied all over the world," the biography said. When Fuller returned to the United States three years later, he met with a group of associates to create Habitat for Humanity International. According to its Web site, Habitat has provided shelter for more than 1.5 million people in more than 3,000 communities. "I see life as both a gift and a responsibility. My responsibility is to use what God has given me to help his people in need," Fuller once said, according to Habitat's Web site. Former President Carter, a key Habitat supporter, fellow Georgian and a close friend, issued a statement Tuesday saying Fuller "was one of the most extraordinary people I have ever known." "He used his remarkable gifts as an entrepreneur for the benefit of millions of needy people around the world by providing them with decent housing," Carter said. "As the founder of Habitat for Humanity and later the Fuller Center, he was an inspiration to me, other members of our family and an untold number of volunteers who worked side-by-side under his leadership." See celebrities working on Habitat projects » . In 1996, President Clinton awarded Fuller the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, calling Habitat "the most successful continuous community service project in the history of the United States." Fuller left Habitat for Humanity in 2005 amid a dispute with the organization's board. Habitat said in a statement at the time his termination culminated "several months of differences between the Fullers and the board over allegations of inappropriate personal behavior of Millard Fuller toward a now-former female employee," according to an article in the February 2005 edition of Christianity Today magazine. The organization noted there was insufficient evidence to corroborate the complaint, according to Christianity Today, but said Fuller engaged in "a pattern of ongoing public comments and communications ... that have been divisive and disruptive to the organization's work." For his part, Fuller told the magazine he feared the board used the controversy to push him out to find a "high-paid bean counter" instead of someone with "strong Christian commitment." "We've overloaded the board with 'money' people, all of whom are nominal Christians, but many of whom are not spiritually grounded," he told the magazine. "Some seem put off by my overt declaration of Jesus." After his departure, Fuller founded the Fuller Center for Housing, which its Web site describes as "a nonprofit, ecumenical Christian housing ministry dedicated to eliminating poverty housing worldwide." The center was founded after Fuller "set out to expand his missionary vision" by returning to his roots at Koinonia Farm, a cooperative community dedicated to peace and service. A new mission statement was issued at Koinonia dedicating the Fuller Center as "a Christ-centered, faith-driven organization witnessing the love of God by providing opportunities for families to have a simple, decent place to live," according to the site. Funeral services are scheduled for Wednesday, said Chapman, the Fuller Center spokeswoman. Fuller will be buried at Koinonia Farm, according to the center's Web site. CNN's Hank Bishop contributed to this report.

Millard Fuller and wife Linda started organization in 1976 . Habitat says it has provided housing for 1.5 million-plus people . Fuller received Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1996 . Fuller left Habitat in 2005 amid dispute with governing board .

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(CNN) -- Back in my day (a day not long ago, as it turns out), you could go down to the local record shop and plunk down your paper-route money for little disks of plastic that were embedded with the latest sounds of your favorite musical performers. A self-admitted tech geek, Chris Pirillo is president of Lockergnome.com, a blogging network. Whether your tastes ran from Al Jarreau to "Weird Al" Yankovic, you could be assured that those purchased disks were yours -- for keeps. You could play 'em over and over until they were scratched beyond repair, you could lend 'em to friends, you could amplify 'em at illicit Charleston dancing parties, you could sell 'em to used record stores or you could store 'em away in a safe deposit box in hopes they'd gain value as collector's items. You could even make precious mix tapes for your soda-sharing sweetheart with songs copied from 'em, though this made recording industry executives more than a little nervous. And it wasn't long before their weaselly whimpers of protest began. As the digital age arrived to usher in more perfect ways to copy and distribute (aka "pirate") what these executives saw as their property, those whimpers turned to howls. They've only grown louder since. So the recording industry has had a good gig going. It's easy to see why its upper crust is miffed at lowly hoi polloi tampering with its bread and butter (or pizza. Or pie. Whatever crust suits your fancy). One can imagine some mad scientist under the employ of said recording industry locked away in an underground bunker somewhere cooking up a scheme so dark, so evil, that its repercussions would completely remap the way media would be controlled -- with consumers being suckered into paying much, much more for much, much less. This scheme would come to be known as DRM. Digital rights management or devious rental misappropriation? That's right. Rental. You see, you don't really buy music for keeps anymore. I mean, how can you when this is the sort of thing that can happen? It's a bit like buying your dream car, driving it around for a while, then being told it's got to be given back to the factory because the dealership where it was purchased no longer has a legal association with the factory. Sorry if you thought you could drive it around until it was worn out beyond repair, if you thought you could lend it to your friends, if you thought you could drive it to the illicit Charleston dancing party, if you thought you could sell it to a used car dealer or if you thought you could store it under a tarp in your garage for the next couple of decades in hopes it would gain value as a collector's item. Being used to the old, tangible business model, you were under the impression that you'd actually bought something. No one told you that you were merely borrowing someone else's property for a while (and paying for the privilege to do so). Like a sharecropper. Like a serf. Like a sucker. And most people do feel like suckers when DRM locks them out of something that they feel they have every right to use, often to the point of attempting to circumnavigate this crappy, unfair system by means that might lead to trouble. I can only conclude that, like bootleggers at the repealing of Prohibition, viruses and spyware acquired in pursuit of overcoming content restrictions wouldn't prosper in a DRM-free world. Really, it's hard to take alarm from DRM-happy organizations such as the MPAA as anything but a double dose of dookie when you find out that 2007 was a record box office year in spite of all the pirates and ne'er-do-wells and whatnot! Who, exactly, is getting plundered? It's no wonder blogger Cory Doctorow finds DRM to be one of the most offensive digital constructs on the planet. It's inevitable. It'll go away or change dramatically. Let's hope sooner rather than later. (This column was written before Apple announced that iTunes would be, at some point in the future, capable of providing DRM-free music throughout its entire library. This was pretty big news, considering how many people use iTunes to manage their music library. This isn't to say that the DRM-free tracks available at Amazon or eMusic are any less valid, but let's face it: just about everybody who carries an iPod or iPhone also uses iTunes as the gateway for purchasing music.) I subscribe to Rhapsody, so I can listen to just about anything from my desktop, and subscriptions are my preferred method of content consumption. I have an XM satellite radio subscription, I pay for just about every channel on digital cable and I have been known to purchase hard copies of content in the past (DVDs, CDs, 8-track tapes, etc.) But DRM? It's no good. It's downright evil. I find it very difficult to purchase something outright when I'm told that I can only play it X times, only on X devices or for X long. That's counter-intuitive and consumer unfriendly. There are certainly exceptions to the rule, but not when the content is a commodity. I once found four different versions of the same song on my wife's system. One had been purchased on Rhapsody, another on iTunes, another on Napster and the fourth was an MP3! Quadruple madness! I don't care how good a song is, she doesn't need to have four copies of it (three of which are completely useless without the proper systems in place). The MP3? It's as perfect as it needs to be, playable on just about anything these days. That's consumer friendly.

Services that limit when and how you play digital music are ripping off consumers . Digital rights management, or DRM, means you don't really own the music you buy . Pirillo: It's hard to buy a song when I'm told I can only play it X times, on X devices . Pirillo: I prefer subscription music services like Rhapsody or XM satellite radio .

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(CNN) -- The suspect accused of killing a minister at an Illinois church had marked the day of the attack as a "day of death" or "death day" in a planning book, a prosecutor said Tuesday. Terry J. Sedlacek, shown in a family photo, has been charged with first-degree murder. There were "words to those effect," written in a day planner belonging to Terry J. Sedlacek, the man accused in Sunday's attack at the First Baptist Church in Maryville, Illinois, said William Mudge, the Madison County state's attorney. Mudge said he hadn't seen the planner and could not recall the exact wording that police described to him. He said police found the book in Sedlacek's home. Lt. Scott Compton of the Illinois State Police said he hadn't seen the planner and could not confirm Mudge's account. Authorities have charged Sedlacek, 27, with first-degree murder in the killing of the Rev. Fred Winters. He also was charged with two counts of aggravated battery related to the stabbing of church members Terry Bullard and Keith Melton. Sedlacek was seriously wounded in the melee, authorities said. Melton, one of the two church members stabbed in the attack, described the scene that erupted during Sunday service. Winters had been preaching for a while when the gunman approached him, Melton told CNN. "It just seemed a lot out of place for someone to be walking to the front to take a seat at that point in the service," Melton said. Watch Melton say they're "still very stunned" » . Winters stopped his sermon and asked the man what he could do for him, Melton said. The assailant fired a weapon and hit the pastor's Bible, causing "confetti" to fly into the air, Melton recalled. "It was a bit confusing just at first," Melton said, adding that he could see from the pastor's reaction that what happened was not part of the service. Watch the aftermath of the church shooting » . Melton was one of two men who first jumped the assailant, he said. "By the time the second shot rang out, there were a number of us who sprang into action," Melton said. Winters jumped off the stage, Melton said, and was met by the gunman. The two wrestled and more shots rang out. The attacker's .45-caliber weapon jammed at that point, authorities said. The assailant tried to get away but was subdued by church members, some of whom blocked the entrances while others grappled with the gunman. "There were men everywhere," Melton said. It was minutes before Melton realized he had been stabbed, he said, attributing the delay to adrenaline. He was treated and released from a local hospital. Bullard, another church member, also was stabbed in the attempt to subdue the gunman. Sedlacek is being treated at a hospital after suffering serious knife wounds. "When he was tackled by two of the members, we don't know whether he fell on the knife, injuring himself at the time, or whether [his injury] was self-inflicted during the struggle," said Illinois State Police Director Larry Trent. Watch police describe the church members' "heroic action" » . Trent said police are trying to determine a motive, noting that church members did not recognize the gunman. In August, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch profiled Sedlacek in an article on Lyme disease, and quoted his mother, Ruth Abernathy, as saying he began acting strangely during his junior year in high school. He seemed confused and stopped participating in activities that had interested him, she told the newspaper. She said a doctor had diagnosed Sedlacek as mentally ill before a battery of tests revealed that he had Lyme disease, according to the paper. The newspaper reported that even years later, Sedlacek, then 26, had lesions on his brain and was taking several medications, including an anti-seizure drug. The Post-Dispatch identified him as a resident of Troy, Illinois, in suburban St. Louis. A spokesman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday that mental illness associated with Lyme disease is highly unusual, and the Infectious Diseases Society of America said Lyme disease "is not known to cause violent behavior." But a study published in 2002 in the American Journal of Psychiatry and carried out in the Czech Republic found that 36 percent of 900 psychiatric subjects had antibodies to the bacterium linked to Lyme disease, versus 18 percent of 900 healthy control subjects. The Illinois shooting is believed to be the nation's first in a church since July, when a 58-year-old man opened fire in a Knoxville, Tennessee, church during a children's play. Two people were killed and six wounded in the shooting at Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church. See a U.S. map of other recent church shootings » . Jim Adkisson pleaded guilty last month in a deal that allowed him to avoid the death penalty with a sentence of life in prison without parole, court officials said. CNN's Miriam Falco contributed to this report.

NEW: Prosecutor: "Words to those effect" found in planner inside suspect's home . Assailant's approach to pulpit "seemed ... out of place," Keith Melton says . Terry J. Sedlacek, 27, charged with first-degree murder . Police still looking for motive in Illinois church attack that killed pastor .

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(CNN) -- More than 1,300 Palestinians died and about 5,400 others were wounded during Israel's three-week offensive in Gaza, the Web site of the Palestinian Authority's Central Bureau of Statistics said Monday. A Palestinian man Monday prays in the rubble of his home, destroyed during Israel's offensive in Gaza. Louay Shabana, head of the agency, said more than 22,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed. Shabana put the economic destruction at more than $1.9 billion. The fighting largely stopped Sunday with a cease-fire. Israel has said 13 of its citizens -- including 10 soldiers -- were killed during the offensive, which started December 27. Israel said its offensive was aimed at stopping Hamas militants from firing rockets into southern Israel. Gaza is in need of humanitarian, economic, sanitary and social help as a result of the Israeli attacks, Shabana said. The attacks destroyed public sector and private buildings in Gaza, affecting even the United Nations Relief and Works Agency's facilities and halting economic and social services, the statistics agency said. Watch Palestinians recover bodies from rubble » . Gaza's gross domestic product was slashed by 85 percent during the 22 days of war, and it could take a year for the economy to recover, the agency said in a preliminary report. About 80 percent of crops in Gaza were destroyed, according to the agency. "The pervasive sense here among the population is one of overwhelming grief, so many families have been destroyed in so many ways," said John Ging, the top United Nations official in Gaza. Ging, UNRWA's Gaza director of operations, said the bill could reach "billions of dollars." Among the dead were 159 children, two of whom died in an UNRWA school that was shelled Saturday, Ging said. Gaza's main border crossings, which Israel often closed in response to Hamas rocket attacks, were open Monday. Infrastructure repairs were being made, but 400,000 people still had no water, according to Ging. Streets in some northern Gaza towns were flooded with sewage, and about 50 U.N. facilities were damaged, he said. More than 170 supply trucks crossed into Gaza on Monday, less than a third of the daily number that crossed in 2005, said John Holmes, U.N. under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator. Israel tried to avoid civilian casualties in Gaza, a senior Israel Defense Forces officer said in a posting Monday on the IDF Web site. "This was not a war against the Palestinians," he said. "It was an operation of self-defense against Hamas and related terror organizations. Unfortunately, this task was made extremely difficult by Hamas, as they made the choice to use civilians as human shields." Israel began the offensive in response to rocket fire by Hamas militants after showing eight years of restraint, the officer said. The operation's goal, he said, "was to improve the security situation in southern Israel, and to facilitate peaceful living for the Israeli civilians living there." "We asked ourselves how to accomplish this, and the answer was to hit Hamas hard -- to strike the tunnels, the terrorists themselves, and all of their assets -- in order to prevent them from committing war crimes by firing rockets that target our civilian population," the officer said. He said seven rockets have been fired from Gaza into Israel since Sunday's cease-fire declaration. "We want to give this cease-fire a chance, but if Hamas chooses not to, we will utilize all of our means," he said.

Israeli offensive caused $1.9 billion in economic destruction in Gaza, official says . It could take a year for Gaza's economy to recover, Palestinian agency says . U.N. official: 159 children among 1,300 people killed in Gaza during offensive .

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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqi leaders are applauding President Obama's plan to withdraw most U.S. troops from the country by August 2010. U.S. troops will cede security measures to Iraqi security forces including the police, shown here, and the army. Iraq's Sunni Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi's office released a statement Saturday saying he received a call from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton informing him of Obama's announcement of the withdrawal. "Mr. al-Hashimi welcomed the American administration's commitment to withdrawing its troops from Iraq according to the agreed-on schedule and stressed that every possible effort should be exerted to increase the readiness of Iraqi security forces and improve their performance," the statement said. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said Obama called him to tell him about the plan Friday. The prime minister said Iraqi security forces have proven their ability to provide security across Iraq "which qualifies them to take over full security responsibilities from American forces." Obama said Friday he plans to withdraw most U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of August 2010. Watch Obama say "Our combat mission will end" » . Between 35,000 and 50,000 troops will remain to help execute a drawdown plan under which all U.S. forces will be out of Iraq by December 31, 2011. That was a deadline set under an agreement the Bush administration signed with the Iraqi government last year. "Let me say this as plainly as I can: By August 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end," Obama said in a speech at the Marine Corps' Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Meanwhile, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani visited neighboring Iran, where the supreme leader warned him that the United States is planning a prolonged stay in Iraq. "Occupying military forces are laying the groundwork for a long-lasting stay in Iraq, and that is a great danger," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told Talabani on Saturday, according to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency. "Occupying military forces should leave Iraq as soon as possible," Khamenei said, according to IRNA. "Every day their exit is delayed will be a detriment to the Iraqi nation." On Friday, Talabani met with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who described Tehran's ties with Iraq as "growing and deep," according to IRNA. The two leaders vowed to expand their political, cultural and security relationships.

Sunni vice president supports withdrawal of most troops by end of August 2010 . Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki says Iraqi security forces are qualified to take over . Obama said up to 50,000 support troops will remain till December 31, 2011 .

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(CNN) -- At 44-years-old Abhisit Vejjajiva is Thailand's youngest prime minister in more than 60 years. But perhaps more immediately significantly, he is the country's third prime minister in four months after a period of immense upheaval in Thailand. After just two days of taking office, Thai PM Abhisit Vejjajiva talked to CNN's Dan Rivers for Talk Asia. Thailand's recent political turmoil, which included national demonstrations and the forced closures of international airports, dates back to the 2006 coup that overthrew former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the former People's Power Party leader. In September, the Constitutional Court forced out his replacement Samak Sundaravej, finding that he had violated the constitution by appearing as a paid guest on a television cooking show. In turn he was replaced by Thaksin's brother-in-law, Somchai Wongsawat, who immediately found himself beset by opposition demonstrations that accused him of leading a proxy government for Thaksin. He too was thrown out by a Constitutional Court ruling. Abhisit was named as the new Prime Minister on December 15, and his biggest challenge will be to steady a country that until recently was known as one of the most region's most stable. A career politician, Abhisit was born in Newcastle in the north east of England to wealthy Thai-Chinese parents and attended Eton, one of the UK's top private schools before studying politics, philosophy and economics at Oxford University. While highly critical of the corruption and cronyism in Thai politics, Abhisit's own route to power has not been as he may have wanted it. As leader of the Democrat Party since 2005, he failed to win either of the elections he contended. He was chosen by the Thai parliament to be Prime Minister during a special session. His selection was contingent on support of factions from the now banned PPP who changed allegiance, many of whom he had previously criticized. Abhisit now leads a coalition government with a small majority consisting of a number of parties and interests, leading political commentators to speculate about the length of his tenure in office, many suggesting more than a year in power would be a success. Countering accusations of inexperience, Abhisit can still boast 17 years of political practice, having become a parliamentarian at the age of 27. As well as being young and cosmopolitan, he has gained a reputation as being above the sleaze and corruption that has dogged many other Thai politicians, while he publicly opposed the bloodless military coup that removed Thaksin from office 2006. However critics have said that his policies are borrowed heavily from Thaksin and that his party's decision to boycott the snap election in 2006 led to the constitutional crisis and coup against Thaksin. Most of Abhisit's support comes from the educated middle classes and gaining support, or at least lessening the divisions between sections of Thai society is something he has been immediately faced with. "He needs to send a clear signal of change that he is a leader who will reach out to all," said Bunranaj Smutharak, a spokesman for Abhisit's Democrat Party. "We are confident the long turmoil over the past two years will be brought to an end by this change in government," he said. "What we set out to do is reunite the country."

Abhisit is Thailand's third Prime Minister in four months, youngest in 60 years . Leader of Democrat Party since 2005, now leads coalition government . Career politician who was educated at Eton and Oxford University in the UK .

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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistani troops have been moved to the Indian border amid fears of an Indian ground incursion, two Pakistani military officials told CNN on Friday. File image of a Pakistani soldier . The troops were deployed from Pakistan's western border with Afghanistan, where forces have been battling Taliban and al Qaeda militants in North West Frontier Province and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. Pakistan's armed forces have been on high alert in anticipation of a possible conflict with India following last month's terrorist attacks in Mumbai, which killed 160 people. India believes the 10 men who carried out the attacks were trained at a terrorist camp in the Pakistani-controlled part of Kashmir. A senior official said the troops had been moved from areas where there are no active military operations, and emphasized that troop levels have not been depleted in areas where soldiers are battling militants, such as the Swat Valley and near Peshawar, capital of the North West region. In addition to the move, leave for all military personnel has been restricted and all troops were called back to active duty, the senior official said. Asked for a reaction to the development, Husain Haqqani, Pakistani ambassador to the United States, said, "Pakistan does not seek war, but we need to be vigilant against threats of war emanating from the other side of our eastern border." He said Pakistan's conduct since the Mumbai attack "has been consistent with international expectations. There is no justification for threats against Pakistan." "Pakistan is also a victim of terrorism and will continue to act against terrorists," he added. "We are a country of rule of law and need evidence to prosecute anyone for the crime of terrorism." U.S. National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said the United States has been "in close contact" with India and Pakistan in probing the Mumbai attack and fighting terror. He is hoping that "both sides will avoid taking steps that will unnecessarily raise tensions during these already tense times." In London, England, Pakistani envoy to Britain Wajid Shamsul Hasan countered the report, noting that winter redeployments are normal and that only police and not the army had their vacation canceled. While he criticized India's "coercive diplomacy" and regretted India's "war hysteria," he underscored the fact that the two countries don't want to go to war. Tensions increased between nuclear rivals India and Pakistan following the November 26 attacks in Mumbai, where militants launched a coordinated strike against luxury hotels, a Jewish center and other targets. India has criticized Islamabad for not doing enough to counter terrorism, and it has accused elements within the Pakistan government and military of complicity in fueling terrorism in the region. On Thursday, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi warned India to refrain from launching any strikes against Pakistan, according to a report in The Nation newspaper. Another unnamed Pakistani military official told CNN that the Pakistani military has been taking precautionary measures to safeguard borders in the face of mounting military threats from India over the Mumbai attacks. "Naturally, you have to take certain steps to stem that expected tide of Indian operations," he said, "You can't fight on both fronts so we have redeployed certain military elements from the western border to the northern border to meet Indian operations." The official said that while Pakistan has tolerated U.S. missile strikes from Afghanistan into Pakistan, he believes the government and public would not stand for an Indian incursion. In the Indian capital of New Delhi on Friday, three military chiefs briefed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the security situation. An Indian officer said Indian soldiers have spotted Pakistani troop movements along the Line of Control in Kashmir. The Line of Control divides the disputed region between the area controlled by India and the area administered by Pakistan. Indian defense spokesman Sitanshu Kar said India isn't carrying out a troop buildup along its western borders but "is monitoring the situation closely." He also said he is "not aware" of military reports about Pakistani troop mobilization along the Indian border. "But we are keeping a vigil," Kar said. Since the division of the subcontinent in 1947, India and Pakistan have fought three wars, including two over the disputed territory of Kashmir -- now wracked by an 18-year, bloody separatist campaign that authorities say has left at least 43,000 dead. There also was a limited border conflict in 1999 between the countries in Kashmir. CNN's Sara Sidner, Mukhtar Ahmad, Nic Robertson and Harmeet Singh contributed to this report .

Pakistan has moved troops to border with India amid rising tensions, officials say . Pakistan forces on high alert after terror attacks last month in Mumbai . Indian defense spokesman: India "is monitoring the situation closely" The two countries have fought three wars since 1947 .

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(CNN) -- Los Alamos National Laboratory announced Wednesday it is notifying nearly 2,000 current and former employees and visitors that they may have been exposed to beryllium in the lab and may be at risk of disease. Officials are trying to determine the source of beryllium found at Los Alamos National Laboratory. "Letters went out to all of them today," said Kevin Roark, a spokesman for the New Mexico laboratory. Concern over possible exposure to the hard, gray metal, which is purified for use in nuclear weapons and reactors and also used in bicycle frames and golf clubs, was first raised last November, when a box containing beryllium was received at the laboratory's short-term storage facility, he said. "The package appeared to have damage or degradation of the packing materials, which prompted us to test the area for additional contamination," he said. Surface contamination was found, but it turned out that the box was not the source, Roark said, adding that the source has not been determined. Since the contaminated area had not been tested for the presence of beryllium since 2001, everyone who has entered the restricted-access area since then is being alerted, he said. "It's just one building at one technical area," Roark said, noting that the laboratory covers 36 square miles and has nearly 10,000 employees. Beryllium is hazardous only when its fine, particulate form is inhaled, he said. It was found on surfaces, not in the air, he said. Find out more about beryllium » . Roark said the alert was sent because "we think it's the responsible, prudent thing to do to let people know we discovered this contamination and to answer their questions if they have any concern about potential for exposure." There are no reports of sickness and "we don't expect anyone to be ill," he said. The laboratory said about 240 employees and 1,650 visitors were potentially at risk because they visited the contaminated areas. About 2 percent of the exposed employees could become sensitized, a smaller percentage of whom could develop chronic beryllium disease, Roark said. Inhalation of powdered beryllium can result in chronic beryllium disease, which can impair lung function in people who are susceptible. The risk to the visitors would be "extremely low" because of the activities they performed and their short exposure time, Roark said. An operator will be available at the laboratory at 505-665-7233 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mountain Time, Monday through Friday.

Los Alamos lab visitors, employees may have been exposure to beryllium . Spokesman: Risk to visitors "extremely low" due to short exposure time . Beryllium is purified for use in nuclear weapons; also used in bike frames, golf clubs . Inhalation of powdered beryllium can impair lung function .

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(CNN) -- California's Supreme Court said Wednesday that it will hear the appeal of a challenge to Proposition 8, a voter-approved measure outlawing same-sex marriage. California's voter-approved measure banning same-sex marriage has sparked protests throughout the state. In a written statement, the court said it will not block the implementation or enforcement of the law in the meantime. Proposition 8 passed with about 52.5 percent of the vote, making California one of several states to ban same-sex marriage in the November 4 elections. But unlike the other states, California had already been issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples since May, after a state Supreme Court ruling legalized the unions. The American Civil Liberties Union, Lambda Legal and the National Center for Lesbian Rights filed legal challenges to the vote, asking the high court to rule the ballot-initiative process was "improperly used" to strip away a right protected by the state constitution. iReport.com: Share your view on same-sex marriage . The court said arguments in the case could be heard as early as March. In its May 15 ruling legalizing same-sex marriage in California, the justices seemed to signal that a ballot initiative like Proposition 8 might not be enough to change the underlying constitutional issues of the case in the court's eyes. The ruling said the right to marry is among a set of basic human rights "so integral to an individual's liberty and personal autonomy that they may not be eliminated or abrogated by the legislature or by the electorate through the statutory initiative process." In the hours after the proposition's apparent passage, thousands of protesters took to the streets of Los Angeles and other cities across California in protest. Observances in support of same-sex marriage were held in cities across the country Saturday.

Three groups file challenge to Proposition 8, which bans same-sex marriage . Groups say ballot initiative "improperly used" to strip away state constitutional right . Court says it will not interfere with enforcement of the law before it hears appeal . State Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in May 15 ruling .

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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- At least 43 civilians were killed Sunday when they were caught in the crossfire between Pakistani forces and Taliban militants, a Pakistani military official said. The official, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said the incident happened in Charbagh, a district of Swat Valley in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province. The mountainous Swat Valley region used to be a popular destination for tourists and skiers, but today it is a Taliban stronghold. The Pakistani government and the army have come under criticism in recent weeks for allowing the security situation in Swat to deteriorate in the past few months. Islamabad has said there are plans for a new strategy to fight the Taliban, but they have yet to offer details. The Taliban are imposing their strict brand of Islamic law in the region -- banning music, forbidding men from shaving, and not allowing teenage girls to attend school. Watch a report on civilians killed in crossfire » . Government officials say the Taliban have torched and destroyed more than 180 schools in the Swat region. Many families have fled the area, and have been followed by many Pakistani police officers who are too scared to take on Taliban forces, a Pakistani army spokesman told CNN last week. The Taliban seized control of Afghanistan in 1996 -- harboring al Qaeda leaders, including Osama bin Laden -- and ruled it until they were ousted from power in 2001 after the September 11 attacks on the United States. Since then, the Taliban have regrouped and are currently battling U.S. and NATO-led forces. U.S. President Barack Obama has called Afghanistan the "central front" in the war on terror and has promised to make fighting extremism there, and in neighboring Pakistan, a foreign policy priority. He is expected to send as many as 30,000 additional U.S. troops to battle Taliban forces. Richard Holbrooke, the administration's new envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, is scheduled to make his first trip to the region this week.

Swat Valley region used to be a popular destination for tourists and skiers . Taliban are imposing their strict brand of Islamic law in the region . Pakistan government criticized for allowing security in Swat to deteriorate .

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