Thursday, January 12, 2012

Today's Top 3 News Stories 1/12/2012


January 12, 2012 6:35 AM

1. Judge blocks controversial Miss. pardons

By
Jeff Glor
(CBS News) 
A Mississippi judge temporarily blocked the controversial release of 21 inmates pardoned by outgoing Gov. Haley Barbour.
On Tuesday, in one of his last acts in office, Barbour ordered the release of more than 200 prisoners in all, including some convicted killers.
And, reports "CBS This Morning" special correspondent Jeff Glor, the move has led to outrage.
It was Mississippi's attorney general, Democrat Jim Hood, who asked Circuit Judge Tomie Green to step in, arguing Barbour's eleventh-hour pardons violated the state constitution.
"Hopefully," an angry Hood told reporters, "it will be a lesson to any future governors that you just don't do this kind of thing. You've gotta read the law before you go out there and do something like that."
Relatives and friends of Tammy Gatlin, who was shot and killed by her husband David as she held her six-week old son, are among the stunned and angry constituents who opposed the pardons. David Gatlin, who is now free after serving 18 years of a life sentence, also shot Tammy's friend, Danny Walker, who survived.
"I think the governor himself will have to look me and the family in the eye and say, 'I'm going to let this guy go.' But there wasn't any of that. I think that's the coward's way out," Walker said.
Also pardoned: Ernest Scott Favre, the troubled brother of former NFL quarterback Brett Favre, convicted of manslaughter in 1997, when he drove drunk into the path of an oncoming train and killed his best friend.
State records show more than two dozen of the inmates released were convicted of murder, manslaughter, or homicide. Barbour knew at least four of them personally -- they worked in the governor's mansion.
Barbour gave no explanation when he issued the pardons. But the move was surprising for the governor and former head of the Republican National Committee, who has typically taken a tough stance on crime. In his eight years in office, he pardoned only five people and allowed nine executions to go forward.
Last night, Barbour released a statement defending his actions, saying, "approximately 90 percent of these individuals were no longer in custody, and a majority of them had been out for years."
This morning, some victims are living in fear.
"We've got our law enforcement officers out watching the ones that we think are a danger that have been released," said Hood.

January 11, 2012 9:28 PM

2. People's Choice Awards 2012: Katy Perry, "Harry Potter" win big

Topics
Television ,
Music ,
Movies

Beth Behrs, left, Kat Dennings and the cast of "2 Broke Girls" accept the award for favorite new TV comedy during the People's Choice Awards on Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2012 in Los Angeles.
 (Credit: AP)
(CBS/AP) Updated 11:56 p.m. ET
Katy Perry wasn't in attendance at Wednesday night's People's Choice Awards, but she still won big.
The singer, who backed out of appearing at the ceremony earlier this week (husband Russell Brand filed for divorce last month), won the most awards at the 38th annual fan-favorite extravaganza.
Perry was honored in five categories, including favorite female artist, tour headliner, song of the year for "E.T." with Kanye West, music video for "Last Friday Night," and TV guest star for "How I Met Your Mother."
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2," the final installment of the magical film series starring Daniel Radcliffe, followed behind Perry with four wins for favorite movie, action movie, book adaptation and ensemble movie cast, but the film's stars also weren't present at the ceremony, leaving more time on the CBS broadcast for winners in other categories.
Ellen DeGeneres, Nina Dobrev, Chloe Grace Moretz, Adam Levine, Lea Michele and Demi Lovato, who performed "Give Your Heart a Break," were among the winners on hand to accept their awards selected by Internet votes.
"For all the Rachel Berrys out there, this one's for you guys," said Michele, who won favorite TV comedy actress.
Emma Stone and Johnny Depp - another no-show - won two trophies at the ceremony, which was hosted by "The Big Bang Theory" star Kaley Cuoco. Depp and Stone, respectively, won the favorite movie actor and actress awards, while Depp was also honored as favorite animated movie voice for "Rango," and Stone was selected as favorite comedic movie actress.
"I moved to L.A. eight years ago this week with my mom, who's right there," Stone said while accepting her pair of crystal trophies. "It is so insane to be standing up here right now. It is hard to describe to you."
Maya Rudolph let her fellow honorees in a Wilson Philips rendition when "Bridesmaids" won for favorite comedy movie, while Robert Pattinson (donning a super-short buzz cut) accepted the favorite drama movie award for "Water for Elephants."
Morgan Freeman used his acceptance speech to give an impromptu lesson: "When I found out that I'd been nominated for the first-ever People's Choice movie icon award, I decided to look up 'icon,"' Freeman said. "Here's what I found: The first definition said an icon is a tiny picture on a computer screen that represents a file."
Performances came from Lovato (herself a winner for favorite pop artist) and Faith Hill.
Other awards went to Nathan Fillion (favorite TV drama actor), Adam Sandler (favorite comedic movie actor), Maroon 5 (favorite band), Ryan Reynolds (favorite superhero, as Green Lantern) and Chloe Moretz (favorite movie star under 25).
Cuoco kicked off the night in familiar territory, with an opener featuring her "The Big Bang Theory" co-stars. When she arrived on stage, Cuoco had to contend with Harris, who tried to hijack the proceedings with a song and showgirls in tow.
Later in the ceremony, she visited the set of "Parks and Recreation" in a taped segment while the cast showed off their talents, and changed into a "Little House on the Prairie" costume after viewers voted for it on Twitter.
"How I Met Your Mother" and "Supernatural" won for favorite network TV comedy and drama, respectively, while "Hot in Cleveland" and "Pretty Little Liars" won in the cable categories.
Voting for two of the awards - favorite new TV comedy and drama - continued until the end of the ceremony. Those went to "2 Broke Girls" and "Person of Interest."
A number of awards were not handed out during the ceremony. Some of those winners include Lady Gaga (favorite album of the year), "American Idol" (favorite TV competition show), Hugh Jackman (favorite action movie star) and Taylor Swift (favorite country artist).
Tell us: Did your favorite star win a People's Choice Award?

January 12, 2012 5:58 AM

1. U.S. Marines to probe alleged urination video

(CBS News) 
Updated at 9:47 a.m. ET.
The U.S. Marine Corps has vowed a full investigation into video posted online which purportedly shows Marines urinating on the dead bodies of Taliban militants in Afghanistan.
CBS News national security correspondent David Martin says if it turns out to be authentic, those involved could face court martial proceedings for violating U.S. military rules which specifically forbid "photographing or filming... human casualties" - regardless of whether the Americans were actually urinating.
Martin says the U.S. military has told CBS News the Marines seen in the video are no longer in Afghanistan, raising a question about how old the clip may be.
Click the player above to see Martin's full report.
Regardless, the Pentagon is extremely worried about what reaction might be. The hope, Martin tells "CBS This Morning" co-anchor Charlie Rose, is that the Taliban's own unpopularity in Afghanistan will lead many in the country to see the video as an insult to the radical Islamic group, rather than to Afghan culture or Islam.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai, however, strongly condemned the video as "completely inhumane" and called on the U.S. to punish the Marines involved. The country's defense ministry called the video "shocking."
U.S. officials echoed that anger. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said in a statement the actions depicted in the video were "utterly deplorable."
"This conduct is entirely inappropriate for members of the United States military and does not reflect the standards or values our armed forces are sworn to uphold. Those found to have engaged in such conduct will be held accountable to the fullest extent," he said.
The video was posted to YouTube by a user called "moviesoundtrackvideo" with the title "Marines urinating on dead soldiers Taliban," and while its authenticity has yet to be confirmed, Martin says the damage likely to be inflicted by the clip won't be curtailed quickly by the pledge of an investigation.
Speaking Thursday to Rose on "CBS This Morning," Sen. John McCain said the video "saddens" him.
The veteran senator and former Vietnam war POW said the video shows "a handful of undisciplined young people, of the 100-some-thousand Marines we have. It makes me so sad."
McCain said the video would do "great damage" and urged a complete investigation, stressing that any U.S. service members found guilty "should be punished."
Eight years ago in Iraq, U.S. soldiers at Abu Ghraib prison posed next to detainees in degrading positions. After the photos surfaced, some American troops were dishonorably discharged; others were sentenced to military prison.
The video also comes to light as Afghanistan's leaders ratchet up pressure on the U.S. to hand over control of security and law enforcement duties more quickly.
On Saturday, Afghan officials alleged that U.S. military personnel had abused prisoners at the main U.S.-run detention facility in the war-torn country, increasing their calls for the prison outside the Bagram Air Base to be turned over completely to domestic forces.
While the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan has left almost 2,000 Americans troops dead, many thousands more Afghan civilians have been killed in the violence during the last 10 years, and that bloodshed has led many Afghans to deeply resent the American presence.
Afghan citizens who spoke to the media Thursday reacted with predictable rage, showing that, as Martin predicted, the damage to America's image may already be done.
"We don't want them anymore on our soil, we don't like foreign soldiers to be on our soil," angry Kabul resident Feda Mohammed told the Reuters news agency. "They have to leave."
Another big question the scandal will raise in coming days is what effect it may have on the beginning of reconciliation talks between the Taliban and the U.S. government, which seem to be looming ever larger after the recent announcement of a new Taliban liaison office in Qatar.
While both the Taliban and the U.S. government insist no direct peace talks have yet taken place, the two sides are, by all accounts, moving in that direction.
Speaking to CBS News' Ahmad Mukhtar on the phone Thursday, Afghan Taliban spokesman Zabihulla Mujahid strongly condemned the video. He reiterated that talks with the Americans have not begun, but he said if they do, the video of the alleged desecration "will not harm" the dialogue.


Top 3 TV News Stories 1-12-2012



1)      The US is scrambling to denounce the acts of 4 Marines in a video posted yesterday. The video shows 4 Marines urinating on Afghanistan soldiers. The US says they have assigned the case to NCIS, who will be investigating the very serious incident.
2)      There is a controversy on the actions of Governor Haley Barber of Mississippi, who pardoned over 200 criminals on his last day. He pardoned 189 who were already released, 13 were very ill inmates, who were costing the state a lot of money, but is having a hard time explaining the 4 convicted murderers he also pardoned .
3)      In 2010 the Supreme Court ruled that individuals may give an unlimited amount of money to a political action committee or PAC. The candidates get money from these PACs, and these PACs funded by rich friends of the politicians.





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