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CNN Wire Overnight Outlook [St. Joseph News-Press (MO)]
[September 10, 2011]

CNN Wire Overnight Outlook [St. Joseph News-Press (MO)]


(St. Joseph News-Press (MO) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) (CNN) -- Supervising News Editor Lateef Mungin - 404-827-1401 . UPCOMING US-Terrorism-Threat (will update) American spy networks have intercepted communications from an al Qaeda operative in Pakistan indicating plans for a terrorist strike in New York or Washington, according to a senior U.S. official.



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Egypt-Protests (will update) Egypt declared a state of alert as the country's Cabinet prepared to meet in emergency session Saturday to discuss an attack on the Israeli Embassy, a government spokesman said.


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Libya-War (will update) A deadline set by Libya's new leaders for the surrender of the towns of Sirte and Bani Walid, bastions of hardcore supporters of Moammar Gadhafi, passed at midnight Friday without any apparent deal.

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North-Carolina-Ammunition 1 am Authorities are investigating why 14,000 rounds of ammunition is missing from Fort Bragg.

Syria-Unrest Syrian security forces barged into a hospital and snatched 18 wounded patients, including five from an operating room, the Human Rights Watch reported, citing witness accounts.

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Texas-Fires (monitoring) Texas is in urgent need of a federal disaster declaration to help respond to wildfires throughout the state, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said Friday.

. PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED STORIESCNN SHOWCASE .

Guatemala-Violence By Arthur Brice The smartly-dressed, blond woman emerged from a tony restaurant on Avenida Reforma, one of Guatemala City's main boulevards. A tall, broad-shouldered and barrel-chested man preceded her, his eyes calmly scanning the parking lot from behind dark sunglasses. Two other similar-looking bodyguards trailed behind her as they walked toward a luxury SUV. As the vehicle pulled out into midday traffic, the three guards sat with their passenger windows open -- one in the front seat, two in the back --- their heads slowly swiveling as they inspected their surroundings in full surveillance-and-protect mode. Guatemalans -- wealthy or not -- tell pollsters and just about anyone else who asks they are plenty worried when it comes to crime and violence in the Central American country, labeled by some observers as one of most dangerous nations in the world. The government reports that 6,500 people met violent deaths in 2009 and nearly 6,000 were slain last year in Guatemala -- a nation slightly smaller than Tennessee in size, with a population of about 14 million.

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Syria-Gadhafi-TV-Station By Mohamed Fadel Fahmy and Moni Basu Moammar Gadhafi no longer has his Tripoli compound or his vast power apparatus. He is a fallen leader, a fugitive wanted by the world's eminent criminal court. And yet, he still has a voice. It goes out loud and clear to the entire world thanks to Al-Rai, a privately owned Syrian-based television station that has, in recent weeks, taken over for Libyan state media in fulfilling a role as Gadhafi's mouthpiece.

. TOP STORIES. US-Terrorism-Threat From Barbara Starr, Mike M. Ahlers and Lesa Jansen American spy networks have intercepted communications from an al Qaeda operative in Pakistan indicating plans for a terrorist strike in New York or Washington, according to a senior U.S. official.

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POL-Obama-Jobs-Plan President Barack Obama hit the road Friday to rally public support for his new job creation plan, calling it critical to efforts to invigorate an ailing economy and avert a new downturn.

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POL-Obama-Jobs-Plan-Impact Economists gave generally positive reviews to President Obama's jobs plan Friday, with some estimating that at least 1 million jobs could be added in the next year if Congress passes the package.

. INTERNATIONAL. Egypt-Protests Egypt declared a state of alert as the country's Cabinet prepared to meet in emergency session Saturday to discuss an attack on the Israeli Embassy, a government spokesman said.

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Libya-War A deadline set by Libya's new leaders for the surrender of the towns of Sirte and Bani Walid, bastions of hardcore supporters of Moammar Gadhafi, passed at midnight Friday without any apparent deal.

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Libya-US-Diplomats By Jamie Crawford The United States is sending the first team of diplomats into the Libyan capital since its embassy was shuttered earlier this year, a U.S. State Department spokeswoman said Friday.

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Syria-Unrest Syrian security forces barged into a hospital and snatched 18 wounded patients, including five from an operating room, the Human Rights Watch reported, citing witness accounts.

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UN-Palestinians By Mick B. Krever A top Palestinian official declined to predict Friday the timing and route for upgraded recognition at the United Nations, but said that his leadership will meet in Cairo on Monday to discuss a course of action.

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US-Odierno-Iraq-Troops By Charley Keyes The new Army chief of staff, Gen. Ray Odierno, says there would be risks in leaving a large force of U.S. troops in Iraq beyond the present withdrawal deadline of the end of the year.

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Iraq-Journalist-Shot From Mohammed Tawfeeq Rights groups called the death of a prominent Iraqi journalist "suspicious" and "politically motivated" Friday, and insisted that authorities conduct a full investigation into his death.

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Pakistan-Al-Qaeda-Leader U.S. intelligence officials tried Friday to pin down a possible terror plot coinciding with the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, but U.S. authorities have not as yet gained access to Younis al-Mauretani, a senior al Qaeda leader recently arrested in Pakistan.

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Afghanistan-Troop-Deaths Three NATO-led service members died following an insurgent attack Friday in eastern Afghanistan, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said.

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Yemen-Unrest More than a million anti-government youth gathered for protests in virtually all of Yemen's provinces, witnesses said Friday, a day the protesters dubbed "Friday of victory from God." .

France-Yemen-Yacht The fate of the crew of a French yacht who went missing after sending a distress call off the coast of Yemen is in doubt, the French foreign ministry said Friday.

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Germany-Arrests Two men arrested in Berlin on suspicion of plotting a bomb attack must remain in custody, a judge ruled Friday.

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Uk-Riots-Funeral A funeral took place in London Friday for Mark Duggan, the father of four whose death after his cab was stopped by armed police led to protests that expanded into four days of rioting.

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Canada-Earthquake A 6.7 magnitude earthquake struck near Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Friday afternoon, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

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US-Richardson-Gross Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who arrived in Cuba this week to try to negotiate the release of jailed American contractor Alan Gross, said Friday he has not been allowed to meet with him.

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SPORT-Sport-Rugby-New-Zealand Rugby World Cup hosts New Zealand made a perfect start to the tournament on Friday with a 41-10 victory over Tonga in Pool A.

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MONEY-Stark-Ecb-Euro-Markets By Ben Rooney European financial markets were rocked Friday following a shakeup at the European Central Bank. Stock markets in London, Frankfurt and Paris all fell between 2% and 4%. The euro plunged 1.6% against the dollar. The yield on the benchmark German bond fell to an all-time low as investors hunkered down in safe haven assets. The upheaval came after Jurgen Stark, a member of the ECB's executive board, announced plans to step down before the end of his term in 2014. Stark will remain in his current position until a successor is named, according to a statement issued by the ECB.

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MONEY-Greek-Default-Fears-Return By Ben Rooney Investors were rattled Friday as worries the Greek government may default on its debts resurfaced. Stocks markets in Europe and the United States plunged. The euro sank 1.6% versus the dollar. Yields on U.S. Treasuries and German bonds fell to record-lows as investors took shelter in safe-haven assets. The market turmoil was driven by fears that Athens may not get its next installment of bailout money from the European Union, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank.

. U.S.A.. Arizona-Church-Prostitution By Michael Martinez A church called the Phoenix Goddess Temple has been accused of being a house of prostitution, and a six-month undercover investigation has resulted in the arrests of 20 women and men who worked there, Phoenix police said Friday. Authorities are still searching for 17 more people -- all of whom have been indicted -- in connection with the prostitution enterprise .

Washington-Body-In-Trash A Tacoma, Washington man who allegedly asked neighbors for permission to dump a dead body in their trash can appeared in court Friday.

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California-Power-Outages A short-circuit at a substation in North Gila, Arizona, set off a series of failures that led to the massive power outage that left millions of people in California, Arizona and Mexico in the dark, San Diego Gas and Electric Co. President Michael Niggli said Friday.

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California-Human-Smuggling-Sentence A Los Angeles judge sentenced a Guatemalan national to more than seven years in prison Friday for his role in the operation of a human smuggling "drop house." .

Texas-Fires Texas is in urgent need of a federal disaster declaration to help respond to wildfires throughout the state, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said Friday.

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Mississippi-Personhood By Bill Mears Voters in Mississippi will be given a chance to decide whether life begins at conception, a controversial abortion-related ballot initiative that the state's highest court has refused to block.

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New-York-Terrorism-Suspect A 27-year-old Brooklyn resident was charged Friday with providing material support to militants in Pakistan and had planned to join "radical jihadists" in the country's restive tribal region, according to a U.S. attorney's office statement. Agron Hasbajrami, who holds both American and Albanian citizenship, was arrested Tuesday at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York carrying a tent and other survival gear.

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Obama-Uncle-Released An uncle of President Barack Obama who was arrested last month for allegedly operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol has been released from custody. Onyango Obama was freed from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody on Thursday under an order of supervision, according to a statement Friday from Brian P. Hale, director of public affairs for ICE. He will be required to check in regularly with immigration authorities, Hale said.

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TECH-NBC-Twitter-Hacked Hackers accessed the Twitter account for NBC News on Friday and posted false messages about a fresh attack on New York's Ground Zero.

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US-Weather-Lee The swollen Susquehanna River began receding in northern Pennsylvania on Friday as authorities there and in other eastern U.S. states hit by the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee warned the crisis is not over.

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US-Missing-Oil-Workers Mexico's state-owned oil company searched in rough seas Friday for 10 workers missing from a U.S.-owned oil vessel in the tropical- storm-roiled Gulf of Mexico.

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US-Congress-Military-Suicides By Larry Shaughnessy For years, the Pentagon and Congress have worried over the problem of military suicides. The House Armed Services Committee held another hearing on this life-and-death issue Friday, but this time, it was more than studies and statistics. For two members of Congress, suicide is an issue they know intimately.

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US-9-11-Security-Measures By Michael Martinez As the nation enters the weekend marking the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, law enforcement authorities are deploying additional security measures and urging all Americans to be vigilant for suspicious activity.

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US-Intelligence-Community-Response By Pam Benson Analysts are working 24/7 this week at the National Counterterrorism Center, sifting through databases for connections to a possible threat of an attack on New York or Washington around the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

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US-Justice-9-11-Tribute By Terry Frieden Reminiscent of the national unity that followed the September 11 attacks, a rare bipartisan embrace highlighted the 9/11 memorial tribute at the Justice Department on Friday.

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US-9-11-Pentagon By Charley Keyes Every few moments another plane seemed to be bearing down on the Pentagon on Friday, but they were only on their final approach to nearby Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The roar of aircraft, however, fit right into the Friday afternoon commemoration of those lost when a jetliner hijacked by al Qaeda terrorists slammed into this huge building in 2001. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta talked through the noise as hundreds of people gathered in the Pentagon courtyard to remember the 184 people who died in that 9/ 11 attack. And he and his listeners also were aware of the latest terrorism warnings -- and of unfinished business.

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US-911-Audio-Recordings By Dugald McConnell and Brian Todd Extensive audio recordings from September 11, 2001, capture a raw, vivid, moment-by-moment account of the terrorist attacks, directly from those who were in the middle of the crisis. In excerpts posted online -- some of which were declassified only within the past year -- listeners can hear everything from the wrenching words of a flight attendant on a hijacked airliner and the haunting voices of two of the terrorists in the cockpits, to the crosstalk of air controllers and military officials as they come to realize the extent of the attacks. The recordings have been assembled by researchers and posted at http:// www.rutgerslawreview.com/2011/full-audio-transcript/.

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US-Terror-Funding Ten years after the September 11 attacks, al Qaeda's ability to finance such a large and sophisticated operation has been significantly diminished, but new challenges to choke off funds for further attacks continue, the Treasury Department said.

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POL-Texas-Execution-Probe By Matt Smith An attorney general's opinion effectively halts a Texas state commission's investigation into allegations that flawed science led to a man's 2004 execution, according to a draft report released Friday.

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POL-Obama-Plan-Congress From Deirdre Walsh and Ted Barrett As it considers President Barack Obama's $447 billion jobs plan, many members of a divided Congress appeared Friday to be in a compromising mood, seemingly eager to placate voters sick of infighting and inaction when it comes to jumpstarting the economy.

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POL-Congress-Eases-Tone By Xuan Thai After nearly a month of contentious debate over the debt ceiling, many members of Congress appear to be striking a new tone of civility. Following President Barack Obama's job speech before a joint session of Congress on Thursday, members flooded the media with post speech reaction displaying a more tempered attitude.

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POL-Obama-Visits-OH-VA By Rebecca Stewart President Barack Obama took his jobs plan to Virginia Friday during the first of two upcoming visits planned in the 2012 battleground. The president traveled to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's district in Richmond to talk up his jobs recovery proposal, which is expected to be put before Congress next week. "The time for gridlock and games is over," he said. "Now is not the time for people in Washington to be worrying about their jobs. It's time for them to be worrying about your jobs." .

MONEY-Obama-Jobs-Pay-For By Jeanne Sahadi Even if President Obama had gotten a standing ovation for everything he proposed in Congress on Thursday, his $447 billion jobs bill still wouldn't pass if it isn't paid for. And the president made clear that he knew it. "Everything in this bill will be paid for. Everything," Obama told lawmakers. Specifically how that will happen is not at all clear.

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MONEY-Obama-Stimulus-Plan-Small-Business-Reaction By Catherine Clifford Some were optimistic. More were highly skeptical. And others were left scratching their heads. That's how some small business owners felt about President Obama's jobs package, which was unveiled Thursday. Obama's $447 billion stimulus plan is a combination of tax credits and spending initiatives aimed at boosting the stalled economy and creating jobs. So small businesses, which have generated about two-thirds of the nation's new jobs in the last 15 years, were particularly interested on how the proposal would work for them.

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MONEY-Obama-Housing-Scorecard By Les Christie During his speech before Congress Thursday night, President Obama briefly referenced an initiative to help rescue the troubled housing market. "To help responsible homeowners we're going to work with Federal housing agencies to help more people refinance their mortgages at interest rates that are now near 4% - a step that can put more than $2,000 a year in a family's pocket, and give a lift to an economy still burdened by the drop in housing prices," he said. While details were scant, the new program sounds very similar to the existing Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) and isn't the broad new program aimed at facilitating millions of refinancings that some were expecting, said Jaret Seiberg, an analyst for MF Global Inc.'s Washington Research Group, which analyzes public policy for institutional investors.

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MONEY-Defense-Spending-Super-Committee By Charles Riley The super committee has met exactly one time and already one of the group's 12 members is threatening to blow up the process. The reason: He thinks further defense cuts should be off limits. The senator -- Republican Jon Kyl of Arizona -- is a staunch defender of the Pentagon's budget, and it's no surprise that he is protecting the military's interests.

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MONEY-Patent-Reform-Bill By David Goldman Congress on Thursday passed legislation that will reform the U.S. patent system for the first time since the Truman administration.

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MONEY-Airline-Fares By Aaron Smith The sluggish economy hasn't stopped airlines from hiking the price of flying ... again.

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MONEY-Solyndra-Fbi By Steve Hargreaves FBI agents, acting with inspectors from the Department of Energy, raided the offices of solar panel maker Solyndra on Thursday, just days after the DOE-backed company filed for bankruptcy.

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MONEY-Markets-Newyork By Hibah Yousuf Stocks ended sharply lower Friday, as bad news out of Europe kept piling up. The sell-off triggered the sixth weekly decline in seven weeks for the Dow and S&P 500.

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MONEY-Treasuries-10-Year-Yield By Blake Ellis The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note dropped to a record low on Friday, as worries about European debt, a weak U.S. economy and anticipation of a new round of quantitative easing boosted the appeal of Treasuries.

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MONEY-Tweets-Stocktwits By Ivan Hoff The weakness in European stocks, thanks to fears of a Greek bond default, transferred to the U.S. stock market on Friday. All major indexes are trading near their lows for the week.

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MONEY-Thebuzz By Paul R. La Monica This must happen to many parents: Your kid grows up, goes to college, moves away from home and becomes an adult you hardly even recognize anymore. That's how Menachem Brenner, a professor of finance at NYU Stern and one of the pioneers in helping to create what eventually became Wall Street's most widely cited "fear" gauge, feels about the CBOE Volatility Index or VIX.

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POL-Turner-Weprin-Poll By Ashley Killough Just four days before voting day, a new poll showed Republicans may turn out a big upset in a special congressional election in New York City to replace former Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner.

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POL-Early-Voting-Nevada By Dan Merica Early voting for the Sept. 13 special election in Nevada ends Friday and the candidates are making a last minute push to differentiate themselves. Republican Mark Amodei branded Democrat Kate Marshall as a "rubber stamp" for Democrats in Washington. The ad features Marshall repeating phrases from President Barack Obama, Vice President Joseph Biden and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D- Nev.).

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POL-Barbour-Headline-Gala By Peter Hamby Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour will be the keynote speaker at a "Reagan Gala" concluding the Western Republican Leadership Conference next month, organizers said Friday.

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POL-Debates-Matter By Paul Steinhauser If you think the battle for the Republican presidential nomination has been a wild ride so far, hang on -- it could get even more exciting. Five presidential debates are scheduled to be held in September and October, including two hosted and produced by CNN. A debate at the Reagan Presidential Library in southern California on September 7 is followed by a CNN debate in Tampa on September 12, and then followed by another Florida debate on September 22. A New Hampshire debate on October 11 is followed a week later by another CNN debate in Las Vegas, Nevada, on October 18.

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POL-Perry-Romney-Social-Security By Paul Steinhauser A battle over Social Security between the top two contenders in the race for the GOP nomination that started at this week's presidential debate doesn't show any signs of quieting down, and a presidential debate Monday night in Florida could serve as the setting for round two in the clash.

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POL-Romney-South-Carolina By Shawna Shepherd Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney will make a campaign stop in South Carolina before participating in Monday's CNN- Tea Party debate in Florida, according regional press secretary Ryan Williams.

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POL-Romney-Florida-Straw-Poll By Paul Steinhauser Rick Perry is going to take part in a straw poll later this month in Florida, but Mitt Romney's not changing his mind about skipping the event.

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POL-George-Mitt-Romney By Paul Varian A few decades ago, in the very early stages of one of the most volatile presidential campaigns in American history, Mitt Romney's father was seen as the man to beat for the Republican nomination. As it turned out, his candidacy did not even last until the first of the 1968 primaries. He was done in by his unscripted outspokenness - a trait not generally attributed to his more cautious son, whose first run for the White House in 2008 survived through Super Tuesday. And who, until recently, was front-runner in this year's GOP sweepstakes.

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POL-Bachmann-Iowa-Football By Dan Merica The change from summer to fall this year means two things for the state of Iowa - politics and football. And this weekend, those two passions will meet.

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POL-Bachmann-Social-Security By Dan Merica and Ashley Killough Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minnesota, defended Social Security on Friday, continuing what has become a steady drumbeat of Republican presidential hopefuls differentiating themselves from Texas Gov. Rick Perry's position on the program.

. FEATURES, ANALYSIS & COMMENTARY. ENT-Mel-Gibson-Jewish-Film By Alan Duke Mel Gibson will not have an acting role in a movie about Jewish historical icon Judah Maccabee, although he may direct the film, Gibson's representative said Friday.

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ENT-Fall-TV-Preview-Lynch Everyone's going to give you the scoop on new fall shows, but we'd like to predict what will survive based on a good old- fashioned hunch. Why? Because we've watched far too much television in our time to sit idly by while our fellow viewers flip aimlessly between the networks.

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ENT-contagion-movie-review Steven Soderbergh's new movie, "Contagion," is a star-powered disaster movie on a massive scale, with a death toll exceeding 8 million before it's even halfway done, but the emotional temperature remains cool and analytical.

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ENT-Sanjay-Gupta-Contagion By Lisa Respers France Dr. Sanjay Gupta didn't have to stretch much to portray a journalist who asks some tough questions in the new film "Contagion." CNN's chief medical correspondent even offered star Laurence Fishburne some advice as the pair spent time together in makeup. In the film, Fishburne plays Dr. Ellis Cheever, who is the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention when there is an international epidemic which threatens the world's population. The actor picked Gupta's brain for some advice about medical ethics.

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TRAVEL-NASCAR-Driver-Vacation By Rebecca Angel Baer If you earn your living driving at speeds upward of 200 mph, chances are you don't slow down even when you're on vacation. That's certainly the case for NASCAR driver Brian Vickers.

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MED-HPV-Protection-Study By Miriam Falco A new study suggests that girls and women may not need all three recommended doses of HPV vaccine to get the necessary protection to prevent cervical cancer.

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MED-Manning-Surgery By Elizabeth Landau and Trish Henry Inside Indianapolis Colt Peyton Manning's surgery: It's realistic for Manning to come back to playing in eight to 12 weeks, says Dr. Joseph C. Maroon, a neurosurgeon at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and neurosurgeon for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Maroon did not treat Manning, but has operated on five NFL athletes and five professional wrestlers.

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FEA-Wiener-Schnitzel-Day Please hold all wiener jokes until the end - September 9 is National Wiener Schnitzel Day! .

FEA-grief-children Some 3,000 kids lost a loved one in the 9/11 terror attacks. Parents who've lost loved ones say they need more resources for themselves and their children.

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Chinatown-Hongkong-Sept11 By Elizabeth Yuan Humor was Jami Gong's answer to helping bring back life to New York City's Chinatown in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks.

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POL-Whitehouse-Photographer By Bryan Monroe As the president's personal photographer and head of the White House Photo Office, Eric Draper was with President George W. Bush for nearly every day of his eight-year term, often just a few feet away. On the morning of September 11, 2001, he was there, too. "My job was to document the president, to follow him everywhere," Draper told CNN in an exclusive interview. "But I had no idea what stories, what events would play out ... September 11 changed everything." .

ANALYSIS-Frum-September11-Mood The anniversary of 9/11 should prompt debate on how to revive America's spirit.

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ANALYSIS-Milhaven-Explaining-9-11 How do I tell my kids about 9-11? .

COMMENTARY-9-11-Starr By Barbara Starr CNN Correspondent Barbara Starr writes: Every year the memories come flooding back. Like most Americans, I often have told the story of "where I was when it happened." Maybe this year, the 10th, it will be the last time, for at least a while.

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COMMENTARY-Bergen-Lebovich-US-Terrorism-Cases By Peter Bergen CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen writes: The credible but as yet unconfirmed reports that three men directed by al Qaeda have plans for an attack on the United States to coincide with the 10th anniversary of September 11 reminds us of the persistence of the threat from Islamist terrorists. Yet our research indicates that al Qaeda and those motivated by its ideology are not the only sources of terrorism that the country faces and that terrorists across the ideological spectrum from those motivated by Osama bin Laden's ideology to neo-Nazis have managed to kill only 30 people in the United States since the attacks on Washington and New York a decade ago. While each of those deaths is, or course, a tragedy, it is orders of magnitude smaller than the 15,000 Americans who are murdered every year. Our study also found that Islamist terrorism has been no more deadly in the United States than other forms of domestic terrorism since September 11.

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COMMENTARY-Bryce-Obama-Energy-Jobs For decades, political commentators have been lamenting America's lack of an energy policy. That's no longer true. Under Barack Obama, the U.S. has adopted a very clear energy policy: obstruct and even vilify the coal, oil and natural gas industries while lavishing subsidies on unreliable and expensive sources like solar, biofuels and wind energy.

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COMMENTARY-margonelli-speech-green-economy Unlike in previous jobs speeches, where he's been a cheerleader for clean energy and a green economy, President Obama didn't say the word "green" once in his address to a joint session of Congress on Thursday night. That seems to fit the mood of the country, but in fact, Obama is missing a stimulus program in every American gas tank. This year, Americans will probably spend about $450 billion on gasoline: That's roughly $100 billion more than we spent last year. So, high gas prices could effectively wipe out the entire stimulus that Obama proposed Thursday night from the $100 billion payroll tax break.

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COMMENTARY-rubio-postal-service-matters What would we lose if we lost 220,000 postal jobs (120,000 proposed through layoffs, 100,000 through attrition), 3,700 post offices, 300 mail processing plants, or even the post office itself? With millions of jobs and businesses lost to the recent recession, these may seem like just more numbers, or more seemingly inevitable "facts" -- that in the electronic age we now rely on the private sector to deliver public services. But postal workers are people we depend on and post offices are places we want to know will always be there.

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