Rove: GOP needs candidates who reflect diversity

SACRAMENTO, Calif. GOP strategist Karl Rove said Saturday that rebuilding the Republican brand in California will be a tough task that will require them to diversify and create a strategy to spread their message to a wider audience.

Referring to the state party's deep losses in recent years, Rove said it needs to focus on larger themes of restoring jobs and reducing government spending.

He also said the party must recruit candidates who reflect the diversity of the country, and in particular, California. By next year, Hispanics will overtake whites as the state's largest demographic group.

"We need to be asking for votes in the most powerful way possible, which is to have people asking for the vote who are comfortable and look like and sound like the people that we're asking for the vote from," Rove said.

His message to delegates, activists and local party officials throughout California was in line with the philosophy behind his new political action committee, the Conservative Victory Project. The committee was established to support Republican candidates it deems electable, offsetting GOP candidates who might offend key parts of the electorate.

Rove told activists at the Republican Party's spring convention in Sacramento that rebuilding would be "a big task," but noted Texas as an example. Once a Democratic stronghold, the state elected Republicans to 95 of 150 state House seats in November. Democrats have not won a statewide office in Texas since 1994.

Republicans hold the opposite status in California, where Democrats won supermajorities in the Legislature last fall and hold every statewide office. The GOP accounts for less than 30 percent of the state's voters and has been losing favor with Latinos, women and younger voters.

Rove said rebuilding the California Republican Party might be so tough that party activists might choose to continue on their current path, "or you can get up off of the mat and throw yourself back into this contest."

"Think smart, be active, be committed, rebuild the organization, ask for the vote in the right way, and speak boldly and proudly about our universal principles in a way that attracts support of your fellow Californians," he said.

Rove appeared at the convention as a favor to former state Senate Minority Leader Jim Brulte, a longtime friend who was expected to be elected as the state party's new chairman on Sunday.

His suggestions on expanding the types of candidates being fielded struck a chord with Tyson Greaves, a 63-year-old party member from San Jose who said pushing for diversity within the party is crucial.

"It's pretty clear to me that you don't have authenticity or credibility in a community if you show up only in an election cycle," he said.

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What does the WH's brief for Supreme Court mean for same-sex marriage?

(CBS News) WASHINGTON - At his news conference Friday, President Obama was asked about his decision to get involved in the battle over same-sex marriage in California's ban on same-sex marriage. Late Thursday, the administration filed a brief with the Supreme Court, saying that California's ban on gays and lesbians marrying violates their constitutional rights.

"If the Supreme Court asks me or my attorney general or solicitor general, 'Do we think that meets constitutional muster?' -- I felt it was important for us to answer that question honestly. And the answer is no," said the president

CBS News chief legal correspondent Jan Crawford spoke with "Evening News" anchor Scott Pelley about the brief and its potential impact. A transcript of the conversation follows.

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Scott Pelley: Jan, the court will hear arguments later this month that will impact all of this. I wonder what the president's comments today have to do with the case?

Jan Crawford: Well Scott, as the president said today,"I'm not a judge, I'm the president." His views carry no binding authority in the Supreme Court. Just because the administration is making this argument doesn't mean the court has to go along with it. The federal government is not directly involved in this case -- it's a challenge by same-sex couples in California to a California constitutional amendment that bans gay marriage. The administration chose to get involved to make a strong statement on gay rights that are reflected in his comments today. The brief in fact is more important politically and symbolically than legally.

Pelley: The case is centered on California. Could it have wider-ranging implications?

Crawford: Yes, it certainly could . Even though this case comes from California, it could have an enormous impact across the country. California is one of 30 states that has a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. The decision could affect all of those laws -- that's more than half the states in this country. And if the Supreme Court agrees with the president -- that amendments like California's are unconstitutional -- many or all of those laws banning gay marriage could be in jeopardy.

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Manning pleads guilty in WikiLeaks case

(CBS News) WASHINGTON - In a surprise Thursday, Army Pfc. Bradley Manning pleaded guilty to ten criminal counts in the biggest leak of classified material in U.S. history. Manning sent files to the website Wikileaks. He still faces trial on more serious charges.

Along with the guilty pleas, Manning gave his first detailed explanation of why he did it.

Reading from a 35-page statement, the Army private said he wanted the world to know the truth about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Depressed and frustrated by the wars, he used his job as a low-ranking intelligence analyst in Baghdad to download onto a CD hundreds of thousands of classified documents -- pus a few videos, one of which depict a helicopter gunship attack that killed two journalists in Iraq, which he found "troubling" because it showed "delightful bloodlust."

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Describing himself as a misfit in the military, Manning told the judge he first contacted The Washington Post but didn't think the reporter took him seriously; then called The New York Times' tip line but never heard back.

He was home on leave during a blizzard, which paralyzed Washington, and left him stranded at his aunt's house when he decided to send the material to WikiLeaks, the website which had a reputation for exposing secrets.

He included a brief note, ending with "Have a good day," and went back to Iraq with "a sense of relief" and "a clear conscience."

Despite pleading guilty to some of the charges, Manning still faces a court martial and possible life sentence for allegedly aiding the enemy.

Prosecution attorneys have said they intend to show that some of the leaked documents were found by Navy SEALs in their raid on Osama bin Laden's hideout. According to a military attorney, the prosecution does not have to prove Manning intended for the documents to end up in enemy hands -- only that he knew it might happen.

Manning testified that no one at WikiLeaks pressured him for more documents and that he knew what he did was wrong.

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Federal budget cuts free illegal immigrants from detention

(CBS News) -- The federal budget cuts expected to take effect this Friday are not simple. For example, hundreds of illegal immigrants are being released from detention because the administration says it can't afford to keep them.

Until recently, Fredi Alcazar was one of those detained. An illegal immigrant from Mexico, Alcazar spent a month in jail after a traffic stop near Atlanta last December. He now wears an electronic monitoring band on his ankle. The device lets immigration officials know where he is at all times.

(watch: Releasing illegal immigrants over budget cuts, below)

Alcazar was released unexpectedly in January.

"I was surprised they released me," Alcazar recalled. "They didn't say anything."

Officials at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) would not tell CBS exactly how many detainees they released ahead of for Friday's automatic budget cuts. They also declined to say where or when the releases occurred.

Those let go, like Fredi Alcazar, are required to wear electronic tracking devices, regularly call immigration officials or visit ICE offices.

"We started getting calls all of a sudden they had been released," said immigration advocate Dulce Guerrero. "We were very much in shock."

The early release of detainees was a surprise to Guerrero.

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"These folks are no criminals," she said. "These folks in there are moms, dads, students, community members who are in there for no license, for a broken tail light."

But some members of Congress are demanding ICE provide information on each detainee's case.

"When you release these people and expect them to show up at a court proceeding at a later date, we found before that 90 percent of them don't show up," said Congressman Michael McCaul, chair of the House Homeland Security Committee.

Besides Georgia, CBS did learn that many releases were in Arizona, California and Florida. Immigration advocates said that "supervised release" costs about $14 a day compared to about $160 a day to keep detainees in jail.

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Debate over Voting Rights Act changes in Ala.

(CBS News) -- On Wednesday, the Supreme Court will hear a challenge to the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965. Both sides agree the south have changed in the past half-century. At issue is, has it changed enough?

In Shelby County, Alabama, the question is whether the state's racist past must forever define it.

(Watch: Voting Rights Act challengers take aim at "Section 5", below)

Fifty years ago, Alabama was the cradle of the civil rights movement, where protestors endured fire hoses, arrests and bombings in the fight for equality. One result was the Voting Rights Act.

One provision of the Act, Section 5, still requires all or part of 16 states, mostly in the south, to get approval from the Justice Department before changing voting procedures or electoral maps.

"Section five, which is what we are attacking, was never intended by congress to be permanent," said Frank Ellis, a Shelby County lawyer who is at the center of the battle to eliminate Section 5, and force the federal government to treat Alabama and other covered states like the rest of the country.

"They are still using the same criteria to determine whether these 16 states that are covered, they are still using the same test that they used in 1965," Ellis said.

"Things have changed in the South," he said. "This is a dynamic society."

But Ernest Montgomery says things have not changed enough. He was on the city council in Calera, Alabama when city officials, facing a population boom, redrew his district map. He lost the election to a white candidate. Under Section 5, the Justice Department ordered a new election and Montgomery won.

The minority representation in his district under the old map was about 67% African American, according to Montgomery. With the new map, that number dropped to about 28%.

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Shelby County Pastor Harry Jones calls it discrimination.

"I think it was designed to dilute the power of the minority community," Jones said. "It did just that."

Opponents like Ellis say they are not attacking the entire Voting Rights Act. If there's intentional discrimination, people can sue, just like they do in Michigan, Ohio and other states that aren't by Section Five.

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9/11 families upset over "Zero Dark Thirty" recordings

(CBS News) NEW CANAAN, Conn. - "Zero Dark Thirty" took just one minor award at the Oscars last night. There was a lot of debate about the way the film depicted torture during the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

Turns out that wasn't the only controversy.

The film starts with actual voices of victims of September 11, recorded as they made their last phone calls. For Mary and Frank Fetchet, it brings back painful memories. One of those voices was their son Brad, who worked on the 89th floor of the World Trade Center's South Tower.

Mary Fetchet

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CBS News

"When I arrived home I found Brad's message on our phone, and, of course, these were his last words in my view, because we never heard from him again," Mary said.

"Losing a loved one so horribly -- the ongoing anguish we've been going through -- it's a treasured remembrance, it's a treasured message. It's ours," Frank said.

They say that treasured remembrance was used in the film without their permission.

"My first thought was, 'isn't anything sacred anymore?'" Mary said.

The Fetchets used the recording in testimony for the September 11 Commission, and it has appeared in broadcast TV news reports. But the couple says this is different.

"I used it in situations where I wanted to convey Brad's story," Mary said. "None of those situations were used for promotional or professional or commercial endeavors."

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The film has grossed more than $90 million worldwide. In a statement, the film distributor, Sony, and studio, Annapurna Pictures, say "Zero Dark Thirty" is a "tribute" to the victims of September 11 and "before the film's release, (they) initiated contact with a number of family members of the victims of the 9/11 attacks."

Frank said the statement wasn't enough. "To say they've reached out to families -- yeah, reached to say, 'come to the preview' after the film is already completed," he said.

Harry Ong

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CBS News

Harry Ong's sister Betty was a flight attendant who was killed on American Airline Flight 11.

"We were never given any notification or asked for permission to use Betty's voice, unlike many documentary companies," Ong said.

"We're asking that they apologize and that they recognize that they used Betty's voice and Brad's and others at liberty."

After the film was released, the Fetchets and Ongs asked Sony and Annapurna for donations to their September 11 charities in exchange for the use of their loved ones' voices. But the filmmakers had already decided to donate to the national 9/11 Memorial Museum.

"The real driver in all of this is getting this record set straight. I'm incensed by it," Frank Fetchet said. "Others run the risk of going through the same thing, so I think this should put a line in the sand that says, 'it's not right.'"

The Fetchets hope that by speaking out, they'll prevent other victims of tragedies from experiencing similar surprises.

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Oscars 2013: Stars dazzle on the red carpet

Stars dazzled on the Oscars red carpet Sunday night in Los Angeles, wearing shades of red and blue, along with neutral tones -- and practically everything in between.

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Oscars 2013: Red carpet

"Silver Linings Playbook" actress Jennifer Lawrence opted to wear her hair pulled back as she walked the red carpet in a strapless white Dior Haute Couture gown, reminiscent of a bride's dress. While speaking with host Kristin Chenoweth on ABC's red carpet pre-show, Lawrence mentioned how she was excited to see Sally Field and her new buddy Laura Dern at the Oscars.

Nine-year-old actress Quvenzhane Wallis donned a blue Armani Junior gown, and of course, carried her pooch purse, which has become her staple on the red carpet.

Jessica Chastain, in a stunning Armani Prive gown and vintage Harry Winston jewelry, told the story behind her dress choice. "It came down to old Hollywood for me," she said, adding, "What I love so much about this dress is the pink beads and underneath it's copper."

Chastain wasn't the only actress wearing Armani; Naomi Watts also chose the designer for her beaded gown.

Kerry Washington walked the red carpet in a Miu Miu dress, Christian Louboutin shoes, a Prada bag, earrings by Chopard and a Fred Leighton ring. When asked about her dress' interesting hue, Washington described it as "Coral-ly, red, hot pink and copper...I can't really put a name on the color."

Amanda Seyfried, wearing a fitted Alexander McQueen dress, said on the red carpet, "I can't sit down and I feel like my organs are being pulled out of my body slowly."

"Lincoln" star Field stood out in a red gown, while Jennifer Aniston, also in red, said her Valentino gown felt "very princess." Reese Witherspoon opted for a strapless bright royal blue number with black across to the top, designed by Louis Vuitton. "I saw this dress and I just loved the color, " said Witherspoon, who also donned Louis Vuitton jewelry.

Amy Adams, meanwhile, sported a flowing Oscar de la Renta powder blue dress with tiered layers throughout the large ballskirt.

Prada was a last-minute decision for Anne Hathaway, who said she decided on her blush-colored dress only three hours before her red-carpet arrival. She paired her gown with a sparkly Tiffany necklace.

Jennifer Garner, in a strapless plum Gucci gown, did a bit more planning, telling, Chenoweth, "They made it for me...I loved this from the minute I saw the first sketch."

Halle Berry, in a black and silver-striped Versace dress, said she wanted to go "as a Bond girl to the Oscars."

Gold also made its way onto the red carpet. Rennee Zellweger chose a gold Carolina Herrera gown, one of her favorite designers and one she describes as "easy" to wear.

"Skyfall" songstress Adele, sporting a black gown, joked, "My dress weighs 50 kilos."

Tell us: Who was your favorite on the red carpet?

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Severe budget cuts to hit economy at delicate time

(CBS News) As the automatic budget cuts known in Washington as the sequester draws closer, consider this: the federal government does $500 billion worth of business with private contractors, including as many as 120,000 small businesses.

That's everyone from the makers of nearly a million pairs of combat boots each year to the roughly 700 companies in 44 states that make parts for the Boeing C-17 military transport plane.

Jill Schlesinger, editor at large of CBS MoneyWatch, told "CBS Evening News" Saturday anchor Jim Axelrod that the blunt cuts come during a delicate time of the nation's economic recovery.

"Let's say that we're running a town, and we just had to make these across-the-board spending cuts," Schlesinger said. "What if we had to cut 20 firemen at the exact same we're going to cut 20 librarians? I mean, I love the library, but they are not equal, and what this sequestration does is it equalizes the pain across every single agency without a forethought, without saying, 'Wait a minute, what's important to safety? What's important to actually bringing money in the door?'"

The cuts would drag on the nation's economic growth, Schlesinger said.

"The economy is still fragile," she said. "Yes, we have been in recovery for a couple of years, and that's good, but this is not a robustic recovery. We're not growing at 3 or 3-and-a-half percent. We're only growing by 2 percent."

Still, the cuts aren't likely to have as negative of an effect on Wall Street because investors saw them coming, Schlesinger said.

"They've built it into their models," she said. "They've said, 'OK, we're going to give up a half a percent of growth, but we still believe that we will be able to grow enough so companies can make money.'"

A lot of the investors Schlesinger spoke to said that if things take a turn for the worse they suspect that Congress will come together and do something retroactively to potentially delay the cuts.

"No one," she said, "wants to be in office presiding over an economy that goes into a double-dip."

Watch Schlesinger's full conversation with Axelrod in the player above

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Wash. state governor: 6 underground nuclear tanks leaking

Updated 8:11 PM ET

YAKIMA, Wash. Six underground tanks that hold a brew of radioactive and toxic waste at the nation's most contaminated nuclear site are leaking, federal and state officials said Friday.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said the leaking material poses no immediate risk to public safety or the environment because it would take a while — perhaps years — to reach groundwater.

But the leaking tanks raise new concerns about delays for emptying them and strike another blow to federal efforts to clean up south-central Washington's Hanford nuclear reservation, where successes often are overshadowed by delays, budget overruns and technological challenges.

Department of Energy spokeswoman Lindsey Geisler said there was no immediate health risk and said federal officials would work with Washington state to address the matter.

Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee, right, is joined by Maia Bellon, director of the Department of Ecology, at a news conference to discuss a tank leak at Hanford Nuclear Reservation, on Friday, Feb. 15, 2013, in Olympia, Wash.

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AP Photo/Rachel La Corte

State officials just last week announced that one of Hanford's 177 underground tanks was leaking 150 to 300 gallons a year, posing a risk to groundwater and rivers. So far, nearby monitoring wells haven't detected higher radioactivity levels.

Inslee traveled to Washington, D.C., this week to discuss the problem with federal officials. He said Friday that he learned in meetings that six tanks are leaking waste.

"We received very disturbing news today," the governor said. "I think that we are going to have a course of new action and that will be vigorously pursued in the next several weeks."

The federal government built the Hanford facility at the height of World War II as part of the Manhattan Project to build the atomic bomb. The remote site produced plutonium for the bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, and continued supporting the nation's nuclear weapons arsenal for years.

Today, it is the most contaminated nuclear site in the country, still surrounded by sagebrush but with Washington's Tri-Cities of Richland, Kennewick and Pasco several miles downriver.

Hanford's tanks hold some 53 million gallons of highly radioactive waste — enough to fill dozens of Olympic-size swimming pools — and many of those tanks are known to have leaked in the past. An estimated 1 million gallons of radioactive liquid already leaked there.

The tanks also are long past their intended 20-year life span — raising concerns that even more tanks could be leaking — though they were believed to have been stabilized in 2005.

Inslee said the falling waste levels in the six tanks were missed because only a narrow band of measurements was evaluated, rather than a wider band that would have shown the levels changing over time.

"It's like if you're trying to determine if climate change is happening, only looking at the data for today," he said. "Perhaps human error, the protocol did not call for it. But that's not the most important thing at the moment. The important thing now is to find and address the leakers."

There are legal, moral and ethical considerations to cleaning up the Hanford site at the national level, Inslee said, adding that he will continue to insist that the Energy Department completely clean up the site.

He also stressed the state would impose a "zero-tolerance" policy on radioactive waste leaking into the soil.

Cleanup is expected to last decades and cost billions of dollars.

The federal government already spends $2 billion each year on Hanford cleanup — one-third of its entire budget for nuclear cleanup nationally. The Energy Department has said it expects funding levels to remain the same for the foreseeable future, but a new Energy Department report released this week includes annual budgets of as much as $3.5 billion during some years of the cleanup effort.

Much of that money goes toward construction of a plant to convert the underground waste into glasslike logs for safe, secure storage. The plant, last estimated at more than $12.3 billion, is billions of dollars over budget and behind schedule. It isn't expected to being operating until at least 2019.

Given those delays, the federal government will have to show that there is adequate storage for the waste in the meantime, Inslee said.

"We are not convinced of this," he said. "There will be a robust exchange of information in the coming weeks to get to the bottom of this."

Inslee and Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber have championed building additional tanks to ensure safe storage of the waste until the plant is completed. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said earlier this week that he shares their concerns about the integrity of the tanks but he wants more scientific information to determine it's the correct way to spend scarce money.

Tom Carpenter of Hanford Challenge, a Hanford watchdog group, said Friday it's disappointing that the Energy Department is not further along on the waste treatment plant and that there aren't new tanks to transfer waste into.

"None of these tanks would be acceptable for use today. They are all beyond their design life. None of them should be in service," he said. "And yet, they're holding two-thirds of the nation's high-level nuclear waste."

Wyden noted the nation's most contaminated nuclear site — and the challenges associated with ridding it of its toxic legacy — will be a subject of upcoming hearings and a higher priority in Washington, D.C.

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Christians, threatened by Syrian war, flee to Lebanon

(CBS News) BEIRUT - A few of the many Syrian rebel groups are connected to Islamic radicals. Christians, who've lived in Syria for 2,000 years, are fleeing right next door.

A convent in the mountains of Lebanon is a refuge for Syrian Christians who have been forced from their homes and their country.

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There have been Christians in Syria as long as there have been Christians. Now they are caught up in a civil war increasingly dominated by Islamic militants.

"We came to Lebanon because there is no more living in Syria," Sanharib Aphram told CBS News. "It's dead there."

Sanharib Aphram

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CBS News

Aphram made the dangerous journey out of Syria with his wife and three children two months ago.

Already churches have been burned, homes destroyed and Christians kidnapped.

"We are afraid of both sides, the armed militias and the government," he said. "One side is shelling us and the other side is shooting at us. We have no guns. We have nothing."

Christians make up roughly 10 percent of Syria's population. Traditionally, they have supported the Assad regime, which has always protected minorities.

Father Simon Faddoul

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CBS News

"Many of them are loyal to the government, yes," said Father Simon Faddoul, president of the Catholic Caritas charity. "Maybe they'd say, 'you know, an evil I know is better than an angel I don't know.' It's like, 'I know the regime at least, I don't know what's going to come next."

Many Christians are fearful of what might happen if the rebels win. They worry they could face the same kind of religious persecution they've seen in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East.

"You'd see militiamen come in front of churches and making screams, and you know, shooting in the air and such to scare people off," Faddoul said.

There are no official statistics on how many Christians have left Syria since the civil war began. Aphram says he hopes to start a new life in the West.

"If things keep going the way they are in Syria, there will be no Christians left there," he said.

This ancient community may be the next casualty of the civil war.

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What's next in the looming budget crisis?

(CBS News) WASHINGTON -- We are nine days from the next national self-inflicted budget crisis: big, across-the-board cuts in the federal budget will hit automatically on March 1. The cuts are designed to be so deep and damaging that they would force the president and Congress to compromise on a better way.

"These cuts are not smart, they are not fair, they will hurt our economy, they will add hundreds of thousands of Americans to the unemployment rolls," President Barack Obama said Tuesday. "This is not an abstraction. People will lose their jobs. The unemployment rate might tick up again."

Watch: Obama warns of the dangers of the "sequester," below.

Obama wants more tax revenue, but Republicans say no. Both sides say it's up to the other to give in.

There will be a continued effort by the White House to apply public pressure on Republicans to relent. This will be done in public, in events such as Obama's speech Tuesday; it's already been done privately.

Top government officials are warning businesses they could be harmed by these looming spending cuts. For example, last Friday, top officials at the Agriculture Department warned meat and poultry producers that there might not be enough federal inspectors to keep their processing plants open and operating.

These are designed to motivate businesses to plead with Republicans to find another way. For now, Republicans appear prepared to take these spending cuts, because they say they will argue to the public they're more serious about deficit reduction than President Obama.

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There are currently no behind-the-scenes negotiations between the White House and Republicans. Republicans say this is President Obama's problem and that he needs to solve it with new spending cuts, because they refuse to raise taxes again this year.

As for talks, the top aide to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor joked Tuesday that President Obama has spent more time playing golf with Tiger Woods than he has negotiating with congressional Republicans.

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WH: Leaked immigration plan is only partial draft

(CBS News) WASHINGTON -- Over the weekend, a partial White House plan for immigration reform leaked to the press and caused an uproar.

White House officials tell CBS News that what was leaked is real -- it's a partial draft of half a bill. What we know is the administration's current thinking about what to do about the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants living in the United States right now.

The administration wants a temporary four-year visa to provide legal status -- meaning no more deportations -- that could be renewed. After eight years, they can apply for what's known as permanent legal residency, or, more commonly, a Green Card.

(At left, watch White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough discuss the leaked immigration plan on "Face the Nation.")

There's also administration thinking on border security and an unspecified increase in border security, subject to negotiations with Congress. For workers who try to find jobs in the future and who might not have documents, the plan includes an E-Verify system to make sure undocumented workers aren't given jobs.

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What's missing is a section dealing with all future legal immigration issues: high-skilled workers, seasonal farm workers and workers who work in hotels or restaurants. Without that, this plan doesn't have much of a chance.

The plan is not likely to get through Congress without the section dealing with legal immigration. That's why Republicans were so critical this weekend.

Last year, Republicans criticized the president for being missing in action and failing to draft a bill. Now that he admits he is, Republicans say he's contaminating that process; they argue that if you don't have a comprehensive bill -- one that can pass Republicans and Democrats in both the House and Senate -- this is a futile effort.

The White House says Republicans are going to be dared to vote up or down eventually, and that they better get used to that.

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In Libya, justice elusive on uprising's anniversary

BENGHAZI, Libya Col. Faraj el-Dersi, who defected to the rebel side from Muammar Qaddafi's police force, was gunned down late last year on the streets of Benghazi, and he bled to death in the arms of his teenage daughter.

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Elections in Libya

35 Photos

The life of Muammar Qaddafi

As Libya on Sunday marked the second anniversary of the start of the uprising that toppled Qaddafi, the death of el-Dersi and nearly 40 other similar slayings are seen as evidence that some in the country are too impatient for a political system that has yet to deliver justice and national reconciliation.

Suspicion in many of the killings of senior security and military officials has fallen on Islamists who were brutally suppressed under Qaddafi. Now, they have become among the most powerful groups in the new Libya, particularly in the east, with heavily armed militias at their command.

And they are settling old scores themselves, rather than wait for transitional justice — the process of society punishing or forgiving the abuses of the old regime.

Mustafa al-Kufi, a 59-year-old former prisoner and political activist, said the various post-Qaddafi governments and the current parliament are all fearful that if they head down the path of transitional justice, many members of the ruling class would be among those punished for past wrongdoing.

"This is a very pressing issue and a core demand in the street," said al-Kufi, who spent 12 years in prison under Qaddafi.

"We need to know who did what and then ask families of the victims for forgiveness. But since this didn't take place, violence will continue because there is no justice.

Like other Arab countries that ousted authoritarian leaders, Libya is now mired in a chaotic and violent transition to a new society. It is plagued by unruly and heavily armed militias that have slowly come under a unified command but remain filled with hard-liners who were in the front line in the war against Qaddafi.

The transition is further complicated by an autonomy movement in the oil-rich east, a central government too weak to exert its authority across the vast desert nation, and heavily armed Islamic extremists who are pressing to fill a power vacuum.

The civil war swept Qaddafi from power, but the bitterness and rage lingers in a country where the authoritarian government imprisoned, tortured and killed its opponents.

Hana al-Gallal, a prominent Benghazi lawyer, said allowing old regime figures to be part of the new order will only fuel more violence.

"Those whose sons were killed, their dreams shattered by the Qaddafi regime, will seek revenge when they see them back in power," she said. "The result is assassinations."

Some of the anger is directed at those who were in the old government — from low-level police officials to ex-ministers who are now police chiefs and lawmakers. That has prompted a push to prevent those with ties to the former leadership from serving in positions of power.

Libya's parliament, the General National Congress, is debating a draft bill that would bar anyone deemed to have had ties to the former regime from state institutions for 10 years. A version of the draft law published on the GNC's website last week listed 36 reasons for excluding Libyans from political life.

They include those who participated in Qaddafi's coup in 1969; members of the notorious Revolutionary Guards, which were formed to hunt down the dictator's opponents; those who took part in reform efforts in the 2000s led by Qaddafi's son, Seif al-Islam; and those who worked for leading magazines, newspapers, news agencies or served as an ambassador under Qaddafi.

The bill's supporters say such sweeping measures are needed to allow the ministries and state institutions in the fledgling democracy to develop free of the toxic influence and corruption of the Qaddafi era and to stop the cycles of bloodshed like what happened in Benghazi.

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2 firefighters dead, 2 hurt in Texas lodge fire

BRYAN, Texas Two Texas fire lieutenants have died of burns after battling a lodge hall fire, a city official said Saturday.

Greg Pickard and Eric Wallace, both with the department in the Central Texas city of Bryan, were in a group of firefighters responding to the blaze about midnight Friday at a Knights of Columbus hall, city spokeswoman Mary Lynne Stratta said.

The team entered the burning building but didn't emerge when ordered to evacuate, Stratta said.

Wallace, 36, died at the scene and Pickard, 54, on Saturday at a hospital in Galveston, she said.

"He called for help, said he was low on air," Stratta said of Wallace, a 13-year Bryan Fire Department veteran.

With Wallace still inside, Pickard and two other firefighters — Ricky Mantey Jr. and Mitchel Moran — were sent in to rescue him when the roof collapsed in flames, Fire Chief Randy McGregor said.

Rapid response units found the men inside the building. Mantey, 30, and Moran, 21, also were injured. They were taken to the Galveston hospital with burns. On Saturday, Stratta said they were both in serious but stable condition.

The Texas State Fire Marshal's office is investigating the cause of the fire in Bryan, about 90 miles northwest of Houston. A news release from the city said nothing was being held at the hall at the time.

"These four courageous individuals represent the best of the profession and are true heroes in every sense of the word," McGregor said.

Services for Wallace are scheduled for Thursday in Bryan, while those for Pickard, a 32-year veteran of the department, are pending.

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Facebook says it was hacked last month

Social media company Facebook announced Friday that it was hacked last month, which has led to an ongoing investigation.

Below is a statement issued by Facebook:

Last month, Facebook Security discovered that our systems had been targeted in a sophisticated attack. This attack occurred when a handful of employees visited a mobile developer website that was compromised. The compromised website hosted an exploit which then allowed malware to be installed on these employee laptops. The laptops were fully-patched and running up-to-date anti-virus software. As soon as we discovered the presence of the malware, we remediated all infected machines, informed law enforcement, and began a significant investigation that continues to this day. We have no evidence that Facebook user data was compromised in this attack.

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This article originally appeared on CNET.

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Body in burned cabin ID'd as Christopher Dorner

(CBS News) BIG BEAR LAKE, Calif. - Remains of a man who was in a burned California cabin on Tuesday have been positively identified as belonging to that of Christopher Dorner, the former LAPD officer who was suspected of killing four people and was the subject of an intense manhunt, officials confirmed.

The San Bernardino County Coroner's office said the positive identification was made through dental records.

The final hours of the manhunt for Christopher Dorner began when Jim and Karen Reynolds opened the door of one of their rental condos.

Police fill in the blanks on Dorner's last day
Carjacking victim: Christopher Dorner told me "I don't want to hurt you"
Deputy slain in ex-cop shootout was new father

"We had come into the living room and he opened the door and came out at us," said Karen.

"He had the gun drawn," added Jim.

A man believed to be Dorner tied them up.

"He talked to us, trying to calm us down," said Karen, "and saying very frequently he would not kill us."

He then took their car. "We listened for probably a minute or two, wanted to make sure he was gone," said Jim, "sounded quiet. And then we started struggling trying to get loose."

They called 911, triggering a chain of events that ended with Tuesday's shootout in which two sheriffs deputies were shot. Thirty-five-year-old Jeremiah MacKay died from his wounds.

The firefight that we witnessed was intense and we were forced to take cover - however, we left his cell phone on. Early in the standoff you could hear officers suggesting burning the suspect out.

One officer can be heard saying, "Burn that ------ out , burn it down, ------ burn this mother-----"

Four more hours would pass before police used high-powered tear gas. The canisters are known to be a fire hazard.

"We did not intentionally burn down that cabin to get Mr. Dorner out," San Bernandino Sheriff John McMahon had said.

Dorner's body was found in the ashes. It's unclear if the cause of death was from the fire -- or a single shot we heard moments after the cabin ignited.

Meanwhile, investigators looking through a trash bin in Irvine, California, where the first two victims were killed, recovered Dorner's badge, a police uniform, and a high-capacity ammo magazine.

CBS News asked San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department about the audio we recorded, and they declined to comment.

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Source: American, US Airways merger approved

Updated 8:13 PM ET

(MoneyWatch) A source told CBS News that the boards of American Airlines and US Airways (LCC) have approved a merger that would create the world's biggest carrier.

Under the deal, which is expected to be unveiled Thursday if the timeline isn't moved up sooner and there are no last-minute snags, the combined airline would keep the "American" name. It would still require federal approval, although that is virtually ensured. US Air CEO Doug Parker is expected to lead the combined company.

A merger of US Air and American would surpass a 2010 tie-up between United Airlines (UAL) and Continental and a 2008 deal joining Delta (DAL) and Northwest. The merged American would be the largest carrier and sport a market valuation of roughly $10 billion.

Although airlines tout such consolidation as a way to cut costs and expand service amid intense competition, whether industry mergers raise fares is an open question. Many analysts say yes because reduced competition in any business often results in higher prices. One study found that ticket prices went up more than 20 percent between Detroit and Atlanta after Delta bought Northwest. Fares went up more than 30 percent on routes between Chicago and Houston, as well as Newark to San Francisco, after the United-Continental deal.

In seeking to run more efficiently, merging airlines also often cut capacity and eliminate routes. 

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American close to merger with U.S. Airways

Other analysts are more optimistic about the potential benefits to travelers. They say the three largest U.S. airlines still must compete with discount carriers such as Southwest (LUV), which has flourished for years by offering low-cost flights and no-frills service.

The consolidation trend is largely blamed on the price of fuel. Oil now costs so much more per barrel than it did 10 years ago that one analyst says the margin of profit on many flights has shrunk to the value of a single seat. That means an airline can lose money if it flies with one single empty middle seat. The days of elbow room are over.

American Airlines has been operating under court supervision since declaring bankruptcy in November 2011.

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Afghan youth orchestra hopes to bring peace through music

(CBS News) WASHINGTON -- New York's Carnegie Hall has hosted some of the greatest musicians in history. The group performing Tuesday night is perhaps the most unlikely ever to take the main stage. CBS News caught up with them when they performed in Washington.

Milad Yousufi

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CBS News

Milad Yousufi grew up in war-torn Afghanistan, and though he didn't have a piano, he did have an imagination.

"I was drawing piano on the paper, and then I was playing it," Milad says.

There was no access to a piano, because the Taliban, who controlled Afghanistan for five years, banned all non-religious music, saying it was "un-Islamic."

"If they knew that you were listening to the music, probably they would kill you, because they did not like music," Milad says.

Today, the Taliban is out of power, and 18-year-old Milad is making up for lost time. He's joined Afghanistan's first youth orchestra, which, thanks to American funding, is on tour in the U.S.

CBS News met the performers as they practiced with the Maryland Youth Orchestra.

Milad says playing with American students is "wonderful."

"I learn from everyone, so I have 100 teachers, perhaps, per day," he says.

Afghan woman challenges convention through rap
Once scarred by Taliban, Afghan province makes strides
U.S. military charity reaches out to Afghans in need

The orchestra is the brain child of Ahmed Sarmast, who fled Afghanistan during Taliban rule. He returned in 2008 with a mission of reviving the arts by opening up a music school.

Ahmed Sarmast

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CBS News

"It's impossible to keep culture alive where you do not have access to music," Sarmast says. "The power of music is so important for the healing of the people."

His students are between the ages of 10 and 21. Half are orphans or street kids. And in a country where women typically have few opportunities, they make up one-third of the music school.

"We can play your music and you can play our music, and we can speak in a common language of humanity -- and that is the language of music," Sarmast says.

On this night, that language resonated throughout Washington's famed Kennedy Center -- 48 musicians playing Vivaldi and longing for their own season of change, an Afghanistan without war.

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State of the Union guests reflect nation's hot-button issues

Several lawmakers are bringing special guests to President Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday night in order to make a statement.

Several lawmakers are bringing guests to help underscore the importance of gun control. More than 20 House Democrats are bringing guests who have been personally affected by gun violence. A bipartisan pair of Arizona lawmakers, meanwhile, will host former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., and her husband Mark Kelly.

Other lawmakers are bringing guests tied to issues like immigration and voting rights.

Below is a partial list of officials and the guests they are bringing. CBS News will update the list as more guests are confirmed:

First Lady Michelle Obama:

• Lt. Brian Murphy, who was wounded while responding to the Sikh Temple shooting last August in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. He was struck by 15 bullets.
• Cleopatra Cowley-Pendleton and Nathaniel Pendleton Sr., parents of 15-year-old Hadiya who was killed in a Chicago park.
• Desiline Victor, a 103-year-old Florida woman who waited in line for several hours to vote.
• Tim Cook, CEO of Apple.

House Minority Leader Pelosi:

• Mother and daughter from Newtown, Conn. The 4th grader sent Pelosi a letter asking for her support to strengthen gun laws in the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Rep. Ron Barber, D-Ariz.:

• Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., and her husband Mark Kelly

Rep. Steve Stockman, R-Texas:

• Musician and gun advocate Ted Nugent

Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Chris Murphy, D-Conn.:

• First Selectwoman Pat Llodra, a Republican and the Chief Executive Officer of Newtown
• Newtown Detectives Jason Frank and Dan McAnaspie, two of several first responders who rushed to Sandy Hook Elementary School on the day of the tragedy

Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill.:

• Undocumented immigrant Gabino Sanchez. The South Carolina husband and father of two U.S. citizen children is fighting deportation. Sanchez entered the country when he was 15 years old and has been working and living peacefully in the U.S. ever since.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.:

• Josh Stepakoff, who in 1999 was shot at the North Valley Jewish Community Center in Granada Hills, Calif. Stepakoff, now 20, is a student at California State University Northridge.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J.:

• Matt Gross, a New Jersey native who was shot in the head in 1997, at the age of 27. Gross was one of several victims wounded during a shooting attack on the observation deck of the Empire State Building.

More House Democrats bringing guests affected by gun violence:

Rep. Jim Langevin, R.I.

Rep. Keith Ellison, Minn.

Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, N.Y.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro, Conn.

Rep. David Cicilline, R.I.

Rep. Diana DeGette, Colo.

Rep. Tammy Duckworth, Ill.

Rep. Elizabeth Esty, Conn.

Rep. Lois Frankel, Fla.

Rep. Lujan Grisham, N.M.

Rep. Janice Hahn, Calif.

Rep. Jim Himes, Conn.

Rep. Alan Lowenthal, Calif.

Rep. Gloria Negrete-McLeod, Calif.

Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D.C.

Rep. Ed Perlmutter, Colo.

Rep. Jan Schakowsky, Ill.

Rep. Brad Schneider, Ill.

Rep. Bobby Scott, Va.

Rep. Mike Thompson, Calif.

Rep. Krysten Sinema, Ariz.

Rep. Chris Van Hollen, Md.

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Tornado rips through Miss., causes major damage

HATTIESBURG, Miss. An apparent tornado tore through Hattiesburg on Sunday as part of a wave of severe storms that downed trees, damaged buildings and caused at least several injuries.

The twister traveled down one of Hattiesburg's main streets and caused what officials described as major damage, officials said, hitting several buildings on the campus of the University of Southern Mississippi. Kyle Hopkins, emergency operations director for surrounding Forrest County, said officials hadn't confirmed injuries. There were reports of several people hurt elsewhere in the state.

"We had a tornado touch down. We have a lot of damage," Hopkins said.

The university released a statement saying that several buildings had been damaged but that no injuries were reported. Campus police have declared a state of emergency and asked anyone not on campus to stay away.

Video by CBS affiliate WHLT-TV shows the heavy damage to the university, including busted windows, wood panels strewn on the lawn and fallen fences.

The storm overturned and damaged vehicles and threw debris around parts of the campus.

To the west, Marion County emergency director Aaron Greer says three injuries have been reported in the community of Pickwick, about seven miles south of Columbia. He says two people were taken to hospitals, but the third didn't have the injury examined.

Greer says one mobile home was destroyed, three other structures have major damage and several have minor damage.

National Weather Service meteorologist Joanne Culin says there have also been reports of injuries in Marion County.

Nasty weather has settled in on much of Louisiana and Mississippi, including tornado or flash flood watches.

The National Weather Service says bad weather is likely to stretch into Fat Tuesday in southeast Louisiana. Jefferson Parish has canceled a Monday night parade.

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