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Filmmaker asserts new evidence on TWA 800

An unreleased documentary on the 1996 TWA Flight 800 explosion offers "solid proof that there was an external detonation," its co-producer said Wednesday. "Of course, everyone knows about the eyewitness statements, but we also have corroborating information from the radar data, and the radar data shows a(n) asymmetric explosion coming out of that plane -- something that didn't happen in the official theory," Tom Stalcup told CNN's "New Day." A number of people have come forward, "all saying the same thing: that there was an external force -- not from the center wing tank, there's no evidence of that -- but there is evidence of an external explosion that brought down that plane," Stalcup said. He cited "corroborating information from the radar data" and complained that "not one single eyewitness was allowed to testify -- that's unheard of." The film's producers are submitting a petition -- signed by "many" former investigators -- asking for the National Transportation Safety Board to reopen its investigation, based on new evidence offered by the documentary, Stalcup said. "The family members need to know what happened to their loved ones," he said. Asked why such information might have been suppressed, he said, "That's a question that should be answered when this investigation gets reopened." The NTSB ruled that the explosion was caused by an electrical short circuit, most likely originating in a fuel gauge line, which found its way into the center wing fuel tank, where it detonated fuel vapors and caused the B-747 to fall in pieces into the waters off Long Island. Skeptics have long theorized that TWA Flight 800 was brought down by sinister forces. They include Hank Hughes, who served as a senior accident investigator with the NTSB and helped reconstruct the aircraft. Others include Bob Young, a TWA investigator who participated in the investigation, and Jim Speer, an accident investigator for the Airline Pilots Association. "These investigators were not allowed to speak to the public or refute any comments made by their superiors and/or NTSB and FBI officials about their work at the time of the official investigation," a news release announcing the documentary said. "They waited until after retirement to reveal how the official conclusion by the (NTSB) was falsified and lay out their case." The documentary, "TWA Flight 800," will premiere July 17, the 17th anniversary of the crash. Stalcup is co-founder of the Flight 800 Independent Researchers Organization and has been a longtime and passionate critic of the official investigation. Suspicions that criminals or terrorists were behind the TWA 800 explosion are not new. The FBI conducted a parallel investigation, but concluded that the incident was not a crime or terrorist attack. The NTSB said Tuesday that it was aware of the pending release of the documentary, which will air on EPIX TV network, and of the producers' intent to file a petition to reopen the investigation. "As required by NTSB regulation, a petition for reconsideration of board findings ... must be based on the discovery of NEW evidence or on a showing that the board's findings are erroneous," NTSB spokeswoman Kelly Nantel said in a statement. "At this point, the NTSB has not received a petition, however, we stand ready to review one, should it be filed." Petitions are reviewed and a determination typically is made within 60 days, but the NTSB can take longer if necessary, she said. The safety board's investigation of TWA 800 lasted four years and "remains one of the NTSB's most extensive investigations," Nantel said. Investigators "spent an enormous amount of time reviewing, documenting and analyzing facts and data, and held a five-day public hearing to gather additional facts before determining the probable cause of the accident," she said. But her statement leaves open the possibility the case will be reopened. "While the NTSB rarely re-investigates issues that have already been examined, our investigations are never closed, and we can review any new information not previously considered by board," it said. The documentarians said they have a "trifecta of elements" that will "prove that the officially proposed fuel-air explosion did not cause the crash." That trifecta includes forensic evidence, firsthand sources and corroborating witnesses, and the new statements from retired investigators. The evidence proves that "one or more ordnance explosions outside the aircraft caused the crash," the producers said. But it does not identify or speculate on the source of the ordnance explosions. All 230 people aboard TWA 800 died when the plane, headed for Paris, exploded and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean shortly after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. Scores of witnesses observed a streak of light and a fireball, giving early rise to suspicions that the terrorists had struck the plane with a rocket. Investigators concluded the streak was likely burning fuel streaming from the plane's wing tank.

Published: Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:19:40 GMT

Afghanistan suspends security talks with U.S.

Afghanistan's president shelved talks Wednesday with the United States over keeping troops there past next year amid friction over planned U.S. peace talks with the Taliban in Qatar. Hamid Karzai, who has previously expressed frustration about being left out of U.S.-Taliban talks, also said Wednesday that his country's High Peace Council wouldn't take part in any discussions with the Taliban unless they were "completely Afghan led." The United States is scheduled to begin talks with the Taliban Thursday at the group's newly opened Doha, Qatar, offices, according to a source close to the talks who did not want to be identified. Speaking Thursday in Berlin, U.S. President Barack Obama said the United States anticipated there would be areas of friction in getting the talks off the ground -- and that the Karzai government reaction was not surprising. Washington has been negotiating a security agreement with the Karzai government to set the terms for a U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan past 2014, when all combat troops are expected to be out of the country. The agreement could provide the basis for any future NATO role in Afghanistan. Karzai's decision to suspend those talks came a day after NATO-led troops transferred security responsibility to Afghan forces. While Karzai seems eager to resume stalled peace talks with the Taliban and include them in the political process, a senior U.S. official has said reconciliation is likely to be "long, complex and messy" because trust between Afghans and the Taliban is extremely low.

Published: Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:01:37 GMT

Obama to call for cut in nuclear warheads

President Barack Obama will ask Russia to join the United States in slashing its supply of strategic nuclear warheads by about one-third, a senior administration official said. Obama will announce the goal during a speech Wednesday in Berlin -- a city rife with Cold War history. The president will also outline his goal to reduce U.S. and Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Europe, the official said. The president hopes to work with NATO allies on proposals toward that goal. It's all part of Obama's "vision of achieving the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons," the official said. "We will seek to negotiate these reductions with Russia to continue to move beyond Cold War nuclear postures," the official added. Obama's speech will take place almost exactly 50 years after President John F. Kennedy delivered his "Ich bin ein Berliner" -- or "I am a Berliner" -- speech in the city that was divided by Western and Soviet occupations during the Cold War. Berlin is also where President Ronald Reagan's delivered a famous line to the Soviet Union in 1987: "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" Beyond New START Obama's latest proposals come two years after New START -- a nuclear agreement between the United States and Russia -- went into effect. New START, which stands for strategic arms reduction treaty, calls for both countries to limit their nuclear warhead arsenal to 1,550 by the year 2018. Obama's proposals Wednesday would reduce both stockpiles by another one-third -- to roughly 1,000 warheads for each country. U.S. guidance on nukes After New START was ratified, Obama ordered a detailed internal analysis of U.S. nuclear needs and what it would take to deter other countries from attacking, the White House said. "The president has determined that we can ensure our security and that of our allies and partners ... while safely pursuing up to a one-third reduction in deployed strategic nuclear warheads below the New START treaty level," the administration official said. Obama has also said the United States will only consider the use of nuclear weapons in extreme circumstances to defend the vital interests of the United States or its allies and partners, the White House said. Pressuring Iran and North Korea The United States will continue working to stop the spread of nuclear weapons, with specific pressure on Iran and North Korea, the administration official said. Obama will also participate in the 2014 Nuclear Security Summit in The Hague and will host a Nuclear Security Summit in 2016 to work with other countries in securing nuclear materials and preventing nuclear terrorism, the official said.

Published: Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:01:16 GMT

14 die in attack on Somali U.N. headquarters

At least 14 people died and 15 others were wounded in an attack on the U.N. headquarters in the Somali capital of Mogadishu on Wednesday. Seven militants, four U.N. employees and three female civilians were killed, said Abdikarim Hussein Guled, the country's interior and national security minister. The other victims were rushed to a hospital. Al-Shabaab, the militant group linked to al Qaeda, claimed responsibility, the group said on Twitter. It was the second major attack in the city in less than a month in an unstable nation beset with civil strife for many years. Police Officer Hussein Ahmed said one attacker blew himself up at the entrance of the U.N. compound, which is near the city's airport. Others wearing suicide vests entered the U.N. compound. He said Somali and African Union forces surrounded the building and fought with the armed assailants. The strike devastated the area. Mangled buses and cars sat in disfigured heaps, the windows of nearby apartments shattered, the ground littered with blood and body parts. A large brown plume of smoke was visible in the air as ambulances rushed to the scene and carried away the wounded. The compound has now been secured and is in the hands of AU troops, the official Twitter account of the African Union Mission to Somalia said.

Published: Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:53:22 GMT

Oil filter problem forces 787 to land

Passengers from a United Airlines 787 Dreamliner that made an unscheduled landing in Seattle were expected to resume their journey to Japan on Wednesday morning. Flight 139 from Denver to Tokyo was diverted to Seattle on Tuesday afternoon "due to an indication of a problem with an oil filter," United said in a statement to CNN. The aircraft landed normally, said spokeswoman Mary Ryan. The plane's 210 passengers were asked to stay overnight in Seattle. The incident comes six months after the FAA and other officials grounded the Dreamliner worldwide due to troubles with its battery system. In April, the FAA ordered all 787 operators to make specific modifications and United has been flying its fleet of six 787s since May 20. In an apparent show of confidence in the new airliner, United announced Tuesday it was ordering 20 additional Dreamliners -- specifically the 787-10 model, which is a longer version of the plane. Chris Seewald tweeted that he was a passenger on Tuesday's diverted flight. He said the aircraft's pilot told passengers that the "engine was not operating optimally." Seewald also tweeted a photo that he said showed the Dreamliner dumping fuel before landing in Seattle. The 787 Dreamliner began service in the U.S. in 2012. With a fleet of six, United is the sole domestic operator of the airplane, which boasts high fuel efficiency due to the light-weight carbon-composite materials used in its wings and fuselage. The plane represents a new generation of efficient wide-body, long-range airliners, helping to make it among the world's most watched aircraft. Airlines worldwide have committed to buy the plane, and hundreds of millions of dollars are riding on Dreamliner's success. Boeing's rival Airbus flew a similar airliner -- its highly anticipated A350 XWB -- for the first time on Friday at its facility in Toulouse, France. The entire global fleet of 50 Dreamliners was grounded in January after two battery overheating incidents triggered concerns among safety officials. Among the Dreamliner's innovative new designs is a battery system that uses new, lighter lithium-ion batteries. Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration collaborated on a new battery compartment which involved insulating the batteries and putting them in a ventilated armor-plated box to protect the rest of the plane.

Published: Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:45:18 GMT

Tesla announces Model S recall

Electric car maker Tesla Motors has announced a recall of hundreds of its Model S vehicles for a seat problem. CEO Elon Musk announced the recall with a tweet and a blog post early Wednesday. Musk said Tesla has discovered a problem with a weld that could allow one of the back seats to come loose in the case of an accident. The electric car maker will contact the affect vehicles' owners and arrange to pick up the cars at their convenience, give them a loaner Model S if necessary, and return their cars within a few hours. Musk said there had been no customer complaints, no injuries or near injuries caused by the problem, and that it was not brought to the company's attention by any safety regulator. The cars being recalled were built over four weeks in May and early June. Given that Tesla said it planned to build about 5,000 Model S in the quarter, suggesting that about 1,600 cars could be affected by the recall, though the announcement did not give a specific number. It is not known how many of the affected vehicles had already been sold and delivered to customers. The Model S has won rave reviews, with Consumer Reports calling it the best car it has ever tested and Motor Trend giving it Car of the Year honors. Tesla's announcement is in stark contrast, in both size, seriousness of the problem and automaker response, to Tuesday's news that Chrysler Group was relenting and recalling 2.7 million Jeeps. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration believes the Jeeps pose an increased fire risk if hit from behind. Chrysler had initially insisted it wouldn't do a recall and continued to say the older model Grand Cherokees and Libertys are safe. But it agreed to the recall when faced with the prospect of a public hearing into the problem and the deaths that occurred. The shares of Tesla, which have tripled in value so far this year, were down in premarket trading on the recall announcement. Start-up Tesla had its first recall in 2010. It recalled 429 of its Roadsters after a single customer incident prompted it to replace a power cable.

Published: Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:32:36 GMT

Ohio day care accused of drugging children

Getting children to take a nap can be hard. Getting them to eat pancakes is not nearly as difficult. Police in Westerville, Ohio, say a 37-year-old mother operating a day care out of her home hit upon a plan -- she allegedly crushed medications that cause drowsiness and put them in the pancakes. Tammy Eppley has been charged with six counts of child endangerment. Her first court date is July 12. Eppley, who runs the Caterpillar Clubhouse, cared for six children -- including one of her own -- between the ages of 2 and 5, police said. "This is mortifying. I'm a very private person and I'm very protective of my children and the children in my care," she said. Investigators believe she used medications such as the allergy medicine Benadryl and supplements like melatonin to get the children to go to sleep, according to a statement from the Westerville police. She would say something to the effect of "I just gave them their nappy time medicine," Lt. Paul Scowden told CNN affiliate WCMH. None of the children suffered any illness or injury related to the alleged drugging incident. A former friend reported her to child protective services after she received a series of text messages from Eppley joking about sedating the kids. Eppley has denied the charges, claiming she was just venting in the texts. "It was just any frustrated parent that would say when they were frustrated," she said. "The kids are driving me crazy today, they're off the wall. I wish there was a drug like in sleeping beauty they would all just go to sleep." She said she had given medications in the past, but only with parental permission.

Published: Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:51:36 GMT

Blaze blamed on campfire roars near Yosemite

A campfire left untended sparked a blaze near Yosemite National Park that is threatening hundreds of homeowners -- but firefighters are starting to get a handle on it. About 500 homes are under mandatory evacuation orders, including one that belongs to Mariposa County Supervisor Kevin Cann. "My cats are with some friends and the dogs are with some other friends," Cann told CNN affiliate KGPE. "When you are evacuated, it makes you think," he said. "I've been in that house 23 years and it makes you think about what's really important; what do you have to take, and, in the end, it's not all that much." The quickly spreading flames forced many, like Orlando Vigil, to flee in a hurry. He made it out safely, but had to drop the animals from his property at the Mariposa County Fairgrounds. They're safe now, but he's not so sure about his home. "We'll see if there's anything when we get back," Vigil said. Beating back the fire More than 2,000 firefighters are battling the blaze in the steep, rugged terrain west of Yosemite. Summer wildfires are nothing new in California. But this one is happening weeks earlier than normal, and comes as parts of the state experience "exceptional" dryness that could fuel flames. "We usually see this sort of fire behavior in August. This is June," said Gary Wuchner, fire spokesman for Yosemite National Park. "It's making us nervous." The Carstens Wildfire was first spotted Sunday afternoon, after embers from a campfire that hadn't been totally put out spread into the surrounding forest. By Tuesday night, it had burned nearly 1,900 acres, of which 40 percent was considered contained, according to CalFire. Some 2,200 fire personnel were working the scene, using 53 engines, 11 water tenders. seven bulldozers and other equipment. Some 800 structures are being threatened. Tending to the evacuees The evacuations forced some residents into the Red Cross shelter at Mariposa Elementary School. Officials are there with food, medical help and other basics. "We also have a mental health worker to help those that are overstressed emotionally from the ordeal of being uprooted from their home," Cindy Thomas of the Red Cross told KGPE. Not everyone is heeding the calls to evacuate, however. Among them is Paul "Bear" Vasquez. More than 37 million people have viewed his YouTube video showing him becoming overjoyed and then breaking down at the site of a vibrant double rainbow over a mountain in 2010. Today, that mountain is singed by the Carstens Fire. But Vasquez says he's staying on the property he bought in 1998, hacking out of the wilderness a spot for the home where he's raised his children. "I am the protector of this land," he said. "I am part of this place. It has magical powers and I can't leave."

Published: Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:47:53 GMT

House passes late term abortion ban

The House of Representatives Tuesday passed a GOP-sponsored bill banning so- called "late term abortions" -- procedures for women who are beyond 20 weeks into their pregnancy. The vote was 228-196, mostly along party lines. The bill's sponsor, Republican Rep. Trent Franks, R-Arizona, stirred up controversy last week when he opposed an effort by House Democrats to add an exception for women who are raped, arguing that "the incidents of rape resulting in pregnancy are very low." House Democrats seized on the comment, and because of the backlash GOP leaders later decided to add new language to the bill allowing women who get pregnant as a result of rape or incest to obtain an abortion if they report the crime to authorities. The White House has threatened a veto on the legislation, but the Democratic-led Senate is not expected to take up the measure.

Published: Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:27:40 GMT

BuzzFeed reporter Hastings dead at 33

Journalist Michael Hastings, known for his 2010 profile of Gen. Stanley McChrystal that led to the officer's abrupt retirement, died in a car accident in Los Angeles on Tuesday. The 33-year-old had been a reporter for BuzzFeed since last year, when he was hired to cover the Obama re-election campaign. "Michael was a great, fearless journalist with an incredible instinct for the story, and a gift for finding ways to make his readers care about anything he covered from wars to politicians," BuzzFeed Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith said in a statement. "He wrote stories that would otherwise have gone unwritten, and without him there are great stories that will go untold." Hastings was also a contributor to Rolling Stone, and it was his profile in that magazine about McChrystal that led to the the general leaving his position. In his profile, Hastings quoted McChrystal and his staff criticizing and mocking key administration officials. The young reporter wrote that McChrystal and Obama "failed from the outset to connect," and that the president looked "uncomfortable and intimidated" by top military officials. Hastings wrote that an unnamed aide to McChrystal mocked Vice President Joe Biden. The fallout of the article was significant, with the general resigning from his post as the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, followed by his retirement from the armed forces. "Hastings' hallmark as reporter was his refusal to cozy up to power," his obituary in Rolling Stone read. "While other embedded reporters were charmed by McChrystal's bad-boy bravado and might have excused his insubordination as a joke, Hastings was determined to expose the recklessness of a man leading what Hastings believed to be a reckless war."

Published: Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:27:20 GMT

Koch's tombstone with wrong date corrected

Former New York Mayor Ed Koch has been dead for more than four months, but a mistake on his tombstone likely would have amused him. Koch was born Dec. 12, 1924, but his tombstone at Trinity Church Cemetery in Upper Manhattan made him appear 18 years younger than he was -- Dec. 12, 1942 was set in stone. The company responsible for the etchings on the marker became aware of the mistake Monday. The transposed numbers were fixed Tuesday morning using composite granite, according to George Arzt, Koch's former press secretary as mayor and his spokesman until his death. The birth and death dates were added within the past 10 days, according to an etching company representative. Koch hired an inscriber after he purchased his tombstone in 2007. He was able to see the engravings were etched as he wished; however, there were no dates at the time, according to Arzt. "Ed would have loved this attention and called the situation 'ridiculous!' " Arzt told CNN on Tuesday. Koch was a U.S. congressman from 1968 until he ran for New York mayor in 1977. He served three terms as the city's 105th mayor, from January 1978 to December 1989. Koch died of congestive heart failure on Feb. 1. He was 88 -- despite what his tombstone temporarily calculated.

Published: Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:09:42 GMT

Man pleads not guilty to naked subway attacks

The 24-year-old man accused of attacking commuters while naked at a San Francisco subway station proclaimed he is not guilty Tuesday. According to the San Francisco District Attorney's office, Yeiner Garizabalo waived his arraignment and entered not guilty pleas. He is due back in court on July 18 for a pre-hearing conference. The native of Colombia remains in jail on a $100,000 bond and a request from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. Garizabalo faces seven charges following the May 10 incident at a Bay Area Rapid Transit station. He appeared in a bizarre video where he, sans clothing, performed acrobatics off subway equipment, then went after commuters trying to catch a train. A video of the incident quickly went viral. In it, a glistening man with a wild mane of hair turns fare gates into balance beams, doing splits and back flips buck-naked. Startled commuters flee as he dashes across the station, attacking people at random. Last week, police said he had been arrested, given a mental evaluation, charged with battery and released. He now stands accused of two felony counts of false imprisonment, four misdemeanor counts of battery and one misdemeanor count of sexual battery in the incident, said Alex Bastian, a spokesman for the District Attorney's office. California defines false imprisonment as "the unlawful violation of the personal liberty of another." Garizabalo, who is also known as Yeiner Perez, was, until recently, a member of the ClownSnotBombs Circus. The group posted a statement on its Facebook page Monday saying he was no longer affiliated with it. "To our knowledge, Mr. Perez never exhibited this type of behavior previously and this episode came as a complete surprise to us," it said. On Tuesday, the group added another statement that said it had worked with Garizabalo to have him admitted to a hospital for a psychiatric and medical examination. That was supposed to happen Tuesday, but he was arrested on Monday. The post, signed by six members of the troupe, said Garizabalo described to them being in a play at the train station on May 10. "Now that he has seen the video and understands the gravity of what really happened, he feels both guilty and horrible for what he has done," it said. "He is extremely depressed, under a lot of stress and very afraid." CNN affiliate KTVU reported Garizabalo faces deportation because of an expired visa.

Published: Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:01:41 GMT

Google files First Amendment court case against NSA surveillance secrecy

Google filed a court petition Tuesday demanding it be allowed to share information about government surveillance programs with the public. In a First Amendment plea lodged with the secretive U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, Google asked that the court let it disclose the scope of the newly discovered "PRISM" program. Google also asked for the ability to share the number of user accounts associated with those secret data requests. The company argued that a gag order barring such disclosure is a violation of its right to free speech. The petition comes less than two weeks after The Guardian and The Washington Post revealed a National Security Agency surveillance program known as PRISM. Leaked documents said the NSA has been monitoring data from nine major U.S. companies, including Google, Apple and Microsoft, in an effort to gather data on foreign intelligence targets. Google claims that those and other reports about PRISM were "misleading" and "mischaracterized the scope" of the program -- specifically, that they misled the public to believe that the government has carte blanche to snoop on its users. The company has publicly denied that the government has the ability to tap directly into its servers, and Google says it wants to clear the record about the scope of such requests. "Google's reputation and business has been harmed by the false or misleading reports in the media, and Google's users are concerned by the allegations," the company said in its filing. "Google must respond to such claims with more than generalities." The U.S. Department of Defense did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A representative for the NSA pointed to previously published statements about PRISM, but would not comment on Google's petition specifically. The government recently ruled that companies can include the number of surveillance requests in aggregate with other government requests for data, including criminal requests from federal, state and local authorities. Several of Google's competitors jumped at the chance, including Microsoft, Facebook, Apple and Yahoo. For the past several years, Google has published a "transparency report" that includes the number of user data requests it receives from government agencies as a whole. But the company wants to get more specific by breaking out "aggregate numbers of national security requests" separately. "Lumping national security requests together with criminal requests would be a backward step for Google and our users," a Google spokeswoman said in a statement. Earlier on Tuesday, Yahoo said it received between 12,000 and 13,000 requests for user data from U.S. law enforcement agencies over the last six months. Apple said Monday it had received as many as 5,000 requests, while Facebook received about 10,000 requests in the last half of 2012. Some viewed Google's petition as a ploy to win public opinion. "Although I am delighted Google has challenged the FISA gag, the lawsuit is a cheap way to get some positive PR after 2 weeks of awful press," tweeted Christopher Soghoian, a technologist and policy analyst at the American Civil Liberties Union. -- CNN's Kevin Bohn and Michelle Jaconi contributed reporting to this article.

Published: Wed, 19 Jun 2013 10:55:00 GMT

CNN Economy Poll: Are you better or worse off than last year?

Call it a mixed bag. They're still a minority, but an increasing number of Americans say economic conditions right now are good, according to a new national poll. But a CNN/ORC International survey released Wednesday morning also indicates that a plurality of the public says they are personally worse off than they were a year ago. Thirty-five percent of those questioned in the poll say that economic conditions in the country right now are "very" or "somewhat" good. There has been a slow, steady rise in CNN polling on the percentage who say things are good right now, from 26 percent in December to 31 percent in March, 33 percent in May and 35 percent now. But nearly two-thirds say they currently rate the economy as poor. And that may help explain, on a personal level, why 44 percent of Americans say their financial situation is worse today than it was a year ago. Thirty-six percent say they are better off and one in five say their personal finances are about the same. The numbers are little changed from a CNN poll from May of last year. "Americans are no more positive about their own personal financial situation than they were a year ago, suggesting that American households don't necessarily see good news on Wall Street as good news for Main Street," says CNN polling director Keating Holland. How will things stand a year from now? There are almost exactly as many optimists as pessimists in the general public, with 50 percent saying economic conditions will be good in the summer of 2014 and 49 percent forecasting a poor economy. That's about where Americans stood in 2010, and is definitely more optimistic than 2011, but appears to represent a big drop from 2012, when two-thirds said conditions would be good in a year. "The 2012 numbers, however, were heavily influenced by the presidential election, when both Democrats and Republicans thought conditions would be better in the following year, probably because both sides thought their candidate was going to win," adds Holland. "This also happened in 2008 and appears to have happened in 2004 as well." In non-presidential years, with a Republican in the White House, Democrats tend to be pessimists and Republicans tend to be optimists. With a Democrat in the White House, the reverse is usually true, and that pattern has reasserted itself again this year. In 2012, a majority of Democrats and a majority of Republicans predicted a good economy in 2013. That almost never happens except in presidential election years, leading to expectations that the optimism number would drop once it was clear who would be in the White House for the next four years. "Sure enough, in 2013 optimism is now half of what it was among Republicans. Although economic optimism is down somewhat among Democrats and independents, the GOP change is the driving force behind a 17-point drop in the number of Americans overall who say conditions will be good a year from now," says Holland. The poll was conducted for CNN by ORC International June 11-13, with 1,014 adults nationwide questioned by telephone. The survey's overall sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Published: Wed, 19 Jun 2013 10:51:08 GMT

Report: Hoffa hit with shovel, buried alive

A second day of digging in a Detroit field yielded no sign of the remains of former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa. Undeterred, authorities will resume their hunt Wednesday morning. Agents began digging Monday in waist-high grass in Oakland Township north of Detroit, a location determined in part from information provided by alleged mobster Tony Zerilli. Media and curious onlookers gathered some distance from the private property. The search was stopped for the night as evening approached. Nothing yet has been found, two law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation said Tuesday. Oakland Sheriff Mike Bouchard said investigators are using probes to determine what the ground makeup is, but have not found samples that would require lab analysis. Two concrete slabs have been removed during the dig. It's unclear whether the slabs were foundations for a barn that once stood there. Scientists from Michigan State University were at the site Tuesday to help with soil analysis. Agents are expected to finish the search this week, possibly in the next 48 hours, Bouchard said. This is the latest chapter of the nearly four-decades-long search for Hoffa. It was sparked by "highly credible" information from Zerilli, according to a law enforcement source with direct knowledge of the investigation. Earlier this year, Zerilli, now in his 80s, told New York's NBC 4 that Hoffa was buried in a Michigan field about 20 miles north of where he was last seen in 1975. Hoffa, then 62, disappeared after being seen on July 30, 1975, outside a Detroit-area restaurant. The FBI said at the time that the disappearance could have been linked to Hoffa's efforts to regain power in the Teamsters and to the mob's influence over the union's pension funds. Zerilli's attorney, David Chasnick, told reporters Monday that Zerilli was told Hoffa was hit with a shovel and buried alive. Zerilli published a manuscript about the Hoffa claim online that includes details of the alleged hit. "He wasn't shot, he wasn't stabbed, nothing like that. A cement slab of some sort was placed on top of the dirt to make certain he was not going to be discovered. And that was it. End of story," Zerilli's manuscript says. The FBI spent months looking into Zerilli's claims before seeking court authorization to excavate the field and look for evidence of a shallow grave, according to a law enforcement source. Contrary to what's been thought for years, Zerilli said he was told Hoffa's disappearance was not connected to Anthony "Tony Pro" Provensano, the New York City-area Genovese family crime boss who allegedly wanted to get rid of Hoffa. Instead, according to the source, Zerilli -- convicted years ago of crimes in connection with organized crime in Detroit -- told the FBI that Detroit mobsters wanted Hoffa dead. At the time, Hoffa was thought to be trying to get back into a power position with the labor movement after his release from prison. He was convicted in 1967 for jury tampering and fraud. President Richard Nixon pardoned him in 1971. Zerilli was in prison himself when Hoffa disappeared. Zerilli, according to the law enforcement source, said that when he was freed, he asked a mob enforcer what happened to Hoffa. The mobster allegedly told Zerilli that Detroit's crime bosses ordered the Hoffa hit. They lured him to a meeting and then drove him to a farm owned by a mob underboss. The enforcer allegedly told Zerilli that Hoffa was killed and buried on the property, which covers several acres. The area being searched was described as relatively small, about the size of a small party tent, according to the source. Aerial video showed a somewhat larger area had been cleared of grass. Zerilli has been to the site more than once, said Chasnick, who declined to elaborate. Hoffa's daughter, Barbara Crancer, told CNN by phone Tuesday that she is always appreciative when the FBI follows credible leads in the case. But, she said, she doesn't want to get her hopes up. "We've been through it too many times," she said. FBI Special Agent Bob Foley, head of the agency's Detroit office, told CNN at the scene that the information leading to the search "reached the threshold of probable cause, which was sufficient to allow us to obtain a search warrant." The paperwork supporting the search warrant is under seal. "If it didn't rise to that level then, certainly, we wouldn't be out here," Foley said. Hoffa's disappearance and presumed death have vexed investigators. As recently as October, soil samples were taken from a home in a suburban Detroit community after a tipster claimed he saw a body buried in the yard a day after Hoffa disappeared. The soil samples were tested, and showed no evidence of human remains or decomposition. Zerilli was freed in 2008 after his last prison sentence. Keith Corbett, a former U.S. attorney, told CNN earlier this year that Zerilli headed a Detroit organized crime family from 1970 to 1975, but was in prison when Hoffa vanished.

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