Byrd funeral scheduled for Tuesday
CNN Wire Staff
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Friends and family will say goodbye Tuesday to Sen. Robert Byrd, the longest-serving member of Congress who died last week at age 92.
An 11 a.m. ET funeral service is scheduled for Memorial Baptist Church in Arlington, Virginia, followed by a private graveside service at Columbia Gardens Cemetery, also in Arlington. Byrd will be buried alongside his wife Erma, who died in March 2006.
The couple will be moved later and reburied in West Virginia once family members determine a location.
Kyron Horman family Q & A
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Editor's Note: Kyron Horman, 7, went missing after Terri Horman dropped him off at school on June 4. The stepmother said she last saw Kyron walking down a hallway toward his second-grade classroom at Skyline Elementary School in Portland, according to the police.
Gabe Falcon
AC360° Writer
The family of Kyron Horman released answers to questions Monday submitted by members of the media. The response, which I've posted below, included new details on the investigation and on the day the boy disappeared.
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KYRON
How difficult was it to be without Kyron this 4th of July?
Desiree – It was very difficult. Kyron doesn’t like real loud noises and so he generally is kind of timid when it comes to celebrating the 4th of July, but the main thing that I missed was Kyron sitting on my lap for the entire show. I always tell him he is just making sure that I am not afraid, at least that is what I tell him when his 15 year old brother teases him about it.
Kaine – extremely difficult. He likes the lights and colors but not the noises and will often sit and watch with his ears covered. We have tried a few fireworks in the past but he definitely prefers watching them. Kyron enjoys the food/BBQ that we usually do and we usually play outside most of the day, which he loves to do.
What was planned for Kyron to be doing this week if he had not disappeared?
He was supposed to be in California on vacation with his dad visiting friends – swimming, BBQ’ing, playing mini-golf, going to the water slides, a possible trip to the races, visiting to Monterey, and watching fireworks/celebrating the 4th of July with everyone.
Are you worried Terri is becoming the story and not Kyron?
Our main goal is to keep Kyron in the front of everyone’s mind because we have a better chance of finding him. So we are constantly working to keep him the focus of the story and not Terri.
Help us understand why you remain so certain Kyron is alive?
We remain hopeful because we haven’t been given any information by law enforcement to indicate he isn’t still alive and therefore we will always expect that he will come home to us.
Queen Elizabeth to give rare speech to U.N.
CNN Wire Staff
Britain's Queen Elizabeth II will address the U.N. General Assembly Tuesday afternoon, her first speech there in more than 50 years.
The queen has addressed the General Assembly only once before, in 1957.
The queen will also visit Ground Zero on Tuesday evening to lay a wreath at the site of the September 11, 2001, terror attack.
She will address the United Nations in her capacity as head of state of 16 U.N. member states, the mission said in a news release.
Queen Elizabeth is head of state for the United Kingdom, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the Solomon Islands and Tuvalu.
The queen's July 6 speech comes at the conclusion of a trip to Canada with her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh.
Opinion: Why America needs to free itself from oil
Jonathan Powers
Special to CNN
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For two years in a row, I celebrated Independence Day in the oppressive heat of Iraq along with fellow soldiers. A few nonalcoholic beers and some locally grown watermelon were our replacement for hot dogs and potato salad.
This year, as Americans across the nation celebrate July Fourth with barbecues and fireworks, those most responsible for defending our independence, the military, will continue to fight two wars. And it is a shame that we will let yet another July Fourth pass us by without making substantial progress toward ending our unnecessary dependence on oil, a dependence that is funding the bullets that our enemies fire at our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
It is for that reason, and many more, that the fight for energy independence is being fought here at home, a struggle I hope more Americans will join in support of those who are fighting abroad.
Video: Where is the oil?
Randi Kaye | BIO
AC360° Correspondent
Letters to the President #533: 'Biden time'
Tom Foreman | BIO
AC360° Correspondent
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Reporter's Note: I have never before written so many letters to one person. Heck, I’ve never even kept a diary or journal for more than a couple of weeks. So, I’m just saying…well, I don’t know what I’m saying except here’s my latest letter to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Dear Mr. President,
Your Vice President, Joe Biden, has undeniably been something of a loose cannon since the day you took the oath; periodically going off-message like Robin Williams on a Late Show tear, flinging the odd profanity over the open mic like an unexpected firework, and generally making your press people twitchy.
Good. You need that. His lack of apparent calculation is refreshing against the backdrop of DC where it seems like every Tom, Dick, and Harry Reid weighs each public gesture and facial expression as if they are members of a Kabuki theater group. Which, I guess, they are.
In contrast, VP Biden’s visit to Iraq over the holiday weekend seemed to display interest in something more than just a photo op. Oh sure, there was plenty of gripping and grinning, but beyond that; he spoke firmly and passionately about the need for the Iraqis to form a successful government, and about the US commitment to withdraw combat troops while maintaining overall support for the efforts of Iraqis. (Although, I must say that has always been a little disingenuous. “Combat troops” is nothing but a tricky substitute for “some troops;” a slick way of getting around the earlier implication that you intended to get us out of that war altogether. The tens of thousand of troops who remain behind will still be in harm’s way, and will still have to fight if fighting comes around, and frankly to suggest that any American troop is not a “combat” person is an insult to all members of our military.)
Blimp expected to arrive to help track oil slick
CNN Wire Staff
A massive, silver-colored blimp is expected to arrive in the Gulf Coast Tuesday to aid in oil disaster response efforts.
The U.S. Navy airship will be used to detect oil, direct skimming ships and look for wildlife that may be threatened by oil, the Coast Guard said Monday.
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The 178-foot-long blimp, known as the MZ-3A, can carry a crew of up to 10. It will fly slowly over the region to track where the oil is flowing and how it is coming ashore.
The Navy says the advantage of the blimp over current helicopter surveillance operations is that it can stay aloft longer, with lower fuel costs, and can survey a wider area.
Sound Off: Your comments 7/5/10
Editor's Note: After Monday's show, feedback was primarily about the oil leak. Viewers continued to thank the team for focusing on the disaster in the Gulf. Viewers have many questions about the skimmers and what is being done with the oil that is being cleaned up. Kudos was heard for the “walk and talk with Jimmy Buffett.”
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I want to thank you so much for your good, honest work. My home town is Ft Walton Beach and I am devastated by the potential losses in the Panhandle. You are one of the few that are doing honest, unbiased reporting. I can't understand why the media can film celebrities on a private beach with a telephoto lens and it is okay, yet reporters are banned from 'real news'. What is wrong with this picture?? But once again, thank you and I will continue to watch to see what you have to say.
Thank you for the extensive coverage of the Gulf oil spill. I have questions about happens to the earth or "void" in the earth where the oil has come from? Does it cause the earth to shift? ie. quakes, sinkholes, etc.? I would love to see this subject covered. Thank you, Gulf Coast resident
I appreciate your show so much. Can you please look into where the oil that is being skimmed and the oiled picked up off the beaches...Where is it going? Is this an additional concern to this disaster?
Thanks to Anderson Cooper for not letting the oil spill just go away from the public eye. Since it is old news now, the other "news?" people have pushed the spill story down the list. You are a friend to the people of the gulf coast. Thanks from a Louisiana resident.
