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Flight attendant charged with opening emergency evacuation chute
From Susan Candiotti, Laura Batchelor and Jesse Solomon, CNN
New York (CNN) - Police arrested a flight attendant Monday suspected of triggering an emergency escape chute on a plane parked at a JFK Airport terminal, a spokeswoman for the district attorney said.
Steven Slater was arrested at his home and charged with criminal mischief, reckless endangerment and criminal trespass, said Helen Peterson at the Queens District Attorney's Office.
The incident took place just after the Jet Blue flight landed when a passenger stood to remove a bag from the overhead bin while the plane was still taxiing, a law enforcement source with direct knowledge said. A flight attendant exchanged words with the passenger, and the conversation escalated.
Slater picked up the intercom and used expletives directed at the passengers, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation. It is not clear exactly what was said on the intercom. The source said that when the plane at stopped at the gate, Slater then grabbed some beer from the beverage cart before deploying the emergency slide and using it to leave the plane.
New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said that it "appears" the flight attendant quit his job in a very dramatic way.
"I know the facts that have been related to me - the plane was taxiing in, some passenger got up to take their bag down, the steward - flight attendant - approached, told him to not do that," said Kelly. "He called him an expletive and apparently hit him or pushed him in some way. The story got on the radio based on a statement that 'I've been doing this for twenty years and I'm out of here.'"
"It's a strange way to quit, let's put it that way," he said. "I don't think he'll be able to come back."
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LIVE Blog: Chat with us during the show
Editor's Note: Welcome to American Morning's LIVE Blog where you can discuss the "most news in the morning" with us each week day. Join the live chat during the show by adding your comments below. It's your chance to share your thoughts on the day's headlines. You have a better chance of having your comment get past our moderators if you follow our rules: 1) Keep it brief 2) No writing in ALL CAPS 3) Use your real name (first name only is fine) 4) No links 5) Watch your language (that includes $#&*).
First trial of Gitmo prisoner under Obama administration to begin Monday
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (CNN) - The youngest detainee in the U.S. facility Guantanamo Bay is set to go to trial this week, charged with terrorist acts for al Qaeda and the killing of a U.S. Special Forces soldier.
The Pentagon-appointed lawyer for Canadian citizen Omar Khadr said he didn't know whether Khadr would be in court Monday.
The day will be devoted to dealing with motions, said defense lawyer Lt. Col. Jon Jackson.
The panel of 15 members of the U.S. military that will act as a jury will be seated by the end of the day on Tuesday.
Khadr was captured on the battlefield in Afghanistan in 2002 when he was only 15. He is now 23.
The government said late Sunday it expected the commission trial to begin on schedule, and that it could last as long as four weeks.
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LIVE Blog: Chat with us during the show
Editor's Note: Welcome to American Morning's LIVE Blog where you can discuss the "most news in the morning" with us each week day. Join the live chat during the show by adding your comments below. It's your chance to share your thoughts on the day's headlines. You have a better chance of having your comment get past our moderators if you follow our rules: 1) Keep it brief 2) No writing in ALL CAPS 3) Use your real name (first name only is fine) 4) No links 5) Watch your language (that includes $#&*).
Wyclef Jean to run for president of Haiti
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/08/06/wyclef.jean.art.jpg]
(CNN) - Hip-hop artist Wyclef Jean says he has submitted the necessary paperwork to run for president of Haiti, a country he left when he was a child.
Jean made the anticipated announcement Thursday on CNN's "Larry King Live." The singer traveled to Haiti to submit the paperwork.
Jean was one of the first, and most visible, celebrities to offer aid after a devastating earthquake hit Haiti in January. He has also been an outspoken proponent of the nation through his Yele Haiti Foundation, which has come under scrutiny for how it spends its money.
"Yes, it's my first time announcing it live - that today I went in, and I signed, and I am running to be the president of Haiti," said Jean, in his first television interview about his decision to run.
Whoever is elected in November, the new president will face the monumental task of rebuilding the country that was ravaged by a January 12 earthquake that killed more than 220,000 people, destroyed 60 percent of government infrastructure and left more than 180,000 homes uninhabitable.
Whoever steps in will also oversee the billions of dollars in international aid promised to the country since the quake.
"Now that our country has toppled, it's a chance to rebuild from the bottom on up," Jean said, adding he will be the voice of Haiti's youth.
Jean's announcement quickly became a top topic on the internet, with many debating whether the music star best known for rapping, playing the guitar and dancing, could actually lead a country.
One outspoken critic was actor Sean Penn, who has lived in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, for months to help manage 50,000 displaced Haitians living in a camp.
Penn said he questioned Jean's motives. Read More
LIVE Blog: Chat with us during the show
Editor's Note: Welcome to American Morning's LIVE Blog where you can discuss the "most news in the morning" with us each week day. Join the live chat during the show by adding your comments below. It's your chance to share your thoughts on the day's headlines. You have a better chance of having your comment get past our moderators if you follow our rules: 1) Keep it brief 2) No writing in ALL CAPS 3) Use your real name (first name only is fine) 4) No links 5) Watch your language (that includes $#&*).
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/08/05/ca.prop8.ruling.gi.art.jpg caption= "Defendants and plaintiffs have until Friday to submit responses to a temporary stay. The decision is a major victory for proponents of same-sex marriage."]
Deadline looms to respond to stay in same-sex marriage ban ruling
(CNN) – Defendants and plaintiffs have until Friday to submit responses to a temporary stay that a California judge granted after striking down the state's ban on same-sex marriage.
Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker in San Francisco ruled on Wednesday that California's Proposition 8 violates the U.S. Constitution.
He however granted a temporary stay, which stops his decision from taking immediate effect.
Supporters of Proposition 8 argued, prior to Walker's ruling, that same-sex marriages would be performed soon after his decision and could be complicated by rulings and appeals farther down the legal road.
The judge's decision striking down the ban handed supporters of gay rights a major victory in a case that both sides say is sure to wind up before the U.S. Supreme Court.
The 136-page opinion is an initial step in what will likely be a lengthy fight over the proposition, which defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
At stake in the trial was whether California's ban on same-sex marriage violates gay couples' rights to equal protection and due process, as protected by the U.S. Constitution. Read more
Related: Read the 136-page ruling
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LIVE Blog: Chat with us during the show
Editor's Note: Welcome to American Morning's LIVE Blog where you can discuss the "most news in the morning" with us each week day. Join the live chat during the show by adding your comments below. It's your chance to share your thoughts on the day's headlines. You have a better chance of having your comment get past our moderators if you follow our rules: 1) Keep it brief 2) No writing in ALL CAPS 3) Use your real name (first name only is fine) 4) No links 5) Watch your language (that includes $#&*).
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/US/08/04/gulf.oil.spill/t1main.bp.jpg caption= "A long-awaited procedure to permanently seal BP's crippled well in the Gulf of Mexico appears to be working, the oil giant announced early Wednesday"]
'Static kill' appears to be working, BP says
(CNN) – A long-awaited procedure to permanently seal BP's crippled well in the Gulf of Mexico appears to be working and is being monitored, the oil giant announced early Wednesday.
The well-killing procedure, which began Tuesday afternoon, involves pumping heavy drilling mud down from above to push oil back into the well reservoir.
"The well pressure is now being controlled by the hydrostatic pressure of the drilling mud, the desired outcome of the static kill procedure," a BP statement said. "The pumping of heavy drilling mud was stopped after about eight hours of pumping drilling mud down the well. The well is now being monitored, per the procedure, to ensure the well remains static."
BP said it will continue work on a relief well.
The static kill is the biggest development in the long-running saga involving BP's well since a tightly fitting cap was placed on it in mid-July, stopping oil from flowing into the Gulf for the first time in almost three months.
Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill Wednesday, a joint Senate hearing will focus on the use of dispersants in Gulf.
The Environmental Protection Agency is likely to face questions about its finding that eight dispersants, including one used in combating the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, are no more toxic when mixed with oil than the oil alone. Read more
Sound off: We want to hear from you this morning. Add your comments to the LIVE Blog below and we'll read some of them on the show.
LIVE Blog: Chat with us during the show
Editor's Note: Welcome to American Morning's LIVE Blog where you can discuss the "most news in the morning" with us each week day. Join the live chat during the show by adding your comments below. It's your chance to share your thoughts on the day's headlines. You have a better chance of having your comment get past our moderators if you follow our rules: 1) Keep it brief 2) No writing in ALL CAPS 3) Use your real name (first name only is fine) 4) No links 5) Watch your language (that includes $#&*).
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/US/08/03/gulf.oil.spill/t1main.oil.jpg caption= "A key test - to determine whether an effort to seal the ruptured BP oil well in the Gulf of Mexico can proceed - may take place Tuesday, says the company."]
BP test for 'static kill' in Gulf could take place Tuesday
(CNN) – A crucial test - meant to determine whether an effort to seal the ruptured BP oil well in the Gulf of Mexico could proceed - will likely take place Tuesday, according to the company.
The "injectivity" test was initially scheduled for Monday but was delayed because of a small leak, BP said.
Tuesday is also the day the company could also conduct the "static kill," one of two efforts planned to cap the leaking well once and for all.
"During final preparations to commence with the injectivity test, a small hydraulic leak was discovered in the capping stack hydraulic control system," BP said in a statement. The injectivity test will be rescheduled until the leak is repaired.
In the test, "base oil" will be pumped into the ruptured well bore to determine whether it will go back into the reservoir, said Kent Wells, BP's senior vice president. The test will start with pumping one barrel per minute, then two, then three. How much is pumped will depend on how the test goes, Wells said. He added the test is meant to help officials decide whether adjustments need to be made on "how and if" the static kill will proceed.
The static kill would involve pouring mud, possibly followed by cement, into the well from above. The goal is to push all the oil back into the reservoir, and seal the well. Read more
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