Bench warrant issued for 'Deadliest Catch' star Jake Harris

(News Terupdate) - "Deadliest Catch" star Jake Harris is now among the hunted.

Harris failed to appear at a hearing Wednesday in his reckless driving case "so the court issued a bench warrant for his arrest," King County, Wash., prosecutor spokesman Dan Donohoe told PEOPLE. The bail amount on the warrant is $500.

"Jake just made a mistake on his scheduling," his attorney, Ed Ritter, told PEOPLE on Wednesday. "We plan on going in tomorrow at 2 p.m. to clear it all up."

Harris, 24, whose father Capt. Phil Harris died from complications of astroke on Feb. 9, has been formally charged with reckless driving and driving with a suspended license. If convicted, he faces a maximum of a year and three months in jail.

A memorial to honor Phil Harris is planned for the second annual "Deadliest Catch" fanfest, known as CatchCon, in Seattle on April 30.

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Dems on financial reform bill: 'The games are over'

Washington (News Terupdate) - Senate Democrats called out Republicans on Thursday for what they said was the promotion of "falsehoods" on the financial reform bill and vowed to move the bill forward.

Republican leadership has "decided the best way to stop it ... is by polluting the debate with myths and mischaracterizations," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said at a news conference after President Obama's speech on financial reform in New York.

"I'm not going to waste any more time. ... If they let us go to it, we'll be happy to start debate," Reid said. "The games are over."

The Senate's financial reform bill would set up new regulatory oversight of the financial industry's practices with the goal of preventing another Wall Street meltdown like the one in 2008 that launched the U.S. recession.

Approved by the Senate's Banking and Agricultural committees, the bill includes an "early warning" system intended to spot signs of another crisis, as well as a $50 billion liquidation fund created with money from banks and other finance industry corporations to ensure an orderly transition in closing down failing entities.

On Thursday, Reid filed a motion to end debate on the bill, setting up that vote for Monday. The expected outcome of the vote is too close to call.

Reid said Democrats are willing to work with Republicans if they are earnest about pushing the bill forward.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell shot back at Reid's claims, saying on the Senate floor, "here we go again."

"The majority leader is once again moving to a bill, even while bipartisan discussions on the content of the bill are still under way," he said, referring to the health care bill that was recently signed into law.

The Kentucky Republican criticized Democrats and the White House for "ramming" health care reform down Americans' throats.

He said it's important to take the time to get the bill right and said discussions should continue.

"Now, I think Americans expect more of us. I think they expect us to take the time to do it right."

But Democrats say the lesson they learned from the health care debate was to push back immediately against false claims.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-New York, said Democrats let too many health care reform "lies" go unchallenged.

"On the health care bill, we allow too many lies to get out there without rebuttal because we thought they were so obviously untrue. But we've learned our lesson," he said.

His solution: "The minute these things come out the mouths of some of our Republican colleagues, we rebut them, and we rebut them again and again."

Democrats are pushing to get a reform package approved this year. The Senate is debating the motion to proceed to the financial regulations bill, but Democrats need at least one Republican vote to get it to the floor.

Democrats believe that a handful of Republicans are in play, but none has announced their intention to vote to end debate.

The House passed its version of the bill in December.

In the meantime, Sens. Richard Shelby, R-Alabama, and Chris Dodd, chairman of the Banking Committee, say they will continue negotiations over their differences in the bill.

They do so as Democratic leaders warn that the talks may be nothing more than a stalling tactic by Republicans furious that their rivals are rushing the bill to the floor just as bipartisan talks are showing signs of life.

At one point during Reid's news conference Thursday, a video was played, highlighting what Democrats see as GOP misinformation.

In the video, McConnell said the bill "allows for tax-funded bailout for Wall Street banks. It institutionalizes them. ... It provides for an endless taxpayer bailout of Wall Street banks."

Sen. Dick Durbin, the second highest-ranking Senate Democrat, denied that there is any bailout provision in the Senate's bill.

"The taxpayers don't pay for any part of this, and at the end of it, the company is gone," he said. "There's nothing to bail out."

House Minority Leader John Boehner, in responding to Obama's speech, continued to insist that the bill is a bailout.

"While the president says he wants to reform Wall Street, the bill we have in front of us will actually provide permanent bailouts for Wall Streets and enshrine 'too big to fail,' " he said.

A video of Sen. Jon Kyl was also played in which the Arizona Republican talked about how consumer protection parts of the bill would regulate dentists and even butchers.

"Once again, not true," Schumer said. "The new Consumer Protection Agency will make sure that consumers are getting financial products ... and services that will help them save money or buy a home."

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White House to fight to preserve National Day of Prayer

(News Terupdate) - The Obama administration will fight to preserve the law establishing an annual National Day of Prayer, the Justice Department confirmed Thursday.

A federal judge declared the law unconstitutional last week.

The Justice Department's official filing of a "notice to appeal" Thursday came as no surprise, after White House spokesman Matt Lehrich said following the ruling that President Obama intends to recognize this year's National Day of Prayer, which is May 6.

U.S. District Court Judge Barbara Crabb in Wisconsin ruled on April 15 that the 1952 law creating the National Day of Prayer violates the ban on government-backed religion.

The ruling produced predictable reactions, with most religious groups sharply criticizing it and groups backing a strict separation of church and state applauding it.

The injunction against the National Day of Prayer would not take effect until the appeals have been exhausted.

The case is Freedom From Religion v. President Barack Obama, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, and Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle.

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Blagojevich defense team seeks to subpoena Obama

Chicago, Illinois (News Terupdate) - Lawyers for Rod Blagojevich filed a motion Thursday seeking to subpoena President Obama to testify in the corruption case against the former Illinois governor.

The 10-page motion contends that Obama must have information in the case because the charges against Blagojevich involve alleged deal-making to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Obama when he became president.

"The defense understands that the President of the United States of America is not a routine witness and would not request his appearance if it did not think he was critical to the liberty of Rod Blagojevich," the motion says.

According to the motion, Obama's public assertion that he had no involvement in talks about filling his Senate seat contradicts information from another witness in the case.

In addition, the motion says that Tony Rezko, a political fundraiser convicted of fraud charges who has links to Obama, is a government witness in the case and that Obama can offer testimony about him.

Blagojevich, who faces racketeering charges, held a defiant news conference this week in which he called his accusers "liars" and "cowards" and directly challenged U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, who is heading the prosecution. Blagojevich accused federal authorities of trying to keep some of the tapes FBI agents made of his phone conversations from being heard by a jury.

U.S. District Court Judge James Zagal said Wednesday that he would decide which of more than 500 hours of tapes would be played for the jury. At a preliminary hearing, Zagal gave the defense until May 14 to tell the court which tapes it wants played, warning, "I will not have the time of these jurors needlessly consumed."

During his news conference Tuesday, Blagojevich repeated that he was innocent and that the tapes of his conversations would prove it.

"It is because there is a smoking gun in those tapes, and the smoking gun is that the government is covering up the big lie Mr. Fitzgerald gave to the world when he had me arrested," Blagojevich said.

Authorities have said that Blagojevich and his inner circle engaged in a near-constant conspiracy of extortion and kickbacks after his 2002 election. The accusations also contend that tens of thousands of dollars in unearned commissions and unnecessary retainer fees were diverted to Blagojevich's wife after he and his co-conspirators learned that they were being investigated.

Blagojevich, a two-term Democrat, resigned in January 2009 amid accusations that he had attempted to sell the U.S. Senate seat that had been occupied by Obama. The former governor was arrested the month before on federal corruption charges that included wire fraud, mail fraud and solicitation of bribery.

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Mob just out to make a buck, 'wise guy' says

(News Terupdate) - Former Lucchese crime family "wise guy" Henry Hill isn't surprised by allegations this week that a major New York crime family ran an underage prostitution ring.

"Wherever there's a buck to be made without them guys busting their hump and breaking their backs, they're gonna prey off the weak," said Hill, a former mobster-turned government informant. His story was immortalized in the Nicholas Pileggi book, "Wiseguys," and the Martin Scorsese film, "Goodfellas."

A 23-count federal indictment unsealed this week accused reputed members and associates of New York's Gambino family of crimes ranging from murder to racketeering to drug trafficking.

Also contained in the indictment, in what authorities are calling a new low even for the mob, are allegations that the crew ran an interstate prostitution ring that offered at least one girl as young as 15 to johns in parts of New York and New Jersey.

Thirteen of the 14 defendants pleaded not guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York. One of the defendants, Steve Maiurro, remains at large.

Some family members wept as the defendants were brought into the courtroom Wednesday in shackles. Family and friends mouthed messages, asking the defendants how they were.

Hill calls the allegations business as usual for the mob.

"There is no line that they draw, as far as luring underage girls, teen prostitution," Hill said in an interview Wednesday. "Most of those guys do not have consciences; they'll do anything, and they'll go to any length to make an illegal dollar as long as they don't have to use the sweat of their brow."

Hill began running errands for Lucchese family boss Paul Vario as a teen in the 1950s and soon became involved in gang activities.

Because of his Irish ancestry, he never became a "made" member of the family, meaning he was officially inducted into the Mafia. He scaled the ranks and gained the trust of the highest levels of the Lucchese family until he became a government informant after an arrest on drug charges.

In his time, Hill said that child prostitution was a big enough taboo to be off limits for the Lucchese family. But that doesn't mean it didn't happen then, or especially now.

"There's a lot of people in organized crime, a lot of bosses, families, that don't condone it. But some do, and they don't care what they have to do to make a buck," he said.

Nor does he think it unusual that a woman was allegedly tangled up in mob operations. Women have always been involved to some extent, he said, especially when prostitution is involved, he said.

"All those madams, they had to answer to somebody. There was no made guy standing at the door of these bordellos ... but they had their hand out to the madam that ran it. They had to kickback, that was their protection," he said.

Suzanne Porcelli, the sole woman accused in this week's indictment, is accused of four counts, including sex trafficking and sex trafficking of a minor.

The indictment describes her as the person who answered the phone and scheduled appointments for services advertised on Craigslist and other websites. Her lawyer, Vincent Romano, said she is not a member of any organized crime family.

"Most of those guys do not have consciences, they'll do anything and they'll go to any length to make an illegal dollar as long as they don't have to use the sweat of their brow," Hill said. "If they've gotta use women to control certain rings and certain aspects of organized crime, like I said, there's no honor among thieves."

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Europe flights back to '100 percent'

London, England (News Terupdate) - Flights across Europe are expected to return to "100 percent" on Thursday --seven days after ash from an Icelandic volcano forced the shutdown of airspace and stranded thousands of passengers around the world, the air traffic agency Eurocontrol said.

The mood among passengers was one of cautious optimism. After days of endless waiting, many reserved their celebrations for when they were airborne.

"I think when we land down in America, then we'll know we're there. But at the minute, we're a bit cautious," said Georgina Evett.

She was part of a group trying to fly from Manchester, England, to Florida for a world cheerleading championship this week.

Manchester Airport was among many where flights are now taking off and landing.

The closure of so much European airspace for nearly a week left untold numbers of travelers stranded, and it's not clear how long it will take to get everyone home.

Many airlines added or rearranged flights to try to clear the backlog.

The crisis set off a surge of emergency requests from stranded Americans, prompting the U.S. State Department to scramble to arrange everything from housing to, in one case, dialysis treatment for an elderly patient in Frankfurt, Germany.

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At its peak, the crisis affected 1.2 million passengers a day and 29 percent of all global aviation, according to the International Air Transport Association.

It was the worst disruption of air traffic since the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States in 2001. Following those attacks, the United States closed its air space for three days, forcing Europe to postpone all transatlantic flights.

In addition to clearing a massive backlog of passengers and cargo, airlines now face financial headaches as well as logistical ones.

Budget carrier Ryanair indicated Wednesday it does not plan to pay compensation to passengers other than lost ticket costs.

The European Union's top official for transport had said Monday that airlines were responsible for taking care of them while they were stranded.

The International Air Transport Association estimated Wednesday that the Icelandic volcano crisis cost airlines more than $1.7 billion in lost revenue through Tuesday. Between Saturday and Monday, when disruptions were greatest, IATA said lost revenues reached $400 million each day.

The crisis began after the volcano beneath the Eyjafjallajokull glacier erupted Wednesday and sent a cloud of ash into the atmosphere. By the next day that cloud had reached Europe, where authorities quickly closed the airspace over safety fears.

Volcanic ash can shut down engines and electrical systems and damage a plane's windscreen.

By Tuesday, however, airlines had started to complain that the measures were too restrictive.

Ash levels in most parts of Europe, they said, were low enough to allow the safe operation of flights.

Scientists in Iceland said Wednesday the volcano has decreased its ash output by 80 percent compared to the first day of eruption, April 14.

Armann Hoskuldsson, a volcanologist at the University of Iceland, told a briefing that the volcano's output is now "insignificant," though it will continue to be active for a while.

That reduction in volcanic activity appeared to be the main reason that flights resumed operating in Europe on Wednesday, along with European countries relaxing their restrictions on flight, according to a spokeswoman for Eurocontrol, an intergovernmental body that manages European air travel.

In Britain, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) issued revised guidance on flying through volcano ash clouds, allowing airlines to conduct their own risk assessments and requiring them to report any ash damage to the authorities.

The 27 countries of the European Union also agreed with Eurocontrol to split the airspace into zones based on their ash content and to allow flights in the unaffected areas, said Spanish Minister of Public Works Jose Blanco.

"Airspace was being closed based on theoretical models, not on facts," said Giovanni Bisignani, director general and CEO of IATA. "Test flights by our members showed that the models were wrong."

He said the EU's decision to categorize airspace based on risk was a "step in the right direction," but Europe still needs uniform rules on air travel to avoid a repeat of the chaos of the past week.

NATS, the air traffic authority in Britain, said it is confident it had made the right decision in restricting flights.

"The primary concern for all the people involved -- the regulator, the government, and NATS -- has been to ensure flight safety," NATS Senior Manager Alex Bristol told CNN. "Until such time as we had evidence to give us different assurances, then the regulations which existed, and which we were using eight days ago ... then we had to restrict the airspace, and we did the right things."

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Black farmers call on Congress to pay racial bias settlement

(News Terupdate) - African-American farmers hoping for government settlement money in a racial bias case met with lawmakers Wednesday and called on Congress to come up with a way to fund the $1 billion deal.

Litigation known as the Pigford Case established a longstanding pattern of discrimination at the U.S. Agriculture Department against African-American farmers who had applied for farm loans and support from federal programs.

Under the terms of an involved process overseen by a federal judge and dating to 1999, qualified farmers could receive $50,000 each to settle claims of racial bias. In addition, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has said those farmers may pursue a claim for actual damages from the bias and potentially receive up to $250,000.

Ralph Paige, executive director of the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund, said Wednesday that he believed that Congress was "very close" to coming up with a way to pay the settlement, which covers as many as 80,000 African-American farmers.

"These farmers have suffered much, much too long, and it's time that this thing get behind us. We can settle Pigford once and for all and send a clear message to the country that we are on the right track as a nation," Paige said at news conference.

"We're talking about much more than the money. We are talking about remedying past discrimination," Paige said.

A March 31 deadline to appropriate the funds has passed, and farmers now may withdraw from the settlement and pursue independent litigation against the government. Congress now has a target date of the end of May to come up with a plan.

"We spend a billion dollars on a jet to go bomb somebody. We're talking about a billion dollars to help feed our country, and I just don't see why Congress and the president can't go ahead and find [the funds]. It is an emergency," said Gary Grant, with the Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association.

Rep. G.K. Butterfield, D-North Carolina, said there is a "total commitment" from President Obama and the majority party in the House and Senate to make sure the settlement is taken care of. Butterfield represents his state's First Congressional District, which is home to Timothy Pigford, who filed the class-action lawsuit more than a decade ago.

Butterfield said lawmakers need to work out how to pay for the settlement under the PAYGO rule, meaning Congress must balance any increased spending with equal savings elsewhere. The other option would be to designate the settlement as an emergency, which would be exempt from PAYGO.

Lawmakers are looking for an appropriate piece of legislation in which to include the settlement to avoid adding to the deficit, Butterfield said.

"If we cannot find the appropriate vehicle, then I would certainly support declaring this settlement as a national emergency and adding it to the next supplemental that may be on the House floor," he said.

Farmers have until May 31 to withdraw from the pending class-action settlement and pursue an independent claim against the government if they feel their chances would be better for a payout. If they choose to stay in the class, they will wait as a group to apply for the promised monetary damages.

Vilsack has said there's no question the damages are due for African-American farmers. In a statement last week, he said, "I have met with and talked to key stakeholders and members of Congress reiterating the administration's ongoing efforts to close this chapter in the history of the department."

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3 sentenced to prison for attack on black man in South Carolina

(News Terupdate) - Three men were sentenced to prison for forcing an African-American man out of a South Carolina convenience store, threatening him with a chainsaw and stealing his car, an incident the Department of Justice said was fueled by hate.

Thomas Blue Sr., 49, owner of the convenience store, was sentenced Tuesday to 13 years in prison in the 2007 incident. A second man, Judson Hartley Talbert, was sentenced to nine years, the department said. Blue's son, Thomas Blue Jr., 29, was sentenced to three years.

The three pleaded guilty in December to conspiring to deprive and depriving Dahndra "Ervin" Moore of his right to engage in a federally protected activity -- entering the convenience store -- and also to conspiring to carjack and carjacking his car, authorities said. The elder Blue also pleaded guilty to depriving two other people, both white, of their right to engage in a federally protected activity and using a firearm in relation to a crime of violence against those two.

The defendants admitted that the elder Blue "forcibly escorted" Moore out of a Marlboro County, South Carolina, store known as the Stop and Shop after he entered to use the restroom, the statement said.

"Once outside, the elder Blue forced the victim to the ground and Blue Jr. threatened the victim with a chainsaw while a small crowd watched," according to the Department of Justice statement.

While the attack was occurring, Talbert stole Moore's car, authorities said. Later, the elder Blue used a pistol to threaten two white men who he thought were trying to help the victim, including one who showed up to retrieve Moore's car.

All three men waived their right to appeal, according to court documents.

The elder Blue's attorney, Jack Swirling, called the incident "most unfortunate" and "totally unacceptable." His client, he said, is very remorseful, adding that the incident would not have occurred but for Blue's heavy drinking that day.

Kirk Truslow, the younger Blue's attorney, said his client had apologized to Moore and his family and "wishes this never would have happened." The case "went a long way in making some changes in the area," he said.

"I think it really made an impact," Truslow said. "Everyone in this area took notice."

Talbert's attorney, Morgan Martin, called the incident "regrettable" and said his client is sorry it happened.

"This case is a reminder that violent acts fueled by bigotry and hate continue to happen all too frequently in our nation, even in 2010," said Thomas Perez, assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Department's civil rights division.

"This senseless, terrifying assault was quite simply the product of hate," said Kevin McDonald, acting U.S. attorney for the District of South Carolina. "I expect others tempted to act out in violent racism to take note of this prosecution and the sentences imposed."

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Will others follow Arizona's lead on immigration?

(News Terupdate) - Now that Arizona lawmakers have passed what's considered some of the toughest immigration legislation in the country, other states are watching to see whether they should follow in the state's footsteps or stand back.

Arizona's bill orders immigrants to carry their alien registration documents at all times and requires police to question people if there's reason to suspect they're in the United States illegally. It also targets those who hire illegal immigrant day laborers or knowingly transport them.

Critics, including immigrant advocates and the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, are concerned that the legislation will foster racial profiling, arguing that most police officers don't have enough training to look past race while investigating a person's legal status.

The bill made it through the state Senate on Monday after it was passed by the state House last week. It's now awaiting the signature of Republican Gov. Jan Brewer. Supporters of the measure expect her to sign it. Latino members of Congress are calling on Brewer to veto it.

Michael Hethmon, general counsel for the Immigration Reform Law Institute, helped draft the language of the Arizona bill. The institute is the legal affiliate of the Federation for American Immigration Reform.

On the heels of the Arizona initiative, Hethmon said he has been approached by lawmakers from four other states who have asked for advice on how they can do the same thing where they live. He declined to identify the states, citing attorney-client privilege.

"Arizona was meant to be the leading edge," Hethmon said. "If you are going to work on developing a state-based response to this enormous problem -- the lack of a national immigration policy -- Arizona is the place to do it."

Hethmon pointed to Arizona's history of citizen ballot initiatives in support of immigration reform, noting that "what's happening in Arizona just didn't pop out of nowhere. It's the latest step in a fairly deliberate process."

Republican State Rep. Russell Pearce, who sponsored the legislation in Arizona, said the four initiatives he put on the 2006 ballot regarding illegal immigrants passed by an average of 75 percent.

State laws relating to immigration have increased in recent years, according to numbers from the National Conference of State Legislatures.

In 2005, 300 bills were introduced. The next year, that number nearly doubled, and in 2007, more than 1,500 bills were introduced. Another 1,305 were introduced in 2008, and about 1,500 were considered in 2009.

About 15 percent of those were enacted, dealing with issues such as driver's licenses, health and education.

About1,000 bills have been brought up so far this year.

Hethmon cited the election year, the Democratic leadership's position on the issue and the tough economic times as catalysts for introducing legislation.

"Historically, not only in the U.S. but in virtually all industrialized nations, when the unemployment rates go up ... the public becomes much less sympathetic toward programs which bring in large numbers of foreigners as workers and economic players," he said.

Whether Arizona becomes the standard-bearer on illegal immigration depends on the fate of the legislation, said Ann Morse, the program director of the National Conference of State Legislatures' Immigrant Policy Project.

"Certainly states will look at it, but not in a rush," she said. With court challenges promised from opponents, states will be watching to see if the legislation is deemed constitutional and if it's costly, Morse said.

Omar Jadwat, the staff attorney with the ACLU's Immigrants Rights' Project, said following in Arizona's footsteps would take states in the wrong direction.

"Although we are aware that people are trying to convince other legislatures to go down this path, I think it's clear that both as a policy matter and a legal matter, that Arizona's approach is the wrong one," he said.

Isabel Garcia, a legal defender in Arizona's Pima County, blasted the bill as "the most dangerous precedent in this country, violating all of our due process rights."

"We have not seen this kind of legislation since the Jim Crow laws. And targeting our communities, it is the single most largest attack on our communities," she said.

Pearce brushed off her criticism, saying, " 'Illegal' is not a race, it's a crime."

"We do not tolerate those who break into our country, just like we don't tolerate those who break into our homes," he said.

Hethmon praised the legislation as "the most cost-effective and the most humane way to deal with the illegal immigration problem."

"Every time you convince an illegal alien to self-deport, you bypass having to resort to direct physical deportation," he said.

In addition to providing a model for other states, Hethmon said the legislation in Arizona and other bills in the works in other states also provide an example on the national level.

"The states are laboratories for democracy. The federal government is in gridlock," he said. "We're providing models for the day when the ice breaks up on the Hill and the legislative waters flow and the country decides to confront this problem in a realistic way."

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Man identified in missing Ohio mother case

(News Terupdate) - Police have released the name of a man who may know something about an Ohio mother who went missing while on a weekend shopping trip.

The man police are looking for was identified by authorities Tuesday as Tre B. Hutcherson, who police said has also been missing for several days.

Police said Hutcherson was seen in surveillance video footage with Tiffany Tehan in March and April at a local convenience store.

Tehan, a 31-year-old mother of a 1-year-old girl, disappeared Saturday morning after leaving the family's home to go shopping for the day.

The Ford Explorer she was driving was found abandoned with a flat tire the next day near a skate park in Kettering, police said.

Hutcherson was not someone Tehan's family and friends know, police said. However, the video suggests Tehan may be familiar with him, said Xenia police Capt. Scott Anger.

"Those pictures would indicate that they know each and that they been seen on more than one occasion and the information that we received is that they've been seen at that location on multiple occasions," Anger said Tuesday.

Anger said Tehan's disappearance is "totally out of character by everybody's account."

Authorities have classified the investigation as suspicious and won't rule out the possibility that Tehan is in danger.

"These are unusual circumstances, and we do have some concerns for her safety," Anger said.

The Patterson Park Church, where Tehan and her husband are members, has been leading a volunteer search effort for the missing woman.

"We've actually been sending out people with flyers in the area in which she was last seen," said Pastor Joe Godwin. "We probably printed somewhere about the neighborhood of 4,000 flyers."

Godwin said Tehan attends a church class for married couples and is the daughter of a pastor.

"We, as a church, obviously are very concerned for one of our own family members," he said, "It's hit very close to home."

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U.S. military plans against Iran being updated

Washington (News Terupdate) - The Pentagon and U.S. Central Command are updating military plans to strike Iran's nuclear sites, preparing up-to-date options for the president in the event he decides to take such action, an Obama administration official told CNN Sunday.

The effort has been underway for several weeks and comes as there is growing concern across the administration's national security team that the president needs fresh options ready for his approval if he were to decide on a military strike, according to the official who is familiar with the effort.

The official did not want to be identified because of the sensitive nature of the work being conducted.

Meanwhile, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad continued to amp up his rhetoric against the West on Sunday, claiming that Iran is so powerful today that no country would dare attack it.

"Iran's army is so mighty today that no enemy can have a foul thought of invading Iran's territory," the Iranian leader said in a speech, according to state media.

The Iranian leader has had choice words for Obama and other Western leaders, especially after not receiving an invitation to the nuclear summit hosted in Washington last week. Obama has been pressing the U.N. Security Council to slap Iran with tougher sanctions for its nuclear ambitions. Iran says that its nuclear program is intended for civilian purposes.

In January, Defense Secretary Robert Gates wrote a classified memo to the White House raising concerns about whether the administration had a sufficient policy in place, along with military options, for stopping Iran's progress in getting a nuclear weapon, the official confirmed.

The memo was first reported Sunday in the New York Times.

Gates spokesman Geoff Morrell initially declined to confirm the memo, but Gates said later Sunday in a written statement, "The New York Times sources who revealed my January memo to the National Security Advisor mischaracterized its purpose and content.

"With the administration's pivot to a pressure track on Iran earlier this year, the memo identified next steps in our defense planning process where further interagency discussion and policy decisions would be needed in the months and weeks ahead," Gates said. "The memo was not intended as a 'wake up call' or received as such by the president's national security team. Rather, it presented a number of questions and proposals intended to contribute to an orderly and timely decision making process.

"There should be no confusion by our allies and adversaries that the United States is properly and energetically focused on this question and prepared to act across a broad range of contingencies in support of our interests."

The planning effort for potential strikes against Iran actually has been underway for some time, the official said.

In December, Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told his planners he didn't believe they were taking "seriously enough" the need for fresh thinking about how to attack Iran's nuclear sites if the president ordered such a strike, the official said.

"He wanted to create a higher sense of urgency to create military options for the president," the official said. Mullen "wanted a more robust planning effort to provide the president with options, should he choose a military option," he said.

The official strongly emphasized that the U.S. military is always updating plans in order to be ready for the president. If Obama were to order a strike against Iran, he would turn to Mullen, Gates and Gen. David Petraeus, the head of Central Command, for their advice on how to proceed. The official would not discuss how any of the updated plans might differ from previously existing military strike options.

Mullen and other Pentagon officials have continuously endorsed diplomacy as the preferred option against Iran. In February Mullen publicly noted that a military strike against Iran's nuclear program would not be "decisive" and would only delay and set back Iran's efforts.

Gates recently expressed growing concern about understanding exactly what Iran's intentions may be.

"How you differentiate, how far have they gone. If their policy is to go to the threshold but not assemble a nuclear weapon, how do you tell that they have not assembled? So it becomes a serious verification question. And I don't actually know how you would verify that," Gates said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

"So they are continuing to make progress on these programs. It's going slow -- slower than they anticipated, but they are moving in that direction," he said.

In general, the U.S. military develops what is sometimes called targeting "folders." These files detail all the known facts and intelligence about a target, include precise location, how deeply buried it might be, the civilian population surrounding the target, the geology of the land and rock around the area, and detailed options about which U.S. weapons might be best used to destroy it.

The U.S. intelligence community is also currently involved in the updated planning effort, providing the latest assessments about Iran's nuclear progress at various sites around the Islamic republic.

There have been several public hints about the new target planning. Last week, a Pentagon official told the Senate Armed Services Committee in a written statement, "Through prudent military planning we continue to refine options to protect U.S. and partner interests from Iranian aggression, deter Iran's destabilizing behavior, and prepare for contingencies."

Back in December, Mullen deliberately, the official said, made a reference to Iran in a public document called "the chairman's guidance," posted on the Internet saying, "should the president call for military options, we must have them ready."

There have been growing signs of Iranian efforts to militarily protect their nuclear sites. The U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency notes that last year Iran established a separate air defense force, with the stated intention of defending nuclear sites with missiles and air defense radars.

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Congress divided over financial reform bill

Washington (News Terupdate) - Congress appeared headed for a major partisan showdown over financial regulation reform, with Senate Republicans reiterating their opposition Sunday to a bill that Democrats say will prevent another Wall Street meltdown like the one that precipitated the U.S. recession.

While some officials hinted that behind-the-scenes talks could yield a deal, the rhetoric signaled deep divisions between Republicans and Democrats intended to score political points as the campaign season approaches for mid-term congressional elections in November.

The House has passed its version of a finance reform bill, and now Democrats seek to bring a Senate version up for chamber debate this week. The Senate bill, approved by Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee, would set up new regulatory oversight of financial industry practices.

Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the chamber's top-ranking Republican, told CNN's "State of the Union" that the Democratic bill would continue the Obama administration's intervention in formerly private industries. He called for renegotiating the measure instead of bringing it to the Senate floor.

"I think we need to get back to the table and get it fixed," McConnell said. "We want to make sure that we don't set up a system whereby we empower the government to continue doing what they've been doing."

Other Republicans expressed similar reservations Sunday, with the newest member of the chamber, Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown, telling the CBS program "Face the Nation" he would join a filibuster of the bill as it is written now. Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, also said he opposed the bill, but added on "FOX News Sunday" he thought a deal was possible.

President Obama and Democratic leaders reject the Republican characterization of the bill, saying the measure actually will prevent future taxpayer bailouts of failing banks. On Saturday, Obama said in his weekly Internet and radio address that McConnell was spreading misinformation.

McConnell "made the cynical and deceptive assertion that reform would somehow enable future bailouts -- when he knows that it would do just the opposite," Obama said.

On Sunday, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner told the NBC program "Meet the Press" that he was confident a "strong package of financial reforms" will win congressional approval. However, Geithner noted the two sides remain apart on some issues, including how to regulate complex trading products called derivatives -- a form of trade in which investors seek to protect themselves by offsetting their risk or speculating on the future value of assets.

Geithner called for "rules with teeth" to protect against another financial crisis.

Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, who also appeared on "State of the Union," said the Senate bill includes an "early warning" system intended to spot signs of another crisis, as well as a $50 billion liquidation fund created with money from banks and other finance industry holdings to pay for the costs of closing down failed entities.

Warner said the liquidation fund would mean Wall Street firms "have to write their own funeral plan" and put down money in advance to ensure an "orderly process" to bankruptcy in the event of another crisis.

McConnell, however, said Republicans believe the fund would "perpetuate government intervention" in industries similar to the bailouts or takeover of some aspects of the banking, automobile and other industries.

"Regardless of ... how the money is produced, it is a bailout fund that sort of guarantees in perpetuity that we'll be intervening once again to bailout these big firms," he said.

In a strategy similar to GOP opposition to health care reform legislation passed earlier this year, McConnell called for restarting bipartisan talks instead of debating the bill from the Senate Banking Committee.

Obama administration officials have signaled they want Democratic Sen. Christopher Dodd, the Banking Committee chairman, to remove the $50 billion bank liquidation fund from the bill. McConnell cited the apparent shift as a sign that Republicans were correct in asserting that Americans don't want the fund.

However, Democratic officials suggested that removing the liquidation fund would really be an attempt to call the Republicans' bluff by seeing if they would still oppose the reform bill without it. That would play into White House's efforts to portray the GOP as defenders of the status quo on Wall Street, the officials said.

Senate Republicans say all 41 GOP members will vote against allowing debate on the current bill to begin, enough to mount an effective filibuster.

"We simply cannot ask the American taxpayer to continue to subsidize this 'too big to fail' policy," said a letter dated Friday from Senate Republicans to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada. "We must ensure that Wall Street no longer believes or relies on Main Street to bail them out. Inaction is not an option. However, it is imperative that what we do does not worsen the current economic climate or codify the circumstances that led to the last financial crisis."

Democrats say they will still attempt to move forward. Reid's spokesman, Jim Manley, called the GOP resistance "a thinly veiled effort by Republicans to stall as they try to come up with a strategy to defeat the bill."

"This bill has been written specifically to end any notion of any kind of a bailout by the American taxpayer again," Dodd said Thursday. "Our bill stops bailouts by imposing ... tough new requirements on Wall Street firms. Being too big and too interconnected will cost these firms dearly. And should that not be enough, our legislation, regulators can use the new powers in our legislation to break these firms up before they can take down the economy of our country."

Meanwhile, Senate Democratic leaders and administration officials were trying to persuade several Republicans, including Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tennessee, and Judd Gregg, R-New Hampshire, to break ranks and vote with them.

Warner said Corker and others have been involved in talks on the bill for months, which he said showed there were bipartisan contributions in drafting the measure.

Obama rejects a compromise that would weaken the intent of the bill, saying last week he would veto legislation "that does not bring the derivatives market under control in some sort of regulatory framework that assures that we don't have the same kind of crisis that we have seen in the past."

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Ahmadinejad: Iran too 'mighty' to attack

Tehran, Iran (News Terupdate) - Iran is so powerful today that no country would dare attack it, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Sunday during an annual army parade.

"Iran's army is so mighty today that no enemy can have a foul thought of invading Iran's territory," the Iranian leader said, according to state media.

"Of course, Iran is a friend and brother of regional and independent nations and it wants peace, progress and security for all countries," Ahmadinejad said.

During the event near the mausoleum of the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini -- who ushered the Islamic Revolution into Iran more than 30 years ago -- several models of Iran's medium- and long-range missiles, including the Shahab 3, were on display.

Ahmadinejad has amped up his rhetoric against the West after not receiving an invitation to the nuclear summit hosted in Washington last week. On Saturday, the Iranian president had a few choice words for the United States at Tehran's own nuclear conference.

The hardline leader slammed Western powers for what he called hypocritical and dangerous policies that can only lead to nuclear proliferation, according to remarks broadcast on state-run Press TV. He said the United Nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency were ineffective because they were dominated by a few nations.

"The Security Council has openly turned into a tool for the implementation of the policies of a few bullying nations," Ahmadinejad said. "This group should act in a way where all independent countries and governments could have a say and a role in running the affairs of that group," he said.

President Obama has been pressing the U.N. Security Council to slap Iran with tougher sanctions for its nuclear ambitions. Iran says that its nuclear program is intended for civilian purposes.

Obama convened a 47-nation nuclear summit last week that focused partly on persuading Iran's reluctant trade partners like China to favor sanctions.

Ahmadinejad said he sent a letter to Obama earlier this week, telling his American counterpart that Iran was his only chance at success, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

The United States and its allies should abandon policies designed to dominate the oil-rich nations of the Middle East, Ahmadinejad said, adding that reliance on arms was a sign of a country without culture.

Iran, he said, is prepared to do all it can to counter nuclear weapons.

"One of the greatest treasons by those that monopolize nuclear weapons is to equalize nukes with nuclear energy," Ahmadinejad said. "The way to produce weapons is totally different than nuclear energy. And they know these very well, but they plan to talk about both these things in their own monopolized way. "

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'Godfather' of Cuban tobacco dead at 91

Havana, Cuba (News Terupdate) - Alejandro Robaina, considered a legend among Cuban tobacco growers, died Saturday, according to Cuban cigar company Habanos S.A., which produced cigars named for him.

Robaina was 91. He was diagnosed with cancer last year and died on his farm in the western Cuban province of Pinar del Rio, said Habanos spokesman Jose Antonio Candia.

Robaina's tobacco leaves are considered some of the best in the world. In Cuba, he was called "The Godfather." His deeply wrinkled face smiled out from billboards, T-shirts and boxes of Vegas Robaina cigars, among Cuba's finest. A box of premium Vegas Robaina cigars can fetch more than $500 on the international market.

But the man behind the smile was also a simple country farmer who got up at the crack of dawn every day to survey his fields until cancer slowed him down.

"I wouldn't say I've triumphed, but I've done something with my life," he told CNN in 2008. "The first thing is to love the land, take care of the land."

Robaina's family have farmed tobacco continuously since 1845 on the plantation. Under Robaina, business flourished, and the plantation had some of the best yields in the region, producing highly-prized wrapper leaves used for the outer layer of cigars.

Cigar aficionados around the globe called him the dean of Cuba's cigar industry and every year thousands of visitors made the two-hour trek from Havana, hoping to share a stogie and a glass of rum with "the Don."

Robaina kept his lands even when many ranches were nationalized after the 1959 revolution led by Fidel Castro.

"I had a very strong conversation with Fidel 18 or 20 years ago," Robaina said in 2008. "He asked if I would join a big cooperative since I had so many workers, and I told him no.

"For me tobacco growing had to be in the family, done with love. Because in the big cooperatives, everyone's the boss, nobody worries as much as the grower."

Now, almost all of Cuba's tobacco farms are private, according to the Agriculture Ministry. And they generally take their lead from Robaina, planting and harvesting on the same days he did.

"I like to sow during a waxing moon, and harvest in a waning moon," he said.

Robaina said he'd been smoking cigars since he was 10 years old. "When I get really old, I'll stop smoking the strong stuff," he said.

In 1997, Cuba launched the Vegas Robaina brand, named in his honor. They're made from the golden wrapper leaves grown on Robaina's plantation but are rolled in a separate factory.

Like most of Cuba's cigars, they're largely exported. Because of the U.S. trade embargo, however, Cuban cigars are off-limits in America.

Robaina said in 2008 he hoped that policy would end during his lifetime.

"Of course I have hope they'll open up the market," he said. "Cuba's willing to send cigars and they're willing to smoke them. They're going crazy because they can't smoke cigars from here."

Robaina will be buried Sunday, said Candia.

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White House scrutinizes Senate bill's bank liquidation fund

Washington (News Terupdate) - In a move aimed at jump-starting bipartisan negotiations on Wall Street reform, Obama administration officials have signaled that they want Democratic Sen. Christopher Dodd to remove a $50 billion bank liquidation fund from his financial regulation bill.

Republicans have pounced on the $50 billion provision, saying the legislation will lead to more government bailouts of large banks, effectively stalling progress on the bill.

"The ex-ante fund was not in our original proposal we announced almost a year ago, and we don't feel it is an essential part of final legislation," said one administration official late Friday. "The president will only sign a bill if it passes the test of putting an end to bailouts."

White House aides have vehemently denied for days the provision will spark more bailouts. Republican aides asserted the shift is a sign the White House fears the criticism is having an impact.

But Democratic officials suggested the move is really an attempt to challenge Republicans on whether they will still oppose the reform bill even after the controversial provision is removed. That would play into the White House's efforts to portray the GOP as defenders of the status quo on Wall Street.

Still, White House aides said the president is more focused on the larger issue of reform instead of any one provision.

"What is important is that we have a mechanism that allows us to wind down failing firms at no cost to the taxpayer," said White House spokeswoman Amy Brundage. "The Dodd bill does that, and we will work with Congress to make sure we achieve that objective."

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LBJ's daughter Luci hospitalized

(News Terupdate) - Luci Baines Johnson, the younger of the late President Lyndon Baines Johnson's daughters, has been hospitalized at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, according to a former member of Johnson's staff.

Luci Johnson, 62, was first taken to the Seton Medical Center in Austin, Texas, on Wednesday after complaining of extreme weakness in all her extremities, said Tom Johnson, who worked for the Johnson administration and later served as president of CNN in the 1990s.

Doctors there recommended that she be treated at the Mayo Clinic for what physicians believe is Guillain-Barre syndrome, Johnson said. It's an autoimmune disorder affecting the nervous system.

The president's other daughter, Lynda Bird Johnson Robb, was at the facility with her sister. Luci Johnson's husband, Ian Turpin, and other relatives also were there.

Luci Johnson had been in excellent health with no prior medical issues of this nature, Tom Johnson said.

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GOP senators united in opposition to financial reform bill

Washington (News Terupdate) - As Democrats prepare to bring the contentious issue of financial reform to the Senate floor as early as next week, Republicans say they have enough votes to block the proposed bill unless changes are made.

Senate Republicans say all 41 GOP members will vote against a parliamentary procedure to allow the current bill to proceed.

"If [Senate Majority Leader Harry] Reid tries to bring this bill to the floor next week, I will vote against that. I want to force negotiations to continue," said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, a key moderate. "There were serious negotiations going on. The only way I can force people back to the table is to vote against this motion to proceed."

Democrats say they will still attempt to move forward with the bill.

"If Republicans want to vote against even allowing a reform bill to go the floor, they are more than willing to do so," Jim Manley, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, told CNN.

In a letter Friday to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the Republicans said they are united in opposition.

"We simply cannot ask the American taxpayer to continue to subsidize this 'too big to fail' policy," the letter said. "We must ensure that Wall Street no longer believes or relies on Main Street to bail them out. Inaction is not an option. However, it is imperative that what we do does not worsen the current economic climate or codify the circumstances that led to the last financial crisis."

Democrats, who spent most of the week strongly rebutting a charge by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, that the current proposal would ease the way for companies to get a government bailout, also disputed that their bill continues the "'too big to fail' policy."

"This bill has been written specifically to end any notion of any kind of a bailout by the American taxpayer again," Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd, D-Connecticut, said Thursday.

"Our bill stops bailouts by imposing ... tough new requirements on Wall Street firms," Dodd said. "Being too big and too interconnected will cost these firms dearly. And should that not be enough, our legislation, regulators can use the new powers in our legislation to break these firms up before they can take down the economy of our country."

Manly said the Republicans' letter "is a thinly veiled effort ... to stall as they try to come up with a strategy to defeat the bill."

Democrats say they are prepared to start debate but would need at least one GOP senator to vote with them if Republicans filibuster.

"At this point, I say to my colleagues, bring me your ideas, let's work on this together, let's debate the bill and pass strong Wall Street reform to protect our country from the kinds of abuses that lost so many their jobs, their homes and their life savings. But let's not engage in nonsense," Dodd said in reaction to the Republicans' letter.

Senate Democratic leaders and administration officials are working hard to try to persuade several Republicans, including Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tennessee, and Judd Gregg, R-New Hampshire, to break ranks and vote with them.

Meanwhile, President Obama pushed for action on the issue at an event with a group of his economic advisers and in an e-mail sent to his supporters.

Specifically, he said, there needs to be strong reform and more accountability regarding trading of complex risky investments called derivatives, which were one of the major causes of the economic meltdown.

"I hope we can pass a bipartisan bill, but bipartisanship cannot mean simply allowing lobbyist driven loopholes that put American taxapyers at risk. That would not be real reform," he told the meeting of his advisers.

Asked by a reporter whether he would veto legislation if the derivatives reforms are weakened, Obama said, "I want to see what emerges. But I will veto legislation that does not bring the derivatives market under control in some sort of regulatory framework that assures that we don't have the same kind of crisis that we have seen in the past."

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India cricket match blast injures police

New Delhi, India (News Terupdate) - Several police guards were injured in a low-intensity explosion outside a southern Indian stadium barely minutes ahead of a star-studded cricket match Saturday, authorities said.

The explosives placed near one of the gates of the packed Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore went off at about 3:15 p.m. (5:45 a.m. ET), city police commissioner Shankar Bidari told reporters.

"There's no cause of panic," he said.

At least five police personnel guarding the stadium suffered minor injuries in the explosion, which authorities said was not powerful. The blast, however, delayed the match for almost an hour.

Some of the world's star international players are participating in the Indian Premier League (IPL) tournament, which is due to wrap up on April 25.

Indian authorities insisted that the event is under tight security.

Saturday's blast in Bangalore, India's tech hub, was second in the country since a deadly explosion in the western city of Pune in February killed more than a dozen people.

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Dozens killed in attack on Pakistan camp

Islamabad, Pakistan (News Terupdate) - Suicide attackers killed at least 41 people and wounded more than 61 on Saturday at a camp for displaced people in northwestern Pakistan, officials said.

A spokesman for Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Al almi told CNN the militant group takes responsibility for the attacks and that they were in retaliation for two recent Sunni conversions.

The spokesman, Umar, told CNN that two months ago two Shia women from Kachai village in Kohat district converted from Shia to Sunni, and were killed by Shia Muslims in their village. The camp targeted in Saturday's bombings were filled primarily with Shia.

The attacks occurred about noon in Kohat, a town in the North West Frontier Province, said Khalid Khan Umarzai, a local commissioner.

There were two blasts from two separate suicide attackers at the camp, which is for people who have fled the military offensive in the area, officials said. Police said both suicide bombers were wearing burqas.

When people came to help those injured in the first blast, a second one went off, wounding and killing more people.

Pakistan military has stepped up its offensive against the Taliban in recent weeks, causing a flood of displaced people to pour into camps.

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs issued a statement deploring the strike, saying it occurred when people were lined up at a humanitarian assistance registration center.

"These were people who had fled their homes," said Martin Mogwanja, humanitarian coordinator. "They had suffered displacement, they'd suffered losing their homes. They'd come to the registration point considering it a safe haven. They'd come for help. They'd come for sanctuary. We mourn their loss, and condemn their killing."

More than 250,000 people are registered as internally displaced people in the towns of Kohat and Hangu after fleeing the fighting between government troops and the Taliban in Orakzai and Kurram, two districts in the country's tribal region.

The United Nations had been providing food and shelter to these people, but such services were temporarily suspended as officials reviewed the security situation.

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U.S., Russia to meet Monday on adoptions

Washington (News Terupdate) - U.S. officials will travel to Russia next week for meetings on the adoption issue, a State Department official said Friday.

Department spokesman P.J. Crowley, however, seemed unsure about the state of adoptions from that country since Russian officials said they had suspended adoptions of Russian children to U.S. parents..

"I don't think the system has stopped," Crowley said. "It is very possible the system is slowing down as we work through these issues."

Crowley said a U.S. delegation from the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security would travel to Moscow this weekend to meet Russian officials on Monday despite upheaval in international travel after an Icelandic volcano shot clouds of ash into the air.

"Right now, as far as I know, they (members of the U.S. delegation) are still planning to travel," Crowley said. "If there is any impact of the current (volcanic ash) situation on this team, we will let you know."

Moscow has sent mixed signals in recent days, following the uproar over a Tennessee woman sending home a 7-year-old Russian boy she had adopted. Artyem Saveliev's American adoptive family put him on a solo, trans-Atlantic flight from the United States to Moscow. They hired a Russian driver to deliver the boy from the airport to the Russian Ministry of Education.

Officials at private U.S. adoption agencies say families trying to adopt Russian children were deeply concerned by the uncertainty. Janice Goldwater, who runs a Silver Spring, Maryland, agency called Adoptions Together, said she is working with two dozen families trying to finalize Russian adoptions.

"I know families that were about to get on an airplane, have court dates scheduled, and they don't know if they should be crying or dancing with relief," Goldwater told CNN in a telephone interview. "What should I do, should I be finishing the nursery, getting the toddler toys or should I be keeping myself safe and protected by doing nothing? So it is a very difficult time for families."

On Friday, the United States said some U.S. adoptions were still being acted on in Russia.

"There are cases that are still moving forward. There are cases that have been postponed. Does this represent a blanket suspension -- the answer is 'no,'" Crowley said at his Friday afternoon briefing.

"Does this mean there could be some instances where cases are held up for a period of time as we try to clarify what's happening and see if we can strengthen the processes that are in place -- yes, there well may be delays," Crowley said.

"The Russians have mentioned to us they want to reach a bilateral agreement," Crowley said. "We share the same objective to find improved ways to process these adoptions while making sure these adoptions move forward so we will see what this meeting produces next week."

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