No verdict yet for Michael Jackson's doctor

Los Angeles (CNN) -- Jurors in the trial of Michael Jackson's doctor worked for more than seven hours Friday before telling the judge that they had not reached a verdict and were ready to go home for the weekend.

The seven men and five women deciding the fate of Dr. Conrad Murray, who is charged with involuntary manslaughter in the 2009 death of the pop icon, will resume deliberations Monday morning.

Katherine and Joe Jackson, the parents of the Jackson family, were so anxious for a verdict that they spent Friday afternoon in a hotel near the courthouse so they could get there quickly.

Dozens of Jackson fans filled the plaza outside of the downtown Los Angeles County courthouse, shouting slogans, waving signs and sometimes arguing with Murray supporters.

The jury heard from 49 witnesses over 23 days, including Murray's girlfriends and patients, Jackson's former employees, investigators, and medical experts for each side.

Prosecutor David Walgren told them Thursday the evidence that Murray caused Jackson's death is "overwhelming" and "abundantly clear," while defense lawyer Ed Chernoff argued no crime was committed.

"If it were anybody else but Michael Jackson, would this doctor be here today?" Chernoff asked, saying it's a negligence case that should instead be heard by the state medical board.

"He was just a little fish in a big, dirty pond," Chernoff said, pointing the finger at other doctors who treated Jackson, and at Jackson himself.

The singer's death on June 25, 2009, was caused by acute propofol intoxication in combination with two sedatives, the Los Angeles County coroner ruled.

Jurors must decide if the overdose of the surgical anesthetic propofol was infused into Jackson's blood by a steady IV drip, as the prosecution contends, or if Jackson injected himself with a syringe left nearby by Murray, as the defense argues.

Prosecutors argue that Murray's use of propofol in Jackson's home to treat his insomnia was so reckless it was criminally negligent.

"Conrad Murray left Prince, Paris and Blanket without a father," Walgren said. "For them, this case doesn't end today, or tomorrow. For Michael's children, this case will go on forever, because they do not have a father. They do not have a father because of the actions of Conrad Murray."

Walgren argued that until Jackson's death, no one ever heard of propofol being in a home every night to put someone to sleep. He called it "a pharmaceutical experiment on Michael Jackson ... an obscene experiment."

The defense contends Jackson self-administered the fatal overdose of drugs in a desperate search for sleep without Murray's knowing.

"What they're really asking you to do is to convict Dr. Murray for the actions of Michael Jackson," Chernoff said.

After Chernoff finished his arguments, Walgren attacked the defense for trying to blame "everybody but Conrad Murray, poor Conrad Murray."

"If allowed more time to argue, I am sure they would find a way to blame Michael's son, Prince," Walgren said in his rebuttal.

Walgren painted Murray as a selfish doctor who agreed to take $150,000 a month to give Jackson nightly infusions of propofol in his home, something an ethical doctor would never do because of the dangers.

While Jackson was hooked up to a constant intravenous drip of propofol, Murray was not paying attention, the prosecutor said. Telephone records and testimony showed he was talking to Sade Anding, a Houston cocktail waitress, when he realized Jackson had stopped breathing.

"What was so important to Conrad Murray that he had to call Sade Anding at that time? What was so important to this doctor that he needed to call one of his female friends in Houston? What was so pressing that he just couldn't care for Michael Jackson, that he had to call Sade Anding?"

It will never be known how long Jackson had not been breathing when Murray dropped the phone in the middle of his conversation with Anding, the prosecutor said.

"Was Conrad Murray in another room? Did Michael Jackson yell out for help? Did he gasp? Did he choke? Were there sounds? We don't know and we'll never know, because of the neglect and negligence of Conrad Murray."

Walgren questioned why Murray waited at least 20 minutes after he found Jackson was not breathing before he asked a security guard call for an ambulance.

"To speak to a 911 operator was the only hope of Michael Jackson being revived to see another day," Walgren said.

Paramedics arrived just four minutes after the call, but too late to save Jackson, he said.

Chernoff argued that Murray depended on chef Kai Chase to send up a security guard while he was trying to revive Jackson, but she only sent son Prince.

When Murray spoke with police two days after Jackson's death, it was "to get ahead of the story," because he knew there would be toxicology reports showing he died from propofol and sedatives, Walgren said.

"Unfortunately, his version doesn't match up with the evidence, the phone records, the e-mails, but he knew what toxicology findings would show," Walgren said.

Jurors heard from two anesthesiology experts who offered competing theories, Dr. Steven Shafer for the prosecution and Dr. Paul White for the defense.

Walgren attacked White for his determination "to find a theory or way to blame it on Michael Jackson."

White testified that the levels of propofol and sedatives found in Jackson's stomach, blood and urine during the autopsy convinced him that Jackson swallowed a large does of lorazepam and later gave himself a rapid injection of propofol, which led to his death.

"What you were presented from Dr. White was junk science," Walgren said.

Chernoff defended his expert and attacked Shafer, saying he was "not a scientist; he was an advocate. He was trying to prove a point; he was trying to prove a case."

"Dr. White knows more about propofol than Dr. Shafer will ever, ever know," Chernoff said.

Shafer testified that the "only scenario" in Jackson's death was one involving an IV drip system infusing a steady flow of propofol into Jackson over several hours before his death.

Chernoff argued that the prosecution fabricated the theory because they "desperately needed a drip," because "without a drip, what Dr. Murray gave Michael Jackson would not have harmed him."

"If Dr. Murray did what he said he did, there was no danger to Michael Jackson," Chernoff said. "Michael Jackson was not going to die and it doesn't matter if you leave the room and go outside and play basketball."

Chernoff attacked the credibility of Alberto Alvarez, Jackson's former bodyguard, who testified that he saw a propofol bottle inside an empty saline bag suspended on an IV stand by Jackson's bed. Alvarez waited two months after Jackson's death to tell the story, Chernoff said.

"All of a sudden, his story becomes monumentally more compelling and more valuable," Chernoff said.

Alvarez acknowledged he turned down a $500,000 offer for an interview, Chernoff said.

"Do you honestly believe that Alberto Alvarez is not going to cash in?"

Alavarez, who placed the 911 call from Jackson's bedroom, also testified he helped remove Jackson from the bed and performed CPR on him, but a paramedic contradicted that testimony.

Investigators who found the cut saline bag and propofol bottle never photographed them together or document the bottle being inside the bag, Chernoff said.

The "bottle in a bag" theory was even less believable because the propofol bottle had a plastic strip attached to it so it could be hung from an IV stand, he said. That strip was never used, both sides agreed.

"Dr. Murray didn't have to go through the ridiculous, absurd step of cutting a bag, propping it up into a cut IV bag, hanging it up where it could fall," Chernoff said.

Murray, if convicted, faces up to four years in prison and the loss of his medical license.

Source

Review: 'Tower Heist' is overblinged

(EW.com) -- Although the tower in question in the gimcrack action comedy "Tower Heist" is fictional, many New York tourists will recognize the aggressive nouveau-riche opulence of the building's exterior as that of an actual Manhattan hotel condominium owned by aggressive nouveau-riche Donald Trump.

The aesthetic pairing of The Donald and director Brett Ratner is a natural. This brassy production, an imitation "Ocean's 13 ," features the name-brand talents of Ben Stiller (as an honorable Tower manager named Josh) and Eddie Murphy (as a con man called Slide) leading rookie thieves in an elaborate Robin Hood-style heist. Their target? The oversize penthouse of one Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda), a shady billionaire who keeps a rare 1963 Ferrari in his living room.

In other words, "Tower Heist" is the cinematic version of a Trump property: overblinged, eye-catching, and essentially tacky. For a movie that claims its heart is with the masses -- the 99 percent! -- there's an awful lot of production-design admiration lavished on the trappings of the effin-rich 1 percent. (Ratner had specific ideas about which pedigreed modern-art reproductions he wanted on the walls.) Shaw is a fictional variation on Bernie Madoff: Entrusted with the retirement savings of the multicultural low-wage employees who keep the Tower running, he takes their money and ruins their lives.

And so, rallied by egalitarian friend-to-all Josh -- the guy takes the subway to work from Queens, so you know he's a mensch -- and hastily educated in criminal technique by Josh's less honorable Queens neighbor Slide, these blue-collar little people rise up in triumph to steal their money back. By the moral standards of Occupy Hollywood, the crime earns an ethical thumbs-up.

You may think I am picking too much on what's built to be a fun, diverting, New York-state-of-mind caper comedy -- a joke-filled cavalcade that marks 50-year-old Eddie Murphy's welcome return to the edgier stuff that made him famous. Alrighty, let's talk about Murphy: He's nowhere to be found in the first half of the movie! And he's only there to illuminate selected scenes in the second: He's like the spot lighting supplied by a big-a** chandelier in an ostentatious Trump lobby. That's too bad, because when Murphy is on screen, his comedic vigor -- reminiscent of Chris Tucker's jive-talk mania in Ratner's "Rush Hour" movies but with a blast of Murphy-specific danger -- gooses the movie's energy level. I've missed that guy.

But whenever Murphy wanders off, the movie's pulse rate drops. Tower Heist is in effect two movies: One belongs to Murphy, the other to the rest of the cast. Josh's drippy in-house recruits include Matthew Broderick as a broke ex--Wall Streeter and Tower resident (and the kind of fretful nebbish he perfected on Broadway in The Producers); Michael Pe a as an uncouth rookie bellhop; and "Ocean"'s alumnus Casey Affleck as an unreliable concierge who happens to be Josh's stressed-out brother-in-law. (The band of gentlemen credited with the story and screenplay includes Ted Griffin, who worked on Steven Soderbergh's 2001 "Ocean's Eleven.")

Two female characters also join the increasingly frantic male-driven mayhem. (Here's where I mention with an eye roll that, in what I hope is a quickly passing trend in male- as well as female-driven comedies, vaginas are briefly discussed, this time by Affleck.) T a Leoni, who worked with the director 11 years ago in "The Family Man," gamely plays a no-nonsense FBI agent with cute rough edges. And Gabourey Sidibe, the striking plus-size Oscar-nominated star of "Precious," makes her Hollywood leap as a feisty Jamaican chambermaid who gets in on the heist action. (The girl's got mad safecracking skills.)

I don't know why Ratner and cinematographer Dante Spinotti felt compelled to push the camera in close, as if gawking at Sidibe's dramatic coloring and size. But then, I also don't know why she wasn't used more: Murphy never looks more alive and excited by a fellow actor -- challenged to peak performance -- than during ribald, flirtatious banter with Sidibe's self-possessed working girl. She's something new; Murphy in "Tower Heist" is something rebooted. Together they build something with more visual interest than any Trump Tower on any tourist map.

EW.com rating: C+

See the full article at EW.com.

Source

Cain accuser alleges series of incidents

Washington (CNN) -- One of the women who accused Republican presidential contender Herman Cain of sexual harassment released a statement through her lawyer Friday saying that she "stands by" her complaint, which was made "in good faith about a series of inappropriate behaviors and unwanted advances."

There was "more than one incident" of harassment involving Cain and his client over the span of a couple of months in 1999, attorney Joel Bennett said.

Bennett said his client, married for 26 years, will not reveal her identity because "she and her husband see no value in revisiting this matter now nor in discussing the matter any further publicly or privately."

"In fact," he added, "it would be extremely painful for her to do so."

Bennett released the statement after reaching an agreement to do so with the National Restaurant Association, the organization headed by Cain during the time of the alleged harassment. The group has an agreement with the alleged victim that includes a series of confidentiality and non-disparagement provisions.

Dawn Sweeney, the current head of the association, issued a statement confirming that in July 1999, Bennett's client "filed a formal internal complaint, in accordance with the association's existing policies prohibiting discrimination and harassment."

Cain, she noted, "disputed the allegations in the complaint."

Sweeney said the association is prepared to fully release Bennett's client from her confidentiality agreement in the event she wants to disclose additional details.

The controversy has dominated Cain's front-running campaign for the past week. A defiant Cain insists he did nothing wrong, and will not let the issue deter him.

Cain spokesman J.D. Gordon said in response to Bennett's statement that the Cain campaign looks "forward to focusing our attention on the real issues impacting this country -- like fixing this broken economy and putting Americans back to work."

Cain's campaign said earlier Friday it is considering filing a lawsuit against Politico, the news organization which broke the harassment story last Sunday.

A possible lawsuit "is being discussed," Gordon told CNN. Gordon declined, however, to discuss the timetable or legal basis for such a move. Cain and his campaign aides have been highly critical of Politico's use of anonymous sources, among other things.

Politico executive editor Jim VandeHei told CNN he had heard nothing from the Cain campaign, and said the organization "stands confidently behind every story (our) reporters have written on the topic."

Cain has cited strong poll numbers and fund-raising to claim voters know the allegations are a baseless political attack.

"The American people are starting to see through this stuff, and they are sick of gutter politics," Cain declared in a radio interview with conservative commentator Sean Hannity on Thursday. "This will not deter me."

Asked about money paid to two women -- including Bennett's client -- when they left the National Restaurant Association, Cain said in the one case he recalled, it was severance money because accusations of impropriety on his part proved unfounded.

Bennett insisted Friday there was no severance agreement, but rather a financial settlement of the harassment complaint.

Cain on Thursday also repeated his accusation that the campaign of Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a conservative rival for the GOP nomination, was behind the allegations emerging as Cain rose to the top of the polls in the race.

In particular, he noted that a former aide, Curt Anderson, signed on with the Perry campaign shortly before the allegations surfaced in Politico.

"These are the facts. Connect the dots," Cain said, adding that "as more of the information comes out, the more baseless it appears to people."

In an interview Thursday with CNN, however, Perry flatly denied that his campaign had anything to do with the story. He also vowed that he'd fire any staffer if he found out they were "passing on rumors."

"(There is) no apology needed," Perry said. "We found out about this the same time that I suppose the rest of America found out about it. I don't know how to tell it any other way, except I knew nothing about it."

Cain later softened his earlier claim that he told Anderson about one of the allegations against him in a private discussion in 2003. On Thursday, he told Hannity he was "almost certain" the discussion took place.

The allegations have set off a fierce round of claims and counter-claims regarding how the information became public. At the same time, Cain's campaign announced Thursday he has raised $1.2 million this week since the allegations first surfaced on Sunday in a big boost from supporters.

The news appears to have had little impact so far on Cain's standing in the GOP race. An ABC News/Washington Post poll released Friday morning -- the first survey conducted entirely after news of the alleged harassment broke -- showed Cain in a dead heat with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney atop the GOP field.

According to the poll, 24% of Republicans and independents who lean toward the GOP now say they support Romney, compared with 23% for Cain. Romney and Cain have been neck-and-neck in most major national surveys over the past month.

What exactly transpired during the alleged harassment incidents remains unclear. Asked by Hannity if he ever made flirtatious comments to female subordinates or comments such as "you look hot" or anything, Cain replied: "No, no, no, I didn't."

As a business leader, he said, he "learned a long time ago" not to comment on a woman's appearance or make any kind of personal comment unless he was "really, really comfortable" with a colleague. Cain told HLN earlier this week that he has never committed sexual harassment "in (his) entire career. Period."

For his part, Anderson denied in a CNN interview Thursday that he was responsible for leaking the allegations.

Anderson, who worked on Cain's unsuccessful 2004 U.S. Senate campaign in Georgia and now is a consultant to Perry's campaign, insisted Cain never told him about the accusations.

"It's hard to leak something you don't know anything about," he said. "I don't have any knowledge of any of this and, you know, it's just not true."

Later, Cain's chief campaign strategist, Mark Block, said he accepted Anderson's denial, and wanted to move on from the controversy that has dogged his candidate all week.

"Until we get all the facts, I'm just going to say that we accept what Mr. Anderson has said, and we want to move on with the campaign," Block told Fox News. Block had earlier called for Perry to apologize to Cain for allegedly leaking the harassment allegations to the media.

Politico first published a report late Sunday claiming that two female employees at the National Restaurant Association accused Cain of inappropriate behavior during his tenure as head of the organization. The women, according to Politico, each received separation packages in the five-figure range.

The package for one of the women totaled between $32,000 to $37,000 -- approximately equivalent to her annual salary at the time, according to a former National Restaurant Association employee who knows one of the accusers.

"The workplace (had become) uncommunicative," the former employee told CNN. "They didn't give her work. She didn't interact with people."

The New York Times previously reported that one of the packages totaled $35,000. On Thursday, Politico reported the other package was for $45,000.

Cain criticized the Politico report in Thursday's interview, saying the Politico reporters never showed him any documentation or talked to the women who allegedly made the claims. When a Politico reporter was asked on CNN whether another campaign tipped him to the story, he refused to answer, Cain noted.

"I didn't know there were so many women named 'anonymous' in America, frankly," Cain joked in Thursday's interview about the lack of details about his accusers. Politico editor-in-chief John Harris told CNN the organization is following ordinary media standards by protecting its sources.

Cain has provided differing accounts of the allegations this week, raising further questions about what happened and the ability of the candidate and his campaign to deal with the controversy. While Cain's campaign was first approached by Politico 10 days before the story was first published, the candidate said he was only remembering many details of the incident on Monday.

Cain has seized on the uproar as an example of alleged liberal media bias.

On Wednesday, Cain's campaign called a report that a third former employee had claimed that he had engaged in inappropriate behavior an example of "baseless allegations."

"He has never acted in the way alleged by inside-the-Beltway media, and his distinguished record over 40 years spent climbing the corporate ladder speaks for itself," said J.D. Gordon, a Cain campaign spokesman. "Since his critics have not been successful in attacking his ideas, they are resorting to bitter personal attacks. Mr. Cain deserves better."

In the Hannity interview, Cain accused his critics of engaging in the politics of personal destruction, and he insisted his candidacy would survive the maelstrom.

He blasted what he called a "vicious liberal attack on me," saying the false accusations are because opponents can't coherently challenge his message and want to "intimidate other black conservatives to not go public."

So far, Cain has only released details about one of the allegations, saying it involved him gesturing to one of the women that she was the same height as his wife -- about 5 feet tall -- and came up to his chin.

Bennett has not indicated which of the alleged victims he represents, though he said his client is taller than 5 feet. He said earlier this week that his client is "happily married."

For his part, Cain has said he has no recollection of a second incident. According to Politico, however, one of the allegations involves an "unwanted sexual advance" at a hotel room in Chicago.

An independent group trying to help Cain released a web video Friday defending him against the harassment allegations and harshly criticizing media coverage of the story.

The video, by a super political action committee called the 9-9-9 Fund, includes clips of conservative hosts, including Rush Limbaugh. It also uses television clips of liberal pundits attacking Cain, as well as the famous clip of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas calling his grilling during his confirmation hearings two decades ago "a high-tech lynching."

The video ends with the onscreen message, "Don't let the left do it again."

Source

Prime minister faces key vote

Athens, Greece (CNN) -- Prime Minister George Papandreou faces a crunch confidence vote Friday, after days of political turmoil sparked by his controversial proposal to hold a referendum on an international bailout for his country.

His socialist PASOK party has a tiny majority in parliament and it is unclear whether he will survive the vote, or what might follow if he does.

The political instability in Greece has caused political and financial jitters throughout Europe and beyond, as world leaders meet in Cannes, France, for the G-20 economic summit.

U.S. President Barack Obama told the summit Friday he was confident that Europe had the capacity to meet the challenge presented by the troubled global economy.

"Make no mistake, there is more hard work ahead and more difficult changes to make but our European partners have laid a foundation on which to build," Obama said.

Recent events in Greece have underscored the importance of implementing a Greek economic bailout plan fully and quickly, he said, but the elements were in place to ensure stability -- including a firewall around European debt, the strengthening of European banks, charting a sustainable path for Greece and making structural reforms.

"All of us have an enormous interest in Europe's success and all of us will be affected if Europe is not growing," he said.

In an interview with France 2-TF1, Obama said, "One of the most important things I can do for the European economy is to make sure the American economy is growing."

In the same interview, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said it was time for action on the Greek bailout. "We cannot simply stand by and watch as people -- tens of thousands of people who have nothing to do with this, whose fault it is not -- lose their jobs and simply flap our hands."

Papandreou's surprise call this week for a referendum on the bailout deal was ill-advised, Sarkozy said. "The real issue was: Do you want to remain in the euro or not?" Sarkozy said. "We cannot ask French taxpayers to continue lending money to Greece while the Greeks say, 'These rules don't belong to us.'"

Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos has told the European Commission that there will be no referendum on the bailout deal agreed to last week in Brussels, his office said Friday.

The move followed heavy international pressure on Papandreou to drop the planned referendum, announced at the start of the week to the surprise of many, including his own ministers.

Among the concerns high on the G-20 agenda was the potential for Greece's woes to spread to major European economies like Italy, where Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is struggling to gain support for austerity measures and may face his own confidence vote next week. Borrowing costs for his government continue to rise amid the uncertainty.

Berlusconi said Friday that Italy had agreed to let the International Monetary Fund "certify" its reform program, a step designed to boost investor confidence.

European markets turned sour as of lunchtime on Friday, following a slightly stronger opening. U.S. stocks dipped on the back of a disappointing jobs report.

Lawmakers in Greece debated the confidence motion for a third day Friday before a vote expected after midnight (6 p.m. ET).

Under a motion of confidence, lawmakers signal to the head of state whether the government has the support of parliament. A loss typically results in the government's dissolution and the holding of a general election unless the head of state asks someone with more support to form a government.

Papandreou's own party appeared divided on his fate hours ahead of the vote, with some telling members of the Greek news media that they hoped he would win the vote but then step down to allow a government of national unity to be formed.

Speculation had been rife Thursday that Papandreou might resign, or that a unity government might be formed with a different leader at its head who could find consensus on how to handle the crisis.

The prime minister backed off from his proposal to hold a referendum, saying it would not be necessary if the opposition were to support the tough austerity measures that accompany it.

Opposition leader Antonis Samaras responded that he would support the bailout but wanted Papandreou to step aside and for early elections to be held.

"We are asking you to resign to give power to people to negotiate new measures," he told the prime minister.

"It's nothing that I can rule out, and I'm not clinging to any chair," Papandreou said about the prospect of giving up his job. "That's the political cost I'm taking on, me personally, for something which I did not cause."

Papandreou said he was not interested in being re-elected, only in saving the country from economic disaster should Greece default on its debts.

"Everything is on the table," Papandreou said. "Well, the government will be. But let's talk about it. Let's debate it. You don't expect -- out of the blue -- for a government to resign. That would be irresponsible."

He called on Samaras "to come back to the room and participate in this conversation about forming a government, of a wider support for the good of the country."

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told CNN that a default for Greece would be "dramatic, severe and painful for the population" but that Europe would do what it could.

The package would wipe out 100 billion euros of Greek debt and comes with the promise of 30 billion euros from the public sector to help pay off some of the remaining debt, making the whole deal worth 130 billion euros ($178 billion).

But it would require Greece to slash government jobs, privatize some businesses and reduce pensions.

Source

Graphic take on bin Laden raid

(CNN) -- Stealth helicopters zoom toward a mystery compound in northern Pakistan, intent on capturing or killing the most wanted man in the world. Under cover of night they reach their target, but within moments one chopper is down and the mission is in jeopardy.

The daring raid against Osama bin Laden contained equal parts action, suspense, risk and bravery. In other words (from a purely literary standpoint), all of the elements of a great story.

So it should come as no surprise that Simon & Schuster has announced plans to publish a graphic novel about the secret mission, which co-author Jerome Maida describes as a "complex labyrinth of intrigue, danger and politics."

But it won't be the first graphic novel to recount Operation Neptune Spear (the military name for the raid). That distinction belongs to "Code Word: Geronimo" which hit bookstores and Amazon.com less than six months after bin Laden's killing.

"Code Word: Geronimo" is the work of Capt. Dale Dye, a retired Marine and frequent military consultant on Hollywood films, and his wife Julia Dye, who holds a Ph.D. in the anthropology of human conflict. The novel features the artwork of Gerry Kissell and Amin Amat.

CNN spoke with the Dyes about their book and the challenge of telling the story of the raid without divulging military secrets. What follows is an edited version of the conversation.

CNN: Why did you decide to tell the story in graphic novel form?

Dale Dye: We wanted to reach folks in a sort of 18-35 short attention span demographic and see if we could use the graphic novel to sort of reflect the capability and professionalism of the men and women who pulled this raid off, this Operation Neptune Spear... I think [graphic novels] are a coming thing. I don't know if it's good, bad or indifferent, but it is a venue for communicating and we'll take it.

CNN: As military stories go, this one is hard to beat.

Dale: I mean it was fantastic. It was nothing like Desert One [the failed attempt in 1980 to free American hostages in Iran] and the other special operations efforts in which we haven't done so well. This one was really almost perfect, and that's hard to say when you're dealing deep behind people's lines.

CNN: Tell me about the research you did for the book.

Julia Dye: The challenge in this case wasn't so much digging up the information, it's that there was too much information and often conflicting. So it's discernment, how do you decide what is the most appropriate, what is most likely, what is true from a variety of sources.

Dale: I was able to call some people in the special operations community that I have contacts with and draw on my own background and sort of fill in what gaps Julia left where we didn't know... There are some areas in which I like to say we used "SWAG", which is "Scientific Wild- A** Guesses".

CNN: Were you concerned at all about revealing sensitive information in the book?

Dale: We did a lot of talking, Julia and I did, "If we do this, if we say this, if we depict this, are we giving away the secrets to the bad guys?"

Julia: There are certainly operational concerns and we wanted to make sure the information that is in there was appropriate... and keep what should remain classified, classified and still tell a compelling story.

CNN: There are some panels in the graphic novel showing bin Laden in bed the night of the raid, without a turban. How did you decide the right way to depict his domestic life?

Dale: That's one of those "SWAG" things. Nobody really knows what his domestic life was about. So we put it together and we said, "Given what we know about him, or what we purport to know about him, what would his private life be like?" In large measure, it seemed to us it would be like anybody else's in the Muslim community. There was a woman in bed with him and he was undressed and he was the domestic Osama bid Laden, if you will. And so that's the way we depicted it.

CNN: A canine was part of the Navy SEAL team that stormed the bin Laden compound. Do you know what became of Cairo the dog?

Dale: As far we know Cairo is still out there operating with his handler and with members of the Naval Special Warfare Development Group. He's one of many K9s that they use. I don't know that Cairo got a medal or a bone or any special plate of dog food, but we're dog lovers and we considered him to be a hero and Julia would have broken my neck if we hadn't put him in there.

CNN: In a couple of the panels Cairo is wearing goggles.

Julia: Doggles, they're called Doggles, no they really exist. There is a civilian type you can buy. But they actually have night-vision capabilities and lots of great nifty things in there.

Dale: They can put the K9 cam on him so that you can see what he sees and he has a little flak jacket that he wears, body armor, and maybe even little boots that K9s can wear to keep on their feet, the pads of their paws to keep them from burning on concrete and that sort of thing. They've gone a long way with the pooches.

CNN: Tell me about your collaboration with the illustrators.

Dale: A graphic novel is a challenge in itself. Because while I write words and essentially design what happens in the storyline, the artists, Gerry Kissel and his partner Amin [Amat] are trying to get inside your emotional storyteller brain and say 'What would that picture look like?' And so there was a lot of backing and forthing...

That's where [my] military background really comes in. We know what things look like, we know what they're supposed to look like so it's not "Captain Marvel attacks the Martians," this is the real deal.

CNN: Director Kathryn Bigelow ("The Hurt Locker") is working on a movie about SEAL Team 6, the counterterrorism unit that conducted the raid. Do you think that project is in good hands?

Dale: She's a brilliant director and did such a great job with "The Hurt Locker." I hope she gets it right, I hope she knocks it out of the ballpark.

The problem with [depicting] the global war on terrorism is that it's still going on. It's very close to people. You guys [the media] stuff it into our face 24 hours a day. It's virtually the thing that fills the news hole. So it's difficult to back off and get some perspective and tell a story.

Julia: I think it would be wonderful to have films in the future that advance wonderful stories from the war on terror. I think many of them up to now have a tendency to advance agendas rather than stories.

Dale: That's one of the reasons why we wanted to do the graphic novel now. I mean it hits a mid-ground between that big definitive book that some enterprising reporter is going to do and the movie maybe that Kathryn Bigelow will do. This is a mid-ground. It's got pictures and it's got a story. And it's got some really vital information in it.

CNN: Finally, what are your thoughts about the people who pulled off this raid?

Dale: We're talking about some of the most selfless, really true professional public servants the world will ever know. These are folks who aren't in it for medals, they aren't in it for glamor, they aren't in it for prestige, they aren't in it for notoriety. They're in it because they believe it's the right thing to do, because they think it's an important and vital mission. That was our mission when we started out [writing the graphic novel], to reflect some light, some glory, without ripping away the veil of secrecy, but reflect some light and glory on truly professional, dedicated, patriotic men and women.

Source

Users griping about iPhone 4S battery life

(CNN) -- It all sounds eerily familiar. A new iPhone. Massive sales. Then, an apparent glitch that, while it doesn't affect everyone, is prevalent enough to irk customers and catch the eyes of tech journalists everywhere.

Poor battery life on the iPhone 4S, released on October 14 to great fanfare and record sales, has been the new model's Achilles' heel in the minds of many users.

While complaints about the perceived problem haven't reached the fevered pitch that last year's iPhone 4 release saw about its so-called "death grip" problem, they don't seem to be going away.

There were, of course, the expected number of early-adopter quibbles with the phone: from troubles with new carrier Sprint, to a sometimes slow-moving camera, to limits on the voice-activated Siri "personal assistant" outside the United States.

But as most of those gripes either got sorted or users got used to the limitations, complaints about the phone's battery life have persisted.

A post on the Apple support forums, begun on October 15 to discuss battery problems, was still active Tuesday -- two weeks and 185 pages worth of comments later.

"I purchased what I thought was a top-of-the-line product only to be terribly disappointed," one user wrote Tuesday. "This is my first iPhone and may well be my last."

Battery life was a frequent complaint about the iPhone 3GS, but concerns about the phone's short battery life seemed to have been addressed on the next-generation iPhone 4.

According to Apple's official specs, the iPhone 4S should have enough juice in the battery for up to eight hours of talk time, six hours of Internet surfing, 10 hours of video viewing and 200 hours on standby. (All activities on a 3G connection -- 2G and wireless have different figures).

All of those numbers are within an hour or so of the iPhone 4, except for one. The older phone's specifications promise 300 hours of standby power: a full 50% more than the 4S.

Users complaining on the Apple forum and elsewhere say that their phones aren't lasting anywhere near even that reduced length of time. Various independent tests of the new phone have suggested that some phones have problems with poor battery life, while others don't.

The general consensus among tech-inclined owners is that the problem may not lie with the battery itself, but with the way the phone utilizes Apple's latest mobile operating system, iOS 5.

Specifically, the theory goes, its location-based services are a power drain. If the phone is constantly trying to pinpoint where it is, it will suck power even when the user isn't actively doing something with the phone. (For a comparison, think about how quickly your battery drains when you forget to turn off Wi-Fi searches while you're driving.)

The new phone also has a more powerful processor -- the same one that's in the iPad 2. That could cut battery life, even though Apple CEO Tim Cook specifically said that it wouldn't during the iPhone 4S unveiling event last month.

Apparently, reading from the well-worn Apple playbook, the company has not commented publicly about the battery complaints. Messages and e-mails to Apple seeking comment on these complaints were not returned.

It's unclear whether the company acknowledges there's a battery problem (although there have been reports that Apple is contacting iPhone 4S users to try to get to the bottom of it).

And while it's too early for direct comparisons, the extended silence looks remarkably like the public-relations two-step that was Apple's handling of the iPhone 4's antenna issues. (As you may recall, Consumer Reports and others said the iPhone 4 had antenna problems that caused it to drop calls. People dubbed the situation "Antennagate.")

First, the company refused to publicly acknowledge the issue. Then, there was a software patch apparently aimed at fixing it (although Apple never explicitly said so).

There would eventually be a news conference in which then-CEO Steve Jobs spent most of the time denying there was any real problem, then announcing that the company would give away free bumpers -- minimalist iPhone cases -- to prevent dropped calls.

But before that, there were the private e-mails and public statements saying, in essence, that users were holding their phones wrong.

Then, weeks after the free-bumper news conference, Jobs and others doubled back, saying that there was never really much of a problem and discontinuing the freebie program.

As Apple's silence persists (the company has said in the past that it spends time researching potential problems before addressing them publicly), users and observers are complaining and speculating in the vacuum. And that's not always pretty.

"It hits you when you least expect it. It slips away under a mask of dormant inactivity. And it can ruin your entire day," TechCrunch's Jordan Crook wrote Tuesday. "It's your iPhone 4S battery life, and it sucks."

Source

TSA questioned over cargo screening

Washington (CNN) -- Several House lawmakers want to know if the Transportation Security Administration is backtracking on plans to screen 100% of cargo placed on international passenger flights to the United States.

In a letter to TSA Administrator John Pistole, the representatives said a 2007 law requires screening of all U.S.-bound air cargo, but recent TSA statements to the media raise questions about the agency's intentions to fully implement the law.

In statements to the media confirming that it would miss a December 31 deadline to comply with the law, the TSA said it was working on agreements with other governments on a "risk-based" approach to screening.

Lawmakers said they are "troubled" by the wording. "TSA's statement implies that only (high-risk cargo) will be screened," the lawmakers wrote. "This approach would be contrary to the intent of (the 2007 law) and would pose significant security vulnerabilities for our country."

The letter is signed by Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Mississippi, ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Edward Markey, D-Massachusetts, and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas.

The lawmakers noted that one year ago, an al Qaeda affiliate attempted to explode "printer bombs" in cargo planes destined for the United States. "Fortunately, the plot was foiled. Nevertheless, the exposure of this major terrorist plot is a reminder that our adversaries are well aware of the security vulnerabilities in our air cargo system and are determined to exploit them," wrote the members.

Several weeks ago, the TSA notified the airline and cargo industries it will not proceed with the December 31 deadline requiring inspection of all air cargo on international passenger flights destined for the U.S., shipping industry officials said. No new deadline was announced.

Asked by CNN on Tuesday whether it would eventually require 100 percent physical inspection of the cargo, the TSA declined to answer, saying it would respond to the congressional letter.

In a statement, TSA spokesman Greg Soule said air cargo is "more secure than it has ever been with 100 percent of cargo on flights departing U.S. airports and 100 percent of identified high-risk international inbound cargo undergoing screening."

"TSA is working with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the air cargo industry on a pilot program to receive and process pre-departure, international advance air cargo information about shippers in order to focus more intensive screening resources on cargo we know least about. In coordination with stakeholders TSA will continue to take steps -- including ongoing efforts to test, evaluate and qualify air cargo screening technologies -- to strengthen our security posture."

Source