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Toward the end of his stint as a psychiatrist at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, accused Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan was the subject of a series of conversations between important officials concerned with the Army major's conduct. NPR reports that during the six years Hasan spent at Walter Reed, his "disconnected, aloof, paranoid, belligerent, and schizoid" behavior—including his espousal of radical Islamic ideas—was cause for serious concern, and led some to wonder if the psychiatrist was mentally unstable. Apparently no action was taken when the issue was discussed in the spring of 2008, due at least in part to the bureaucratic nature of the probation and expulsion process, the lack of "clear evidence," the officials' own lack of awareness regarding Hasan's email dealings with a suspected radical, and, finally, his impending departure from Walter Reed.
A bombshell from the White House: A senior Obama administration official tells MSNBC that the president will reject all of the options that have been presented to him by his national-security team, and that instead he will demand clarifications on when U.S. troops would turn over responsibility for the country to the Afghan government. The sticking point appears to be timelines: President Obama wants to make clear that the U.S. commitment to Afghanistan is not open-ended. Consequently, the options presented to Obama will be amended. Previously, it was believed he was leaning toward 30,000 additional troops.
In the latest sign of thawing relations between sworn enemies, Fox News White House correspondent Major Garrett has been granted an interview with President Obama to take place next week in China. The news was announced a day after interim White House Communications Director Anita Dunn, leader of the administration's attacks on the news channel, made public that she'll be stepping down, and a week since Obama adviser David Axelrod gave an interview with Garrett. The administration's war with Fox News was the focus of controversy when the White House indicated its willingness to deny the channel—known for its right-wing opinion programming—newsworthy interviews, and explicitly attacked it for having a conservative bias.
Can’t wait until November 17th to put on your wizard costume and go to buy Going Rogue, by Sarah Palin? Mark Halperin at The Page has a teaser: Palin’s book will include “some score settling with McCain aides she believes ill-served her (names will be named)” and, of course, “a hearty bashing of the national media.” The book is just five chapters long, and is written in “a warm and personal tone, written in Palin’s own voice,” so expect plenty of “you betchas.” Also, it does not include an index. That may just be a reflection of the book’s intellectual heft (or lack thereof), but Halperin says that it’s “a subtle revenge on the party’s Washington establishment, whose members tend to flip to the back pages and scan for their own names.”
Washington's power players can't seem to reach consensus on Afghanistan. The Washington Post reports that America's ambassador in Kabul, Karl Eikenberry, sent two classified cables to D.C. last week urging President Obama to hold off on troop increases until after newly reelected President Hamid Karzai shows he's serious about cutting corruption and curtailing the Taliban. Eikenberry commanded America's troops in Afghanistan from 2006–2007, and his request reportedly rubbed former colleagues at the Pentagon—not to mention Gen. Stanley McChrystal—the wrong way. Eikenberry's reticence stems from what the Post characterizes as "deep reservations about Karzai's erratic behavior," including the leader's ambivalent attitude toward America: "The United States and its allies came to Afghanistan after September 11. Afghanistan was troubled like hell before that, too. Nobody bothered about us," he said in an interview with Jim Lehrer last week.
Sean Hannity was caught red-handed; now is he going to fess up? Hannity is going to address complaints after The Daily Show host Jon Stewart caught him doctoring footage of a protest rally on his show. Hannity aired footage of a 9/12 rally and claimed that it was from Michele Bachmann’s much smaller November 5 rally—Stewart caught the deception when he noticed that the trees were green in the footage, even though it is fall. Fox News would not comment on the video except to say “Sean will address this on his show tonight.”
Presumably, politics were not discussed. Angelina Jolie and her father, Jon Voight, have settled the rift they weathered for seven years. Voight told Us Weekly that he and his formerly estranged, Academy Award-winning daughter have finally reconciled. "We're in touch, but not regularly," the 70-year-old actor told the magazine. "We love each other and that's the most important thing." Jolie and Voight allegedly stopped speaking in 2001 after he appeared on Access Hollywood asking her to seek help for what he deemed were "serious mental problems." According to a family friend, the father and daughter reunited in person in February and have been in contact since.
"I feel like I could have done something, but I don't feel like I have any responsibility for anything that happened," an unnamed 16-year-old witness told ABC News of the Oct. 24 gang rape of a 15-year-old girl at her homecoming dance in Richmond, California. According to police, 20 witnesses stood by and did nothing as 10 male attackers between the ages of 15-21 gang raped the girl for more than two hours, kicked her in the head, and penetrated her with an unidentified foreign object. According to authorities, some witnesses even used their camera phones to record the dehumanizing attack. "They were kicking her in her head and they were beating her up, robbing her and ripping her clothes off. It's something you can't get out your mind," another witness named Salvador Rodriguez told ABC. Rodriguez said he was the only witness who attempted to help the victim but didn't call the police because he was afraid of being called a "snitch," a reputation he says could get him killed in Richmond.
Barack Obama unexpectedly visited the section of Arlington National Cemetery where troops who died in Iraq and Afghanistan are buried on Wednesday as part of his first Veterans Day as president. After performing the traditional role of laying a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknowns, the president and Michelle Obama surprised family members of recently fallen soldiers who were paying their respects and took some time to speak with them. During the conventional portion of his day at the Tomb of the Unknowns, Obama said, "There is no tribute, no commemoration, no praise that can truly match the magnitude of your service and your sacrifice." He also promised veterans and troops that, "America will not let you down."
Major Nidal Hasan clearly hated the Army, but he never tried to leave it before murdering 13 soldiers at Fort Hood last week. According to an Army official, Hasan never sought to leave the Army as a conscientious objector or for any reason, contradicting claims by his aunt that he had tried to do so. The anonymous Army official saw Hasan’s file before it was recently sealed by investigators. As further indication that he did not seek discharge, Hasan was promoted in May 2009.
"There's absolutely no validity to rumor that Aerosmith is breaking up, mutha f**ka!" Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler told TMZ.com on Tuesday night. Both Tyler and guitarist Joe Perry, who was carrying what looked like a beer into a Trump hotel in New York, denied that the decades-old rock band was breaking up, a rumor spread via Twitter remarks from Perry that caused speculation that the lead singer was leaving the band. "I just want New York—New York, I just want you to know I am not leaving Aerosmith," Tyler reiterated to the crowd of the band’s show at Irving Plaza in NYC on Tuesday night, according to ABC News. Enough said.
Anyone can see that the media is in serious trouble, but as magazines shrink and fold, The New Yorker has remained consistent, having changed little over the last five years. The magazine was even spared layoffs as its parent company cut hundreds of jobs and folded a handful of titles over the last few weeks. The New York Observer has decoded the secret to the magazine's success—its mammoth staff of 215. Editor David Remnick explained: "If The New Yorker is going to be worthy of the name and achieve a level of prose or accuracy or depth, or if it's going to give the reporters or writers the time they need to achieve what I hope we can achieve, we can't do it with a minuscule staff."
How much would you pay for your health? The short supply of H1N1 vaccine has the writers at Smart Money wondering whether rich consumers will have better luck getting their hands on a shot. Though the fact that the vaccine is government-issued should technically eliminate free-market rules, Smart Money decided to see what would happen if a person of infinite income tried to bend the rules. Public auction sites like Craigslist and eBay don't directly sell the vaccine, but they post links to places where it can be found. A research center in Washington, D.C., for example, placed an ad for the vaccine on Craigslist. Other methods, like concierge doctors and international travel, proved ultimately ineffective, and no doctors were willing to admit that a patient could successfully try to pay their way to the top of a vaccine waiting list.
Gay residents of Utah just got a boost from an unlikely group—the Mormon Church. After the Utah-based church backed proposed Salt Lake City ordinances that would bar housing and employment discrimination against gays—and the city laws passed unanimously Tuesday night. The new rules make Salt Lake City the first community in Utah to make it illegal to fire or evict someone on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. The Mormon Church’s backing could have far-reaching effects in this conservative state where 80 percent of lawmakers and governors belong to the church. A spokesman for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints emphasized that the endorsement doesn't change the church's stance against gay marriage. "The church supports these ordinances because they are fair and reasonable and do not do violence to the institution of marriage," he said.
Medical marijuana got a huge boost on Tuesday when the American Medical Association—the nation's largest physicians' organization—urged the federal government to loosen the classification of marijuana, which is currently a Schedule I controlled substance. Other drugs classed as Schedule I, the most restrictive of the federal government's five schedules, include heroin and LSD. The AMA's goal in changing its policy is to clear the way for clinical research, development of marijuana-based medicines, and creation of alternate ways to deliver the drug.
A day after vigorously denying reports that he plans on sending 40,000 troops to Afghanistan, President Obama is considering sending between 30,000 and 35,000 new troops, including up to 10,000 military trainers, The Wall Street Journal reports. A senior military official tells The Journal that this plan—the fourth and newest of the options Obama is considering—is drawing the “most consideration” at the Pentagon, and Obama is expected to announce his decision shortly after returning from Asia on November 19. The New York Times reports that Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen have coalesced around a proposal for 30,000 or more troops, but that Obama “remains unsatisfied with answers he has gotten about how vigorously the governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan would help execute a new strategy.”
Brazil is a bright place Wednesday morning after Tuesday’s power outage plunged half of the nation's 190 million people into darkness for at least two hours. At 10 p.m. local time on Tuesday after transmission failed at the Itaipu Binacional hydroelectric dam—one of the world's largest dams by output—affecting 12 of the nation's 26 states, the Federal District, and all of neighboring Paraguay. The massive power outage shut down Rio de Janeiro's international airport, closed subway systems in San Paulo and Rio, disrupted telephone transmissions, caused traffic accidents and jams, and allowed thieves to carry out assaults on city streets. The executive secretary of Brazil's Mines and Energy Ministry called "unique" and attributed to weather conditions, although the government is still investigating.
Where’s the next front on the Republican assault on Obama? Greg Sargent reports on The Plum Line that Republican leaders are preparing to attack President Obama over any plan for Afghanistan that is less than the 40,000 new troops General Stanley McChrystal has requested. “There better be a hell of a compelling reason for ignoring the advice of our generals on the ground or Republicans will ensure that this administration spends the next few years explaining to the American people how dismissing our military’s advice has made our troops and our country safer,” a GOP aide says. Sargent, however, sees a risk in the Republican strategy: “What if [Obama] decides to send less than 40,000 troops, but the decision is endorsed by the commanding officer, General Stanley McChrystal?”
In case you had forgotten, President Obama can really give a speech. Was his address at the memorial service at Fort Hood on Tuesday his best speech ever? “They’ll be teaching this one in rhetoric classes,” writes Marc Ambinder, while Taegen Goddard writes it “may go down as one of his best ever.” Chuck Todd said it will be “remembered and quoted from for quite some time.” A sample of Obama’s words: “We are a nation that endures because of the courage of those who defend it. We saw that valor in those who braved bullets here at Fort Hood, just as surely as we see it in those who signed up knowing that they would serve in harm's way.”
The company formerly known as Blackwater Worldwide is in hot water again, this time for $1 million in secret payments to keep Iraqi officials quiet. Four former executives of the firm now known as Xe Services are speaking anonymously about remittances that were intended to silence criticism from and buy support of Iraqi officials following an incident in 2007 where Blackwater security guards killed 17 Iraqi civilians. Blackwater's contracts in the country were worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Gary Jackson, the company's president at the time, allegedly approved the bribes, and chairman and founder Erik Prince didn't rebut the accusations when confronted by the company's vice chairman.
Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps had to settle for only a bronze Tuesday, after the swimmer decided to leave his high-tech swimsuit at home. The 24-year-old athlete failed to qualify for the finals in two of his three races in the World Cup at Stockholm, and took home third in the 100M medley. The international governing body of competitive swimming will ban high-tech polyurethane bodysuits come January 1, and Phelps took this opportunity to adjust to the new rules. The use of the suits ushered in an unprecedented number of records at the world championships in Rome in July, and were crucial to placing in Stockholm. Phelps, who holds a record eight gold medals from last year's Beijing Olympics, said "Without the suit I've the impression of being naked."
Robert Benmosche, the chief executive of American International Group, Inc., told the board that he is "done" and is contemplating quitting a mere three months after taking the job. The issue rankling Benmosche is the constraints placed on the company by Obama administration pay czar Kenneth Feinberg ever since the company became 80 percent owned by the government after its rescue last year. Last week, Benmosche, who was particularly put out about a Treasury pay review that cut executive compensation by 91 percent from 2008 levels, joined with other board members to complain to Feinberg about how difficult it was to comply with pay policies and to retain talent. It's unclear whether Benmosche will make good on his threat, as he swore he'd step down in August over a pay kerfuffle with the Treasury Department, a feud that ended when the Treasury finalized his $10.5 million package, the largest approved under the recent rules on executive pay.
Lisa Nowak, the former NASA astronaut accused of attempting to kidnap a romantic rival in 2007, was sentenced to one year of probation after pleading guilty to lesser charges on Tuesday. Motivated by jealousy over a fellow astronaut paramour, Nowak drove more than 1,000 miles from Houston to Orlando to confront Colleen Shipman, an Air Force captain—but the detail most people remember about the case is that Nowak was so monomaniacally preoccupied with getting to Orlando that she armed herself with adult diapers so she wouldn’t need to pause, even for bathroom breaks en route. When she arrived, Nowak attacked Shipman with pepper spray and tried to break into her car. The object of both women’s affection was NASA space shuttle pilot Bill Oefelein, who now lives with Shipman in Alaska and with whom Nowak had a three-year relationship. Nowak pleaded guilty to third-degree burglary and misdemeanor battery, and has been sentenced a community service and ordered to write an apology to Shipman.
Lindsay Lohan was reportedly dating Heath Ledger at the time of his death, according to a tape of a phone conversation between Lohan's divorced parents, leaked to Radar by her father Michael. Dina Lohan told her ex-husband, "She was dating Heath when he died. I don't know if you know that, but I know 'cause I would drop her off and they were friends very, very close, ok?" Dina goes on to say that Ledger's death "f----d her up," and discusses Lindsey's need for an assistant to babysit her continuously, as well as the starlet's problems with alcohol and Adderall.
Two former Bear Stearns hedge-fund managers were acquitted Tuesday on charges of lying to investors. Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin, who prosecutors say cleared out at least $1.4 billion of investors' money, became the poster boys for Wall Street corruption and the irresponsible money management that led to the global financial crisis. Cioffi raked in $17 million in bonuses in 2006, while Tannin took in $2.5 million. The two faced up to 20 years in prison, however a New York jury acquitted them based on a defense that they were victims themselves. Bear Stearns folded in 2007, an early casualty of the financial collapse.
D.C.-area sniper John Allen Muhammad was executed at 9:11 p.m. Tuesday, the long-awaited conclusion of a three-week killing spree that left 10 dead in 2002. Though Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine opposes the death penalty, he declined to commute Muhammad's sentence (requested by lawyers who claimed mental illness), saying he had a duty to abide Virginia's extant penal code. Muhammad requested a final meal but did not release the menu to the public; he declined to visit with a spiritual adviser; he also declined to choose his method of death, and died by lethal injection as a default. He reportedly "showed no emotion in the death chamber. When the curtain opened, his head was tilted to the right, and his eyes were closed. Asked whether he wanted to say anything, he did not respond." Though the sniper attacks spread across Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C., Muhammad and his teenage accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, were prosecuted in Virginia precisely for its harsh stance on murder.
Sarah Palin must be praying that her Monday appearance on Oprah will lead to a slot on the talk-show maven's book list. In spite of a rumored 400,000-plus first print run for Palin’s memoir, Going Rogue: An American Life, which comes out Tuesday, November 17, the Daily Finance crunches a slew of numbers to reveal that HarperCollins might not want to bank on the book. Palin made the book deal last May, has received a $1.25 million retainer, and is expected to receive up to a $7 million advance, by the time Going Rogue arrives next week. Factoring in actual versus projected print runs for paperback and hardcover copies, Amazon-Wal-Mart-Target discount sales, ghostwriting fees, and the potential total payment to Palin, the Daily Finance claims that HarperCollins will need to sell more than 400,000 copies of the book just to break even—and that’s only if Palin’s total advance was a measly $5 million.
Charla Nash, 56, lost her nose, hands, lips, and one eyelid when a friend's chimp attacked her in Stamford, Conn. last February. But until a few weeks ago, she thought at least be able to see again. As it turns out, surgeons removed her eyes due to infection. On Tuesday, Oprah interviewed the woman from her room at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, which performed the country's first successful face transplant last year, a procedure Nash is considering. The show on Nash, who wears a veil throughout her televised appearance, is set to air Wednesday and will also include footage of a typical day for her.
So it wasn’t an appointment with Arnie Klein? Sammy Sosa has spoken up to explain recent photos of him where his skin is so light that some thought he was suffering vitiligo. "I use a cream to keep my skin smooth and soft. I apply it before I go to bed. When I was playing for Chicago all those years, I was in the sun a lot for 1 o'clock games," Sosa told an interviewer. "The flashes (from the cameras) also made my skin look lighter. I'm surprised with the controversy this has caused." Asked if he was trying to be like Michael Jackson, Sosa said: "Not at all, I respect him very much. I'm not a racist. I'm not like that. I'm just a happy person."
