NEW YORK (CNN)  -- Prodding Israel and the Palestinian Authority to restart talks aimed at a permanent resolution of their decades-old conflict, President  Obama dropped a demand for an Israeli settlement freeze, U.S., Israeli and Palestinian officials said. Benjamin Netanyahu, left, President Obama and Mahmoud Abbas. "Simply put, it is past time to talk about starting negotiations. It is time to move forward," Obama told reporters before a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "It is time to show the flexibility and common sense and sense of compromise that is necessary to achieve our goals," Obama said. Obama first met separately with Netanyahu  and Abbas on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in what he called "frank and productive" talks. The session was the first among the three leaders since Obama took office in January. George Mitchell, Obama's envoy for the Middle East, attended Tuesday's talks. He said the talks were "at all times cordial," but "direct" and sometimes "blunt." Obama told Abbas and Netanyahu that, "The only reason to hold public office is to get things done," and that everyone "must take risks for peace," Mitchell said. Mitchell told reporters the U.S. is "not identifying any issue as being a precondition or an impediment to negotiation." But the United States and Israel have publicly disagreed on Israeli plans to build more housing on land the Palestinians regard as theirs. Previous Obama administration demands for a freeze have been ignored by the Netanyahu government.  Watch Netanyahu address peace, settlements » Abbas has so far rejected resuming talks with Israel until the Jewish state halts all settlement building in the occupied West Bank and in predominantly Palestinian East Jerusalem. Arab states also have balked at the U.S. request to take confidence-building measures toward Israel until Israel freezes settlement construction. Sitting with Netanyahu and Abbas, Obama softened his regular language on a settlement "freeze," saying that Israel has had meaningful discussions about "restraining" settlement activity. "But they need to translate these discussions into real action on this and other issues," he said. "Obama told Abbas that he couldn't get the settlement freeze and promised to keep trying, but that it shouldn't be a condition for talks and it was time to move on," one Palestinian aide to Abbas said. Several U.S. officials said that Obama told Abbas that although the U.S. believe a settlement freeze would create a better atmosphere for talks to begin, the lack of one should not be used an as excuse not to talk. "Let's not have the perfect be the enemy of the good," Obama told Abbas, according to the officials.  Watch Obama: 'We have to find a way forward' » "It's been apparent for some time that the Israelis were going to fall short of what is necessary on the settlement freeze," one senior U.S. official said. "But our view is let's get to negotiations and settlements will be addressed within those final status issues" A senior Israeli diplomat said Israel agreed to not building any new settlements, no outward expansion of existing growth and to only build for "natural" growth within existing settlements. He said Israel also agreed not to encourage Israelis to move to settlements, which would increase the population. "A complete settlement freeze wasn't physically or politically possible, especially in the absence of any Arab or Palestinian concessions," the Israeli diplomat said. "There was a time the gaps had significantly narrowed, but now they were starting to widen. The administration recognized, rather than have them widen further, we should start negotiating." The Palestinian aide to  Abbas said Obama's failure to secure a settlement freeze has weakened him in the eyes of the Palestinian delegation, because it casts doubt on his ability to move Israel during final status negotiations. The Palestinians did win an important point, however, with Obama making clear that the peace talks would not start from scratch, which Netanyahu had favored

Question: who does obama meet

Question: Who did Obama meet with?

Question: What did President Obama say?

Question: What Obama says about it?

Question: What did Israel agree to on West Bank settlement growth?

Question: what does obama say

Question: what does israel agree to

Question: With who Obama met that day?

Answer: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas

Answer: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Answer: "It is time to show the flexibility and common sense and sense of compromise that is necessary to achieve our goals,"

Answer: "It is time to show the flexibility and common sense and sense of compromise that is necessary to achieve our goals,"

Answer: resolution of their decades-old conflict,

Answer: "Simply put, it is past time to talk about starting negotiations. It is time to move forward,"

Answer: not building any new settlements,

Answer: Benjamin Netanyahu,

Summary:
NEW: Israel agrees to some limits on West Bank settlement growth .
"It is past time to talk about starting negotiations," President Obama says .
Obama meets separately, then jointly, with Netanyahu and Abbas .
Meetings come as hopes for renewed Israeli-Palestinian talks have dimmed .


NEW YORK (CNN)  -- Spiritual leaders of New York's African-American Muslim communities lashed out Friday at a purported al Qaeda message attacking President-elect Barack Obama and, using racist language, comparing him unfavorably to the late Malcolm X. Ayman al-Zawahiri said Obama was the "direct opposite of honorable black Americans" like Malcolm X. The imams called the recorded comments from al Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri "an insult" from people who have "historically been disconnected from the African-American community generally and Muslim African-Americans in particular." "We find it insulting when anyone speaks for our community instead of giving us the dignity and the honor of speaking for ourselves," they said in a statement read during a news conference at the Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial, Educational and Cultural Center. The al Qaeda statement, an 11-minute, 23-second audio message in Arabic with subtitles in English, appeared on the Internet on Wednesday. Its authenticity has not been confirmed. The message said Obama represents the "direct opposite of honorable black Americans" like Malcolm X.  Watch al Qaeda official criticize Obama » The speaker also said Obama, former and current Secretaries of State Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice and "your likes" fit Malcolm X's description of "house slaves." An English translation of the message used the term "house Negroes," Malcolm X's term for blacks who were subservient to whites. The term refers to slaves who worked in white masters' houses. Malcolm X said those slaves were docile compared with those who labored in the fields. iReport.com: Should Obama react to comments? Malcolm X, the fiery African-American Muslim activist from the 1950s and 1960s, was an early member and leader of the Nation of Islam. He left that group in 1963 over disillusionment with its then-leader, Elijah Muhammed, but remained a Muslim. After months of death threats, he was assassinated in 1965 by members of the Nation of Islam, who shot him 16 times at close range. The three men who were convicted of the crime have been paroled. On Friday, Imam Al-Hajj Talib 'Abdur-Rashid, recalling Malcolm X's legacy, said that he "stood for human rights and the principle of self defense ... international law. He would have rejected, and we who are Muslim African-Americans leaders reject, acts of political extremism." The Council on American-Islamic Relations also condemned Zawahiri's comments in a statement issued Thursday. "As Muslims and as Americans, we will never let terrorist groups or terror leaders falsely claim to represent us or our faith," the statement said. "We once again repudiate al Qaeda's actions, rhetoric and world view and re-state our condemnation of all forms of terrorism and religious extremism."

Question: Who fit Malcolm X's definition of house negro?

Question: Who responded to comments made by an al Qaeda official?

Question: What did the official say about Obama?

Question: Who compared Obama to a house Negro?

Question: President-elect Barack Obama fit whose definition of a "house Negro"?

Question: What group was the official from?

Question: What did U.S. Muslim leaders respond to?

Question: Who else did the official attack?

Question: Which secretaries of state were denigrated?

Question: What was the response of US Muslim leaders?

Answer: Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice

Answer: Spiritual leaders of New York's African-American Muslim communities

Answer: "direct opposite of honorable black Americans" like Malcolm X.

Answer: Ayman al-Zawahiri

Answer: Ayman al-Zawahiri

Answer: al Qaeda

Answer: at a purported al Qaeda message attacking President-elect Barack Obama and, using racist language,

Answer: Obama

Answer: Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice

Answer: lashed out

Summary:
U.S. Muslim leaders respond to comments reportedly made by al Qaeda official .
Official said President-elect Barack Obama fit Malcolm X's definition of "house Negro"
Official also denigrated Secretaries of State Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice .


NEW YORK (CNN)  -- The British are coming, the British are coming -- to Brooklyn? By subway? Barclays has paid $300 million for the naming rights to the New Jersey Nets arena. New York's struggling Metropolitan Transportation Authority has sold the naming rights to the second-busiest subway stop in Brooklyn. The Atlantic Avenue-Pacific Street Station will now have the name of a British bank, Barclays, added to it. Several subway riders are outraged that Barclays has purchased the naming rights to this subway stop, which sees about 10 million people go through it each day. One straphanger said, "A London Bank shouldn't be the name of this train station; it's something that belongs to the public domain." Another said, "It's just everywhere we go, everything we do, it's just branding, branding, branding. It's America now." Renaming the Atlantic-Pacific Station is tied to the construction of Barclays Center, the new sports arena for the National Basketball Association's New Jersey Nets. Barclays is paying developer Forest City Ratner $300 million for naming rights to this arena. Ratner, in a separate deal, will be paying the Metropolitan Transportation Authority $200,000 a year for the next 20 years to rename this commuter hub. Authority Press Secretary Jeremy Soffin said, "Like transit systems all over the U.S. and around the world, we are facing budget deficits." In an effort to bridge the authority's $1 billion deficit, the transit giant that oversees the operation of the city's subways, buses and rail lines wants to follow the Barclays example with stations throughout the system. Though the Atlantic-Pacific subway station is the first in New York for which naming rights have been sold, across the country, there have been several cases of public transportation systems using naming rights to increase revenue. In 2003, the Las Vegas monorail system signed a 12-year, $50 million deal with Nextel to put its name on the station in the Las Vegas Convention Center. The Cleveland Bus System sold station names to two hospitals for $1.1 million a year. Internationally, Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority has been selling the naming rights of 23 metro stations. However, not all naming rights deals are successful. In 2001, the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority tried to raise $22 million by auctioning the naming rights to four historic "T" stations. It received no bids. Reassuring the public that there are certain lines they won't cross when it comes to renaming stations of historical value, Soffin said, "It's a very clear line there, and we want to be as open as possible, but we're not sort of selling the shop here."

Question: Where is Atlantic Avenue located?

Question: Where did the money come from?

Question: Which is the second busiest station in Brooklyn?

Question: What is the second busiest station in Brooklyn?

Question: How much did the basketball arena developer pay?

Question: How much did the developer pay for rights?

Answer: in Brooklyn.

Answer: Barclays

Answer: Atlantic Avenue-Pacific

Answer: The Atlantic Avenue-Pacific Street

Answer: $300 million

Answer: $300 million

Summary:
Basketball arena developer pays $200,000 a year for 20 years for rights .
Atlantic Avenue-Pacific Street station is second busiest in Brooklyn .
Riders express disappointment at "branding" of subway stop .


NEW YORK (CNN)  -- The FBI has begun interviewing clients of deceased Garden City, New York, lawyer William Parente as part of an investigation into his financial dealings, according to FBI spokesman James Margolin.

Stephanie Parente, 19, was found dead along with her sister and parents in a Baltimore hotel Monday.

Margolin said the investigation was launched at the request of police in Baltimore County, Maryland, where Parente, his wife and their two daughters were found dead in a hotel room earlier this week.

"We're looking into Parente's business interests and whether there's any impropriety there and any crime was committed," Margolin said.

Baltimore County police say Parente, 59, killed his family before committing suicide. There have been allegations of financial impropriety in the course of the investigation, said police spokesman Cpl. Mike Hill at a news conference Wednesday.

A law enforcement source told CNN a cell phone belonging to Parente was recovered in the hotel room where the bodies were found. In an attempt to locate surviving family members, investigators contacted people in the phone's directory, and some of those people said they were Parente's investment clients.

The New York attorney general's office confirmed it received a complaint alleging financial wrongdoing from attorney Bruce Montague of Queens, New York.

CNN spoke with Montague's law partner, Steve Drelich, who said he was speaking on Montague's behalf because Montague is distraught over the death of Parente, whom he considered a personal friend as well as a financial adviser. Drelich confirmed Montague was a client of Parente's, and said the two had known each other about six years and that Montague had been investing with Parente for about that long.

Drelich said Montague's estimated losses in investments with Parente total about $450,000.

Drelich said recently Montague "got nervous and asked [Parente] for his money back," in light of highly publicized scandals involving other investors and financial advisers.

Drelich said when Montague kept asking Parente about the money, he was told "it was in a Canadian bank and [Parente] was having trouble getting the money back."

Montague finally received six checks late last week, Drelich said.

"Four of the six checks bounced. We were told there was no money in the account. ... We were told by the bank that the checks were bouncing," Drelich told CNN. Drelich said he doesn't know the amounts of the two checks that did clear for Montague.

It was not until news broke about the Parente family deaths and apparent murder-suicide investigation that Montague contacted authorities, Drelich said.

But Drelich emphasized that Montague was more upset with the deaths than any financial loss.

"You can always make more money," Drelich said. "But Bruce is devastated about the family. He considered [Parente] a friend, but he's especially concerned about the family."

Drelich said his office received calls from at least five other people who said they invested money with Parente, with callers claiming more than $4 million in total investments with Parente. Drelich said his office referred those callers to the state attorney general's office.

Baltimore County police said Parente killed his wife, Betty, 58, on Sunday, April 19, using "blunt force trauma" and asphyxiation.

Police said he killed his daughter Catherine, 11, around the same time, using the same method.

Later that day, his daughter Stephanie, 19, a Loyola College sophomore, was killed also by blunt force trauma and asphyxiation, according to police. Citing hotel records, police said the room was accessed by its electronic key at around 4 p.m. on Sunday, making it plausible that Stephanie entered the room.

Later that evening, police said, Stephanie's college roommate, worried that she had an exam the next morning and hadn't come home, called the room and spoke to William Parente. Parente told the roommate Stephanie would be spending the night. Police believe she was dead at the time.

Parente died some time later by cutting himself, police said, but would not elaborate further

Question: What was Parante's profession

Question: What was the FBI looking for

Question: Who did Parente kill?

Question: who is looking for financial impropriety?

Question: Who are the clients?

Question: What did William Parente do?

Answer: lawyer

Answer: Parente's business interests

Answer: his family

Answer: Margolin

Answer: Montague

Answer: killed his family before committing suicide.

Summary:
FBI looking for financial impropriety after man's clients talked about money loss .
Police say William Parente killed wife, two daughters in hotel room .
Family ID'd as William and Betty Parente, Stephanie, 19, Catherine, 11 .
Police say Parente, an attorney, fatally cut himself .


NEW YORK (CNN)  -- The New York State Assembly passed a same-sex marriage bill Tuesday evening, bringing New York one step closer to legalizing such marriages. Gov. David Paterson has said he'd sign a same-sex if it's passed by the New York Senate. The bill, which passed 89-52, will now go on to the state Senate for a vote. If it is passed there, it will go to Gov. David Paterson, who has made it clear he will sign the bill. "I applaud ... members of both parties for moving this historic legislation forward," New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a statement released by the mayor's office. "I hope New York will soon become the latest state to adopt a law whose time has come." State Sen. Thomas K. Duane, a Democrat, said in a statement, "I am confident that this year my Senate will uphold this fundamental legal principle and vote for my right, our right, to be married this year." This is the second time New York's Marriage Equality Legislation has been approved by the State Assembly -- it passed in 2007, but subsequently stalled in the then Republican-controlled Senate.

Question:
Which bill will go to the state Senate?
Who is the mayor of New York City ?
did many oppose it?
Which State Assembly passes bill?
will the bill go to the senate

Answer: a same-sex marriage

Answer: Michael Bloomberg

Answer: 89-52,

Answer: New York

Answer: on

Summary:
New York State Assembly passes bill by vote of 89 to 52 .
Same-sex marriage bill will go to the state Senate .
Gov. David Paterson has said he would sign a same-sex marriage bill .
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg applauds legislators for vote .


NEW YORK (CNN)  -- The U.S. government paid more than $1.7 million in defense contracts over the last decade to companies owned by leaders of Warren Jeffs' polygamous sect, with tens of thousands allegedly winding its way back to Jeffs and his church. The Pentagon had contracts with three companies with ties to Warren Jeffs' polygamous sect. In fact, some of the deals were made after Jeffs was named to the FBI's "Most-Wanted List" and remained in place while he was on the run. CNN has learned that between 1998 and 2007, the United States Air Force and Defense Logistics Agency purchased more than $1.7 million worth of airplane parts from three companies owned by members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which practices polygamy. Those companies are Utah Tool and Die, Western Precision and NewEra Manufacturing. Today, the companies all operate under the name NewEra Manufacturing, a company based in Las Vegas, Nevada, that says it supplies precision components "for the aerospace, military, medical, recreational and other commercial entities." "It was my understanding that Western Precision was paying roughly $50,000 a week into the coffers of the church," former sect member Richard Holm said. "It would have been close to $200,000 a month." Holm said he helped build Western Precision. A court affidavit signed by a man whose father was the president of Western Precision makes similar allegations. "During 2003, the amount being sent to the storehouse and the FLDS was around $100,000 per month," John Nielsen said in the October 26, 2005, affidavit. "I have personal knowledge that checks sent to the FLDS Church/Warren Jeffs by [Western Precision] are payable to the FLDS Church and/or Warren Jeffs." Private investigator Sam Brower, who monitors the sect, said money earned through business dealings with the U.S. government was used to build Jeffs' compounds across the country, including the one recently raided in Eldorado, Texas. More than 400 children, including teenage girls, were removed from that ranch amid claims of child abuse and forced marriage and motherhood.  Watch a mom plead: 'We need our children' » Brower says dozens of companies tied to FLDS are working on contracts with federal or local governments. The Pentagon would confirm only it had contracts with three. A man who answered the phone at NewEra Manufacturing said it had no comment. The companies have not been charged with wrongdoing. Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell emphasized that point. "The Department of Defense awards contracts on the basis of who can most effectively meet our requirements for supplies or services at the most reasonable cost to the taxpayer," he said. "We do not consider religious affiliation or marital status when selecting vendors, but illegal activity is certainly cause for termination of a contract and perhaps even debarment, which could prevent a contractor from doing business with department ever again." He added, "However, DoD is not aware of any criminal allegations against anyone managing the companies in question." Bob Maginnis, a retired Army lieutenant colonel who now works with a contractor for the Pentagon, said the department does background checks before signing contracts. "The DoD is obviously abiding by the law, and if we want them to look deeper and discriminate on religious or other activities we need to tell them." But he added, "If there was a direct line between Jeffs and this company, and his name was associated with a contract, then that should have come to attention of those that were bidding contract." It's unclear whether Jeffs' name was on any contract, but other senior members of his church were managing the companies. What might taxpayers think of it all? "They're just going to shake their head and say here's another example of our tax money going down the drain to support this polygamist in Texas who abuses children and women," Maginnis said. "They'll be appalled and rightly so." Jeffs is serving time in Utah after his 2007

Question: Who bought airplane parts from companies tied to Warren Jeffs?

Question: Jeffs was placed on what list?

Question: What list was Jeffs on?

Question: what did the pentagon do

Question: The Pentagon bought airplane parts from whom?

Question: where Pentagon bought airplane?

Question: what about the colonel

Question: What armed force was the retired colonel?

Question: Nothing illegal happened according to whom?

Answer: the United States Air Force and Defense Logistics Agency

Answer: the FBI's "Most-Wanted List"

Answer: FBI's "Most-Wanted List"

Answer: had contracts with three companies with ties to Warren Jeffs' polygamous

Answer: three companies owned by members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,

Answer: Utah Tool and Die, Western Precision and NewEra Manufacturing.

Answer: who now works with a contractor for the Pentagon, said the department does background checks before signing contracts.

Answer: Army

Answer: Geoff Morrell

Summary:
Pentagon bought airplane parts from companies tied to Warren Jeffs .
Contracts continued even after Jeffs was on FBI "Most-Wanted List"
Pentagon defends contracts, stands by them as appropriate .
Retired Army colonel says nothing illegal happened, but people will be "appalled"


NEW YORK (CNN)  -- The YouTube and Carnegie Hall generations collided Wednesday night in New York City as a nearly sold-out audience looked on in amazement.

Images from musicians' videos are projected during the YouTube Symphony Orchestra concert in New York.

Almost 100 musicians from around the world -- the world's first symphony orchestra comprised of members who auditioned solely online -- played their debut gig. They may have forever changed the audition process in their journey.

The YouTube Symphony Orchestra bore a new era of classical performance at Carnegie Hall, and according to a YouTube employee, that's exactly what they wanted to do.

"We hope this is game changing in the sense it redefines audition space, it brings people closer together and lets them collaborate, transcending geographical and linguistic boundaries," said marketing manager Ed Sanders.

Participants were chosen from more than 3,000 YouTube video submissions from more than 70 countries and territories spanning six continents, according to a press release.  Watch orchestra play »

Their YouTube channel has received more than 15 million page views thus far with members hailing from more than 30 countries. The symphony orchestra's members participated in the three-day Classical Music Summit at Julliard and their Carnegie Hall debut served as the finale.

Michael Tilson Thomas directed the performance and also served as the artistic adviser and conductor to the orchestra. He refined and nurtured each member through their musical selections online until the entire orchestra met in the real world a few days ago.

"For us it's somewhere between a classical music summit conference and a scout jamboree with an element of speed dating thrown in," Thomas said.

While some participants traveled from as far as South Korea, Malaysia and Lithuania, bass player Kurt Hinterbichler lives in New York City. A theoretical physicist working on his doctorate at Columbia University, Hinterbichler was enamored at being chosen to participate.

"Carnegie Hall is still sort of the unofficial pinnacle of achievement of the classical music world," he said. "You know once you've made it to Carnegie Hall you've really made it."

So, how do you get to Carnegie Hall? "Upload, upload, upload [YouTube videos]," joked Thomas, updating the old "practice, practice, practice" punchline.

Violin player Jennifer Lindsay, who is a systems engineer by day, said she was floored when she learned she was selected. "YouTube gave me this opportunity to perform at Carnegie Hall. There's no other way that someone like me who is not even a professional musician would have ever made it."

World-renowned composer Tan Dun created a piece especially for the orchestra titled "Internet Symphony No. 1, Eroica." Dun told YouTube his inspiration for this piece came from the streets of many international cities.

"On the streets of New York, London, Paris, Beijing, Shanghai, I heard the street noise...then I thought this is the spirit beyond, this is the spirit of today."

Dun has also created music for the movie "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" and the Beijing Summer Olympics.

The symphony orchestra played to a Carnegie Hall audience that was almost 90 percent of capacity.

Audience members seemed to love not only the performance, but the idea as a whole. Peter Newton and his wife were on vacation in New York from London and decided to attend the concert.

"The mixture between the music and democracy... it's interesting that at the end of the day, you bring them together for this performance," he said.

Aaron Polsky attended the performance in support of his sister, who helped organize it. He was amazed at how limitless the performance seemed. "I think it's great... there are really no boundaries other than owning a computer and an Internet connection."

Musicians Lindsay and Hinterbichler both said they had no doubts the event would be a success.

"Absolutely do not underestimate the motivational power of playing at Carnegie Hall," Lindsay said. Hinterbichler agreed, "We've got world class conductors, it will come together."

Question: which orchestra played?

Question: What music was played?

Question: Who had the concert?

Question: what did YouTube Symphony Orchestra play

Question: Who assembled the musicians from around the world?

Question: what was assembled from musicians around the world

Question: What is the name of hall where the event occurred?

Question: Where did generations collide on Wednesday?

Question: what is the answer to how do you get to Carnegie Hall?

Answer: YouTube Symphony

Answer: Classical

Answer: YouTube Symphony Orchestra

Answer: Carnegie Hall,

Answer: YouTube

Answer: first symphony orchestra comprised of members who auditioned solely online

Answer: Carnegie

Answer: New York City

Answer: "Upload, upload, upload [YouTube videos],"

Summary:
The YouTube and Carnegie Hall generations collided Wednesday in New York City .
YouTube Symphony Orchestra played a live concert to an amazed audience .
Orchestra assembled from musicians around the world who "auditioned" online .
So, how do you get to Carnegie Hall? "Upload, upload, upload videos"


NEW YORK (CNN)  -- The husband of a woman who authorities say was impaired by marijuana and alcohol when she caused a head-on collision that killed eight people, including herself, has rejected claims of substance abuse by his wife. Daniel Schuler, left, and his attorney, Dominic Barbara, speak at Thursday's news conference. "I've never seen her drunk since the day I met her," Daniel Schuler, referring to his wife, Diane, said Thursday. "I'm not angry at her. I'd marry her again tomorrow." Accompanied by his attorney, Schuler held a news conference to counter claims by authorities, who said Tuesday that Diane Schuler, 36, had a blood alcohol level of 0.19 percent -- more than twice the legal limit for drivers -- and had marijuana in her system when she drove a minivan the wrong way on the Taconic State Parkway and ran head-on into an SUV. Three adults in the SUV were killed in the July 26 collision, as were Schuler and four children -- her daughter and three nieces -- who were in the minivan. A fifth child in the minivan, Schuler's son, survived. On Thursday, Dominic Barbara, Daniel Schuler's lawyer, cited a list of medical aliments inflicting Diane Schuler before the crash. She apparently had a tooth abscess for two months, diabetes at "various levels" and a mysterious lump on her leg that seemed to move, he said.  Watch Daniel Schuler defend his wife » "I think she had a stroke," said Barbara, who admitted he had no evidence to support his claim. "And I think from the stroke came all the other issues of what happened." The crash happened about 30 miles north of New York after Schuler and the children left a campground where her family had stayed. Barbara said nobody at the camp saw Diane Schuler with alcohol. He said investigators interviewed nine people who spoke with Diane Schuler before she embarked, and those people did not smell marijuana or alcohol on her breath. "Actually, it was the opposite," Barbara said. "She was happy. She was talking to people." Authorities said Tuesday that a broken vodka bottle was found in the minivan after the crash. Barbara said he couldn't explain the bottle, but he said, "Something had to have happened." Daniel Schuler and his lawyer said they have yet to decide on whether they want another autopsy. Jay Schuler, Daniel Schuler's sister, said Thursday that Diane Schuler was reliable and loved children. "There's no way she'd do this," Jay Schuler said. "She was responsible." The statements by Schuler and his attorney differed from the toxicology report released Tuesday by the Westchester County District Attorney's Office. Besides the 0.19 percent blood alcohol level and marijuana, tests showed Diane Schuler had 6 grams of alcohol in her stomach that had yet to be metabolized, according to Maj. William Carey of the New York State Police. Meanwhile, an attorney representing families of two SUV occupants who died in the wreck said a lawsuit is likely. "If I could prognosticate, it appears that there will be a civil suit," said Marshall Nemark, an attorney representing the families of Michael Bastardi and his son, Guy Bastardi, who were killed in the crash along with a friend.

Question: Where did the crash occur?

Question: What did Authorities say her condition was when she caused the fatal crash?

Question: How many people killed Wreck?

Question: What did Diane Schuler's husband say?

Question: What was the cause of the crash?

Question: What Diane Schuler's husband says?

Question: How many people were killed in the wreck?

Question: How many people did the wreck kill?

Answer: about 30 miles north of New York

Answer: impaired by marijuana and alcohol

Answer: eight

Answer: "I've never seen her drunk since the day I met her,"

Answer: marijuana and alcohol

Answer: "I've never seen her drunk since the day I met her,"

Answer: eight

Answer: eight

Summary:
Diane Schuler's husband says she didn't abuse alcohol, drugs .
Authorities: Schuler was intoxicated when she caused fatal crash in New York .
Wreck killed eight people, including Schuler, her daughter and three nieces .
Attorney: No one saw Schuler with alcohol before she began drive .


NEW YORK (CNN)  -- The largest mass transit project in the country got under way Monday with the help of federal stimulus dollars, as public officials broke ground on a second passenger rail tunnel beneath the Hudson River. Work on the country's largest mass transit project began Monday. The new tunnel will link New Jersey with New York and eventually will double capacity on the nation's busiest rail corridor, running from Washington to Boston, Massachusetts, officials said. Officials participated in the groundbreaking for the $8.7 billion project as commuter trains passed behind them in North Bergen, New Jersey, before entering the existing train tunnel, which went into operation in 1908. "As we start digging this tunnel, I think that what really it means, we are digging our way out of an economic crisis," said Sen. Bob Menendez, D-New Jersey. "As we're getting under way, we're seeing the dividends of the Recovery Act being paid right now." The Department of Transportation announced Monday that it will commit $3 billion to the project over its lifespan. Of that, $130 million is coming from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the department said.. It is the largest commitment to any transportation project anywhere in the United States in the history of the Department of Transportation, according to administrator Peter Rogoff of the Federal Transportation Administration. "This is what President Obama means by recovery. It means putting people back to work now to improve the lives of so many others for years to come," Rogoff said. The project -- known as ARC, for Access to the Region's Core -- is expected to create 6,000 design and construction jobs. "This is going to promote mobility, reduce commuter congestion, staunch carbon emissions, enhance regional competitiveness and lay a foundation for an extraordinary expansion of mass transit in the most densely populate state in the nation, New Jersey," New Jersey Gov. John Corzine said. New Jersey Transit says 170,000 passengers now travel through the existing train tunnel beneath the Hudson River to New York each day. When completed, the second tunnel will enable that figure to increase to 255,000 passenger trips. The additional passengers will disembark at a new concourse to be built at Penn Station in New York, 150 feet below street level.

Question: What will link New Jersey and New York?

Question: what will the tunnel link

Question: What is Part of project financed by?

Question: Where will tunnel link?

Question: who is financing

Question: What is Access to the Region's Core, expected to create?

Question: How many jobs will be created?

Question: Who financed the project?

Answer: passenger rail tunnel

Answer: New Jersey with New York

Answer: The Department of Transportation

Answer: New Jersey with New York

Answer: The Department of Transportation

Answer: 6,000 design and construction jobs.

Answer: 6,000

Answer: Department of Transportation,

Summary:
Tunnel will link New Jersey with New York, doubles commuter rail capacity .
Part of project financed by American Recovery and Reinvestment Act .
ARC, Access to the Region's Core, expected to create 6,000 jobs .


NEW YORK (CNN)  -- The wife of accused swindler Bernard Madoff pulled $15.5 million out of a Madoff-related brokerage firm in Massachusetts in the weeks before his arrest, authorities there disclosed Wednesday.

Bernard Madoff is under 24-hour house arrest in his Upper East Side luxury apartment.

The withdrawals by Ruth Madoff took place in November and December, according to a complaint filed by state regulators against Cohmad Securities, a firm they said was "intertwined" with Madoff's New York-based company.

The regulators say Cohmad has refused to provide information about its ties to Madoff, who is accused of running a Ponzi scheme that may have cost investors up to $50 billion.

Daily wire transaction reports show Cohmad was aware of transfers to and from Madoff-related accounts, the filing states.

"For example, the few reports produced by Cohmad show that Ruth Madoff withdrew $5.5 million on November 25, 2008 and withdrew $10 million on December 10, 2008," investigators said.

Bernard Madoff, 70, was arrested December 11 and is currently under house arrest in his Manhattan luxury apartment. He faces one charge of securities fraud in connection with an international scheme that has cost some investors their life savings and could face up to 20 years in prison and a $5 million fine if convicted.

In January, prosecutors tried to revoke his $10 million bail after he mailed more than $1 million worth of diamond-studded jewelry to friends and family, a move they said showed he was trying to move assets out of government hands. But a judge ruled Madoff was neither a danger to the community nor a flight risk.

Prosecutors and Madoff's lawyers have agreed for a second time to push back the deadline for an indictment or probable cause hearing for the former investor, sources close to the case said Wednesday. The previous deadline of Wednesday -- which was itself a delay -- has now been moved back another 30 days.

Madoff and the Securities and Exchange Commission already have agreed to a partial civil judgment against the disgraced investment manager, one that could eventually force him to pay fines and return investors' money.

Under the terms of the deal, Madoff will keep a previously reached agreement to freeze his assets and not to violate any other securities laws, but it does not require him to admit or deny any allegations.

CNN's Allan Chernoff and Amy Sahba contributed to this report.

Question: What is Madoff charged with?

Question: What is the possible punishment Madoff faces?

Question: what money was taken

Question: Where was the money taken from?

Question: What does Madoff face?

Answer: He faces one charge of securities fraud in connection

Answer: up to 20 years in prison and a $5 million fine if convicted.

Answer: $15.5 million

Answer: brokerage firm

Answer: up to 20 years in prison and a $5 million fine if convicted.

Summary:
NEW: Ruth Madoff made withdrawals in November and December .
Money taken from Massachusetts company "intertwined" with New York company .
Madoff faces one charge of securities fraud and could face up to 20 years in prison .


NEW YORK (CNN)  -- Three Staten Island men are charged with violating voting rights, accused of assaulting African-Americans after Barack Obama's win in the November presidential election, authorities said Wednesday. A grand jury indicted Ralph Nicoletti, 18, Michael Contreras, 18, and Brian Carranza, 21, on charges of conspiracy to interfere with voting rights. All three pleaded not guilty in federal court Wednesday afternoon. According to the indictment, the three "knowingly and intentionally" conspired to intimidate African-Americans "in the free exercise and enjoyment of a right ... and because of having so exercised that right, to wit, the right to vote." Nicoletti and Carranza are white, and Contreras is Latino. They face up to 10 years in prison if convicted. At the arraignment, Nicoletti and Contreras were ordered held without bail, while Carranza was released on a $200,000 bond but ordered to wear an electronic monitoring device. Contreras' attorney, public defender Len Kamdang, could not be reached for comment. Nicoletti's attorney, Bob LaRusso, had no comment. Prosecutors said in court filings that on the night of November 4, the defendants were at a "makeshift outdoor clubhouse" in the Rosebank section of Staten Island when they learned of Obama's victory. At that point, prosecutors said, Nicoletti drove Contreras, Carranza and another friend to the predominantly African-American Park Hill neighborhood in Staten Island. Their purpose, prosecutors said, was to assault African-Americans because of Obama's win. Their first victim, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, was 17-year-old Ali Kamara, whom they beat with a metal pipe and a collapsible police baton. Kamara escaped after suffering a concussion and injuries to his legs. "The first swing that swung -- it hit my head. It cut my head," Kamara told CNN affiliate WABC. "I got staples on my head now." Kamara said he hid in a neighbor's backyard until the boys moved on. Continuing to the Port Richmond section of Staten Island, the group assaulted a second African-American man, pushing him down, the federal prosecutors alleged. They then allegedly accosted a Latino man, demanding to know how he voted, and shouted profanities about Obama at a group of African-Americans at a hair salon. Next, prosecutors said, the group targeted Ronald Forte, a man they mistakenly believed to be African-American who was walking along Blackford Avenue in predominantly African-American Port Richmond. Forte is white, but because he was wearing a hoodie, the men were unable to identify his race and assumed that he was African-American. According to the indictment, the men decided to assault Forte with the police baton as they drove by, but at the last moment, Nicoletti swerved the vehicle directly into the 38-year-old man instead. Forte was thrown onto the hood of the car, shattering the front windshield. According to Staten Island Real Time News (silive.com), Forte was in a coma for 45 days, returning to his family's home in New Jersey in mid-December, said his mother, Eileen. She added that her son now has serious brain damage and motor control problems. "He's not good. He's never going to be good," she said. "Every day, I just see something different, and it's so scary." U.S. Attorney Benton J. Campbell decried the attacks. "Violence and intimidation aimed at interfering with the constitutional rights of every citizen, including the right to vote, will not be tolerated," he said in a written statement. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Nicoletti has an extensive history of violent criminal activity including burglary, car break-ins, firebombing, assault, and marijuana and cocaine distribution. He is also a member of the "Rosebank Crew" (RBK) founded by his now-incarcerated younger brother, Anthony Nicoletti. Investigators found a cache of weapons and police batons stolen from vehicles owned by police, as well as letters from Nicoletti's brother

Question: What three men conspired to intimidate African-Americans?

Question: who is held without bail

Question: How many men were involved in the conspiracy to intimidate?

Question: What two were held without bail while the other was out with a monitoring device?

Question: who conspired to indimidate

Question: Who was being intimidated?

Question: who did the intimidate

Answer: Ralph Nicoletti, 18, Michael Contreras, 18, and Brian Carranza, 21,

Answer: Nicoletti and Contreras

Answer: Three

Answer: Nicoletti and Contreras

Answer: Three Staten Island men

Answer: intimidate African-Americans

Answer: African-Americans

Summary:
Indictment says three men conspired to intimidate African-Americans .
They've pleaded not guilty of conspiracy to interfere with voting rights .
Two held without bail; other out on bail with monitoring device .
Prosecutors: Men went to African-American neighborhoods, assaulted 3 people .


NEW YORK (CNN)  -- Three professors and a former professor at Columbia University's Teachers College received hate mail this week, the New York Police Department said. It's the campus that was shaken by several bias crimes directed at black and Jewish professors in 2007.

Columbia University's Teachers College is once again the target of a hate campaign.

Three professors received manila envelopes Tuesday with images of swastikas in them.

The fourth, a former professor who is an African-American, was sent a manila envelope containing an image of a noose, according to NYPD deputy commissioner Paul Browne.

Among those receiving a swastika image was Elizabeth Midlarsky, a Jewish psychologist who has studied psychological principles in the context of the Holocaust, police said.

In 2007, her office door was spray-painted with a swastika. (A swastika is the right-angles cross symbol used on Nazi Germany flags).

The NYPD Hate Crimes Unit is leading the investigation into the incident. No arrests have been made.

"The TC community deplores these hateful acts, which violate every Teachers College and societal norm," said an e-mail Wednesday to faculty and students from the college's president, Susan Fuhrman; and dean, Tom James.

No arrests were been made in the 2007 incidents. Police declined to say if they believe there is a connection between those cases and the mailings this week.

Question: what are the professors names?

Question: What agency is in charge of the investigation?

Question: what is the Jewish psychologist name?

Question: Who received hate mail this week?

Question: What happened to three professors?

Question: who is the head of NYPD?

Question: What happened to the psychologist's office door in 2007?

Answer: Elizabeth Midlarsky,

Answer: The NYPD Hate Crimes Unit

Answer: Elizabeth Midlarsky,

Answer: Three professors and a former professor at Columbia University's Teachers College

Answer: received hate mail

Answer: Paul Browne.

Answer: spray-painted with a swastika.

Summary:
Three professors, one former one at Columbia University receive hate mail this week .
Jewish psychologist at Teachers College among those receiving swastika .
In 2007, same psychologist's office door was spray-painted with a swastika .
NYPD Hate Crimes Unit is leading investigation; no arrests made .


NEW YORK (CNN)  -- Three professors and a former professor at Columbia University's Teachers College received hate mail this week, the New York Police Department said. It's the campus that was shaken by several bias crimes directed at black and Jewish professors in 2007. Columbia University's Teachers College is once again the target of a hate campaign. Three professors received manila envelopes Tuesday with images of swastikas in them. The fourth, a former professor who is an African-American, was sent a manila envelope containing an image of a noose, according to NYPD deputy commissioner Paul Browne. Among those receiving a swastika image was Elizabeth Midlarsky, a Jewish psychologist who has studied psychological principles in the context of the Holocaust, police said. In 2007, her office door was spray-painted with a swastika. (A swastika is the right-angles cross symbol used on Nazi Germany flags). The NYPD Hate Crimes Unit is leading the investigation into the incident. No arrests have been made. "The TC community deplores these hateful acts, which violate every Teachers College and societal norm," said an e-mail Wednesday to faculty and students from the college's president, Susan Fuhrman; and dean, Tom James. No arrests were been made in the 2007 incidents. Police declined to say if they believe there is a connection between those cases and the mailings this week.

Question: Who received hate mail?

Question: Whose door was spray painted

Question: Who is leading the investigation into these hate crimes?

Question: what crime unit is leading the investigation

Question: Who received a swastika?

Answer: Three professors and a former professor at Columbia University's Teachers College

Answer: Elizabeth Midlarsky,

Answer: The NYPD

Answer: NYPD Hate

Answer: Three professors


NEW YORK (CNN)  -- Toward the end of her marriage, Rabia Iqbal said she feared for her life. Robina Niaz said the Quran "condemns" abuse of women. "If we witness injustice, we're required to speak up." Iqbal was born in New York to parents who had immigrated to the United States from the tribal areas of Pakistan. She had a strict Muslim upbringing and when she was 16, her parents arranged her marriage to a 38-year-old man. She claims her husband turned violent during their 10 years of marriage. When she finally left him, she did not know where to turn. Going home wasn't an option, she said. "My parents ... made clear that they would disown me," Iqbal said. "My father even said ... 'You're lucky you live in America because if you lived back home, you would have been dead by now.' " She was hiding out in her office at work when a friend put her in touch with Robina Niaz, whose organization, Turning Point for Women and Families, helps female Muslim abuse victims. "It was such a relief ... to speak about things that ... I thought no one would understand," said Iqbal, who has received counseling from Niaz for more than two years and calls Niaz her "savior." "Robina understood the cultural nuances ... the religious issues," Iqbal said.  Watch Iqbal tell her story » A devout Muslim, Niaz stresses that there is no evidence that domestic violence is more common among Muslim families. "Abuse happens everywhere," said Niaz. "It cuts across barriers of race, religion, culture." But, she said, Muslims are often reluctant to confront the issue. "There's a lot of denial," she said. "It makes it much harder for the victims of abuse to speak out." When Niaz launched her organization in 2004, it was the first resource of its kind in New York City. Today, her one-woman campaign has expanded into a multifaceted endeavor that is raising awareness about family violence and providing direct services to women in need. Niaz said she firmly believes that domestic violence goes against Islamic teachings, and considers it her religious duty to try to stop abuse from happening. "Quran condemns abusive behavior of women," she said, noting that the prophet Mohammed was never known to have abused women. "Allah says, 'Stand up against injustice and bear witness, even if it's against your own kin. So if I see injustice being done to women and children, I have to speak up. It's my duty." Niaz's mission began after a difficult period in her own life. Born and raised in Pakistan, she had earned a master's degree in psychology and had a successful career in international affairs and marketing when she moved to the United States to marry in 1990. "It was a disastrous marriage," she said. As Niaz struggled to navigate the American legal system during her divorce, she said she appreciated how lucky she was to speak English and have an education. She realized that many immigrant women without those advantages might be more likely to stay in marriages because they didn't know how to make the system work for them. "If this is how difficult it is for me, then what must other immigrant women go through?" she remembered thinking. After volunteering with South Asian victims of domestic violence, Niaz, who speaks five languages, got a job using those skills to advocate for immigrant women affected by family violence. But Niaz's focus changed on September 11, 2001. "I was no longer a Pakistani-American ... I looked at myself as a Muslim." Niaz said the backlash many Muslims experienced after the terror attacks made abuse victims more afraid to seek help; they feared being shunned for bringing negative attention to their community.  Watch Niaz explain the effects of 9/11 on abused Muslim women » "Women who were caught in abusive marriages were trapped even

Question: who helps domestic violance victims

Question: Whose organization helps female Muslim domestic violence victims?

Question: What goes against Islamic teachings?

Answer: Turning Point for Women and Families,

Answer: Robina Niaz,

Answer: domestic violence

Summary:
Robina Niaz's organization helps female Muslim domestic violence victims .
Turning Point for Women and Families was first resource of its kind in New York City .
Niaz: Domestic violence goes against Islamic teachings, but "denial" is a problem .
The Top 10 CNN Heroes will be announced on October 1 .


NEW YORK (CNN)  -- Two undocumented workers from Mexico and one from Ecuador have reached court settlements in recent weeks for a total of $3.85 million in damages for New York construction-site accidents, an attorney for the men announced Wednesday. "All three cases involve construction and terribly unsafe working conditions," the attorney, Brian O'Dwyer, said in a news conference. "We're here today to re-emphasize -- as we have in the past -- to the Latino community and all undocumented workers that they have the same rights once they're on the job as any New York citizen." A 33-year-old undocumented plumber from Mexico who was scalded by an exploding pipe at a Wall Street construction site in 2004 settled his damage claim for $2.5 million, according to a statement given to reporters at the news conference. The married father of two, who says he still has nightmares from the accident, hopes to open a restaurant or bar with the settlement money, his cousin told reporters. In a separate statement, owners of the Wall Street site said only that the injured plumber was "employed directly by [the] contractor and not by the owner of the property nor the managing agent." Reached through a public relations firm, a spokesperson for the contractor, Swig Equities, had no comment. Another undocumented Mexican worker suffered severe injuries to his left foot and other parts of his body when a steel beam fell on his lower body at a building site in downtown Manhattan, the news conference statement said. The 52-year-old settled his damage claim against Beway Realty Corp. and F.J. Sciame Construction Co. Inc. for $750,000, according to the statement. David Koeppel, a managing member of Beway Realty, said he was not familiar with the case. F.J. Sciame Construction, the site's contractor, did not respond to inquiries. A 36-year-old Ecuadorian laborer who worked at the Arverne by the Sea community in Queens -- a neighborhood The New York Times has called a "bright spot" in the housing market for its strong sales and low foreclosure rates -- settled a damage claim for $600,000, the news conference statement said. He was injured when three large 44x10-foot trusses, each weighing 200 pounds, collapsed onto him in August 2007, fracturing his hip and causing other injuries, according to the statement. The father of three, who had worked in construction for more than a decade and owned his own company at the time of the accident, said he was very sad after the accident because he did not know how he would support his family. His two sons, now 7 and 8, and his 16-year-old daughter were all born in the United States. "The contractor tried to blame me," he said at the news conference, speaking in Spanish. What message would he give other workers? "Don't be afraid to talk to a lawyer." Although he had not yet recovered enough to resume construction work, he hopes to use the settlement money to build a home for his family in New Jersey. Messages left for The Beechwood Organization, developers of Arverne by the Sea, were not returned. Joel Magallan, executive director of Asociacion Tepeyac, an immigrant advocacy group, said that while construction work is often dangerous, undocumented workers are likely to work at sites that lack safety equipment and OSHA regulation compliance. "This is a great day for the undocumented immigrants," Magallan said. "They have to know today that they have rights -- the same rights as other workers who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents." "Many workers are threatened by their employers with deportation or discharge if they bring their cases to court," O'Dwyer said. "What we find normally on work sites in New York is that deaths occur to the undocumented far out of proportion to their work in the workplace, and that is because of the fact that they just do not receive the safety protections," he said. In 2005, O'Dwyer won a historic $4 million settlement for a 33-year-old Mexican worker who had fallen 30 feet in a

Question: How many workers from Mexico reached settlements?

Question: In what city did the workers receive there injuries?

Question: Where are the undocumented workers from?

Question: According to the attorney, what is it undocumented workers have?

Question: what Advocate says undocumented construction workers?

Answer: Two

Answer: New York

Answer: Ecuador

Answer: the same rights

Answer: Brian O'Dwyer,

Summary:
Two undocumented workers from Mexico, one from Ecuador reach settlements .
The three had been injured in different construction accidents around New York .
Attorney says undocumented workers have same rights once they're on the job .
Advocate says undocumented construction workers often have less-safe sites .


NEW YORK (CNN)  -- When filmmaker Roman Polanski was arrested Saturday in Switzerland, he was on his way to accept an award for Lifetime Achievement at the Zurich Film Festival.

Peers of Roman Polanski have praised him for his talent and lamented his arrest.

Polanski's friend, Swiss filmmaker Otto Weisser, was among the first to publicly run to his defense.

"This is for me a shock. I am ashamed to be Swiss, that the Swiss is doing such a thing to brilliant fantastic genius, that millions and millions of people love his work," Weisser said upon learning the director had been detained by Swiss authorities. "He's a brilliant guy, and he made a little mistake 32 years ago. What a shame for Switzerland."

By Tuesday, more than 130 heavyweights in the movie industry had taken up Polanski's cause.

An online petition has been signed by directors such as Marin Scorsese, Woody Allen and Pedro Almodovar, as well as actors.

Studio chief Harvey Weinstein told CNN in a statement: "We are calling every filmmaker we can to help fix this terrible situation."  Watch a report on celebrities' feelings about Polanski's arrest »

Roman Polanski first stormed Hollywood with his psychological thriller, "Rosemary's Baby," in 1968. He remains one of the most celebrated directors in Hollywood and the world, despite not having set foot in the United States in more than three decades.

"We stand by and await his release and his next masterwork," said Zurich Film Festival Jury President Debra Winger on Monday on behalf of Polanski.

Adrien Brody, who Polanski directed in 2002's "The Pianist," had glowing words when it came to his experience working with Polanski.

"If you have the guidance from someone you admire, like Roman Polanski, who not only is a gifted director and actor, but who knows the subject matter and in my opinion the character that I portray, implicitly, then, it's a huge gift," Brody said.

"I learned a great deal about film and the process," the Academy Award winning actor added. "I spent six weeks without another actor on the set, just Roman and I and a crew -- and that's, that's a dream come true for an actor. I cherished those memories."

"He is sweet and very strong and is very, very demanding, in the tradition of an auteur," said Sigourney Weaver about being directed by Polanski in 1994's "Death and the Maiden."

It's a reputation Polanski's earned and maintained, despite his 1977 guilty plea on a statutory rape charge of unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl.  Watch the mixed reaction in Switzerland to Polanski's arrest »

The celebrated director fled the United States and settled in France to escape jail, but by the standards of those in Hollywood, the case is ancient history.

"We hope today that this latest order will be dropped," Winger said. "It is based on a three decade old case that is all but dead, except for a minor technicality."

Matthew Belloni, who has has been following the Polanski case for The Hollywood Reporter's  legal blog, said the outpouring of support from the film industry is not surprising.

"It is a criminal conviction of a terrible crime, but it is something that the industry is willing to look the other way on," Belloni said. "If Hollywood really gets to look at itself and judge the personal character of a lot of the artists in the community, there would be a lot of empty seats at the Oscars because a lot of people have personal problems. This sort of is at the extreme level of that."

As Polanski's star rose after his Oscar-winning hit, "Rosemary's Baby," the world got to know the director's back story.

He was the son of Polish Jews whose mother died in a concentration camp even as a young Polanski escaped the Nazis.

Polanski grew up to become a famous director and married

Question: whaty did the presdient say

Question: who continues to hail him as a hero

Question: What did the film festival president say?

Question: where had polanski remained an insider

Question: Who supported Roman Polanski after his arrest?

Answer: "We stand by and await his release and his next masterwork,"

Answer: Peers of Roman Polanski have praised

Answer: "We stand by and await his release and his next masterwork,"

Answer: Switzerland,

Answer: Swiss filmmaker Otto Weisser,

Summary:
Some industry heavy hitters support Roman Polanski after his arrest .
Many in the international film community continue to hail him as a hero .
Polanski has remained a Hollywood insider while living as a fugitive .
Film festival president: "We hope today that this latest order will be dropped"


NEW YORK (CNN) -- "Guiding Light" will go dark in September after 72 years and 16,000 episodes, CBS announced Wednesday. Gina Tognoni is one of many performers who have appeared on "Guiding Light" over the years. The daytime soap opera's declining viewership led to the decision, according to a CBS spokeswoman. The show, which the Guinness Book of World Records lists as the longest-running television drama, first aired on NBC radio in 1937 as a 15-minute serial, the spokeswoman said. It moved to television on the CBS network in 1952. The last episode is set to air on September 18, she said. The show is produced in New York.

Question: where was the show moved to

Question: Where the TV show moved?

Question: when did the serial debute

Question: when is the last episode

Question: In which radio station?

Question: When did "Guiding Light" first appear on TV?

Question: When will the last episode air?

Question: When did "Guiding Light debut?

Answer: television on the CBS network in 1952.

Answer: to television on the CBS network in 1952.

Answer: first aired on NBC radio in 1937 as a 15-minute

Answer: September 18,

Answer: NBC

Answer: 1937

Answer: September 18,

Answer: 1937

Summary:
"Guiding Light" originally was radio serial on NBC, debuted in 1937 .
Show moved to CBS, which put it on TV in 1952 .
Last episode of show to air September 18 .


NEW YORK (CNN) -- "Late Show With David Letterman" bandleader Paul Shaffer is a walking Wikipedia of rock 'n' roll history -- and now he's added his own story to the mix. Paul Shaffer has been David Letterman's bandleader for 27 years. Shaffer's new memoir, "We'll Be Here for the Rest of Our Lives: A Swingin' Showbiz Saga" (Flying Dolphin Press) offers his take on a colorful career, from piano lessons in his native Canada to a "Saturday Night Live" stint to the gig he's had, and relished, for 27 years -- Letterman's sidekick. Oh yeah, and he co-wrote the hit disco song "It's Raining Men." Shaffer appeared this week at a Manhattan Barnes & Noble to sign books and give a performance. Among those who dropped by were the Beach Boys' Al Jardine -- who joined in for "Help Me, Rhonda" -- Martin Short and girl group belter Darlene Love. Shaffer also took questions from the audience. Though the topic of Letterman's recent troubles was off-limits, one audience member did ask Shaffer what the host was really like -- emphasis on "really." Shaffer responded that the boss he's respected and admired for nearly three decades is "very transparent on the air and you can see exactly what he's like." Shaffer talked to CNN about how he picks songs to introduce guests, his renowned Passover celebrations and his chance to be on "Seinfeld." The following is an edited version of the interview: CNN: When guests are introduced on the "Late Show," you usually add a musical accompaniment that's an obscure reference to their name. My favorite was when Dustin Hoffman was a guest, and you played "Dust in the Wind." Can you tell me how you come up with those, and what some of your favorites have been? Paul Shaffer: We think of them in rehearsal before the show. I have about 15 minutes, and I often throw it open to the floor. And by the floor, I mean the musicians, the band [the "Late Show's" CBS Orchestra members]. And I say "Who has an idea for this?" And I pick the one that I like the best. [Once we] had a new actor named Aziz Ansari, and one of the guys in the band says, "I'm Sorry" [referring to the Brenda Lee song]. So we did it, and it cracked Dave [Letterman] up so I know that I got my one laugh -- and the most important laugh. CNN: What's the story behind using Ray Charles' "Busted" for Tom Brokaw? Shaffer: He was particularly difficult to come up with something for because he's on all the time, and we didn't want to play a news theme or a song about the news. So Will Lee, my bass player, suggested "Busted" ... "I'm broke, aw -- I'm busted." And Brokaw asked about it once: "Why do you play Ray Charles' 'Busted' when I come on?" He asked on camera, and I said, "I'm broke -- aw -- I'm busted." CNN: What is your favorite song of all time? Shaffer: As far as favorite "overall package" record of all time, I'd have to say "My Girl" by The Temptations. I like everything about it, not only the composition -- but the arrangement, the production, the lead vocals, the background vocals, the horns, the strings. That one I listen to over and over again. And, of course, "Be My Baby" by the Ronettes. Maybe that's my favorite song, and "My Girl" is my favorite record. CNN: For some reason I thought it was "He's a Rebel" by the Crystals. Shaffer: Well that's way up there. I consider that my national anthem. When I hear "He's

Question:
Does Shaffer have a new memoir?
What does Shaffer's new memoirs have?

Answer: "We'll Be Here for the Rest of Our Lives: A Swingin' Showbiz Saga"

Answer: his take on a colorful career,

Summary:
Paul Shaffer: The David Letterman viewers see on air is who he really is .
Shaffer's new memoir has stories of "Saturday Night Live," Letterman .
Shaffer was offered chance to play Jerry Seinfeld sidekick at one point .
Bandleader legendary for his "Celebrity Seders"


NEW YORK (CNN) -- A $15.5 million payout made by oil giant Shell to settle a lawsuit brought against it by relations of executed Nigerian writer Ken Saro-Wiwa and other activists will allow the families of the victims to move on with their lives, Saro-Wiwa's son has told CNN. Saro-Wiwa said the settlement would allow the families of the victims to draw a line under the past. The New York lawsuit -- brought to court by the Center for Constitutional Rights on behalf of Saro-Wiwa's family and others in 1996 -- accused Shell's Nigerian subsidiary of complicity in the writer's 1995 hanging and the killings or persecution of other environmental activists in the Niger Delta. Nigeria's Ogoni people have complained for years that Shell was allowed to pollute its land without consequences. Saro-Wiwa's death sparked a worldwide outcry, and his movement ultimately forced Shell out of the oil- and gas-rich Ogoniland region. "It enables us to draw a line under the past and actually face the future with something tangible, some hope that this is the beginning of a better engagement between all the stakeholders in this issue," Ken Saro-Wiwa Jr. told CNN. Shell said it "had no part in the violence that took place" but called the settlement "a humanitarian gesture to set up a trust fund to benefit the Ogoni people." Shell fought the lawsuit until last week, when a federal appellate court ruled that the plaintiffs could sue the company's Nigerian subsidiary in American courts, overturning a March decision in the company's favor. Saro-Wiwa said the case set a precedent for oil companies operating in regions such as West Africa by demonstrating that they could "be brought to trial in America for human rights violations in Africa."  Watch Saro-Wiwa discuss how he hopes the case will set a precedent » "Justice is always hard won... It took 13 years to go through the legal process but clearly before we started this corporations throught they could almost operate with impunity but now the legal landscape has changed," he said. Roughly half of the settlement will go into a trust fund to help the people of Nigeria's Ogoni region, according to court papers.

Question: Residents have long complained that which company was polluting the land?

Question: What have residents long complained?

Question: Half of the settlement will go to help who?

Question: Executed environmental activist's family sued what type of company?

Question: Who's son says Shell payout will let families move on with lives?

Question: What region's people will be helped?

Question: What will let families move on with their lives?

Question: What does Ken Saro-Wiwa's son say?

Answer: Shell

Answer: that Shell was allowed to pollute its land without consequences.

Answer: the people of Nigeria's Ogoni region,

Answer: oil giant

Answer: executed Nigerian writer Ken Saro-Wiwa

Answer: Nigeria's Ogoni

Answer: $15.5 million payout

Answer: "It enables us to draw a line under the past and actually face

Summary:
Ken Saro-Wiwa's son says Shell payout will let families move on with lives .
Executed environmental activist's family sued oil company .
About half of settlement will go to help people of Ogoni region .
Residents have long complained that Shell was polluting land .


NEW YORK (CNN) -- A 15-year-old boy remained in a psychiatric facility Tuesday after Monroe, New York, police arrested him in connection with a plot to attack his former high school on the anniversary of the 1999 Columbine High School shooting, police said.

Police say the boy targeted Monroe-Woodbury High School, although he was no longer a student there.

He was charged as a juvenile and faces two felony counts of criminal possession of a weapon, Monroe Police Chief Dominic Giudice said.

Police withheld the name of the teen, who was arrested Monday after police executed a search warrant at his residence.

There they found four bottles filled with gasoline, a torch, machete, black trench coat, three propane tanks, two computers, items that could be used as fuses and several other electronic devices, according to a Monroe Police Department press release issued Tuesday.

The supplies were found in the garage, Giudice said, but the teen's parents had been unaware of their son's intentions until he told police what he had planned to do.

Police also discovered the teen had actively been seeking a military assault-type weapon that could "hold as many rounds as possible."

The boy told police investigators he had been bullied by fellow students and had been told that he resembled Columbine shooter Eric Harris, the press release said.

A detective on the case told Giudice that the teen appeared to be composed during the interview, as if he were just having another conversation.

Police said the plot was planned for April 20 at Monroe-Woodbury High School, which is the anniversary of the Columbine shooting in Colorado, in which 12 students and a teacher were killed. The date also is Adolf Hitler's birthday.

"He said that he had a lot of hatred toward a lot of the kids who attend that school," the press release said.

The boy had attended the Monroe-Woodbury Central School District but recently began attending another school, police said.

In a statement released by the Monroe-Woodbury Central School District today, superintendent Joseph DiLorenzo indicated that students had come forward with information that may have averted the alleged plot.

"We are working closely with law enforcement to do everything possible to keep our children safe," he said.

Question: Which statement about the teen did police release?

Question: Who did the teen resemble?

Question: Which boy had bomb materials?

Question: Where were items located?

Answer: the boy targeted Monroe-Woodbury High School, although he was no longer a student there.

Answer: Columbine shooter Eric Harris,

Answer: 15-year-old

Answer: at his residence.

Summary:
Monroe, New York, police say boy, 15, had bomb materials .
Police: "He had a lot of hatred toward a lot of the kids" at his former school .
Police say boy had bottles of gasoline, a torch, black trench coat, other items .
Teen had been told he resembled Columbine shooter, police say .


NEW YORK (CNN) -- A 15-year-old girl with a 500-texts-a-day texting habit thumbed her way to the $50,000 grand prize at the L.G. National Texting Championship in New York on Tuesday. Kate Moore, 15, of Des Moines, Iowa, out-texted more than 250,000 participants for the texting title in New York. Over 250,000 participants of all ages entered the competition, whose championship rounds were held in New York on Monday and Tuesday and won by Kate Moore of Des Moines, Iowa.   Some challenges were straightforward tests of speed and accuracy, but others required a little extra texting savvy. In one round, texters had to send texts while blindfolded. Another round quizzed contestants' knowledge of texting acronyms. The only acronym to stump every texter was PAW -- parents are watching. The fourth-place finisher, 21-year-old Jordan Rowe, saw her dreams of texting glory vanish in the "pressure cooker" round, where actors dressed as emoticons attempted to distract contestants tasked with texting tongue-twisters. Rowe failed to accurately text "Which wicked witch wished which more wicked witch in the well?" while a human emoticon talked trash about her sister. Riffing off texters' sometimes dangerous tendency to text while performing other tasks, another round required contestants to complete an obstacle course while firing off difficult-to-type texts. "I felt like I was gonna die," the eventual champion said of the texting gauntlet, getting a big LOL from the audience. The finals on Tuesday afternoon pitted Dynda Morgan, 14, of Savannah, Georgia, against Moore. The two went head to head in a best-of-three showdown to see who could most quickly pound out lengthy texts predetermined by the judges -- with no errors. Morgan, whose stepsister also made it to the championships, took the first round. Faced with a do-or-die situation in the second round, Moore seemed to bet on accuracy over speed, finishing well behind her opponent but winning the round. In the tiebreaker, the two girls furiously raced to thumb the final text: "Zippity Dooo Dahh Zippity Ayy...MY oh MY, what a wonderful day! Plenty of sunshine Comin' my way....Zippitty Do Dah Zippity Aay! WondeRful Feeling Wonderful day!" The pregnant pause before the winner was announced stretched into a seeming eternity because Moore apparently forgot to hit send after finishing her text. But then Moore's phone began to vibrate, signaling that she was the grand champion. Kate's beaming mother, Claire, acknowledged that she has confiscated her daughter's phone on occasion, but said she appreciates that her daughter's texting habit means she's in constant touch. "I can get ahold of [her] at all times," she said. Nor does Moore's mother have to foot an appallingly large phone bill each month, because her daughter is on an unlimited texting plan. She did concede that the texting portion of one of Moore's recent phone bills stretched to 294 pages. Moore's victory was all the more awe-inspiring because she got a phone with text capability less than a year ago. Moments after her victory, Moore agreed to an exclusive text message interview with CNN. CNN: OMG U r ltrlly the wrld's bst txter. How does it feel? Moore: It feels the best! Im so prd of myself & it feels aswm that ive gottn so far! :) CNN: How mny txts do u snd a day? A month? Moore: Uhhh about lyk 400-500 in a day, an avrg of 12014 thousand a month? CNN: Wht r u going to do w the 50 k? Moore: Idk yet! Prlly spend a good amount of the $$$......but ya gotta save some 2 b smart of course! CNN: Do u ever get in trubl in skwl 4 txting 2 much? Moore: haah just once or 2ce, teachers hv seen it and taken it away...lol that sux when that

Question: Who said "I felt like I was gonna die"?

Question: what Text messaging competition includes texting?

Question: What kind of competition included blindfolding?

Question: what Kate Moore of Des Moines, Iowa, says?

Question: What was the prize money amount?

Question: Where is KAte Moore from?

Question: how much Of the $50,000 prize, Moore texts she'll "prlly spend?

Question: What competition did Kate Moore win?

Answer: the eventual champion

Answer: Championship

Answer: L.G. National Texting Championship

Answer: "I felt like I was gonna die,"

Answer: $50,000

Answer: Des Moines, Iowa,

Answer: a good amount

Answer: L.G. National Texting Championship

Summary:
Kate Moore of Des Moines, Iowa, says "I felt like I was gonna die"
Of the $50,000 prize, Moore texts she'll "prlly spend a good amount of $$$"
Text messaging competition includes texting while blindfolded .


NEW YORK (CNN) -- A 31-year-old Ecuadorean man who was beaten last Sunday in what New York City authorities say may have been a hate crime has died at a Queens hospital, his brother said Saturday.

Jose Sucuzhanay was beaten after leaving a party at a Catholic church.

Jose Sucuzhanay and his brother, Romel, had left a party on December 7 at St. Brigid's Roman Catholic Church when several men approached them in a car in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn, police said. The men allegedly began shouting anti-gay and anti-Latino vulgarities at the two men.

Jose Sucuzhanay suffered severe head trauma and was taken to Elmhurst Hospital. He died Friday night from his injuries.

Romel Sucuzhanay, 38, escaped with minor scrapes and has talked with detectives on the case.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn said she was "horrified to learn that anti-LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual) and anti-Latino slurs were used by one or more of the assailants, raising this event to the level of a hate crime."  Watch how attack has outraged the Latino community »

Quinn said she was in touch with the NYPD's Hate Crimes Task Force. According to police, however, the attack has not been categorized as a hate crime.

"This is a wake-up call and shows how far we still must come to address the devastating problem of hate crimes in our communities," said Diego Sucuzhanay, Jose's brother, in a written statement. "Only by exposing these crimes and working together will we be able to make a difference."

No arrests have been made in the case. Police are offering a $22,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in the attack.

Sucuzhanay's mother arrived Saturday in New York from the family's home outside Quito, Ecuador, only to learn that he son had died, said family spokesman Francisco Moya.

He said the victim had lived in the United States for more than a decade and was a legal resident, working as a real estate broker.

A news conference is expected to be held Sunday afternoon.

Question: Where did the mother arrive from?

Question: What do police believe the motive is?

Question: Was the immigrant injured?

Question: Where is the mother from?

Question: What is the name of the person assaulted?

Question: Name one of the victims?

Question: From which county did the mother of the victim arrive

Question: What did the group allegedly yell

Answer: Quito, Ecuador,

Answer: hate crime

Answer: has died

Answer: Quito, Ecuador,

Answer: Jose Sucuzhanay

Answer: Jose Sucuzhanay

Answer: Quito, Ecuador,

Answer: anti-gay and anti-Latino vulgarities

Summary:
Immigrant dies from injuries sustained in possible bias attack .
Jose Sucuzhanay, brother assaulted by group of men after leaving party .
Group allegedly yelled anti-gay, anti-Latino vulgarities at men .
Mother learned of son's death shortly after arriving from Ecuador .


NEW YORK (CNN) -- A 90-year-old Holocaust survivor was found strangled Thursday in his Upper East Side apartment, a spokeswoman for the New York City medical examiner said Friday. Felix Brinkmann dances at a 2008 party marking his 90th birthday. Felix Brinkmann, a native of Latvia,  escaped death for a year while he was in the Nazis' Mauthausen, Ebensee and Auschwitz concentration camps. Five times he had been slated for the gas chambers, but each time he used his fluency in German to talk his way out. After the war ended, he was stunned to discover that his wife, who had also been shipped to Auschwitz, was alive and well in Poland. The Brinkmanns immigrated to America, where Felix spent years in the bar and nightclub business, co-founding in 1971 Adam's Apple disco in Manhattan. In recent years, he had served as the real estate manager of a mixed-use building in the Bronx, working "seven days a week, without fail," said his son Rick Brinkman, who spells his last name differently than his father. On Thursday, the building's superintendent grew concerned when Brinkmann did not show up to work. He notified Brinkmann's son and received permission to enter the father's apartment, where he had lived alone since his wife died last year. Brinkmann's body was found lying face down in his bedroom, his hands bound, his body showing blunt-force trauma wounds, police said. Brinkmann's blue 2009 Honda Civic may have been stolen and a safe in his apartment tampered with, police said. A police spokesman said authorities were looking for "a man and a woman" in connection with the homicide. Rick Brinkman speculated that the killing was random in nature. "Anybody who knew him really liked him," the son said. "He was not the kind of guy who had enemies."

Question: Brinkmann is a native of which country?

Question: When did Felix Brinkmann's wife die?

Question: Brinkmann was a survivor of how many concentration camps?

Question: What is Brinkmann's first name?

Question: Who are being sought in connection with the homicide?

Question: Where did Felix Brinkmann live before his death?

Question: Where did Mr and Mrs Brinkmann  emigrate from?

Question: Who is Felix Brinkmann?

Answer: Latvia,

Answer: last year.

Answer: in the Nazis' Mauthausen, Ebensee and Auschwitz

Answer: Felix

Answer: "a man and a woman"

Answer: Upper East Side

Answer: Latvia,

Answer: A 90-year-old Holocaust survivor

Summary:
Felix Brinkmann, a native of Latvia, was a survivor of three concentration camps .
Brinkmann spent  years in the nightclub business after he and his wife immigrated .
He had lived alone in an Upper East Side apartment since his wife died last year .
Police: "Man and a woman" being sought in connection with the homicide .


NEW YORK (CNN) -- A Bronx woman has been charged with murder and robbery in the death of an 89-year-old Nazi concentration camp survivor, and police said a man is still being sought in connection with the death. Felix Brinkmann dances at a 2008 birthday party. "He was not the kind of guy who had enemies," his son says. Angela Murray, 30, was arrested Saturday, according to the Manhattan district attorney's office, and is accused of strangling Guido Felix Brinkmann on Thursday in his Upper East Side apartment. Murray was arraigned Sunday and charged with one count of murder in the second degree and three counts of robbery. Brinkmann, a native of Latvia, was a Holocaust survivor who escaped death for a year while he was in the Mauthausen, Ebensee and Auschwitz camps. He had been slated for the gas chambers five times, but each time, he used his fluency in German to talk his way out, said his son, Rick Brinkman, who spells his last name differently. After the war, he was stunned to discover his wife, who had also been shipped to Auschwitz, alive and well in Poland. The Brinkmanns immigrated to America, where Brinkmann spent years in the bar and nightclub business, co-founding the Adam's Apple disco in Manhattan in 1971. In recent years, he had been the real estate manager of a mixed-use building in the Bronx, working "seven days a week, without fail," Rick Brinkman said. On Thursday, the building's superintendent grew concerned when Brinkmann did not show up for work. He notified Brinkmann's son and received permission to enter the father's apartment, where he had lived alone since his wife died last year. Brinkmann was found face-down in his bedroom, his hands bound behind his back and his body showing blunt-force trauma wounds, police said. Brinkmann's blue 2009 Honda Civic had been stolen, along with one of two safes in his apartment, police said. The vehicle was later recovered in the Bronx. Rick Brinkman speculated that the killing was random. "Anybody who knew him really liked him," the son said. "He was not the kind of guy who had enemies." CNN's Jason Kessler contributed to this report.

Question: Who was charged with murder?

Question: Who was killed

Question: Where was Guido Brinkmann from?

Question: Where was the woman from

Question: Where was he a native of?

Question: The victim was how old

Question: Who was strangled to death?

Question: What is the name of the woman charged with murdering Guido Brinkmann?

Question: What is the sex of the person being sought by the police

Question: Was the killing premeditated

Answer: Angela Murray,

Answer: Felix Brinkmann

Answer: Latvia,

Answer: Bronx

Answer: Latvia,

Answer: 89-year-old

Answer: Felix Brinkmann

Answer: Angela Murray,

Answer: a man is still

Answer: random.

Summary:
Bronx woman charged with murder, robbery; police say a man is still being sought .
Guido Felix Brinkmann, 89, was found strangled Thursday in Manhattan apartment .
Latvia native had lived alone since wife died last year; son suspects killing is random .


NEW YORK (CNN) -- A Fort Drum soldier has been arrested in the deaths of two fellow soldiers found stabbed in an apartment near the upstate New York military base, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office said. The suspect, Joshua Hunter, 20, is being held at an undisclosed location in Ohio after being charged with two counts of second degree murder, Undersheriff Tim Dowe told CNN. The sheriff's office identified the victims as Spc. Waide T. James, 20, of Cocoa, Florida, and Spc. Diego A. Valbuena, 23, of Port St. Lucie, Florida. The two men were found dead with multiple stab wounds Tuesday in an apartment at Meadowbrook Apartments in LeRay, New York, Dowe said. The complex houses mostly military families near the main entrance of Fort Drum, he said. The motive is unknown at this time, Dowe said. Sheriff's deputies were called to the apartment complex after the soldiers were reported missing for duty, but the sheriff's office could not say when that report was filed. James and Valbuena, who joined the Army in 2007, worked as motor transport operators with the Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, 10th Mountain Division, according to a Fort Drum press release. Both had served in Iraq, it said. Police and Fort Drum officials would not release information about the suspect, including his rank or relationship to the victims. CNN's Evan Buxbaum contributed to this report.

Question: Who are the victims?

Question: The soldiers were found where?

Question: What is the age of the man charged?

Question: What is the number of soldiers found stabbed?

Question: Who was charged with 2 counts of second degree murder?

Question: What was Hunter charged with?

Answer: Spc. Waide T. James, 20, of Cocoa, Florida, and Spc. Diego A. Valbuena, 23, of Port St. Lucie, Florida.

Answer: in an apartment at Meadowbrook Apartments in LeRay, New York,

Answer: 20,

Answer: two

Answer: Joshua Hunter,

Answer: two counts of second degree murder,

Summary:
Soldier Joshua Hunter, 20, charged with two counts of second degree murder .
Two soldiers were found stabbed at apartment near Fort Drum base .
Victims identified as Spc. Waide T. James,and Spc. Diego A. Valbuena .


NEW YORK (CNN) -- A Latino group Tuesday expressed outrage over the slaying of an Ecuadoran man, allegedly at the hands of seven teenagers in what police are calling a hate crime.

Marcello Lucero, 37, was stabbed to death in an attack that police say was a hate crime.

The teens' parents bear some of the blame, along with community leaders who have created an inhospitable environment for immigrants, Fernando Fernando Mateo, founder of Hispanics Across America, said at a news conference.

"We understand that some may not welcome us in their neighborhoods, but killing us will not drive us away," Mateo said. "Those that hate us allow us to cut their lawns, build their homes, paint their homes, cook for them, serve their children -- and yet they teach them hate."

Marcello Lucero, 37, was walking to a friend's apartment in Patchogue, New York, when he was attacked late Saturday, police said. He was stabbed in the chest and died of his injuries. A friend walking with Lucero was not injured.

The seven teens were trying "to find Latinos and to assault them," said Suffolk County Police Detective Lt. Jack Fitzpatrick. "That was what they went out to do that night, and that's exactly what they did do. ... They were actively seeking victims."

At a court hearing for the seven Monday, a prosecutor quoted the youths as saying, "Let's go find some Mexicans to f--- up."

Jeffrey Conroy, 17, faces charges of first-degree manslaughter as a hate crime in the attack, police said. He and the other six -- Jordan Dasch, Anthony Hartford, Nicholas Hausch, Christopher Overton, Jose Pacheco and Kevin Shea -- also face charges of first-degree gang assault.

The additional charge against Conroy stems from authorities' belief that he was the one who stabbed Lucero. All of the suspects are 17 except for Overton, who is 16, according to police.

The "hate crime" designation would enhance any sentence imposed upon conviction.

Upon their arrest, all seven of the youths "admitted their involvement and their role in this crime," said Suffolk County Police Commissioner Richard Dormer.

However, all seven pleaded not guilty when they were arraigned Monday in Suffolk County Criminal Court.

Mateo said that Hispanics Across America and Lucero's relatives have retained a law firm and may file suit against the youths' families "to make sure the parents of these seven kids pay the consequences."

But he and other community leaders also laid blame at the feet of Steve Levy, Suffolk County executive.

"He has brought this hate that exists here amongst the Hispanic community," Mateo said. "He has legislated over and over again against Hispanic immigrants. ... He should be the person not welcome in this community."

The Rev. Alan Ramirez of Brookville Reform Church said, "We all know that Mr. Levy, along with these seven young men, has blood on his hands. And we consider that unacceptable. We ask a responsible Democratic Party to seek Mr. Levy's resignation or removal from office. We do not need our communities to be separated by hatred, intolerance and racial discord."

Attempts by CNN to contact Levy on Tuesday were unsuccessful, as his office was closed for the Veterans Day holiday. On Sunday, however, Levy issued a statement saying Lucero's death "wasn't a question of any county policy or legislation; it was a question of bad people doing horrific things," according to Newsday, which reported that Levy answered no further questions.

In a statement issued by police Sunday, Levy was quoted as saying, "This heinous crime that led to the death of an individual because of his race will not be tolerated in Suffolk County. The suspects will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."

New York Gov. David Paterson, in a statement Monday, also condemned Lucero's death.

"Suffolk Police tell us that Mr. Lucero and a friend were attacked late Saturday by seven teenagers who were driving around

Question: Who was attacked on Saturday night?

Question: Who was charged with the crime?

Question: how many teens were involved?

Question: How many years old is Lucero?

Question: Did all seven teenagers plead not guilty?

Question: who was stabbed?

Question: what is jeffery conroy charged with?

Answer: Marcello Lucero,

Answer: seven teenagers

Answer: seven

Answer: 37,

Answer: pleaded

Answer: Marcello Lucero,

Answer: first-degree manslaughter

Summary:
NEW: Officials condemn attack, fatal stabbing of Ecuadoran in Long Island .
Marcello Lucero, 37, and a friend were attacked late Saturday night .
Jeffrey Conroy, 17,  was charged with manslaughter as a hate crime .
Six other teenagers charged with gang assault; all seven plead not guilty .


NEW YORK (CNN) -- A New York Post cartoon Wednesday drew fire from civil rights activist Al Sharpton and others who say the drawing invokes historically racist images in suggesting an ape wrote President Barack Obama's economic stimulus package.

Al Sharpton says he wonders whether the cartoon "is making a less-than-casual inference" to a form of racism.

The artist, Sean Delonas, called Sharpton's reaction "ridiculous," and the newspaper defended its decision to run his cartoon. But other African-American leaders joined Sharpton, who has been the butt of previous Delonas panels, in attacking what they called the cartoon's racial overtones.

"Sean Delonas' cartoon in today's New York Post is insensitive and offensive," National Urban League President Marc Morial said in a statement issued Wednesday afternoon. "Comparing President Obama and his effort to revive the economy in a manner that depicts violence and racist inferences is unacceptable."

The cartoon showed two police officers standing over the body of a chimpanzee they just shot, a reference to this week's mauling of a Connecticut woman by a pet chimp, which police killed after the attack. In the cartoon, one of the officers tells the other, "They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill." New York Post: See cartoon

The nearly $800 billion stimulus package was the priority for Obama, the first African-American U.S. president, who signed it Tuesday.   Watch Sharpton raise racism concerns, and see the cartoon Â»

"The cartoon in today's New York Post is troubling at best, given the racist attacks throughout history that have made African-Americans synonymous with monkeys," Sharpton said.

Sharpton questioned whether Delonas "is making a less-than-casual inference to this form of racism."

"The Post should at least clarify what point they were trying to make in this cartoon, and reprimand their cartoonist for making inferences that are offensive and divisive at a time the nation struggles to come together to stabilize the economy if, in fact, this was yet another racially charged cartoon," he said.

In a brief phone interview with CNN, Delonas called the controversy "absolutely friggin' ridiculous."

"Do you really think I'm saying Obama should be shot? I didn't see that in the cartoon," Delonas said.

"It's about the economic stimulus bill," he added. "If you're going to make that about anybody, it would be [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi, which it's not."

Col Allan, the Post's editor-in-chief, said the cartoon "is a clear parody of a current news event."  Watch CNN panel discuss the cartoon Â»

"It broadly mocks Washington's efforts to revive the economy. Again, Al Sharpton reveals himself as nothing more than a publicity opportunist," Allan said in a written statement.  But Sharpton and Morial were not alone in their criticism. Barbara Ciara, president of the National Association of Black Journalists, said the Post showed a "serious lapse in judgment" by running the cartoon.

"To think that the cartoonist and the responsible editors at the paper did not see the racist overtones of the finished product should insult their intelligence," Ciara said in a written statement. "Instead, they celebrate their own lack of perspective and criticize those who call it what it is: tone deaf at best, overtly racist at worst."

Jeff Johnson, a former activist turned Black Entertainment Television host, said provocative cartoons are good, but that "none of this is appropriate on any level."

"The Post ultimately has to answer ... [for] a specific reference to the president of the United States to violence and to his connection to an animal likeness," Johnson said.

In California, civil rights leader Earl Ofari Hutchinson called on the Post to apologize.

"In times past, that depiction of African-Americans has been vigorously condemned as racially offensive," Hutchinson said in a statement issued from his Los Angeles Urban

Question: Who said objections were ridiculous?

Question: What did the cartoonist say about Sharpton's objections?

Question: What does the cartoon make references to?

Question: What invokes historically racist images?

Question: Who called Sharpton to be a publicity opportunist?

Question: What did the cartoon reference?

Question: Who are other?

Question: Who is the newpaper's editor?

Question: What cartoonist drew the criticized image?

Question: Who is the cartoonist?

Answer: The artist, Sean Delonas,

Answer: reaction "ridiculous,"

Answer: a form of racism.

Answer: A New York Post cartoon

Answer: Col Allan,

Answer: this week's mauling of a Connecticut woman by a pet chimp,

Answer: African-American leaders

Answer: Col Allan,

Answer: Sean Delonas,

Answer: Sean Delonas,

Summary:
NEW: Others join Al Sharpton in saying cartoon invokes historically racist images .
Cartoon makes references to recent chimp attack, stimulus bill .
Cartoonist calls Sharpton's objections "ridiculous"
Newspaper's editor: Sharpton showing himself to be a "publicity opportunist"