U.S.

Obama pledges to continue Haiti aid, says situation \’remains dire\’

By CNN on March 10, 2010

Washington (CNN) — President Obama met Wednesday with Haitian President Rene Preval to discuss relief, recovery and reconstruction efforts in Haiti.

The two leaders pledged to continue working for a more coordinated, sustained global relief effort to help Haiti recover from a massive 7.0-magnitude earthquake that struck January 12.

Much of Haitis capital, Port-au-Prince, was destroyed, and more than 217,000 people were killed, according to the latest figures from international relief organizations.

The situation on the ground in Haiti "remains dire," Obama said at the White House. A continuing desperate need for food, medicine and shelter will be exacerbated by the onset of Haitis spring rain season, he said.

"You will continue to have a steady and reliable partner in the United States of America," Obama promised Preval.

Preval extended his thanks "not only for the material aid" from the United States, but also for Americas "psychological response," which made Haitians realize "we were not alone."

Washington has already provided $700 million in aid to Haiti. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Tuesday a donors conference is planned in New York for the end of March. More than half of all United States households have made private contributions to Haitian relief, Clinton said.

Preval said Tuesday his country is working to get its election timetable rescheduled, telling reporters after meeting with Clinton that political stability is "fundamental" for the development of a country. "I think that is what constitutes a guarantee for investors, for the population — that theres some guarantees, that theres some security about their future," he said.

Parliamentary elections set for February were postponed, and it is unclear whether a presidential election scheduled for the fall can proceed.

Clinton said she assured Preval "that the United States would work with the international community to hold elections as soon as appropriate."

CNNs Charley Keyes contributed to this report.

U.S. airman killed on duty in Haiti

By CNN on March 10, 2010

Washington (CNN) — Air Force Lt. Col. Ken Bourland hugged his wife, Peggy, goodbye and headed out for his two-day mission.

The date was January 12, and the destination was Haiti.

Neither knew it would be the last time theyd see one another.

Upon his arrival in Port-au-Prince, Ken Bourland sent his wife an e-mail saying he had settled into his hotel room.

Ten minutes later, Peggy Bourland and the couples three sons began watching television back in their suburban Fort Lauderdale, Florida, home. Thats when the news broke: Haiti had been struck by a major earthquake.

She describes the panic that set in.

"I sent him another e-mail, you know, Please tell me youre OK," she recounted to CNN. "And, at that point, I didnt get anything back."

The ensuing minutes and hours turned to days of waiting.

"It was painful not knowing," she said. "But not knowing, you still had hope. You still had hope that he could possibly be under there just surviving, just doing everything he could to survive."

Eventually, Peggy Bourland began to fear the worst.

Lt. Col. Ken Bourland worked at the Caribbean desk at the U.S. Southern Command. His job involved helping the Haitian military with security issues concerning both countries, such as combating illicit drug trafficking, uncovering money laundering and distributing humanitarian aid.

Bourland had been to Haiti previously, and this trip was to be a 48-hour mission escorting a new commander to meet his Haitian counterparts.

His e-mail to his wife of five years was titled, "Wow. Haiti."

"He actually had seen what true poverty was. And it was a life-changing experience for him," Peggy Bourland recalled.

"And he said that he wished that my son, Chance, and I could have been there to see it. I could tell from his e-mail he was moved, beyond words, at what hed seen," she said.

Female fliers honored 65 years after war

By CNN on March 10, 2010

Washington (CNN) — Some 65 years after their service, a group of former civilian women pilots whose unheralded work was key to helping the U.S. effort in World War II were honored Wednesday with the Congressional Gold Medal.

Fewer than 300 Women Airforce Service Pilots are still alive. About 175 of them, along with thousands of family members, traveled to Washington for the ceremony at the Capitol.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi noted that the event had one of the largest crowds ever gathered inside the Capitol.

Deanie Parrish, a WASP who joined in 1943 at the age of 21, thanked members of Congress, those in attendance and members of the media.

"I believe this is the day that when the people of America no longer hesitate in answering, Do you know who the WASPs are?" she said to the crowd filled with old and young alike. "Its because of the media that that will happen."

Parrish said that it "was both a privilege and an honor to serve our country during some of the darkest days of World War II."

The Women Airforce Service Pilots was born in 1942 to create a corps of female pilots able to fill all types of flying jobs at home, thus freeing male military pilots to travel to the front.

As part of the commemoration, the former pilots attended a wreath-laying ceremony Tuesday at the Air Force Memorial just outside Washington to remember their colleagues killed in the line of duty.

With only about a quarter of the former 1,102 WASPs surviving and all in their late 80s or older, Rep. Susan Davis, D-California; Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas; Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Maryland; and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Florida, pushed a bill through Congress to honor these women by awarding them the medal, given as an expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions, according to the House of Representatives Office of the Clerk.

Pentagon trains workers to hack own computers

By CNN on March 10, 2010

Washington (CNN) — The Pentagon is training people to hack into its own computer networks.

"To beat a hacker, you need to think like one," said Jay Bavisi, co-founder and president of the International Council of Electronic Commerce Consultants, or EC-Council. His company was chosen by the Pentagon to oversee training of Department of Defense employees who work in computer security-related jobs and certify them when the training is complete.

The Department of Defense does not consider this hacking.

"DoD personnel are not learning to hack. They are learning to defend the network against hackers," said spokesman Lt. Col. Eric Butterbaugh.

But the EC-Council calls the program "Certified Ethical Hacker certification." The purpose of the training is to teach Defense Department employees to defend their computer network.

Almost 45,000 attacks on Defense Department computers were reported in the first half of 2009, according to a government report. The report estimated that for all of 2009, the number of attacks would be up 60 percent from the previous year. Fending off the attacks costs the Pentagon about $100 million.

Bavisi said the training focuses on teaching the art of hacking, using the same tools and tricks that traditional hackers use to break into computer networks.

The basic concept is Defense Department employees would use the training to hack into the departments computers, Bavisi said. Once the ethical hackers find the vulnerabilities that unethical hackers could use to attack, they increase the security to remove the potential threat. He said they are like bodyguards for the Defense Department network. Their only goal is to defend the network, even if the means of doing so are similar to those used by cyberattackers, Bavisi said.

This kind of training has been done before in the Defense Department on an ad hoc basis, said Bavisi. Now every Defense Department agency and unit is required to include hacker training as one option for employees involved in cybersecurity.

EC-Council has 450 training partners that will handle standard "ethical hacking" training, which has been used by civilian agencies and private businesses for years. If a Defense Department agency wants its employees to focus on a particular type of hacker training, EC-Council will perform customized training.

The training requires 40 hours of instruction and 4,500 pages of reading on the latest hacker techniques.

Bavisi said that Defense Department employees who complete the training and certification will not be assigned to use their new knowledge to hack into privately owned or civilian computers. But he said that any kind of training, including ethical hacking, could be used for nefarious purposes.

"You can teach me to cut an apple with a knife, and I can turn around and stab you with the knife," Bavisi said.

EC-Council will be paid a fee per student, between $450 to $2,500 depending on the extent of the training and certification. It wont be clear for months exactly how many students will be trained.

Women fliers honored 65 years after war

By CNN on March 10, 2010

Fewer than 300 Women Airforce Service Pilots are still alive. About 175 of them, along with thousands of family members, traveled to Washington for the ceremony at the Capitol.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi noted that the event had one of the largest crowds ever gathered inside the Capitol.

Deanie Parrish, a WASP who joined in 1943 at the age of 21, thanked members of Congress, those in attendance and members of the media.

Parrish said that it "was both a privilege and an honor to serve our country during some of the darkest days of World War II."

The Women Airforce Service Pilots was born in 1942 to create a corps of female pilots able to fill all types of flying jobs at home, thus freeing male military pilots to travel to the front.

As part of the commemoration, the former pilots attended a wreath-laying ceremony Tuesday at the Air Force Memorial just outside Washington to remember their colleagues killed in the line of duty.

Police: \’Jihad Jane\’ attempted suicide in \’05

By CNN on March 10, 2010

(CNN) — Colleen LaRose, the Pennsylvania woman indicted for allegedly conspiring to support terrorists and kill a person in a foreign country, attempted to commit suicide in 2005, according to a police report filed at the time.

LaRose, who authorities say called herself "Jihad Jane," was depressed about the death of her father, the report from Pennsburg, Pennsylvania, Police Officer Michael Devlin said.

LaRose told Devlin she swallowed as many as 10 pills of cyclobenzaprine, a muscle relaxant. The pills were mixed with alcohol.

"Colleen was highly intoxicated and having difficulty maintaining her balance," Devlin wrote. I "questioned LaRose about harming herself, at which point she stated she does not want to die."

Devlin was dispatched to check on LaRose in response to a 911 call made by LaRoses sister in Texas, who was worried LaRose might try to kill herself.

Chief Justice slams State of the Union \’pep rally\’

By CNN on March 10, 2010

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Simmering tension between the White House and U.S. Supreme Court spilled into public this week when Chief Justice John Roberts labeled the political atmosphere at the State of the Union address "very troubling."

With six members of the court a few feet away in the audience, President Obama used the occasion to criticize the conservative majoritys ruling in a campaign finance case.

Roberts on Tuesday told students at the University of Alabama that such partisanship at the annual address in Congress leaves him questioning whether the justices should continue to attend, as most do, in accord with tradition.

"It does cause me to think whether or not it makes sense for us to be there," Roberts said. "To the extent the State of the Union has degenerated into a political pep rally, Im not sure why were there."

Roberts, 55, was among the five justices who ruled in favor of loosening congressionally mandated restrictions on so-called "corporate" spending in federal elections. The decision opened up spending for a range of corporations, unions and advocacy groups.

The White House was quick to attack Roberts indirectly, focusing on the ruling itself, and Obama continued the criticism in his January address, saying, "With all due deference to the separation of powers, the Supreme Court reversed a century of law to open the floodgates for special interests — including foreign corporations — to spend without limit in our elections."

N.Y. State Police loses second chief in 2 weeks

By CNN on March 10, 2010

New York (CNN) — New York states top police official announced Wednesday he was quitting, the second acting superintendent to step down in as many weeks.

In a letter to embattled Gov. David Paterson, Pedro Perez denied his resignation was connected to the ethics scandals embroiling Albany.

"My retirement is not premised on the current investigation by the Attorney General [Andrew Cuomo], as I know my decisions were honest and rightly motivated," Perez said in the letter, which the New York State Police released.

Perezs resignation takes effect Friday and ends his 28-year career as a police officer, his letter said.

His predecessor, Harry Corbitt, quit March 2, less than a week after the abrupt resignation of Denise ODonnell as New Yorks deputy secretary for public safety. ODonnell said Corbitt had misled her about state police involvement in a scandal involving a top aide to the governor.

The Democratic governor has been mired in controversy since news reports emerged alleging an aide was involved in a domestic violence incident with a woman and that state police later allegedly pressured the woman to keep quiet.

The aide, David Johnson, has been suspended without pay.

Corbitt has said he did not dispute ODonnells account of what he told her but said, "The conclusions she appeared to draw from these statements were incorrect."

Separately, the New York State Commission on Public Integrity on March 3 accused Paterson of an ethics violation for allegedly accepting free tickets to the first game of last years World Series.

The commission also said Paterson lied under oath about intending to pay for the tickets.

Patersons spokesman, Peter Kauffmann, resigned the next day, saying he could not keep doing his job "in good conscience."

The governors office said it was reviewing the commissions findings.

"Gov. Paterson maintains his innocence and intends to challenge the findings of the commission both with respect to the law and the facts," the office said.

The governor could face up to an $80,000 fine for violating the states gift ban for public officials, and up to $10,000 if he is found to have used his official position to secure unwarranted privileges.

The commission has asked Cuomo, the states attorney general, and the Albany County district attorney to investigate.

Cuomo is a possible Democratic contender for the governors office in 2010.

Paterson, a former New York lieutenant governor who stepped into the governors mansion when Eliot Spitzer resigned in 2008 over a prostitution scandal, has abandoned his campaign for election to a full term, saying it was not the "latest distraction but an accumulation" of obstacles behind his decision.

CNNs Mark J. Norman contributed to this report.

N.Y. State Police lose second chief in 2 weeks