South Park Vs. Radical Muslims: Join the Live Chat
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A radical Muslim website warns the creators of "South Park" and Comedy Central. Plus, the latest on the travel chaos linked to the eruption of a volcano in Iceland. Some travelers are finally on the move, but there are new fears tonight on the situation.
Want to know what else we're covering? Read EVENING BUZZ
Scroll down to join the live chat during the program. It's your chance to share your thoughts on tonight's headlines. Keep in mind, you have a better chance of having your comment get past our moderators if you follow our rules.
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Michael Douglas: 'I love my son, but I'm not blind to his actions'
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Gabriel Falcon
AC360° Writer
In a personal handwritten plea, Michael Douglas asked a judge to show mercy on his son, Cameron Douglas.
“I love my son, but I’m not blind to his actions,” wrote the actor, “I do believe out of this adversity he will be a positive citizen.”
Cameron Douglas could have received a 10-year prison sentence for possessing and distributing methamphetamine and cocaine.
But today, Federal Circuit Court Judge Richard Berman sentenced him to five years behind bars. He will also get five additional years of parole.
Michael Douglas’ letter was released to the public by the court earlier today. Douglas' Letter to the Judge
For more crime coverage go to cnn.com/crime.
Justice Stevens will be hard act to follow
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Donna Brazile
CNN Contributor
Campaign finance reform advocates will lose a great hero when Justice John Paul Stevens retires from the Supreme Court. As the last remaining World War II veteran in such a place of eminence, he brings an invaluable perspective to the bench.
Like Justice Sonia Sotomayor, although for different reasons, Justice Stevens knows history and has a background no other justice can claim. Veterans of any war have an experience of the world that is valuable to share. John Paul Stevens will be missed, and his service cherished.
Stevens understood that the court's opinions would have ramifications for the rule of law, but also for real people. This realistic approach led him to write and join opinions restricting the application of the death penalty to youth and the mentally disabled. Stevens also wrote the dissenting opinion in Bush v. Gore (2000), a decision I know all too well having served as Vice President Al Gore's campaign manager.
Beat 360° 4/20/10
Ready for today's Beat 360°? Everyday we post a picture you provide the caption and our staff will join in too. Tune in tonight at 10pm to see if you are our favorite! Here is the 'Beat 360°' pic:
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner (L) talks with Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Ben Bernanke while testifying before the House Financial Services Committee about the collapse of Lehman Brothers April 20, 2010 in Washington, DC.
Have fun with it. We're looking forward to your captions! Make sure to include your name, city, state (or country) so we can post your comment.
Beat 360° Winners:
Staff:
Steve Brusk
"Psst, Ben. You REALLY think we look like Toby and Josh from The West Wing?"
Viewer:
Kara, Charlottesville
"So, I am going with "volcanic ash" as the cause of the collapse. Think they'll buy it?"
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Latest updates on volcano and air travel
CNN Wire Staff
Weather conditions aren't set to change over Europe until Friday, meaning the volcanic ash may linger over the continent until then, a spokeswoman from Britain's weather service, the Met Office, said Tuesday.
Starting Friday, southwesterly winds will start taking the ash away from the United Kingdom, the spokeswoman told CNN.
About 14,000 flights were expected to operate in European airspace Tuesday - half of scheduled air traffic, according to Eurocontrol, the intergovernmental body that manages European air travel.
The AHA Foundation
Program Note: Don't miss Anderson's conversation with Ayaan Hirsi Ali tonight on AC360° at 10 p.m. ET.
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AC360°
In response to ongoing abuses of women's rights in the name of fundamentalist Islam, Ayaan Hirsi Ali and her supporters established the AHA Foundation in 2007 to help protect and defend the rights of women in the West against militant Islam.
Through education, outreach and the dissemination of knowledge, the Foundation aims to combat several types of crimes against women, including female genital mutilation, forced marriages, honor violence, and honor killings.
The Foundation is opposed to the adoption of dual legal systems to adjudicate family disputes in religious families and supports the separation of all religions and the State.
Addiction: Where to go for help
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AC360°
A judge sentenced actor Michael Douglas' son Cameron to five years in prison Tuesday for selling cocaine and methamphetamine.
Cameron Douglas, 31, was arrested July 2009 at the Manhattan Club in New York City and later pleaded guilty to drug charges.
Michael Douglas and his wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones, wrote letters to the judge urging him to consider the 31-year-old's "positive attributes" and citing the family's history of addiction.
This made us start thinking more about addiction and how family members can be affected.
Addiction happens when a person compulsively uses a substance or engages in a behavior despite negative and sometimes dangerous effects. Sometimes addiction comes with physical dependence, which means a person's body needs a substance to function. Psychological dependence and physical dependence don't always go hand in hand. Gambling is one example of a potential source of psychological dependence.
Learn more about addiction and resources for addicts here...
Catherine Zeta-Jones seeks leniency for convicted stepson
Sharon Cotliar
People.com
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As a federal judge weighs whether to send Cameron Douglas to prison for possibly 10 years or more, his stepmother Catherine Zeta-Jones hopes the judge will consider the 31-year-old's "positive attributes" along with the drug charges against him.
"As a mother to Cameron's half brother and sister, Dylan and Carys, I have seen Cameron be an exceptional brother to both," the Oscar-winning actress, 40, wrote to U.S. District Judge Richard Berman in one of more than two dozen letters from family members and friends in support of Cameron.
"Never, in my experience over the years, has Cameron shown any signs of the disease, that has tormented him, toward his siblings, or has [he] ever been abusive to us as a family at any time," she wrote.
Obama heckled over Don't Ask Don't Tell
Paul Steinhauser
CNN Deputy Political Director
Call it another sign of the frustration by opponents of "Don't Ask Don't Tell" over President Obama's efforts to repeal the controversial military policy.
Protesters interrupted Obama's speech Monday night in Los Angeles at a fundraiser for Sen. Barbara Boxer of California and the Democratic National Committee.
As the president was praising Boxer, a fellow Democrat and three term senator who is facing a tough re-election battle this year, demonstrators in the crowd interrupted, asking Obama what he is going to do about the policy – implemented during the Clinton administration – that prohibits gays and lesbians from openly serving in the country's armed forces.
Obama, who has called on Congress to lift the ban, responded by saying: "What the young man was talking about was we need to – we need to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," which I agree with and which we have begun to do."
