New York (CNN) -- A leading Muslim-American group lashed out at the federal government Friday for moving to seize assets -- including four mosques -- that belong to a foundation and a corporation believed linked to Iran. "The American Muslim and faith communities must not allow houses of worship to become pawns in geopolitical struggles," said Imam Mahdi Bray, executive director of the Muslim American Society's Freedom Foundation. "The tension between the United States and Iran must not be played out in the mosques of America." Federal prosecutors say their actions against assets belonging to the Alavi Foundation and the Assa Corp., which also include a Manhattan skyscraper, are not an effort to target mosques. "There are no allegations of any wrongdoing on the part of any of these tenants or occupants," said Yusill Scribner, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York in a written statement Thursday. "The tenants and occupants remain free to use the properties as they have before today's filing." A senior Justice Department official told reporters that the government is moving against the Iranian landlords of the buildings, not seizing mosques as religious-oriented facilities. The mosques -- in New York, Maryland, California and Texas -- just happen to be among the tenants of the buildings in question, the official said. But the Muslim American Society's Freedom Foundation called the actions an "unprecedented encroachment of religious freedom." The group said "it is an abiding concern among the American Muslim community that this action is just the beginning of a backlash after last week's Fort Hood shooting tragedy." A Muslim-American soldier is accused in a Fort Hood, Texas, shooting spree that left 13 people dead and dozens injured. The Council on American-Islamic Relations, another leading Muslim-American group, issued a statement Thursday saying the government's actions may have First Amendment implications. "Whatever the details of the government's case against the owners of the mosques, as a civil rights organization we are concerned that the seizure of American houses of worship could have a chilling effect on the religious freedom of citizens of all faiths and may send a negative message to Muslims worldwide," said Ibrahim Hooper, the national communications director for the council. The controversy erupted after prosecutors in New York filed an amended civil complaint seeking forfeiture of all assets of the Alavi Foundation and Assa Corp. They include properties owned by the foundation in several states. A 36-story office tower in midtown Manhattan is owned by the 650 Fifth Avenue Company, a partnership between Alavi and Assa, the Justice Department said. The complaint alleges that the Alavi Foundation provided services to the Iranian government and transferred money from 650 Fifth Avenue Company to Bank Melli, Iran's largest state-owned financial entity. U.S. and European Union officials last year designated Bank Melli as a proliferator for supporting Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs and funneling money to the Revolutionary Guard and Quds Force, considered terrorist groups by the United States. Bank Melli issued a statement last year denying involvement in deceptive banking practices. Prosecutors allege the properties at issue were "involved in and [were] the proceeds of money laundering offenses," and that the owners violated the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, executive orders and U.S. Department of Treasury regulations. "As today's complaint alleges in great detail, the Alavi Foundation has effectively been a front for the government of Iran," Preet Bharara, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said on Thursday. "For two decades, the Alavi Foundation's affairs have been directed by various Iranian officials, including Iranian ambassadors to the United Nations, in violation of a series of American laws. The Alavi Foundation's former president remains under investigation for alleged obstruction of justice, and both the criminal and civil investigations are ongoing." John Winter, a New York lawyer representing the Alavi Foundation, said his client would challenge the complaint. "We're obviously disappointed that the government brought this action because we have been cooperating with the government since this investigation began about a year ago and we intend to

What does the group say regarding houses of worship?

who has been front for the government of Iran?

What accuse Alavi Foundation, Assa Corp.?

who is accused of transferring money to Iran?

What the group of houses of worship say?

Answer: could have a chilling effect on the religious freedom of citizens of all faiths

Answer: Alavi Foundation

Answer: Federal prosecutors

Answer: Alavi Foundation

Answer: their actions against assets belonging to the Alavi Foundation and the Assa Corp., which also include a Manhattan skyscraper, are not an effort to target mosques.

Answer: "it is an abiding concern among the American Muslim community that this action is just the beginning of a backlash after last week's Fort Hood shooting tragedy."

Summary:
Group says houses of worship should not be "pawns in geopolitical struggles"
Alavi Foundation, Assa Corp. accused of transferring money to Iran .
Government seizing assets of Alavi, including four mosques .
U.S. Attorney: "Alavi Foundation has effectively been a front for the government of Iran"


New York (CNN) -- A man federal authorities say is part of a Brooklyn husband-and-wife identity theft team has been charged with killing two of their victims.

Dmitriy Yakovlev, 42, is scheduled to be arraigned Monday in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn. The more serious charges were included in a supserseding indictment unsealed Thursday.

Yakovlev was charged with the murder of Irina Malezhik, a Russian language translator who lived in Brooklyn and worked in the federal courts. She vanished in October 2007.

He also is accused in the slaying of Viktor Alekseyev, who disappeared in December 2005 and whose remains were found in New Jersey in 2006, according to federal authorities.

A third identity theft victim, Brooklyn resident Michael Klein, disappeared in November 2003 and has not been seen since.

In addition to Yakovlev's murder charges, the new indictment charges him and wife Julia Yakovlev, 36, with 17 counts of identity theft, bank fraud, credit card fraud and "effecting fraudulent transactions."

Julie Yakovlev was not charged in connection with the slayings but she has been accused of cashing $40,000 drawn from one victim's account, according to Robert Nardoza, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York.

The couple was originally charged in August 2009 with illegally using the identities of three people between 2003 and 2007. Julie Takovlev is free on bail while her husband remains in custody, their attorneys said.

"Identity theft victims usually lose their money," NYPD Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said in a statement, "In this case, they allegedly lost their lives, too."

Malezhik was last seen on October 15, 2007, leaving her apartment on a security video camera. Immediately after her disappearance, the couple began withdrawing money and purchasing various items in Malezhik's name, according to court documents.

"I'm skeptical as to the foundation and nature of charges," said Ken Russo, attorney for Dmitriy Yakovlev.

Julia Yakovlev's attorney, Alexei Grosshtern, would only tell CNN that there are "no new charges" against his client. He said any charges in the superseding indictment already existed in August 2009's original indictment.

Who is out on bail?
What is Yakovlev's age?
What is the age of Dmitriy?
What is the name of Yakovlev's wife?
What is Dmitriy's age?
What charges does he face?

Answer: Julie Takovlev

Answer: 42,

Answer: 42,

Answer: Julia

Answer: 42,

Answer: 17 counts of identity theft, bank fraud, credit card fraud and

Summary:
Dmitriy Yakovlev, 42, and his wife, Julia, had been charged with bank fraud and ID theft .
Prosecutors: Dmitriy now faces murder charges in deaths of two ID-theft victims .
Lawyer: Dmitriy Yakovlev remains in jail, but his wife is out on bail .


New York (CNN) -- A mix of protesters gathered again Friday in cities across the country, decrying a loosely defined list of financial problems and mixing in places with others marking the 10-year anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan.

Demonstrators in New York and Washington appeared to congregate over both the Afghan conflict, arguably America's longest war, and in protest against the widening disparities between rich and poor and corporate greed, among other grievances.

New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said an investigation is under way after protesters claimed officers used excessive force when corralling demonstrators earlier this week.

He also noted that demonstrations had cost tax payers $1.9 million in overtime costs for the city's law enforcement.

CNN affiliate stations also broadcast images of crowds that gathered in Austin, Texas, as well as Minneapolis, Minnesota; Seattle, Washington and Atlanta, Georgia.

The activity came a day after President Barack Obama discussed the growing movement, saying demonstrators "are giving voice to a more broad-based frustration about how our financial system works."

Speaking at a White House news conference, Obama also defended the country's financial sector, which has taken the brunt of protesters' criticism, focusing on Wall Street and its regulators' purported role in expanding economic disparities.

"We have to have a strong, effective financial sector in order for us to grow," the president said.

Still, Obama discussed a need to pursue action aimed at improving government oversight and blamed Republican lawmakers for obstructing financial reforms.

Friday marked the 21st day of the grass-roots Wall Street protests.

Demonstrations have erupted in more than a dozen cities throughout the week, ranging from thousands who marched in lower Manhattan Wednesday after receiving support from local unions, to the dozens of college students who staged walkouts at various college campuses.

Open Story: See iReports from the protests.

The movement started in New York and some of the protests there have been marred by scuffles with police.

New York authorities set up at least one vehicle checkpoint as police appeared in larger numbers throughout the financial district Thursday and established a perimeter around Zuccotti Park, which is considered a rallying point for the largely leaderless movement in that city.

"We hope that our message continues to resonate with everyone who has felt disenfranchised by the current state of our country," said Tyler Combelic, a spokesman for the Occupy Wall Street group.

He said they plan to "continue the protest until the message reaches every house in the United States."

The specifics of that message remains largely unclear.

CNN's Susan Candiotti, Carey Bodenheimer, Ross Levitt and Jason Kessler contributed to this report.

How much has police overtime cost so far?

Answer: an investigation is under way after protesters claimed officers used excessive force when corralling demonstrators earlier this week.

Answer: protests.

Answer: against the widening disparities between rich and poor and corporate greed,

Answer: $1.9 million

Answer: New York

Summary:
NEW: NY police commissioner: Police overtime has cost $1.9 million so far .
Wall Street protests blend with war demonstrations in New York and D.C.
Crowds gather Austin, Minneapolis, Seattle and Atlanta .
Friday marked the 21st day of the grass-roots protests .


New York (CNN) -- A mother abducted her eight biological children from a New York foster care agency during an authorized visit, authorities announced Tuesday.

Shanel Nadal, 28, fled with her seven sons and one daughter from the Queens facility on Monday afternoon, police said.

The abducted boys are all apparently named after their biological father, Nephra Payne, 34.

They are Nephra Payne, 11; Nephra Ceo Payne, 10; Nephra John Payne, 9; Nephra Shalee Payne, 6; Nephra Rahsul Payne, 6; Nephra Umeek Payne, 5; and Nephra Yahmen Payne, 4.

The lone girl was identified as Nefertiti Payne, 11 months.

The New York Police Department said Nadal may be traveling with the children's biological father in a black 1996 Chevrolet Suburban with license plate number EXZ5896.

Despite the one-day lag between the abduction and the announcement, New York City's Administration for Children's Services assured the public it had been investigating the incident since it occurred.

"ACS and our foster care agency began working with the NYPD immediately after the mother absconded with the children from a visit at the foster care agency yesterday," the ACS said in a statement.

The statement made no mention of how Nadal escaped or why the children had been placed in foster care.

CNN's Dominique Dodley contributed to this report.

what did named after their biological father?

Answer: their biological father, Nephra Payne,

Answer: Nephra Payne,

Answer: abducted boys

Answer: abducted her eight biological children

Answer: A mother

Answer: eight

Answer: seven

Answer: 28,

Summary:
Police: Shanel Nadal, 28, flees with her seven sons and one daughter .
The abducted boys are all apparently named after their biological father .


New York (CNN) -- A new report saying that Iran could be secretly working on a nuclear weapon is a major development, but not one that should lead the U.S. to consider a military strike against the Tehran regime, according to analyst Fareed Zakaria.

The draft report, obtained by CNN and not yet approved by the International Atomic Energy Agency's board of governors, is the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency's strongest warning yet that Iran could be aiming to build a nuclear bomb.

Zakaria told CNN the report should spur U.S. diplomacy to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons but that talk by commentators outside the U.S. government of a potential military strike against Iran was wrongheaded. "To be casually talking about military action because we're getting frustrated seems to me somewhat dangerous," he said.

Iran's Green Movement of protesters against the regime indicates that waiting could have its benefits, Zakaria said. "At the end of the day, time is not on the side of this regime. It's a dysfunctional regime that has run the economy into the ground, taken a great and open and proud nation and turned it into a kind of paranoid and closed one and which is clearly losing the support of young Iranians by the day."

Zakaria, author and host of CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS," spoke to CNN on Thursday.

CNN: The International Atomic Energy Agency has done a report saying that Iran could be at work on building a nuclear weapon. What do you think that means?

Fareed Zakaria: That's a major development because so far we have not really been able to assess whether Iran has decided definitively that it wants nuclear weapons. We know that it wants a nuclear capacity -- that is clear -- and it wants a large nuclear capacity and one that is robust so that they have multiple production sites.

But it has always seemed as though there were two views within the Iranian leadership. One was that Iran should develop a robust civilian nuclear capability and a robust missile program but that it should not put the two together because that would place it in clear violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. There are clearly others in Iran who believe that Iran should simply have nuclear weapons. ...

This would suggest that the harder line faction within Iran is winning out. We don't know for sure because this is all guesswork frankly. ...

CNN: What's happening with the negotiations?

Zakaria: The Iranians have been playing a very peculiar negotiating game where they sometimes seem interested in negotiating but rarely do they actually engage in good faith. ... They rarely seem to engage in these with a consistent pattern with consistent positions -- which either means the leadership is very divided or they're playing games.

CNN: What's your view about the wisdom of imposing new sanctions?

Zakaria: It probably is the only course available right now since the prospect of engaging with Iran and giving it positive inducements does not seem to be going anywhere. I also think the sanctions that are being talked about are fairly narrow and targeted at particularly the Republican Guard within the regime, which seems to be most powerful faction. And that's the right approach to take. We know that generalized sanctions only hurt the average Iranian, and that is entirely counterproductive.

CNN: What's the impact of the domestic turbulence inside Iran, including the protest movement?

Zakaria: Nobody knows for sure, but it does seem to have confused the situation internally. [Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad had made some conciliatory statements on the nuclear issue, which were then attacked by the opposition, and he retracted it, which suggests that he's feeling the pressure. It suggests that there are divisions within the regime, there's some sense of vulnerability. ... It just makes it more difficult to negotiate with them, but it also suggests it may not be the worst thing in the world to wait and watch how this plays out in Iran.

CNN: What do you think about the military option?

Zakaria: The problems with the military option remain what they've always been, and it's a little alarming to

What does the draft report say about Iran?

Who said the report is a major development?

What is not on the side of the Iranian regime?

Answer: could be secretly working on a nuclear weapon

Answer: nuclear weapon

Answer: Fareed Zakaria.

Answer: "To be casually talking about military action because we're getting frustrated seems to me somewhat dangerous,"

Answer: Iran's Green Movement of protesters

Answer: military strike

Answer: Iran could be secretly working on a nuclear weapon

Summary:
Draft report from U.N. watchdog agency says Iran could secretly be working on a nuclear bomb .
Fareed Zakaria says report is a major development, could spur new sanctions against Iran .
He says talk of a military strike against Iran is wrongheaded and dangerous .
Zakaria: Time not on the side of Iranian regime that's suppressing Green Movement protesters .


New York (CNN) -- A pretrial hearing is scheduled for Friday in the case of a former Rutgers University student who allegedly used a web cam to stream footage of his roommate's sexual encounter with another man.

Dharun Ravi faces a 15-count indictment, which includes hate crime charges, in connection with the death of his roommate , Tyler Clementi. Clementi killed himself after the incident, jumping from the George Washington Bridge between New York and New Jersey.

Last month, Ravi turned down a plea deal that would have allowed him to avoid jail time.

"You want to know why he's rejected the plea?" his attorney, Steven Altman, said in December. "Simple principle of law, simple principle of life -- he's innocent. He's not guilty."Ravi is a citizen of India who was studying in the U.S. legally.

The deal offered by Middlesex County prosecutors would have required Ravi, 19, to undergo 600 hours of community service, counseling and to dispose of any information that could identify the man that Clementi was with.

Prosecutors also offered to help Ravi avoid deportation, though they said they could not guarantee it.

A second student charged in the scandal, Molly Wei, 19, reached a plea deal and that requires her testify against Ravi. In May, Wei pleaded not guilty to two counts of invasion of privacy, according to a statement from the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office.

Less than a month after Clementi's suicide, President Barack Obama released a taped video message condemning bullying.

what  would allowed him to avoid jail time

What is the name of the person on trial?

who  will go to trial in February over a 15-count indictment

Answer: a plea deal

Answer: Friday

Answer: Dharun Ravi

Answer: Dharun Ravi

Answer: a plea deal that would have allowed him to avoid jail time.

Answer: Dharun Ravi

Summary:
Dharun Ravi will go to trial in February over a 15-count indictment involving hate crime charges .
He has turned down a plea deal that would have allowed him to avoid jail time .
His roommate, Tyler Clementi, later killed himself, jumping from the George Washington Bridge .
The plea deal would have required 600 hours of community service, among other things .


New York (CNN) -- A spirited and leaderless protest in the Wall Street section of New York has entered its third week, helping to inspire a growing number of demonstrations united in their passion if not necessarily their reasons for hitting the streets.

The hub of the movement, in Lower Manhattan, was abuzz with activity on Sunday as activists continued to vent their frustrations with everything from "corporate greed" to high gas prices to insufficient health insurance.

No single group or person heads the effort, which has adopted the name "Occupy Wall Street." While a "general assembly" is held daily for those gathered -- be it for a few short hours or by camping out long-term -- to discuss the goings-on and work toward a common mission, the stances being touted currently are diverse.

"We've gathered here in this place ... to shape a statement of what it is we want, and how we're going to get to it," said Robert Segal, one of the New York protesters.

Video: Police arrest hundreds of protesters in NYC

The lack of coherent message has not stopped similar efforts from popping up elsewhere in the United States.

"Occupy Chicago," for instance, entered its 10th day on Sunday, a day after an associated website touted "a huge afternoon march."

The motto atop a website for "Occupy Los Angeles," which kicked off Saturday with a march from Pershing Square to City Hall, reads: "The revolution is happening ... It's just not in the news."

There are 34 organizations -- from unions to ethnic organizations to activist groups focused on everything from foreclosure prevention to climate change to justice-related issues -- listed as being involved in a like-minded activist coalition in Boston. This group, which held a festival and march Friday and Saturday and has explicitly targeted Bank of America in recent weeks, states on its website that its aim is to "stop their greed," "fight for an economy that works for all of us" and "build cities that are democratic, just and sustainable."

The website of Seattle demonstrators describes the nationwide effort as "a leaderless resistance movement with people of many colors, genders and political persuasions."

"The one thing we all have in common is that We Are The 99% that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1%," the statement continues, referring to what it sees as a sharp divide between the wealthiest Americans and the rest of society.

Most demonstrations thus far have been peaceful and uneventful, though in a few cases they have led to numerous arrests.

The most high-profile such incident came Saturday, when New York police arrested more than 700 protesters who had occupied the iconic Brooklyn Bridge. They were cited for blocking the roadway, authorities said, and eventually released after being given tickets.

The confrontation came as protesters along the road banged drums and chanted, "The whole world is watching" as police moved in.

Paul J. Browne, the deputy commissioner for the New York City Police Department, said they were given "multiple warnings" to stay on the pedestrian walkway and not the main roadway. The incident led to a shutdown of Manhattan-to-Brooklyn bridge traffic for several hours.

Demonstrators have said they take their inspiration from the Arab Spring protests that swept through Africa and the Middle East this year.

The protest campaign -- which uses the hashtag #occupywallstreet on the microblogging site Twitter -- began in July with the launch of a simple campaign website calling for a march and a sit-in at the New York Stock Exchange.

It has gained steam since early September, with crowds taking up residence in a park in New York's financial district and calling for 20,000 people to flood the area for a "few months." In recent weeks, the New York demonstrators have addressed various issues, including police brutality, union busting and the economy.

CNN's Susan Candiotti and Jordana Ossad contributed to this report.

What is the park in Lower Manhattan crowded with?

What did people say the problem with the movement is?

Answer: activists

Answer: lack of coherent message

Summary:
A park in Lower Manhattan is crowded with "Occupy Wall Street" protesters .
This effort began in July, and people have camped out there for 3 weeks now .
Similar efforts have sprung up in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and Seattle .
The movement is leaderless and its members have various "political persuasions"


New York (CNN) -- Americans can expect a roaring debate over social issues in the discussion of  the next Supreme Court nominee, but in the end, President Obama's choice to succeed Justice John Paul Stevens is likely to be confirmed, CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin says.

Toobin, author of "The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court," said the large Democratic majority in the U.S. Senate gives Obama a strong chance of getting his choice confirmed. He says, though, that the ideologically divided court has undergone a lot of turnover in the past five years, and it's impossible to predict how it will evolve.

Toobin notes that one thing is fairly clear: Obama will probably begin his search for a new justice with the candidates he did not select when he picked Sonia Sotomayor for the court last year.

Toobin spoke with CNN on Friday. Here is an edited transcript.

CNN: What do you think is the most significant role that Justice Stevens played on the court?

Jeffrey Toobin: As the senior associate justice on the court, he had the second most formal authority to assign the writing of opinions after the chief justice, and he was undoubtedly the leader of the liberal wing and a very successful one.

CNN: Now, who will assume that senior associate justice role?

Toobin: The senior associate justice role would be Antonin Scalia now, but he votes with Chief Justice [John] Roberts most of the time. So the senior liberal on the court would now be Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who is a less outgoing person than Justice Stevens.

CNN: Do you expect we'll see a marked change in how the court operates?

Toobin: The court doesn't change dramatically in terms of its operations. But as Justice Byron White used to say, "You change one justice, you change the whole court," and I expect that will be true. By Supreme Court standards, the last five years have been a period of enormous turnover. It's not at all clear which side will be ahead when it's all over.

CNN: Do you expect that there's any potential the president's nomination could change the complexion of the court?

Toobin: I am certain the president will nominate someone who is generally sympathetic with Stevens and Obama's own politics, but history shows it's folly to predict with precision exactly how a justice will evolve over decades.

CNN: What do you think are the two or three things that are most important to Obama in making this decision?

Toobin: I think the most important criterion is a justice of integrity and intelligence. The second is a justice who shares his general views about law and the Constitution, and third is someone who can get confirmed.

CNN: What kind of a justice does he need to nominate in order to get a confirmation that is relatively easy?

Toobin: He has 59 Democratic senators, so it's overwhelmingly likely that anyone he nominates will get confirmed. It's important to remember that. By historic standards, this is a very large majority. Yes, it is possible there will be a filibuster, but there has never been a successful filibuster to stop a Supreme Court nominee in the modern era.

CNN: And how important is age as a factor in his decision?

Toobin: I think age is a huge factor, because one of the big appeals of Supreme Court nominations is that they serve for life, and a 49-year-old nominee will likely serve 10 years more than a 59-year-old nominee.

CNN: Of the recent issues that have been before the court and the issues that are coming up, which of them are likely to be raised in the course of the debate over the nomination?

Toobin: There are certain evergreens of constitutional conflict that come up, though nominees rarely address them directly. One is abortion, another is affirmative action, but to be sure, there will be questions about gun rights, there will be questions about the constitutionality of health care reform, and there will always be issues that we ca

what does jeffrey toobin say about social issues?

Answer: Americans can expect a roaring debate over

Answer: for a new justice

Answer: Democratic

Answer: social

Answer: Democratic

Summary:
Obama will likely begin search for nominee with candidates he didn't pick last time .
Jeffrey Toobin says social issues will be front and center in debate over nominee .
He says Obama's majority in Senate means he will likely get choice confirmed .


New York (CNN) -- Among the political threats wielded by Donald Trump in his carnival barker quest for the presidency is that if denied the Republican nomination, he would run as an independent.

As an independent myself, I usually cheer the prospect of any independent campaign. It shakes up the arrogant assumption that our elections are wholly owned subsidiaries of the two major parties and their respective special interests.

But Trump has already burned his bridges with most independent voters by choosing to go full birther and pander to the far right wing of the GOP.

It's a shame because in his purely CEO persona, Trump could have mounted a semi-credible independent campaign. Look at what Ross Perot was able to accomplish with such an appeal nearly 20 years ago or what Mayor Michael Bloomberg has done in New York to date.

An independent candidate running on a proven record of executive leadership, job creation and improving American competitiveness could be a serious presidential candidate this time around. Especially because a new Washington Post/ABC poll shows that 41% of American voters now identify as independents. We are the plurality and provide the balance of power in any election.

Independent voters tend to be closer to Republicans on economic issues and closer to Democrats on social issues. In other words, they are fiscally conservative but socially liberal. They hate hyper-partisanship and special-interest gridlock in Washington, and they have been deficit hawks since at least the days of Perot.

It's perhaps useful to remember that Perot campaigned primarily on reducing the deficit and the debt at a time when America was struggling to get out of a recession and many people thought that Japan was a rising power that would eclipse the United States. Now, many of those same conditions exist, with China taking the place of Japan in the "Rise and Fall of Great Powers" narrative.

But crucially, Perot was decidedly liberal-to-libertarian in his social beliefs. He was avowedly abortion rights and even back then supported gays in the military. The CEO candidate is usually liberated from social issue litmus tests by saying that what people do in their private lives doesn't affect on-the-job performance. A guy such as Trump could embody the old libertarian line, "I want the government out of the boardroom and the bedroom." Many would cheer.

But instead, Trump has done a 180-degree reversal on abortion (like Mitt Romney before him) in the hopes of winning the GOP nomination, because abortion-rights Republicans have become an endangered species despite the endurance of "individual freedom" rhetoric. (We can get into how Barry Goldwater's wife co-founded Arizona Planned Parenthood in the 1930s another time.)

Even worse, he made a strategic decision to pander to the outer reaches of American politics by embracing thoroughly discredited conspiracy theories to drum up support from the fringe. This has succeeded in the short run, compounded by his already high name recognition. But it will hurt both Trump and the GOP in the long run, while nuking any hope he had of appealing to independent voters.

If Trump were to try and run as an independent, he could still win enough votes to poll in the low single digits of the popular vote, as Pat Buchanan did before him. But given his super-rich persona -- now added to his opportunistic endorsement of Obama Derangement Syndrome -- his votes would come entirely out of the Republican nominee's hide, opening the door for President Obama's re-election.

In contrast, Perot's independent campaign won 19% of the popular vote in 1992 -- coming in second in terms of all-time independent presidential candidacies to Theodore Roosevelt's Progressive Party presidential campaign in 1912. They won votes from the vast vital center of the American electorate. Trump would not.

Trump has debased himself and any ideas he had of a political career with the serial idiocies he's articulated in this flirtation with a presidential campaign.

Of course, there will be a cadre of political consultants who encourage him to run because they see dollar signs in their eyes, not because they are thinking of the good of the republic

who changed his party enrolment this week

Answer: burned his bridges with most independent voters

Answer: "individual freedom"

Answer: Donald Trump

Answer: Donald Trump

Answer: independent.

Summary:
Donald Trump changed his party enrollment this week from GOP to unaffiliated .
In a column published in April, John Avlon explores Trump's prospects as an independent candidate .
Avlon: Trump's embrace of birther rhetoric would doom his appeal to most independent voters .


New York (CNN) -- An Austrian daredevil is planning to become the first person to break the sound barrier in a free fall, without riding in a vehicle.

This summer in New Mexico, Felix Baumgartner hopes to make the highest, longest and fastest fall ever.

His attempt will take him to an altitude where the atmosphere ends and space begins -- where blood boils at body temperature, and the air temperature could be as low as minus 70 degrees Fahrenheit.

The first step in the attempt will be riding a helium balloon to an altitude of 120,000 feet above sea level -- almost 23 miles -- higher than anyone has ascended in a balloon before.

Then, wearing a pressurized suit and oxygen tanks, he plans to jump out of his capsule for a five-minute fall back to Earth. Within the first 30 seconds, he expects to be falling faster than the speed of sound, which at that altitude is around 690 miles per hour. Crossing that barrier would mark a new test of the limits of the human body.

"This is what we want to find out: What happens to the human body when it breaks the speed of sound," Baumgartner said. "That's a big question mark."

To increase his chances of survival, his parachute is set to open automatically, even if he's unconscious or spinning so fast his hands are pinned by the G-force. He said his engineers are taking every precaution, testing out the suit in a wind tunnel and providing him with a backup chute, sealed gloves and boots, and an advanced helmet.

"This helmet also has face-shield heating to make sure your visor's not getting fogged up on the way down, because that would be fatal," he said. "If you don't see anything, you can't move anymore. You can't make decisions."

Still, the risk of the unknown remains. "If something happens, it happens fast," he said. "You can never say you're not going to get killed under any circumstances," but "we have a lot of solutions for emergency situations like this."

A chain reaction of events would have to occur before the jump could turn fatal, he said.

A potential benefit from the mission, he said, would be demonstrating that it is possible to return from space without a spacecraft.

"In the future, a lot more tourists will go and travel to space. And if something goes wrong with their spacecraft, they have to return to Earth somehow," he said. "We will show to the world that egress from high altitude is survivable."

The main difference is that Baumgartner will start from a standstill, whereas astronauts in a craft like the space shuttle are traveling at orbital speeds close to 18,000 mph when their re-entry begins.

The previous record for the highest jump has stood for half a century, since it was set in 1960 by Joe Kittinger with the Air Force. He reached an altitude of 102,800 feet, and says it felt like a very distant and hostile place to be.

"You know that right outside of you is a vacuum of space," he said, "and without the protection of that pressure suit, you cannot live. And that's an interesting thought."

Baumgartner, whose attempt is being financed by energy drink maker Red Bull, has enlisted Kittinger as a consultant.

"We have learned a lot from people in the past who tried to break that record, and they all failed," Baumgartner said. "Some of these people got killed."

But he adds, "I think it's human nature, you know. Records are meant to be broken. And I'm a very competitive person. I like the challenge."

In what location will Felix Baumgartner make the epic jump?

What is the name of the man who holds the current record, which is 102,800 feet?

Answer: Austrian daredevil

Answer: sound barrier

Answer: New Mexico,

Answer: Joe Kittinger

Answer: 102,800 feet,

Answer: 120,000 feet

Summary:
Within 30 seconds of jump, Felix Baumgartner expects to break sound barrier .
Pressurized suit and oxygen tanks are among special equipment he will use .
Man who holds current record -- 102,800 feet -- is serving as consultant .


New York (CNN) -- As snow fell across New York Harbor, Isabel Belarsky clutched her mother, Clara, aboard a passenger ship that puttered toward Ellis Island and wondered what their new lives would bring.

The year was 1930. About a week earlier, the 10-year-old girl from what is now called St. Petersburg, Russia, had embarked on a transatlantic journey with her Ukrainian parents from the French port city of Cherbourg, escaping what she described as Jewish persecution at the start of Joseph Stalin's Soviet Union.

On an island near Manhattan stood the copper colossus that would etch her first memories of the new world.

"It was a wonderful sight," she said of the Statue of Liberty, which marked its 125th anniversary Friday.

The idea for the monument is thought to have been conceived at a 19th-century dinner party among French aristocrats, historians say, who sought to pay tribute to American liberty.

And while the French gift is also widely believed to have at least in part catered to domestic politics, for many, it quickly became a symbol of hope and promise in America's post- Civil War period.

"The arrival on Ellis Island is the fulfillment that you know something good is going to happen to you," said Belarksy, now a 91-year-old widow living in a Russian enclave of Brooklyn, New York.

Her family became part of the more than 12 million immigrants processed through Ellis Island between 1892 and 1954, according to the U.S. National Park Service.

Adjacent to Ellis towers Lady Liberty, measuring more than 305 feet from base to torch.

Originally, the statue was supposed to be an Egyptian peasant girl that would have stood at the entrance of Egypt's then-new Suez Canal, but plans would evolve into the Roman goddess who would instead adorn New York Harbor.

"The sculptor, (Frederic) Bartholdi, was very clever," said Edward Berenson, professor of history and director of the Institute of French Studies at New York University.

"He put (the statue) where he did because it's right at the narrows of New York Harbor, so he knew that every boat that came into New York would have to come really close to it.

People felt like they could reach out and touch it," he said.

Inspired perhaps by Egypt's colossal statues during his own travels to Cairo, Berenson noted, Bartholdi sought to build a monument of his own in a tribute to American liberty and its newfound emancipation of the slaves.

The statue rests atop a sculpted wrangling of broken chains on New York's Liberty Island.

Only years later, Berenson argues, did the monument come to symbolize immigration to the broader public, despite the structure's engraved plaque bearing the now-famous poem by Emma Lazarus, asking for the "huddled masses yearning to breathe free."

Like many who made the perilous journey, Belarsky said, she had often wondered what kind of life was waiting for her on the shores behind the monument.

"It was quite frightening," she recalled. "The three of us, my father, my mother and I, wanted for someone to come with money or to tell us what's next."

And though a U.S. law passed six years earlier had largely restricted immigration, her father, Sidor, had managed to secure three tickets to America by way of a talent scout who visited the Leningrad conservatory where he had performed as an opera singer.

"He had such a beautiful voice," she said.

Their travel permit, however, was only temporary.

Sidor had acquired a six-month visa to teach at Brigham Young University, Belarsky said.

The young family would nonetheless settle more permanently in a west Manhattan apartment. And unlike many who eventually returned to their homelands in Europe, the Belarskys decided to leave St. Petersburg -- then known as Leningrad -- behind.

"Authorities were starting to clamp down and consolidate the social state and Soviet power around Stalin," said Fiona Hill, a Russia expert at the Washington-based Brookings Institution. "As

Friday marks the 125th anniversary of the unveiling of what?

Who recalls her Ellis Island passage in 1930?

Answer: Friday.

Answer: Statue of Liberty,

Answer: Statue of Liberty,

Answer: Isabel Belarsky

Answer: Isabel Belarsky

Summary:
Friday marks the 125th anniversary of the unveiling of the Statue of Liberty .
A Russian immigrant recalls her Ellis Island passage in 1930 .
The Statue of Liberty was a French gift .
Webcams stream video footage from the torch on anniversary .


New York (CNN) -- As snow fell across New York harbor, Isabel Belarsky said she clutched her mother, Clara, aboard a passenger ship that puttered toward Ellis Island, and wondered what their new lives would bring.

The year was 1930. About a week earlier, the 10 year-old girl from what is now called Saint Petersburg, Russia, had embarked on a transatlantic journey with her Ukrainian parents from the French port city of Cherbourg, escaping what she described as Jewish persecution at the start of Joseph Stalin's Soviet Union.

On an island near Manhattan stood the copper colossus that would etch her first memories of the new world.

"It was a wonderful sight," she said of the Statue of Liberty, which marks its 125th anniversary Friday.

The idea for the monument is thought to have been first conceived at a 19th century dinner party among French aristocrats, historians say, who sought to pay tribute to American liberty.

And while the French gift is also widely believed to have at least in part catered to domestic politics, for many it quickly became a symbol of hope and promise in America's post- Civil War period.

"The arrival on Ellis Island is the fulfillment that you know something good is going to happen to you," said Belarksy, now a 91-year-old widow living in a Russian enclave of Brooklyn, New York.

Her family became part of the more than 12 million immigrants processed through Ellis Island between 1892 and 1954, according to the U.S. National Park Service.

Adjacent to Ellis towers Lady Liberty, measuring more than 305 feet from base to torch.

Originally, the statue was supposed to be an Egyptian peasant girl that would have stood at the entrance of Egypt's then-new Suez Canal, historians say, but plans would later evolve into the Roman goddess that would instead adorn New York harbor.

"The sculptor, (Frederic) Bartholdi, was very clever," said Edward Berenson, professor of history and director of the Institute of French Studies at New York University.

"He put (the statue) where he did because its right at the narrows of New York harbor, so he knew that every boat that came into New York would have to come really close to it.

People felt like they could reach out and touch it," he said.

Inspired perhaps by Egypt's colossal statues during his own travels to Cairo, Berenson added, Bartholdi sought to build a monument of his own in a tribute to American liberty and its new found emancipation of slaves.

The statue rests atop a sculpted wrangling of broken chains on New York's Liberty Island.

Only years later, Berenson argues, did the monument come to symbolize immigration to the broader public, despite the structure's engraved plaque bearing the now famous poem by Emma Lazarus, who asks for the "huddled masses yearning to breathe free."

Like many who made the perilous journey, Belarsky said she had often wondered what kind of life was waiting for her on the shores behind the copper monument.

"It was quite frightening," she recalled. "The three of us, my father, my mother and I, wanted for someone to come with money or to tell us whats next."

And though a U.S. law passed six years earlier had largely restricted immigration, her father, Sidor, had managed to secure three tickets to America by way of a talent scout who visited the Leningrad conservatory where he had performed as an opera singer.

"He had such a beautiful voice," she said.

Their travel permit, however, was only temporary.

Sidor had acquired a six-month visa to teach at Brigham Young University, said Belarsky.

Still, the young family would nonetheless settle more permanently in a west Manhattan apartment. And unlike many who eventually returned to their homelands in Europe, the Belarskys decided to leave Saint Petersburg -- then known as Leningrad -- behind.

"Authorities were starting to clamp down and consolidate the social state and Soviet power around Stalin," said Fiona Hill, a Russia expert at the

What anniversary of the Statue of Liberty will be on friday?

From who the Statue of Liberty was the gift?

Answer: Statue of Liberty,

Answer: its 125th anniversary

Answer: its 125th anniversary

Answer: 125th

Answer: French

Summary:
Friday marks the 125th anniversary of the unveiling of the Statue of Liberty .
A Russian immigrant recalls her Ellis Island passage in 1930 .
The Statue of Liberty was a French gift .
Web cams are expected stream video footage from the torch .


New York (CNN) -- As the story goes, God spent six days creating the world and then rested on the seventh day. He told the Jewish people to always rest on the seventh day of each week, which was to become known as the Sabbath for them for eternity.

This was before Facebook, Twitter, BlackBerries and iPhones, of course. Adam and Eve didn't have friends who would get upset if texts weren't returned promptly, parents who wanted to know where their children were all the time or bosses who had complete access to their employees via work-issued devices. There is no excuse good enough to ignore the boss, even on a weekend.

But one group is trying to take back the Sabbath: Reboot -- a nonprofit organization aimed at reinventing the traditions and rituals of Judaism for today's secular Jews.

Composed of Internet entrepreneurs, creators of award-winning television shows, community organizers and nonprofit leaders, these "Rebooters" are people who typically have their cell phones glued to their palms. Several of them go so far as to say they have an addiction to their devices.

They pledged to observe 24 hours of freedom from their devices this past weekend: a National Day of Unplugging, lasting from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath.

The day was to launch Reboot's ongoing project, the Sabbath Manifesto. Dan Rollman, a Rebooter and founder of the Universal World Record Database Web site, created the Sabbath Manifesto because he felt that technology was taking over too much of his life.

"There's clearly a social problem when we're interacting more with digital interfaces than our fellow human beings," Rollman said in an e-mail to CNN. "Rich, engaging conversations are harder to come by than they were a few years ago. Our attention spans are silently evaporating."

The Sabbath Manifesto consists of 10 principles. However, people are encouraged to discuss online which principles work and which should be tweaked. As they stand now, the guiding principles are:

1. Avoid technology.

2. Connect with loved ones.

3. Nurture your health.

4. Get outside.

5. Avoid commerce.

6. Light candles.

7. Drink wine.

8. Eat bread.

9. Find silence.

10. Give back.

The National Day of Unplugging specifically promotes the first principle.

Even though Reboot is technically focused on reaching out to hyper-connected Jews, the values behind the Sabbath Manifesto are meant for all denominations, Rollman said.

"We believe that everyone can benefit from a respite from the relentless technology. Unplugging on a weekly basis won't provide a magical solution to these issues, but it's a start ... a chance to catch our breaths, replenish our souls and reconnect with the living, breathing people we love."

It may sound like a nice idea, but how realistic is the concept? Can people live without their beloved technology for 24 hours?

"No," said Chris Maroudis, 22, without missing a beat. "The problem is, I live in Jersey and work here [Manhattan]. I have to contact my friends in Jersey to make plans. I'm not just going to go all the way there and then they're not home."

Some people are able to remember a simpler time before cell phones.

"This is new for me," said 26-year-old Amanda Norman, laughing and waving her BlackBerry. "I remember even before cell phones, when you had to make plans with someone beforehand and meet them there. If you were late, you were late."

Walking around Manhattan, though, it is hard to find people without a phone of any kind in their grasp.

As Nano Paulino, 27, pointed out, everyone in the city is working. The bosses need to stay in touch with you. Asked if he would answer a call from his boss at 10 at night, he said no. Why not? "I'm sleeping!"

His friend, Arnold Diaz

What did the Sabbath Manifesto founder say about technology?

What is the name of the Sabbath Manifesto founder?

What aims to reinvent traditions of Judaism for today's secular Jews?

Who says he felt technology was taking over too much of his life?

What should be put away for weekly day of rest?

Answer: "There's clearly a social problem when we're interacting more with digital interfaces than our fellow human beings,"

Answer: Dan Rollman,

Answer: Reboot

Answer: Dan Rollman,

Answer: devices

Summary:
Reboot aims to reinvent traditions of Judaism for today's secular Jews .
Group says cell phones, computers should be put away for weekly day of rest .
Sabbath Manifesto founder says he felt technology was taking over too much of his life .


New York (CNN) -- As the world mourns the untimely conclusion of professional famous person Kim Kardashian's marriage to professional tall person Kris Humphries, how are you coping? Probably not very well, particularly if you watched their televised $20 million wedding (for which they allegedly spent $0 -- various sponsors took care of the costs for this impoverished but hardworking young couple) on August 20. They were so in love.

Sports fans and sex fans alike have shed countless tears over the breakup of a man who bounces a ball for living and a woman who once videotaped herself making sexy time with Brandy's little brother. But while we all acknowledge that Kim and Kris are the greatest living beings on Earth or any other planet, we may not all agree on what lessons to take from this sad state of affairs. Fortunately, as the Voice of My Generation, I'm available to explain the five most important things you and your friends ought to learn from Kim and Kris' impending divorce.

1. Providing $400,000 of Perrier-JouÃ«t at one's wedding does not ensure the success of a marriage.

You need Cristal for that.

2. Fish and relatives stink after three days, but spouses can last 24 times as long.

Have you ever been stuck in a car with your beloved family for more than three hours? It's awful, and you probably love them more than any other folks in the world. Kim and Kris made it work for 72 whole days. That's 1,728 hours of uninterrupted togetherness! Rather than tear them down, let's salute them for their longevity. Considering that they probably ran out of new words after the first day, it's pretty amazing they lasted as long as they did.

3. Contrary to popular belief, it's a bad idea to marry a dude with the same first name as your mom.

Especially when Mom describes herself on Twitter as "MOM, MANAGER, MOMAGER, LOVER OF LIFE, LOVER OF CHRIST."

4. If at first you don't succeed ... you'll probably also fail the second time.

Like many other members of her generation, Kim fell in love and launched a starter marriage that didn't last so long. I'm talking, of course, about her first marriage -- she married producer Damon Thomas when she was 19 and divorced him four years later. Just remember, third time's a charm. Maybe.

5. One's posterior-to-waist ratio does not correlate to one's marriage-to-divorce ratio.

'Nuff said.

And now, let the healing begin.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Sara Benincasa.

Who is commenting on the Kardashian/Humphries split?

What are the Kardashian/Humphries  news?

Answer: lessons to take from this sad state of affairs.

Answer: Sara Benincasa.

Answer: impending divorce.

Answer: Kim Kardashian's

Summary:
Sara Benincasa: Many are trying to cope with news of the Kardashian/Humphries split .
She says fans may not agree on the best lessons to take from the breakup .
She offers five: For one, the wedding needed better champagne for marriage to last .
For another, don't marry someone with the same first name as your mother .


New York (CNN) -- Authorities on Sunday released the name of a woman who turned up in New York this month saying she had no memory of her name or family. She is Kacie Aleece Peterson, 18, of Hansville, Washington, according to Paul Browne, deputy commissioner of the New York Police Department. Police a day earlier said a CNN viewer in Maryland identified the woman, who was found in Midtown Manhattan on October 9 outside a youth shelter. A photo of Peterson, who had been referred to as Jane Doe, was circulated by police and aired on CNN this week. Authorities didn't release Peterson's name until Sunday. Browne said Peterson's mother is dead and that her father is heading to New York. CNN affiliate KOMO-TV in Seattle, Washington, reported that her father went to New York on Sunday to bring her home. The family said it's not the first time she disappeared and then later was found with apparent memory loss, the station reported. Peterson is from Colville in eastern Washington, KOMO reported. She had been living with a friend in Hansville and attending Kingston High School. The father said the daughter had gone to live temporarily with a friend of her late mother, the station reported. Scott Wilson, spokesman for the Kitsap County Sheriff's Office, said Peterson was reported missing by her father on October 1, KOMO reported. Detectives later discovered bank activity and other evidence that she was alive, he said. The woman was found outside Manhattan's Covenant House youth shelter around 12:30 a.m. October 9. The organization said that she was not a resident at the time and did not appear as if she intended to seek refuge at the facility. A security guard for the shelter noticed the woman walking on the sidewalk near Covenant House and approached her. Finding her unresponsive, he called the New York City Police Department. Police officers interviewed the woman, but it became clear that she couldn't provide authorities with any information about herself. Police said she was wearing military green camouflage pants, a black shirt and a pair of black sneakers when she was discovered. The CNN viewer who identified her was familiar with her situation and knew she had been missing this month, police said. Police said they do not know how she lost her memory. "I just want to know who I am and what happened to me," the young woman said in a statement previously released by the New York City Administration of Children's Services. Evan Buxbaum, Susan Candiotti and Vanessa Juarez contributed to the report.

What is the problem with Peterson when she is found?

Answer: 18,

Answer: Maryland

Answer: memory of her name or family.

Answer: CNN viewer in Maryland

Answer: apparent memory loss,

Answer: CNN viewer in Maryland

Answer: Midtown Manhattan

Summary:
KOMO-TV: Family says this isn't first time woman found with apparent memory loss .
Kacie A. Peterson, 18, was found outside Manhattan youth shelter October 9 .
Police: Woman claimed not to know her name, family .
CNN viewer in Maryland identified the woman, police say .


New York (CNN) -- CNN's Lou Dobbs stepped down from his controversial role as an advocacy anchor at the network at the end of his show Wednesday night, saying he plans to seek a more activist role. "Over the past six months, it has become increasingly clear that strong winds of change have begun buffeting this country and affecting all of us, and some leaders in media, politics and business have been urging me to go beyond the role here at CNN and to engage in constructive problem-solving as well as to contribute positively to a better understanding of the great issues of our day and to continue to do so in the most honest and direct language possible," Dobbs said during his 7 p.m. broadcast. Dobbs, 64, said he had discussed the issue with CNN President Jonathan Klein, who had agreed to a release from his contract "that will enable me to pursue new opportunities." In a written statement, Klein called Dobbs "a valued founding member of the CNN family." "For decades, Lou fearlessly and tirelessly pursued some of the most important and complex stories of our time, often well ahead of the pack," Klein said. "All of us will miss his appetite for big ideas, the megawatt smile and larger-than-life presence he brought to our newsroom, and we're grateful to have known and worked with him over the years. "With characteristic forthrightness, Lou has now decided to carry the banner of advocacy journalism elsewhere. We respect his decision and wish him, Debi [Dobbs' wife], and his family the very best." Dobbs, who is the last of the 29-year-old network's original anchors, said he was considering "a number of options and directions." He cited the growth of the middle class, the creation of jobs, health care, immigration policy, the environment, climate change and the U.S. military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan as "the major issues of our time." But, he said, "Each of those issues is, in my opinion, informed by our capacity to demonstrate strong resilience of our now weakened capitalist economy and demonstrate the political will to overcome the lack of true representation in Washington, D.C. I believe these to be profoundly, critically important issues and I will continue to strive to deal honestly and straightforwardly with those issues in the future." Read Dobbs' full statement about his departure from CNN Those issues, he added, are defined in the public arena "by partisanship and ideology rather than by rigorous, empirical forethought, analysis and discussion," and he vowed to work to change that. In an e-mail to CNN staff members, Klein described the parting as "extremely amicable," and said Dobbs' replacement would be announced soon. Dobbs was with Cable News Network from its initial broadcasts in 1980, acting as chief economics correspondent and host of the business program "Moneyline." His coverage of the 1987 stock market crash won him the George Foster Peabody Award for excellence in broadcasting. That was one of many awards he received while at CNN, including an Emmy for Lifetime Achievement that he received from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 2005. Dobbs left the network in 1999 to found SPACE.com, a Web site devoted to space-related subjects. He returned to the network in 2001 as anchor and managing editor of CNN's Moneyline News Hour, which became Lou Dobbs Tonight. He also acted as lead business news anchor for CNN/U.S. and CNNfn, the forerunner of CNNMoney. During his second stint at CNN, Dobbs positioned himself as "tough, relentless, independent," lashing out at what he described as the deficiencies and "partisan nonsense" of both major political parties, and injecting advocacy journalism into his coverage of topics ranging from free trade to immigration. His no-holds-barred, sometimes acerbic style brought him a loyal following, but also attracted controversy both to him and to the network, especially over the subject of illegal immigrants. Dobbs will continue as anchor of The Lou Dobbs

Who did agree to release him from his contract?

who will enable dobbs to pursue new opportunities?

Answer: "a number of options and directions."

Answer: "a number of options and directions."

Answer: 64,

Answer: 64,

Answer: Jonathan Klein,

Answer: CNN President Jonathan Klein,

Answer: CNN President Jonathan Klein,

Summary:
Dobbs, 64, said President Jonathan Klein agreed to release him from his contract .
Departure will "enable me to pursue new opportunities," said Dobbs .
Dobbs said he was considering "a number of opportunities and directions"
Dobbs' no-holds-barred style brought loyal following, but also controversy .


New York (CNN) -- Criminal charges will not be filed against the owner of a chimpanzee that mauled and blinded a Connecticut woman earlier this year, according to Connecticut State's Attorney David Cohen.

At a news conference Monday, Cohen explained that criminal prosecution against Sandra Herold, 77, was not warranted because she was not aware of the risk her pet posed.

On February 16, Herold had called her friend Charla Nash, 55, for help in getting her pet chimpanzee Travis back inside her house after he used a key to escape. When Nash arrived at the Stamford home of her friend, the chimp, who had been featured in TV commercials for Coca-Cola and Old Navy, jumped on her and began biting and mauling her, causing serious injuries to her face, neck and hands. Police shot Travis to halt the attack and he later died of gunshot wounds.

Cohen explained that the dangers of keeping a pet chimpanzee were never fully explained to Herold by the Connecticut State Department of Environmental Protection. While the agency was aware that the chimpanzee was living with Herold, there is no evidence that they ever reached out to her to detail why the primate posed a threat to her and others in the community.

Furthermore, Herold had never had any problems with Travis in the past. Although Travis had escaped once before in 2003 and "wreaked havoc" on the streets of Stamford for a couple of hours, the chimp had never exhibited any violent behavior, especially towards Nash, with whom he had interacted with regularly. Nash, Cohen stated, had specifically been called that day because Herold thought she could help in controlling the escaped chimpanzee.

In the state of Connecticut, criminal prosecution would have to determine that Herold acted recklessly, disregarding the risk that Travis would attack and cause serious injuries to another person. Because of the chimp's familiarity with Nash, his previously placid behavior and the lack of contact by the Department of Environmental Protection, Cohen determined that Herold would not be held criminally responsible for the attack.

"This does not in any way minimize the horror that we all feel with what occurred and with the horrendous injuries suffered," he said. "Our prayers go out to the family and to the victim."

In March, shortly after the attack, the family of Charla Nash filed a lawsuit seeking $50 million in damages from the owner of the primate. The court papers, filed in Stamford Superior Court in Connecticut, alleged that the owner was liable for the attack, negligent and reckless in her ownership of a wild animal.

Following the attack, Nash was transported to the famed Cleveland Clinic, where the nation's first face transplant was performed. In a written statement the Cleveland Clinic said that Nash had lost her nose, upper and lower lips, eyelids and both her hands in the attack, as well as the "bony structures in her mid-face."

The attack has raised questions about whether exotic animals should be kept as pets. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has stated that primates and crocodiles should be added to a state list of animals citizens are not allowed to own.

When asked if there was anything to be learned from the attack, Cohen said, "I think the public will have to draw their own lessons from what was a very tragic incident."

What would be needed to determine if that owner had acted recklessly?

Answer: $50 million

Answer: chimpanzee

Answer: blinded a Connecticut woman

Answer: was not warranted because she was not aware of the risk her pet posed.

Answer: $50 million in damages

Summary:
Chimpanzee mauled and blinded a Connecticut woman earlier this year .
Owner was not aware of the risk the chimpanzee posed, state's attorney says .
Criminal prosecution would have had to determine that owner acted recklessly .
In March, Charla Nash filed a lawsuit seeking $50 million in damages from the owner .


New York (CNN) -- Dear Mr. President: How good of you, sir, to have personally telephoned two New York heroes whose timely diligence prevented a lunatic from causing a catastrophe  in Times Square.

We New Yorkers are happy to hear you called Mr. Lance L. Orton Sr. and Mr. Duane Jackson to thank them for their vigilance. But there is a third vendor, Mr. President, whom you forgot to call. His name is Alioune B. Niass, and he is an immigrant from Somalia who said he was the first person to notice the smoking Nissan Pathfinder.

"I thought I should call 911," Niass later told a reporter, "but my English is not very good and I had no credit left on my phone, so I walked over to Lance, who has the T-shirt stall next to mine, and told him. He said we shouldn't call 911. Immediately he alerted a police officer nearby."

Here in New York, Mr. President, we are not particular about which one of these great New Yorkers saw that deadly car first, alerted the police and prevented a disaster. The Big Apple has a big heart, and the magnificent city of New York has room for plenty of heroes. But we are also very fair people. So we would be grateful if you could kindly call Mr. Niass and thank him for us.

There is another reason besides fairness. Mr. Niass is a Muslim from Somalia, and some of us Muslim-Americans have a suspicion that your staff might not have brought him to your attention because the idea of a Muslim hero in New York does not quite dovetail with the stereotype.

If there is an American of Muslim descent who commits, or tries to commit, a criminal act, as Faisal Shahzad apparently did, we Muslims feel we are all suddenly suspects. We feel we need to explain ourselves. Yet if there is a hero among us whose love for our city does not fit the stereotype, he is ignored. This is not fair, and we believe you, as our president, can do much to alleviate this burden on us and our children.

Imagine millions of Muslim children who go to school across America every day, just like your own children. Imagine how proud they would feel if you were to call Mr. Niass. That pride of place, that we and our children deserve, would go a long way to alleviating the pain of the bigotry and racism that is aimed at us. We too would feel at home here and be even more diligent in safeguarding and protecting our cities from criminal atrocities.

You recall, Mr. President, during your presidential campaign you were, and still are, repeatedly "accused" of being a Muslim -- as if being a Muslim were a crime. We were hoping every time you denied being a Muslim that you would add, "and if I were a Muslim, there is nothing wrong with it."

Finally, it was former Secretary of State Colin Powell who came out and said so when answering people who claimed you are Muslim: "He's a Christian; has always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, 'What if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country?'"  We were relieved and grateful.

We, too, Mr. President, are America. We have our share of criminals amongst us, as do any other people. But we are not all terrorists, and we are tired of feeling false guilt or shame every time a criminal among us does something insane and stupid. We are ordinary people -- soldiers and scientists, scholars and students, homemakers and teachers, businessmen and lawyers, physicians and engineers, greengrocers and vendors. And you are our president too.

We who claim Mr. Niass as one of our own also have a dream. We dream that our children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the faith of their forefathers but by the content of their character.

When the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. -- the visionary who said these immortal words I

Who said he was the first to spot pathfinder?

Who claims to have first spotted the Pathfinder?

Answer: Alioune B. Niass,

Answer: Mr. Lance L. Orton Sr. and Mr. Duane Jackson

Answer: Alioune B. Niass,

Summary:
Hamid Dabashi lauds president for calling two street vendors who reported Times Square car .
But, Dabashi says, a third vendor, a Muslim immigrant, says he was first to spot Pathfinder .
Muslim-American hero defies the "terrorist" stereotype, he writes .
Dabashi: Muslim Americans living with prejudice would be buoyed by Obama calling him .


New York (CNN) -- Decades ago, when the Department of Defense was creating the predecessor to today's Internet, one of the main goals was to create a communications system that could endure catastrophic disasters.

The Internet was designed to have no central point of failure, allowing anyone to run his or her own communications channel. This was a system that could withstand a nuclear attack.

Today, the services built on top of that network have done a great job in enabling communications, perhaps none more dramatically than Twitter.

During the days since the Haiti earthquake, the popular social networking and microblogging service has been used for rescue efforts and for fundraising to help stabilize and rebuild the country.

So it was big news when Twitter was offline for 90 minutes  Wednesday morning. Technology pundits promptly began hand-wringing -- the weaknesses of having a single point of failure to critical communications had been revealed again! Could we trust Twitter? Did this mean the Web couldn't help us fulfill our most basic obligations to those in need?

Not at all.

There's no reason that organizations or individuals who want to use the Web to relay critical information have to rely on Twitter or Facebook or Google or any other giant of the technology industry in the first place. We've just forgotten a bit about how the Internet was supposed to work.

Rescue organizations and charities should simply be able to use the Web sites they already have to deliver those messages.

And wasn't that the promise of the Web in the first place? Weren't we going to stop relying on individual companies as gatekeepers for communication? When blogs took off a few years ago, wasn't it with the promise that we'd all be able to share our voices without having to ask any company for permission? Why did we give that up?

Maybe it's because they made it look so easy.

Twitter has done an impressive job of growing to handle its enormous number of users, while keeping its service simple. The company has even shown a reassuring sensitivity to the civic and social obligations that come from running such a popular communication service. Companies such as Facebook and Google have stepped up, too. Their hearts appear to be in the right place, and they're doing real work to help people communicate.

But the Web is bigger than any one site or any one social network. In my own work, I run a nonprofit that strives to connect government policymakers to the expertise of ordinary people using the Web.

We'll naturally make great use of Twitter and Facebook and all the other services, but it'd be unforgivable to pick only one of them as a platform for civic engagement. Telling people the only way to talk to the White House is on Facebook is like saying you can only call your senator by using a particular phone company.

And that's the key lesson to learn from Twitter being down while people are depending on it for communication: Some needs are too important to put in the hands of any single company. Communicating in real time about emergency information is clearly one of them.

Fortunately there's good news. Smart inventors have already made cutting-edge technologies that let any site deliver messages with the same immediacy as Twitter or Facebook.

Now the challenge is reminding all of the social institutions, media organizations and government agencies that they need to use their own communications infrastructure just as much as they participate in services such as Twitter and Facebook.

The reality is social networks come and go.

Ten years ago, otherwise-sensible companies were paying millions of dollars to America Online to buy "AOL keywords." These were shortcuts to parts of the AOL service, which dominated U.S. Internet access at the time. In fact, many of us have allowed companies to become intermediaries to all our communications, whether it was AOL 10 years ago or Facebook today.

But we don't need to ask gateways for permission to publish. We can run our own Web sites, at our own Web addresses and keep control over how we communicate.

Think how ludicrous it would seem for someone to

What did Anil Dash say the internet was designed for?

Answer: to have no central point of failure,

Summary:
Anil Dash says Internet was designed to endure disasters, free up communication .
Dash: If Web's goal is decentralization, why was Twitter crash so disabling for many?
Dash reminds us that social networks come and go; remember when AOL ruled?
Web users should take charge of their own communication efforts, Dash urges .


New York (CNN) -- Diplomacy hasn't worked. Sanctions have achieved little. Relations between Iran and the United States are, at best, chilly. So why not try music? On Saturday night, for the first time, Iranians were the headline performers at New York City's famed Carnegie Hall.  A father and son from Iran led American musicians in a hybrid session of traditional Iranian and classical Western music. Thirty-year-old Hafez Nazeri told CNN he was pleased to present "another dimension of Iran and Iranian culture to the Western people." Nazeri, who now lives in the United States, said, "We hear mostly about the other side -- bloodshed, chaos -- and I wanted to be able to present the reality of our culture, which is about peace and love and unity." Nearly 3,000 people, many of them Persians, flocked to Carnegie Hall for the concert. One patron said, "The message was completely obvious: Love all the way. Peace!" The Nazeris said it was an honor to be onstage at the historic music center. The younger Nazeri said his music might be able to bridge cultural divides between Iran and the United States. His father, Shahrem, still lives in Iran. Speaking in Farsi, the man known as the Iranian Pavarotti talked about the demonstrations that followed June's disputed Iranian presidential election. The tenor said some of the people in the streets are "requesting something, and I think it's important to answer to their requests. The government should answer to their requests and they have to see what their people want." The Nazeris are two of the few Iranian musicians allowed to freely travel and perform in Iran. Western-style popular music is banned in Iran. With just a few musicians, they form a rare group, blending Persian traditional themes with Western classical style. It's very simple in presentation: a cello, percussion and an improvised setar -- a Persian instrument like a lute -- played by Hafez Nazeri. The Nazeris' music is based on the 13th-century Persian poet and philosopher Rumi. "The idea of the music is to bring unity and to be able to create a music that is not just for Iranians, it's for people from all over the world," the younger Nazeri said. Rachel Cooper, director of cultural programs and performing arts at the Asia Society, said, "You're seeing the Iranian culture and the Western culture in something that's a kind of hybrid, that I think represents the times that we live in." The Nazeris receive cultural support from the nonprofit New York-based Asia Society, Cooper told CNN. "We've been going through this time period where we've been thinking about the Berlin Wall coming down, and throughout that period of the Cold War, cultural relations were always a really important component. So I think that cultural relations -- music in particular -- are a really important part of how we know each other as human beings," Cooper said. The Nazeris have performed in cities across the United States in recent years.

Where did they play for enthusiastic crowd?

What type of music do Hafez Nazeri and Shahrem play?

Answer: at New York City's famed Carnegie Hall.

Answer: the 13th-century Persian poet and philosopher Rumi.

Answer: Rumi.

Answer: Carnegie Hall.

Answer: Carnegie Hall

Answer: hybrid session of traditional Iranian

Summary:
Hafez Nazeri and his father Shahrem play hybrid of Iranian and Western music .
They played for enthusiastic crowd at Carnegie Hall on Saturday night .
Son says he wants to show "another dimension of Iran ... to the Western people"
Nazeris' music based on 13th-century Persian poet and philosopher Rumi .


New York (CNN) -- Emmy-winning "Golden Girls" actress Rue McClanahan died of a stroke in a New York hospital early Thursday, her manager said. She was 76.

McClanahan, who suffered a cerebral hemorrhage last Monday, was surrounded by family when she died at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, according to manager Barbara Lawrence.

The actress' career began on the New York stage in the 1950s, but her long television career was first boosted when producer Norman Lear cast McClanahan in his hit CBS series "All in the Family" in 1971. She appeared in Lear's "Maude" a year later.

Her most memorable TV role was as Southern belle Blanche Devereaux on "The Golden Girls," which ran from 1985 through 1992. McClanahan won an Emmy for best lead actress in a comedy in 1987.

Betty White is the last surviving member of the four "Golden Girls" stars.

"Rue was a close and dear friend," White said Thursday. "I treasured our relationship. It hurts more than I even thought it would, if that's possible."

Estelle Getty passed away in 2008, and Bea Arthur died last year.

McClanahan requested that no funeral be held for her, but memorial services will be announced for later this summer in New York and Los Angeles, California, Lawrence said.

Fans can pay their respects online, a family statement said.

"Please join us in celebrating Rue's amazing life" by visiting a memorial page established for her on Facebook, the family said.

McClanahan's last comedic TV role was in an episode of Tyler Perry's "Meet the Browns," taped in 2009.

She carried the Devereaux character to three other TV series, including "The Golden Palace," "Empty Nest" and "Nurses."

She was married six times and had one child. Her son, Mark Bish, was born in 1958 during a brief first marriage.

Her present marriage to Morrow Wilson, starting in 1997, was her longest. Her book "My First Five Husbands ... And the Ones Who Got Away" was published in 2007.

McClanahan was born in Healdton, Oklahoma, on February 21, 1934, to parents with Scottish and native American heritage.

CNN's Jack Hannah contributed to this report.

What does Betty White say about Rue McClanahan?

Who is the last surviving "Golden Girls" star?

Answer: Rue McClanahan

Answer: "Rue

Answer: "I treasured our relationship. It hurts more than I even thought it would, if

Answer: "Rue was a close and dear friend,"

Answer: 1987.

Answer: Betty White

Answer: Rue McClanahan

Answer: McClanahan,

Summary:
"Rue was a close and dear friend," co-star Betty White says .
Rue McClanahan's family at hospital with star when she died .
McClanahan won an Emmy in 1987 .
White is last surviving "Golden Girls" star .


New York (CNN) -- Evelyn Lauder, a member of the Estee Lauder cosmetic company who helped create the pink ribbon symbol for breast cancer awareness, died Saturday in New York City.

She was 75.

Lauder died from complications of ovarian cancer at her home with her family by her side, the company said.

The Vienna, Austria, native fled Nazi-occupied Europe with her parents, eventually settling in New York City.

As a college freshman, she was introduced to the man she would marry, Leonard A. Lauder, the son of Estee and Joseph Lauder, who co-founded the cosmetics company.

Lauder joined the family business and rose to be senior corporate vice president and head of fragrance development worldwide.

Perhaps best known as an advocate for women's health, Lauder helped to create the pink ribbon, the now ubiquitous symbol for breast cancer awareness.

She is survived by her husband, two sons and five grandchildren.

"My mother carried the torch of our company heritage and the values that were passed to her by my grandmother, Mrs. Estee Lauder," her son, William Lauder, said in a statement.

"My mother and father were life partners as well as business partners. They nurtured the culture and growth of the Estee Lauder companies, and as we grew, my mother was our creative compass and pillar of strength. Together my family and the company celebrate the beautiful person she was."

What was Evelyn Lauder's cause of death?

Lauder helped create the pink ribbon as a symbol of what?

What kind of cancer did Evelyn Lauder have?

She is survived by her husband and how many sons?

Evelyn Lauder died from complications of what?

Answer: five

Answer: complications of ovarian cancer

Answer: pink ribbon symbol for breast cancer awareness,

Answer: Saturday

Answer: breast cancer awareness,

Answer: ovarian

Answer: complications of ovarian cancer

Answer: two

Answer: ovarian cancer

Summary:
Evelyn Lauder dies from complications of ovarian cancer .
Lauder helped create the pink ribbon as a symbol of breast cancer awareness .
She is survived by her husband, two sons and five grandchildren .


New York (CNN) -- Every year, beginning with the January birthday celebrations for the Rev. Martin Luther King and moving through Black History Month in February, Americans and others revisit the history, role and significance of the black freedom movement in the United States.

But there is a frequent tendency to misrepresent the lessons of that movement and apply them to other social movements overseas in a way that misses the mark. This has been happening increasingly with the historical lessons that are being misapplied to the Palestinian freedom movement.

It has become almost a cliché, yet people, including Irish rocker Bono, continue to wield King's name when they bemoan the alleged absence of his like among the Palestinians. It seems no matter what Palestinian activists do, they are condemned as terrorists.

Whether they are engaged in armed struggle or nonviolent direct action, it does not matter: Palestinian activists are often portrayed as extremists who threaten life and property. The obvious exceptions are those Palestinians who are prepared to accept whatever terms the United States insists upon for the resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

The recent arrests of Palestinian human rights activists Jamal Juma', Abdallah Abu Rahma, Ibrahim Amirah and Mohammed Othman are prime examples. Juma' and Othman were imprisoned without charge, Amirah faces charges of incitement, organizing illegal demonstrations, and stone-throwing, and Abu Rahma is confronted with a charge of "illegal weapons possession," apparently because a protest sign he created included a spent tear gas canister

In fact, they were imprisoned (Juma' was released on January  12 and Othman on January 13 after he was held nearly four months) not for firing missiles or ambushing Israeli troops, but for protesting what the International Court of Justice has called the illegal Israeli separation wall that carves up the West Bank and places Palestinian communities in an existence that recalls South African apartheid.

The systematic detention of such leaders has been condemned by Amnesty International, but the U.S. public is unlikely to get even a hint that the Israeli government is furthering its efforts to smash dissent in the occupied territories.

These recent crackdowns make even more ironic the hope expressed by Bono last month in The New York Times "that people in places filled with rage and despair, places like the Palestinian territories, will in the days ahead find among them their Gandhi, their King, their Aung San Suu Kyi." As a commenter on his column noted, these people exist today and have existed within the Palestinian movement. They are just in jail ... or dead.

Bassem Abu Rahme, for example, was killed by a teargas canister fired at close range by an Israeli soldier on April 17 while taking part in one of the weekly nonviolent protests that are regularly met with tear gas, billy clubs, rubber bullets and the threat of arrest.

I believe that Bassem, like many others, was following in Gandhi's path.

While it is certainly true that some of the protests by Palestinians are violent, the same could be said of the anti-colonial protests that took place on the Indian subcontinent against the British at the time of Gandhi. Gandhi certainly preached nonviolent direct action, yet there were others within the independence movement that advocated forceful courses of action.

Nevertheless, smearing or repressing all protests in the name of moving against those who use violence is disingenuous, a point well understood when viewing other freedom struggles, whether the Indian independence movement or the black freedom struggle in the United States. In fact, this repression becomes a means not of suppressing violence, but of suppressing all resistance to injustice. This is experienced today by the Palestinian movement.

Its objectives are caricatured and maligned by Israel in order to make the repression easier.

In this period -- from King's birthday through the celebrations and discussions that take place during Black History Month -- it is useful to recall similar treatment King and other freedom fighters endured, and reflect on the true lessons from his life and struggles that are relevant to the Palestinian struggle and its hopes for a lasting peace.

Despite King's acceptance now in mainstream circles, he was first and foremost a troublemaker in the cause of justice

What did Amnesty International denounce?

Answer: systematic detention of such leaders has been condemned

Answer: United States.

Summary:
Bill Fletcher says it is common to mistakenly bemoan lack of peaceful Palestinians .
He says Israel portrays nonviolent protests in West Bank as extremist .
Amnesty International has denounced crackdowns on nonviolent protest, he says .
Fletcher: Israel denies nonviolent activists so it can claim it has no partner for peace .


New York (CNN) -- Faisal Shahzad made a practice run in Manhattan the day before he allegedly tried to blow up a car bomb in Times Square, according to a law enforcement source with knowledge of his questioning.

Last Friday, Shahzad drove his white Isuzu from Connecticut through Times Square, where he staked out potential locations for the following night's planned attack, the source said. He then parked the Isuzu several blocks away from Times Square, though the precise location was unclear, and took a train back to Connecticut, the source said.

On Saturday night, with his recently acquired Nissan Pathfinder loaded with his makeshift explosives, Shahzad drove southbound along Manhattan's East River on FDR Drive to the 49th Street exit, the source said.

Shahzad then pulled over and reached into the Pathfinder's rear compartment where he attempted to set into motion the process needed to set off the homemade bomb, the source said.

The source, who did not explain how Shahzad had attempted to set off the bomb, said he then took a number of turns and wound up entering Times Square by driving south down Seventh Avenue. The source said Shahzad told investigators he turned right onto 45th Street toward Eighth Avenue because he saw a place to pull over.

It's unclear why Shahzad left the Pathfinder's engine running and hazard lights blinking.

But because of an incredible goof, Shahzad couldn't use his escape car. He had accidentally left the keys to that vehicle in the Pathfinder that he thought was about to blow up, the source said.

He apparently went to a train station, where he boarded a Metro North train back to Connecticut.

Another law enforcement source said investigators found a train receipt used by Shahzad that is stamped about 7 p.m., a half hour after a witness notified authorities that the car in Times Square was filing with smoke.

Sources say investigators believe he ran to catch the train that pulled out around 7 or 7:15 Saturday night.

The source added that police investigators have discovered a surveillance video of Shahzad walking in Shubert Alley -- which runs between 44th and 45th Streets just west of Broadway -- moments after witnesses saw the smoky SUV. In the video he is wearing a white baseball cap.

Efforts also continued Wednesday to determine what may have motivated Shahzad. An official familiar with the investigation said Wednesday that Shahzad felt Islam was under attack.

Any grudge Shahzad may have held against the United States appears to have developed recently, according to a senior U.S. official who is familiar with the investigation but not authorized to speak publicly.

The investigation has found nothing to indicate that Shahzad had any long-standing grudge or anger toward the United States, the official said.

"What we know is, the dynamic appeared to have changed in the last year," the official said.

Investigators have not determined whether Shahzad had any training from Pakistani groups in anything, the source said.

Additionally, the official suggested, detentions in Pakistan have been carried out to collect information and not because officials had reached any conclusions about their guilt or ties to any groups.

"They are reaching out to people, bringing them in and doing their due diligence, but 'arrest' suggests a strong connection to the guy. While anything is possible, they haven't arrived at any conclusion," the source said.

Authorities in Pakistan have rounded up a number of people for questioning, as U.S. law enforcement sought Wednesday to piece together the actions and motivations of Shahzad.

Iftikhar Mian, the father-in-law of Shahzad, and Tauseef Ahmed, Shahzad's friend, were picked up in Karachi, Pakistan, on Tuesday, two intelligence officials said.

An intelligence source said Wednesday that Muhammed Rehan, an associate of Shahzad, also was detained on Tuesday.

Rehan allegedly was instrumental in making possible a meeting between Shahzad and at least one senior Taliban official, a senior Pakistani official said Wednesday.

The official said that Rehan drove Shahzad on July 7 in a pickup truck to Peshawar, Pakistan. At some point, they headed to the Waziristan region, where they met with one or more

where did isuzu drive from day before planned attack?

what did official say about the dynamic?

What car was driven from connecticut to times square?

Who left the keys inside the pathfinder?

Answer: Connecticut through Times Square,

Answer: The investigation has found nothing to indicate that Shahzad had any long-standing grudge or anger toward the United States,

Answer: the

Answer: Shahzad

Answer: white Isuzu

Answer: Shahzad

Summary:
NEW: Isuzu driven from Connecticut to Times Square day before planned attack .
NEW: Shahzad accidently left keys to the Isuzu inside the bomb-laden Pathfinder .
Shahzad felt Islam was under attack, source says .
"The dynamic appeared to have changed in the last year," official says .


New York (CNN) -- For Kenny Ortega, Travis Payne and Michael Bearden, "It" is a bittersweet feeling. The three men expected to be spending their time this summer and fall working on Michael Jackson's concert engagement at London's O2 Arena, which was scheduled to begin in July. Instead, they are talking about Jackson's last days and the new movie about that time, "This Is It." In an interview, they described "This Is It," the movie that they've made from rehearsal and backstage footage of Jackson, shot just before he died June 25. The film, which has been dominating advance ticket sale outlets, opens wide on Wednesday. The full movie wasn't screened for critics, with only 12 minutes of footage available to the media before the interviews. But as  director Ortega describes it, the film tries to blend backstage footage with the performance to give an inside glimpse of those last days at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The scenes show the superstar working on his dance moves, figuring out choreography, practicing on stage and running the show. From the clips, there's no question that Jackson was in charge. His physicality is vibrant: At one point, he dances with a troupe of top-notch hoofers and keeps up with all of them. There's no indication of the infirmities that would ultimately take his life. All three men -- Payne was the show's choreographer and Bearden its music supervisor -- stressed how they wanted this movie to represent the Jackson they knew. "It was an honor project," Bearden said. According to Ortega, the film is for the fans. He said he was inundated with e-mails from fans wanting to know just what Jackson had planned for the concerts he would never give. Above all, they said they were concerned about Jackson's three children. They said that they wanted to make a film that his kids -- Prince Michael, Paris and "Blanket" -- would be able to see in years to come that would make them proud of their father. Though the men acknowledged a heavy responsibility, there were light moments during the interviews. Payne and Bearden both smiled as they talked about working for the King of Pop and how he'd try to tell people what he wanted. "I know you mean well, but ...," Jackson would say as he corrected colleagues, they recalled. But all of them talked about he emotional toll that making this film has taken on them. There were "a lot of tissue moments on this film," Bearden said. Watch a former Jackson guitarist reflect on his career Ortega added that he didn't know whether he could handle the emotional stress involved in making this movie so quickly. Ultimately, according to Ortega, the movie proved to be cathartic. "I thought I'd collapse," Ortega said. "I thought I'll never get through it, it's too hard, it's too soon, but in fact it was healing and helpful." He hopes Jackson's fans will feel the same way.

Production was for the fans but especially for Jackson's what ?

What film is currently dominating ticket sales?

What film is dominating advance ticket sales?

Was the production more for the fans or Jackson's children?

Which Michael Jackson concert film, is dominating advance ticket sales ?

Answer: the fans.

Answer: three children.

Answer: "This Is It,"

Answer: "This Is It,"

Answer: kids

Answer: "This Is It."

Summary:
"This Is It," Michael Jackson concert film, is dominating advance ticket sales .
Film was tough to make, musician's colleagues say .
Production was for the fans but especially for Jackson's children .
"American Morning" looks at the value of Michael Jackson's estate Monday 6 a.m. ET .