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Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/video/cnbc/52491381/
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Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Monday, July 15, 2013
Factbox: Trials that captivated U.S. public over past decade
(Reuters) - Millions of Americans followed the televised trial of George Zimmerman, who was acquitted on Saturday of murdering unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin, a shooting death that sparked a national debate over race and gun rights. Here are 10 other trials that have gripped the American public in the past decade:
* Casey Anthony: Many television viewers were transfixed by the seven-week murder trial in 2011 of 25-year-old Casey Anthony, accused of the 2008 killing of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee. Anthony initially told police the toddler had been kidnapped by a nanny, triggering a nationwide search. Six months later, the child's skeletal remains were found with duct tape dangling from her skull in woods near the young mother's Florida home. The jury found Anthony not guilty, sparing her a possible death penalty and triggering a public outcry.
* Conrad Murray: The late pop star Michael Jackson's personal doctor was accused of giving the "Thriller" singer a fatal dose of the powerful anesthetic propofol - normally used in surgery - that was ruled the main cause of the celebrity's death on June 25, 2009. His six-week trial captivated Jackson fans around the world. Prosecutors argued Murray was grossly negligent in administering the propofol to help Jackson sleep. Defense attorneys said Jackson delivered the fatal dose to himself. In November 2011, the jury found Murray guilty of involuntary manslaughter. He was sentenced to a four-year prison term.
* Phil Spector: Another legal spectacle was the trial of Spector, an eccentric music producer, in the shooting death of Lana Clarkson, 40, a B-movie actress. Clarkson died of a shot to the mouth, fired from Spector's gun in the foyer of his home outside Los Angeles on February 3, 2003. The two met hours earlier at a Hollywood nightclub. The man once revered for revolutionizing pop music in the 1960s with his layered "Wall of Sound" production technique was found guilty of second-degree murder. He was sentenced to 19 years in prison in May 2009.
* Scott Peterson: Reporting his pregnant wife, Laci, missing from the home they shared in Modesto, California, on December 24, 2002, Peterson told police he had gone fishing in San Francisco Bay early that morning and returned to find her gone. Her body and that of her unborn child washed ashore the following April. In a sensational 2004 trial, prosecutors argued that the 40-year-old former fertilizer salesman had suffocated or strangled his wife on Christmas Eve or the night before and dumped her body in the bay, weighting it so it would not surface. A jury convicted him of murdering his wife and unborn son and sentenced him to death.
* Michael Jackson: The pop singer went on trial in 2005 on charges of molesting a 13-year-old boy in 2003, as well as conspiring to abduct the boy. The singer faced nearly 20 years in prison if convicted. Jackson abandoned his "Dangerous" world tour during the media frenzy over the allegations. The four-month trial ended in June 2005 with Jackson being acquitted of all charges.
* Martha Stewart: During a highly publicized six-week jury trial, the home design guru was accused of insider trading for her December 2001 sale of 4,000 shares of a pharmaceutical company's stock worth $79 million. She was convicted in 2004 on charges of conspiracy, obstruction of justice and making false statements, along with her stockbroker, Peter Bacanovic, who was convicted on four of five counts against him. Stewart served five months in prison and nearly six months of house arrest starting in October 2004.
* Rod Blagojevich: Television cameras were trained for months on the disgraced Illinois governor, including his impeachment trial proceedings and his trial on corruption charges for trying to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by then President-elect Barack Obama and for using his office to extort campaign contributions and jobs for himself and his wife. Blagojevich's arrest marked the start of a national campaign to proclaim his innocence, with appearances on television talk and entertainment shows, even as a contestant on Donald Trump's "Celebrity Apprentice." Countless TV and radio interviews later, Blagojevich was convicted of multiple corruption counts and sentenced in December 2011 to 14 years in prison. Blagojevich became the fourth former Illinois governor to be convicted of criminal charges since 1973, and received the longest sentence.
* Lewis "Scooter" Libby: A former chief of staff for Vice President Dick Cheney, Libby was on trial in a case that fueled debate over the Iraq war and revealed the inner workings of the White House under the George W. Bush administration. The trial sparked a national outcry over flawed intelligence on weapons of mass destruction, the failure to contain a violent insurgency, and prisoner abuses during the Iraq invasion. Libby ultimately was convicted of obstructing a CIA leak probe and was sentenced in 2007 to 30 months in prison. Bush later that year commuted Libby's sentence.
* Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling: In one of the most notorious white-collar trials of the past decade, former Enron Corp Chief Executive Jeffrey Skilling was convicted in May 2006 of 19 counts of conspiracy, securities fraud, insider trading and lying to auditors for his role in maintaining a facade of success as Enron's $100 billion energy business crumbled. His 24-year prison term has been reduced and he could be free in 2017. Enron founder Kenneth Lay also was found guilty of multiple counts of conspiracy and fraud. He died of heart failure six weeks after the trial ended.
* John Allen Muhammad: Aided by a teenage accomplice, Gulf War veteran Muhammad carried out sniper sprees that killed 10 people and terrified many others in the Washington region in 2002. They had cut a hole in the back of a 1990 Chevrolet Caprice and fired rifle shots from the trunk of the car, authorities said. Muhammad shot people who were going about the ordinary tasks of daily life in places like gas stations, shopping mall parking lots and outside restaurants and schools, in attacks that garnered intense media coverage and spread panic in and around the U.S. capital a year after the September 11, 2001, attacks. Muhammad was convicted in 2003 and executed in 2009.
(Reporting by Francesca Trianni; Editing by Barbara Goldberg and Peter Cooney)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/factbox-trials-captivated-u-public-over-past-decade-032807321.html
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Halle Berry ties knot at French chateau
PARIS (AP) ? Halle Berry married her fianc?, French actor Olivier Martinez, in a weekend ceremony in a village church where princes are buried in France's Burgundy region.
The owner of the Chateau de Vallery, where the couple stayed with their 60 guests, said on Sunday that the betrothal a day earlier ended with a dinner and an unusual fireworks display ? of water, fire and snow ? in the chateau gardens. A wedding cake followed.
Patrice Vansteenberghe said the actress ? 46 and pregnant ? and her 47-year-old husband "were very beautiful and very happy."
Berry's publicist, Meredith O'Sullivan Wasson, confirmed the marriage.
Vansteenberghe would not say who attended the gala wedding. But he said the bride was coy about her long, white dress, wanting to keep it from public view.
"All I can say is that it was a dress with a deeply plunging back," Vansteenberghe said. He added that The event was "confidential" because "she wanted to be left alone on the day of her marriage."
Berry, who has a five-year-old daughter, is expecting her first child with Martinez. While there was no sign of a baby bump when The Associated Press interviewed the Oscar-winning star in early April, Vansteenberghe said that "she is very pregnant."
The princes and princesses of the Conde line from the 16th to early 18th century, are buried in the church facing the chateau and its chapel until the late 19th century, when it was given to the village of Vallery.
The couple apparently spent two days at the Chateau de Vallery ? the standard rental period for weddings and other grand events, the owner said.
Vansteenberghe noted that the chateau's pigeon room, an outbuilding once used to house pigeons, is a preferred room for newly married couples, but he hedged about whether Berry and Martinez stayed there.
The oldest part of the chateau dates to the Middle Ages, but much of it was built during the Renaissance.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/halle-berry-ties-knot-french-chateau-163642143.html
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Huntingdon, Que. mayor says he enjoys killing stray cats
After saying over the airwaves of a French-language radio station that he enjoyed killing stray cats, Huntingdon, Que. mayor St?phane Gendron once again landed himself in hot water.
"If a stray cat is in the street, BANG, I accelerate," he exclaimed while laughing on Radio X, where he moonlights as a shock-jock.
"The other day, I backed up over a one that had just come into the world. I'm sure it didn?t feel anything. I was very happy. Yes!" he continued.
Gendron called strays a public nuisance and continued to describe the sadistic ways he employs to get rid of them.
He issued an open letter on the website of CHOI, the radio station he works for, apologizing and saying the terms he used may have been inappropriate considering the subject. He also said that he meant the comments to be perceived with a tone of "black humour". However, he didn't deny his previous comments and didn't clarify whether the statements were true or false.
The mayor of the small town about 75 kilometres from Montreal has made controversial statements in the past, particularly anti-Israel ones made in Jan. 2012. It wasn't the first time the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council had to investigate Gendron's on-air comments ? it ruled he violated the broadcasting code of ethics in 2006 for comments he made related to a child pornography case.
The Montreal SPCA is investigating Gendron's most recent claims. Spokeswoman Alanna Devine said they haven't been able to speak to the Huntingdon mayor yet, though the SPCA is encouraging residents to call for his resignation.
"This is really very disturbing to hear," she said.
"Those comments and supposed acts coming from somebody ? from anybody, but particularly from someone who is a public figure and an elected official of a municipality."
The SPCA is asking people to lodge complaints with the CRTC and Radio X.
Gendron did not return CBC News reporters' request for interviews.
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Sunday, July 14, 2013
AT&T to pay hefty $1.2 billion for Leap in latest telco deal
By Jennifer Saba and Nicola Leske
NEW YORK (Reuters) - AT&T Inc will buy Leap Wireless International Inc for $1.19 billion, paying almost double the current value of the prepaid mobile service provider as major U.S. carriers scramble to acquire valuable wireless spectrum.
The No. 2 U.S. carrier is offering $15 a share in cash - an 88 percent premium to Leap's Friday close of $7.98 - to seal the latest of a wave of acquisitions to emerge from a telecoms sector struggling to expand network capacity, as use of bandwidth-hungry smartphones and tablets explodes.
The deal's announcement comes days after Softbank's acquisition of Sprint. No. 4 U.S. mobile operator T-Mobile USA merged in April with smaller rival MetroPCS.
While Leap was one of the last obvious acquisition targets, some analysts and investors are hoping to see another deal involving T-Mobile. Analysts say Sprint could be a keen buyer but such a combination may raise antitrust concerns.
The No. 4 carrier is also considered satellite TV operator Dish Network Corp's last hope if it wants to buy a nationwide wireless network for its airwaves.
And Verizon Communications has been looking to buy out the 45 percent of Verizon Wireless - the No. 1 U.S. carrier - now owned by Vodafone Group Plc.
"The next wave of consolidation is beginning in wireless. This deal ... is an example of such a deal that not only helps AT&T get their hands on more spectrum, customers and revenues, but also further consolidates the industry," said independent telecoms analyst Jeff Kagan.
"Expect to see more deals with Verizon, Sprint and others."
Leap's shares more than doubled to $17 in after-hours trade.
Under the deal, Leap cannot solicit rival bids but AT&T has the right to match rival offers that surface. Also, the companies said Leap shareholders will get the proceeds from a future sale of spectrum in Chicago that Leap bought from AT&T in 2012 for $204 million.
AT&T said it would keep Leap's Cricket brand name.
Including the assumption of debt, the deal would valued at about $4 billion. Under their agreement, AT&T gets all of Leap's stock and about 5 million subscribers for $15 per share in cash or about $1.2 billion. As of April 15, Leap had $2.8 billion in debt, the companies said in a statement.
At the end the of the first quarter, $19 billion hedge fund Paulson & Co owned 7.8 million shares or just shy of 10 percent of Leap Wireless, according to a regulatory filing.
SECOND TIME LUCKY
As the No. 2 wireless provider in the United States, AT&T has been looking to grow in a mature market and has been urgently seeking access to additional wireless spectrum. It held talks to buy Leap last year, Reuters reported.
It has been looking at opportunities to expand overseas in parts of Europe, according to sources familiar with the matter. The theory is that there is more growth left in data services in some European markets than in the United States.
On top of additional airwaves the deal will substantially increase the prepaid base at AT&T. Of its roughly 107 million wireless customers, only 7 million are prepaid. Leap has 5 million prepaid customers.
On Friday, options volume on Leap surged. Of particular interest were the upside $9 strike calls; in after hours trading those calls were worth 70 times their initial purchased price, based on a stock price at $16.00.
"It looks pretty clear than somebody caught wind of the deal," said Trade Alert president Henry Schwartz.
Two years ago, AT&T struck a deal to buy T-Mobile for $39 billion, but U.S. regulators blocked their attempt to merge.
The Justice Department is unlikely to block AT&T this time round on antitrust grounds, because Leap isn't a major operator, said an antitrust expert who declined to be named because he had not had a chance to determine conflicts. The smaller firm has about 7 million subscribers, versus AT&T's over 100 million.
But he noted that Leap did have a reputation as a maverick, pushing down prices. "From a consumer point of view, it's probably kind of a shame. Once it's under the control of AT&T that one restraint on the market is gone," he said.
Based in San Diego, Leap's network covers about 96 million people and operates under the Cricket brand. AT&T said it will retain the brand and expand its presence in the United States.
The deal is expected to close in nine months and is subject to regulatory review. Leap said Lazard served as its sole financial adviser, while AT&T's adviser was Evercore.
"It's Leap's only alternative. Continuing as an independent company is not a viable option for Leap at this point," said Todd Rethemeier, an analyst with Hudson Square Research.
(Additional reporting by Sinead Carew and Katya Wachtel in New York, Diane Bartz in Washington; Doris Frankel in Chicago and Neha Alawadhi in Bangalore; Editing by Bernard Orr and Eric Walsh)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/t-pay-hefty-1-2-billion-leap-latest-012321566.html
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HBT: Davis in elite crew after 35th pre-ASG HR
With a second-inning, game-tying, two-run home run off of Blue Jays lefty Mark Buehrle tonight, Orioles first baseman Chris Davis upped his total to 35 on the season, becoming the fourth player to go into the All-Star break with at least 35 dingers. He joins Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, and Reggie Jackson on the short list, according to ESPN Stats & Info. The Orioles, by the way, went on to win 8-5.
Miguel Cabrera logged his 95th RBI of the season tonight and moved his average up to .367, both league-leading totals. Davis, however, leads him in home runs 35 to 30 as the Tigers third baseman attempts to go back-to-back with the Triple Crown.
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Washington's newest power couple: Max and Dave
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- Welcome to the "Max and Dave Show," a campaign-style swing around the country featuring two of the most powerful members of Congress rallying support for their effort to overhaul the nation's tax laws - and, just maybe, change the way Washington works.
Sen. Max Baucus, a Democrat from Montana, and Rep. Dave Camp, a Republican from Michigan, are Washington's newest power couple - and an odd one during these politically deadlocked days in Washington. They are lawmakers of different states, different parties and they're a decade in age apart. Yet, Camp and Baucus are developing a close friendship as they try to rally other lawmakers to their cause.
Their secret: Burgers, beer and a culture of working toward public policy answers that Americans seem to want in Washington - even when there's no solution in sight.
"Dave's my buddy," Baucus told a gathering of workers at 3M, the Minnesota-based maker of everything from Scotch tape to electronic touch screens. "My comrade."
These days, you don't often hear Democrats talk that way about Republicans, or see campaign-style events for a topic as dry as tax reform. But the pair have a common goal for an overhaul they believe is long overdue. And tax policy, to them, is exciting for all that is wrong and could be improved about it. So beginning last week in Minnesota, Baucus and Camp began barnstorming the country, employing a similar burgers-and-beer strategy that's worked for them with colleagues in Washington.
"You have to have some basis to deal with each other to work together," Camp said in an interview. "What we're trying to do is create that foundation so that we are going to be able to work together on a very important bill that could have profound beneficial effects for the country."
At issue is a tax system that many inside and outside of Congress say is too complicated for individuals and too onerous for businesses. The broad goal of tax reform is to simplify the code by eliminating or reducing tax breaks and using the additional revenue to lower tax rates for everyone.
Lawmakers in both political parties are convinced that simpler, easier-to-understand tax laws would spur economic activity. One problem is that many of the biggest tax breaks, including those for owning a home or contributing to retirement plans, are very popular.
And there are significant differences among Democrats and Republicans over how much tax revenue the government should raise and who should pay it. Democrats generally want reform to generate more revenue; most Republicans in Congress are opposed to raising taxes.
Camp and Baucus also are working in a toxic partisan environment in Washington that makes it difficult for Congress to pass routine legislation, let alone a monumental package like tax reform.
"I don't see how we get anywhere, candidly," said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who is up for re-election in Kentucky next year.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid wasn't much more optimistic. "We're a long way from getting something on paper as to what we're going to go forward on," Reid said.
Still, Baucus and Camp are pressing forward.
Camp, 60, grew up in Midland, Mich., and was first elected to the House in 1990. A close ally of House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, Camp chairs the House Ways and Means Committee, which has authority over tax laws.
Its Senate counterpart is the Finance Committee, chaired by the 71-year-old Baucus. For him, it's legacy time. Baucus grew up on a ranch near Helena, Mont., was elected to the Senate in 1978 and has become an independent voice generally more conservative than many of his Democratic colleagues. He's announced plans to retire next year, and tax reform would be his swan song.
Face time is key to the effort in Washington and beyond.
The Montana senator says he is on track to meet individually with every member of the Senate by the end of the month. Camp is trying to forge bipartisan relationships on the Ways and Means Committee by pairing small groups of Republicans and Democrats to develop options for addressing different parts of the tax law.
Every few weeks, Baucus and Camp invite about a dozen lawmakers to lunch at a Capitol Hill pub, always a mix of Democrats and Republicans, senators and House members.
Camp and Baucus have dubbed their lunches "burgers and beer," and the location - a pub called Kelly's Irish Times - has historic significance. Former Sen. Bob Packwood, R-Ore., is credited with helping to rescue the 1986 tax reform package with a plan he devised over two pitchers of beer at the pub. At the time, Packwood was chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, a position now held by Baucus.
"Part of it is, we've been so polarized in this town, this Congress for so many years, many of us don't know each other," Baucus said. "A burger and beers makes a lot more sense to me than a fancy dinner."
Camp and Baucus have held two lunches so far. The latest was Tuesday, and Rep. Lynn Jenkins, R-Kansas, was there. She said Camp and Baucus are setting a good example for other lawmakers.
"There was a time when members of Congress moved their families to Washington, and they got to know each other. Their kids went to school together, they went to church together, they socialized together," Jenkins said. "We don't do that anymore. Our constituents demand that we be in church with them on Sunday."
Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., was at the lunch, too.
"It's when preparation meets opportunity that something can happen, and that preparation just happens to coincide with knowing your colleagues," Larson said. "And knowing them not like, `Hey, let's go out and have a beer.' I'm talking about knowing them in terms of going through what the issues are."
Camp says he is committed to passing a tax reform bill out of the Ways and Means Committee by the end of the year. There is no guarantee the full House would vote on a bill. But Boehner has signaled his support for the effort by reserving the prestigious bill number HR 1 for a tax overhaul measure.
In the Senate, Baucus is teaming with Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, to write a new tax code, almost from scratch. Instead of trying to figure out which tax breaks to scrap, Baucus and Hatch are starting with a blank slate and inviting other senators to make the case for restoring various deductions, credits and exemptions.
In a question-and-answer session with 3M workers, Fred Palensky, the company's chief technology officer, hit on a theme that Baucus and Camp will have to deal with.
Palensky said he has met with members of Congress in the past and, on an individual basis, they seem like reasonable, sensible people. What happens to them when they get together back in Washington? Palensky asked Camp and Baucus.
"We're trying to break, frankly, the Washington method of operation," Baucus said. "Most people in the country want us to work together. Not the Washington way, which is gridlock, but the American way, which is work together and get things done."
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Follow Stephen Ohlemacher on Twitter: http://twitter.com/stephenatap
Source: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_TAX_REFORM?SITE=INELK&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
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