Reports: Brett Favre Being Sued – Join the Live Chat
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Tonight on 360° we have breaking news on NFL star quarterback Brett Favre. There are reports he's being sued by former massage therapists for the N.Y. Jets. We'll have the latest. Plus, the investigation on those raunchy videos taped aboard a U.S. Navy battleship. And, see who we added to our 'Ridiculist.'
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.
Here are some of them:
1) Keep it short (we don't have time to read a "book")
2) Don't write in ALL CAPS (there's no need to yell)
3) Use your real name (first name only is fine)
4) No links
5) Watch your language (keep it G-rated; PG at worst - and that includes $#&*)
Falling birds likely died from massive trauma
CNN Wire Staff
(CNN) - The thousands of birds that fell from the sky just before midnight New Year's Eve in Arkansas likely died from massive trauma, according to a preliminary report released Monday.
The birds - most of which were dead when they were found - were red-winged blackbirds and starlings, and they were found within a one-mile area of Beebe, about 40 miles northeast of Little Rock, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission said.
Keith Stephens, a spokesman for the commission, said the birds showed evidence of trauma in the breast tissue, with blood clots in the body cavity and a lot of internal bleeding. All major organs were normal.
He cited a preliminary report conducted by the Arkansas Livestock and Poultry Commission.
"Further tests will be done to rule out other causes, but the birds suffered from acute physical trauma leading to internal hemorrhage and death. There was no sign of any chronic or infectious disease," the report said, according to the game and fish commission.
As of Saturday, between 4,000 and 5,000 birds had been found dead, said Stephens.
Tonight: Text 360°
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AC360°
Tuesday the preliminary hearing begins in the involuntary manslaughter case against Dr. Conrad Murray, the doctor who was treating Michael Jackson at the time of his death.
Related: Judge approves residue testing in Jackson doctor's defense
Tonight on AC360°, CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta and In Session's Sunny Hostin will discuss the case. What questions do you have for them?
Send us a text message with your question. Text AC360 (or 22360), and you might hear it on air!
Beat 360° 1/3/11
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:
Former Baywatch star David Hasselhoff patrols the beach to promote the new "Splice Real Fruit" ice block at Bondi Beach on January 3, 2011 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo credit: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)
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.
Update: Beat 360° Winners:
Staff
Joey Gardner
"Even a crew of lifeguards couldn’t save Hasselhoff’s sinking reality show ratings."
Viewer
Kimberly
"Blonde: 'He's still got money right?'
Brunette: 'Dear God, I hope so.'"
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Letters to the President: #714 'Cancel that booking'
Tom Foreman | BIO
AC360° Correspondent
Reporter's Note: President Obama is a great reader, but in Washington it’s just impossible to keep up with all the writing that is going on. Not that you’d want to…unless we’re talking about my daily letters.
Dear Mr. President,
I don’t know precisely how it starts, but sometime around the first week of January each year a great number of unwanted books gather on tables in common areas around our office. They are all brand new, all put there to be taken by whomever, and usually the great bulk of them stays right there until one night the Building Services people haul them away en masse.
And I say, “Good riddance.”
Those words may surprise you, as they would have surprised me before I moved to Washington. As a true book lover I long thought that there could be no such thing as a useless book. Certainly if someone took the time to set his or her ideas onto paper, and someone else deemed them worthy of publication, then the result had to be respectable.
Not so. Most of the books I am citing were not purchased, but were sent to various reporters, producers, photographers and editors here in hopes of scoring a guest slot for the author on one of our programs. And the vast majority are just awful. The biggest category is sheer propaganda: Books propped up by partisans on the left and/or right who supposedly offer a fair and scholarly analysis of some pressing concern. Health care, the deficit, the electoral process, the census, economics, green energy, and bear attacks. With few exceptions, they are tilted farther to one side than my Great Uncle Jake on his way home from a bender.
FULL POST
Navy opens investigation into raunchy videos
Barbara Starr
CNN Pentagon Correspondent
Washington (CNN) - The Navy has opened an investigation into how a series of raunchy videos, full of sexual innuendo and anti-gay remarks, were produced and shown to the crew of the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise while on deployment supporting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Navy spokesman Cmdr. Chris Sims said the videos, which were shown to the crew in 2006 and 2007, are "inappropriate."
Excerpts from the videos and descriptions of their content were first published Saturday by The Virginian-Pilot newspaper in Norfolk, Virginia.
The videos on the paper's website, reviewed by CNN, feature a man identified by two Navy officials and The Virginian-Pilot as Capt. Owen Honors, who at the time was the executive officer, or second-in-command, of the Enterprise. He recently took command of the carrier, winning one of the most coveted assignments in the U.S. Navy, which has only 11 aircraft carriers.
Navy investigating lewd videos
Honors is shown cursing along with other members of his staff in an attempt to demonstrate humor, according to videos. There are also anti-gay slurs, simulated sex acts, and what appear to be two female sailors in a shower together.
The investigation was ordered Friday by Adm. John Harvey, the four-star head of the Navy's Fleet Forces Command, after the videos were detailed in The Virginian-Pilot. The paper also posted a link to some of the material, but edited it so that expletives were censored and some identities of junior Navy crew were disguised.
CNN left a message for Honors on Saturday. The Virginian-Pilot said he did not respond to requests for comment.
GOPer calls Obama administration 'corrupt'
Gabriella Schwarz
CNN
(CNN) – The incoming House Oversight and Government Reform chairman on Sunday tried to clarify his recent remarks to Rush Limbaugh where he called President Obama "one of the most corrupt presidents in modern times."
Rep. Darrell Issa said he meant to say the Obama administration instead of the president.
"When you hand out $1 trillion in TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) just before this president came in, most of it unspent, $1 trillion nearly in stimulus, that this president asked for, plus this huge expansion in health care and government, it has a corrupting effect," Issa said on CNN's "State of the Union."
Palin in 2012: Can she win or can't she?
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Alexander Mooney
CNN Ticker Producer
(CNN) – With the Republican presidential race expected to officially gear up in the coming weeks, Sunday brought divergent predictions from two prominent Republicans on just how viable a Sarah Palin candidacy could be.
The divergent opinions are illustrative of the ongoing debate within the Republican Party – especially between the new and old guard – over whether Palin will prove to be more of a force for good or bad in the coming months as the party sets its sights on ensuring President Obama is limited to one term.
Speaking on ABC's This Week, longtime conservative columnist George Will ruled out any possibility the former Alaska governor could be victorious in a general election contest, which is usually decided by swing suburban voters who hold more moderate positions than those that Palin espouses.
"The president's secret weapon may be the Republican nominating electorate," he said. There is one person, high in the polls, Sarah Palin, who cannot be elected president because she cannot compete where elections are decided. In the collar counties outside Chicago, Montgomery County outside of Philadelphia- just can't compete there."
Will is placing his bet on outgoing Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, should he decide to run.
New congressman wants more time in Washington
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CNN Wire Staff
Washington (CNN) - Last year's midterm elections swept some tea partiers into Congress, and some of the new lawmakers are not wasting time making their voices heard.
Before the new Congress has even convened, Rep.-elect Allen West, R-Florida, is taking aim at incoming House Majority Leader Eric Cantor.
The issue is over how much time has been scheduled for lawmakers to be in Washington compared to their home districts.
Cantor has scheduled ample time for congressmen to spend time back home, but West disagrees, calling the schedule "disconcerting."
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