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March 22nd, 2013
07:03 AM ET

CNN Trends: Kate Upton says she'd 'love to' be teen's prom date

Christine Romans and Zoraida Sambolin tell you what’s trending on the web today. And it’s a date!

Supermodel Kate Upton says she'd "love to go" to prom with 17-year-old Jake Davidson. The LA high school senior asked the supermodel to prom in a YouTube video that went viral. Jake was doing a live TV interview yesterday when Upton called in and said if her schedule permits, she'd love to be his prom date.

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Filed under: Trending • YouTube
March 22nd, 2013
05:53 AM ET

President Obama spends final day of historic Mideast journey at holy sites in Israel before last stop in Jordan

FROM CNN WIRES:

After putting himself in the middle of the historic tensions between Israelis and Palestinians this week, U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday wraps up his first trip to Israel since becoming president. He then moves on to another of America's closest allies in the region - Jordan, a military and intelligence partner, which has been facing trying times.

Obama is devoting his last hours in Israel and the Palestinian territories to cultural endeavors.

With Israeli President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the president and Secretary of State John Kerry visited the grave of Theodor Herzl, the father of modern Zionism, where Obama placed a stone on top of the tomb.

From there, the delegation went to the grave of Yitzhak Rabin, the former Israeli Prime Minister who was assassinated in 1995. Obama also laid a wreath and a stone there. The stone for Rabin's grave came from the grounds of the Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial in Washington.

Obama and the Israeli leaders also visited the Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem, where the president turned up the "eternal flame" of remembrance of the 6,000,000 Jewish victims of Nazi death camps in World War II.

Before continuing on to the last stop of his trip, Obama with visit the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, which is on the West Bank, with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Obama then travels to Jordan, where he will meet with King Abdullah II, who has faced harsh criticism lately from his country's people.

READ MORE: Obama travels from Israel and Palestinian lands to Jordan


Filed under: Israel • Israel-Gaza conflict • Jordan • Palestine • Refugees • Relief • Syria • World
March 22nd, 2013
05:44 AM ET

Texas police chase may be linked to Colorado prison chief's death – Ed Lavandera reports

Police in Colorado are taking a "strong look" at whether a suspect shot dead by police in Texas is the same man wanted in the killing of Colorado's prison chief. The man was gunned down after a wild chase in a car that was similar to one seen leaving the Colorado home where Tom Clements was shot dead as he answered his door.

CNN correspondent Ed Lavandera has more live from Decatur, Texas this morning. “The chase started when a Sheriffs Deputy tried to the Cadillac over on a remote stretch of Texas highway,” Lavadera reports. “Deputy James Boyd was shot twice in the chest, but he was wearing a bullet proof vest and is expected to survive. That triggered a long high speed chase.”

Lavandera says "The Denver Post," quoting federal and state officials, identified the suspect as 28-year-old Evan Spencer Ebel, a parolee from the Denver area. “The Post says Ebel is the focus of the investigation into the murder of Tom Clements, the director of Colorado's prison system. In a press release Thursday night, El PasoCounty investigators in Colorado did not deny the accuracy of the reports but instead criticized the leak of Evan Ebel's name by law enforcement sources.”


Filed under: Crime • Law • Law enforcement
March 22nd, 2013
05:43 AM ET

Gunman and two others dead in shooting at Quantico Marine base – Shannon Travis reports

FROM CNN WIRES: 

A shooting that prompted a lockdown for hours at a Marine base in Virginia ended with three dead early Friday, including the gunman, authorities said.

Sgt. Christopher Zahn said they were notified of the shooting at Marine Corps Base Quantico late Thursday.

One person was fatally shot, and the gunman barricaded himself into a room, he said.

Using a public address system, police announced a base lockdown as the shooter was holed up inside a building.

Law enforcement officials from the base and the Prince William County surrounded the area.

When they finally entered the building, they found the gunman dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound and a second victim, he said.

The lockdown ended early Friday, a few hours after it started,.

The suspect was a staff member at the Officer Candidate School, according to Capt Eric Flanagan, a Marine Corps spokesman. The motive is unknown.

READ MORE: Lockdown at Quantico Marine base ends with 3 dead, including gunman


Filed under: Crime • Law • Law enforcement
March 21st, 2013
08:09 AM ET

Who killed Colo. prison chief and why? Jim Spellman reports on the manhunt

The manhunt for a killer continues in Colorado this morning. Police are searching for leads as to who gunned down the chief of the state's corrections department and a possible motive for the murder.

The family of 58 year-old Tom Clements says they lost a devoted husband and father. He was shot in cold blood Tuesday night as he opened the front door to his home outside of Denver. Authorities have not identified a suspect or a motive but want to talk to a woman who may have been seen walking in the area. Investigators are also looking for the driver of car seen in Clements' neighborhood the night of the murder. Jim Spellman is live in Denver with the latest on the search.

“So far, there are few leads, only a car seen idling nearby around the time of the shooting,” Spellman reports. “The same witness who saw the car idling near the crime scene, minutes later saw it driving…towards Interstate 25. Near the on-ramp to the interstate, there are numerous cameras. Police are checking them to see if they spot the car.”

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Filed under: Crime • Law • Law enforcement • Manhunt
March 21st, 2013
08:08 AM ET

Fmr. Ambassador Holliday: President Obama's meeting with Palestinian President Abbas 'a significant visit'

Today, President Obama is in the West Bank city of Ramallah for the second leg of his historic Middle East visit. He is meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss the possibility of reviving peace talks in the region. The president has said he is prepared to listen, and hasn't come with a peace plan. The two leaders will talk at a working lunch and will then address the media.

But the trip is already marred by violence. Two rockets fired from Gaza  landed in the southern Israel city of Sderot hours earlier, while the president was about 60 miles away in Jerusalem. There are reports of property damage but no injuries.

Stuart Holliday, president and CEO of the Meridian International Center and fmr. former U.S. Ambassador special political affairs to the UN Security Council, weighs in on Obama’s meeting with Abbas today and how the attacks may have affected it. Holliday says the rocket attacks are a reminder that the Palestinian Authority does not control Gaza and that the Palestinian government is divided, highlighting "the weakness that we face in terms of the talks restarting."

Holliday calls the president's trip a significant visit, but notes that the Palestinians are very skeptical about what the president hopes to accomplish.  “I think it's a mixed bag,” Holliday says. “But I do believe that they would view the president's visit, and the look for any opportunity to get these talks restarted. And of course, they've been on the sidelines, waiting for what they see as a critical issue, for these settlements to halt. Whereas Israelis have said, look, ‘we're ready to talk at any point as long as you don't put preconditions on these talks.’”

March 21st, 2013
07:28 AM ET

President Obama meets with Palestinian President Abbas hours after rockets from Gaza land in southern Israel

Today, President Obama is in the West Bank city of Ramallah for the second leg of his historic Middle East visit. He arrived from Jerusalem this morning, making a 10-mile trip between two Middle East cities that are worlds apart.

The trip is already marred by violence. Two rockets fired from Gaza landed in the southern Israel city of Sderot earlier, underscoring the urgency of the visit. It happened just a few hours ago while the president was still in Jerusalem, about 60 miles away. There are reports of property damage, but no injuries.

The president is in Ramallah to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The two leaders will talk at a working lunch and will then address the media.

Later today, President Obama returns to Jerusalem for a state dinner in his honor hosted by Israeli President Shimon Peres.

Chief White House Correspondent Jessica Yellin is live from Ramallah with the latest on how the rockets may have affected what the president hopes to accomplish today.

March 21st, 2013
07:03 AM ET

SHOCKING VIDEO: Bus driver literally kicks special needs child off bus

Newly released video shows a school bus driver in Florida literally kicking a special needs student off her bus.

The incident happened last fall, but police are just releasing the images.

Tampa police say an 8-year-old special needs student slapped driver Stephanie Wilkerson after being told to wait her turn getting off the bus.

A security camera shows Wilkerson giving the student a swift kick as the girl exits the bus. Investigators say Wilkerson can be heard on the video saying "I'd buy a belt if she were mine...she would not hit adults ever again."

Wilkerson was fired after the incident.


Filed under: Shocking video
March 21st, 2013
06:57 AM ET

Multiple investigations launched into reports of chemical weapons in Syria – Barbara Starr reports

U.S. intelligence officials say there is so far no evidence of chemical weapons used in Syria, but they are conducting their own investigation as to what happened there, Barbara Starr reports. CNN has learned new details about how the CIA is trying to find answers, including information that intelligence officials are talking to rebels and defectors to learn what they know, she says.

Officials tell CNN, military analysts are also looking at reports from Syrian doctors and videos from the attacks to see if the symptoms and conditions of the patients in them match those of a potential chemical attack. They are investigating satellite imagery to identify movement of chemical weapons and intercepting cyber chatter about attacks as well, Starr reports. 

“Now, officials tell us, because the U.S. has no operatives and no U.S. military personnel on the ground inside Syria, this is going to be very tough to prove," Starr says. "And it may take them some time, if ever, to figure out exactly what happened here.”

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Filed under: Chemical Weapons • Syria
March 21st, 2013
06:29 AM ET

CNNTrends: Tina Fey channels Sarah Palin on 'Inside the Actor's Studio'

Tina Fey gets into character as Sarah Palin once again. The comedian channeled the former governor of Alaska while answering James Lipton's questions on yesterday's episode of Bravo's "Inside the Actor's Studio".

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Filed under: Comedy • Trending • YouTube
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