Early Start's new website
19 U.S. Embassies, Consulates Closed until Saturday
The terror threat that prompted the State Department to close 22 U.S. embassies and consulates across the Muslim world this past Sunday has left 19 of those diplomatic posts closed through the rest of this week.
“The CIA and the National Security Agency had been secretly monitoring intelligence tips for weeks,” reports CNN’s Barbara Starr.
“There were indications of a possible terrorist attack in Yemen, a stronghold of one of Al Qaeda's deadliest affiliates.”
Washington sprang to action when a crucial message was recently intercepted involving communications among senior al Qaeda operatives.
U.S. officials then issued a worldwide travel warning in addition to closing embassies across the Middle East and North Africa as a precaution.
Starr reports, “Fifteen hundred Marines on board three Navy warships in the Red Sea will now remain off the coast of Yemen ready to react.”
Follow along at CNN.com for emerging details in the story.
Michelle Knight: "Your Hell is Just Beginning"
Ariel Castro's sentence will last a lot longer than he will.
The Cleveland man who held three women captive in his home for a decade is getting life in prison without parole, plus 1,000 years.
Castro spoke at his sentencing hearing Thursday, blaming everyone, it seemed, but himself.
“These people are trying to paint me as a monster, and I am not a monster,” Castro told the court.
“I am sick. My sexual problems were so bad in my mind that I am impulsive.”
However, “It was the words of one of victims, and those who spoke for the others, that will be remembered,” reports CNN's Martin Savidge.
“Michelle Knight was the only victim to appear in person, bringing the proceedings to an emotional halt. She had suffered the most and the longest in captivity from Castro, which is why her words meant so much.”
Knight said, “You took 11 years of my life away and I've got it back. I spent 11 years in hell now your hell is just beginning..."
State Dept. Closing Middle East Embassies Sunday
A "serious and credible" terror threat is prompting the U.S. State Department to close more than a dozen embassies and consulates in the Middle East and across the Muslim world on Sunday.
Officials say the unspecified threat is directed at U.S. targets overseas, and may not be confined to diplomatic posts.
“The move comes as the holy days that mark the end of Ramadan approach at merely a year after the deadly attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya,” reports CNN’s Barbara Starr.
“Now the embassy in the capital Tripoli will be closed.”
Embassies in Cairo, Tel Aviv, Riyadh, and Baghdad, which “would normally have been open on Sunday,” are also being shut down.
“And the closings may expand to include additional days,” Starr says.
Juror B-29: "George Zimmerman Got Away With Murder"
Barely two weeks since George Zimmerman was acquitted in the death of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin, many supporters and opponents of the verdict are learning more details about what went on in the jury room.
Not long after Juror B37 and alternate Juror E54 broke their silence, another juror has now come forward to explain the verdict.
Juror B29 is showing her face as she talks with ABC News about the decision to acquit the former neighborhood watch volunteer.
"George Zimmerman got away with murder, but you can't get away from God," Juror B29 says.
“Anguished and apologetic, Juror B29–going by the name Maddy–told ABC's Robin Roberts that she favored convicting George Zimmerman of second degree murder,” reports CNN’s Pamela Brown.
"For myself, he's guilty,” she says, “…but as the law was read to me if you have no proof that he killed him intentionally, you can't say he's guilty."
Maddy says that after more than 16 hours of deliberations, she struggled to find the proof to convict. "Maddy concedes she still struggles with the verdict and the public outcry that followed,” Brown reports.
“I literally fell on my knees and broke down,” she says. “I kept saying to myself, ‘I feel like I killed him.’”
She also says she owes Trayvon's parents an apology.
“I would like to apologize because I feel like I let them down.”
Trayvon martin's mother released this statement in response.
"This new information challenges our nation once again to do everything we can to make sure that this never happens to another child.”
Human Error Possible for Southwest Nose-Landing
New details are emerging about the Southwest Airlines flight that skidded down a runway and landed nose-first at New York’s LaGuardia Airport this Monday.
Flight 345 had 150 people on board. Federal investigators are questioning why the jet landed nose-first.
“When it comes to landing, the 737's rear landing wheels touch ground first, the front wheels second,” CNN's Rene Marsh reports.
“But investigators say that's not how it happened here. The front wheel came down first and it couldn't withstand the weight of the plane, ending with a 19 second skid.”
According to the NTSB, in the final four seconds before touchdown, the plane shifted from 2 degrees nose up to 3 degrees nose down.
Kevin Hiatt, President of the Flight Safety Foundation, says human error could be a possible cause.
“Southwest tells CNN the landing scenario the NTSB describes... ‘is not in accordance with our operating procedures,’” Marsh reports.
“This is now the second investigation looking at potential pilot error in a matter of weeks. Asiana Flight 214 crash landed at the San Fransisco airport earlier this month...killing three people.”
Follow along at CNN.com as the investigation develops.
Who is Huma Abedin? A Look at the Woman Standing by Weiner
Embattled New York City mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner is holding firm despite the scandal now surrounding him—once again.
He’s remaining defiant amid calls from newspapers and his political rivals saying he should drop out after he admitted to “sexting”, or exchanging explicit online messages with a woman, even after he resigned from congress in disgrace for the same lewd behavior.
That woman has been identified as 23-year-old Sydney Elaine Leathers - who was active online talking about democratic politics.
She's said to have once loved the former congressman, but is now disgusted by how he treated her.
Despite all this, Weiner's wife is expressing her support, telling the press on Tuesday, "I love him, I have forgiven him, I believe in him."
“When Huma Abedin spoke of her devotion to her husband Anthony Weiner Tuesday,” reports CNN’s Alino Cho, “the public may have been surprised but not those who know her. Members of her inner circle say Huma was out there because she wanted to be.”
In a revealing essay in the September issue of Harper's Bazaar written by Abedin herself, she writes: "... yes, I'm out on the campaign trail. It's where I want to be. Because the choice for me is simple: I love my husband, and we both love this city."
Deadly Derailment in Spain kills 77, Injures 100
In Spain, an occasion for celebration turned into tragedy overnight.
At least 77 are dead and more than 100 injured after a high-speed passenger train crashed and almost snapped in two in northwestern Spain on Wednesday.
“About a third of the people who got on that train in Madrid yesterday are now dead,” CNN’s Al Goodman reports over the phone.
“A court official tells CNN that number is expected to rise. We’re hearing that they still have some train cars to look at.”
That deadly derailment happened just one day before the patron saint day of St. James, Santiago.
“There are dozens and dozens of people who wounded on what was supposed to be one of the happiest days of the year…It’s a big tragedy instead.
Weiner Rejects Calls To Withdraw From NYC Mayoral Race
The field of democratic candidates in New York City's mayoral race will have Anthony Weiner to bully during the race.
The scandal-plagued former representative is back on the campaign trail just one day after revealing he continued "sexting" long after the same lewd behavior forced him to resign from congress.
He remains defiant despite calls that he drop out of the race. But while he tries to focus on his campaign, it’s proving tough escaping the scandal.
CNN’s Dana Bash asks New Yorkers if the scandal bothers them, and the feelings are mixed.
One man says, "No, I mean, a lot of politicians have their issues and I think this one we can put behind us.”
But another New Yorker disagrees.
“I think it's kind of creepy," says one woman, "so I don't think I'd want that as my mayor.”
The "Modern" Royal Family
The world has been enthralled this week by the sensation across the pond over the birth of the royal baby. The ceremony and the pomp and circumstance announcing the birth can be traced to centuries past, but some also to the customs of current day.
A scene that’s very traditional but also a little bit modern, critics say the birth of the royal baby might be a sign of things to come.
“The world celebrates the new prince, the future king, the possible 1st British Monarch of the 22nd Century,’ CNN’s John Berman says.
The parents William and Kate have been hailed as young, fresh, modern.
In that style, a break from tradition; they sent word of the birth in an email.
“William and Kate are expected to be more hands on parents than past royals,” Berman says. “Instead of a nanny, they have reportedly hired a housekeeper to help around the palace. So no Mary Poppins unfortunately.”
Police Photog. Under Investigation for Tsarnaev Leak
Sgt. Sean Murphy, the Massachusetts police photographer who leaked photos of the surviving Boston bombing suspect, is now on desk duty pending the outcome of an internal investigation.
The investigation is expected to take several weeks. During that time, Murphy's superiors will decide what further punishment, if any, he will face.
“Murphy could lose his job for releasing these bloody and bruised photos of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to ‘Boston Magazine’, a possible violation of department policy,” CNN’s Jason Carroll reports.
Murphy has said that he leaked the photos in protest to Rolling Stone Magazine's glamorized cover of the Boston bombing suspect. Critics feel the cover likens Tsarnaev to a rock star.
Murphy is currently unable to comment because of the investigation. Yet many are rushing to defend the him, including his colleagues, who hail Sgt. Murphy as a man of honor and conscience, and his 19-year-old son.
“My dad's kind of always been a huge hero to me,” his son Connor Patrick Murphy says. “If I could be one fourth the man he is now then I could be happy with my life. I couldn't be prouder.”
The outpour of support doesn’t stop there. “A Facebook page set up in his honor has some 60 thousand followers and counting,” Carroll reports.
“Murphy's boss says it's a difficult situation, but he must maintain the integrity of the department.”
Superintendent Mass State Police Timothy Alben says, “If we get into a situation where we allow employees to cherry pick and choose what confidential information can be shared with the public, then we've lost integrity of Massachusetts State Police.”
On Twitter
