French gunman's brother charged, denies role

French gunman's brother charged, denies role

An unidentified man with his head covered, believed to be Abdelkader Merah or his companion, sits between masked police officers as they head to the French police's anti-terrorist headquarters in Levallois-Perret, outside Paris, Saturday, March 24, 2012. Merah's brother, Mohamed Merah is blamed for a series of deadly shootings which have shocked France and upended the country's presidential race. Merah, who claimed allegiance to al-Qaida, died in a hail of gunfire Thursday after a dramatic 32-hour-long standoff with law enforcement.

PARIS (AP) -- A Frenchman suspected of helping his brother plot attacks against Jewish schoolchildren and paratroopers was handed preliminary murder and terrorism charges Sunday.

But Abdelkader Merah denied any role in the attacks. Investigators looking into France's worst terror attacks in years believe Merah helped his brother Mohamed prepare the killings, and are investigating whether they were linked to an international network of extremists or worked on their own.

Abdelkader's lawyer said he feels like "a scapegoat."

"No one knew anything" about what Mohamed was plotting, lawyer Anne-Sophie Laguens told reporters in Paris. She dismissed reports that Abdelkader had praised his brother's attacks. "He was never proud of those actions."

Mohamed Merah, 23, claimed responsibility for killing three Jewish schoolchildren, a rabbi and three paratroopers earlier this month. After a 32-hour standoff with police, he died Thursday in a hail of gunfire as he jumped out a window of his apartment in the southern city of Toulouse.

Since then, attention has focused on his older brother Abdelkader Merah, who was handed preliminary charges on Sunday of complicity to murder and theft, and involvement in a terrorist enterprise, prosecutors said. Detained last week, he will remain in custody pending further investigation.

Preliminary charges under French law mean there is strong reason to believe a crime was committed, but allow magistrates more time to investigate.

Authorities suspect Abdelkader had a role in acquiring his younger brother's arsenal and financing his trips to Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Middle East. Mohamed Merah claimed allegiance to al-Qaida and told police he traveled to Afghanistan and Pakistan for training.

Abdelkader was questioned several years ago about alleged links to a network sending Toulouse-area youths to Iraq, but no action was brought against him at the time.

Prosecutor Francois Molins said the inquiry is also looking at anyone else who could have been involved in planning the attacks.

The brother's girlfriend, Yamina Mesbah, was held, then released early Sunday without being charged. The Merah brothers' mother was released Friday night.

The girlfriend denied any involvement in what happened and said she was shocked by the killings, her lawyer Guy Debuisson said, adding that Abdelkader Merah appeared to have led a double life.

"This woman was unaware of anything about her husband's accessory, complementary or secret life," the lawyer said. The couple married according to Muslim custom in 2006, but did not undergo the civil ceremony required in France for a marriage to be recognized.

Abdelkader Merah took five or six long trips to Egypt, ostensibly to study Arabic literature, and his girlfriend joined him on two or three, the lawyer said.

During questioning by police, the lawyer said, Mesbah learned that Merah had had other motivations for his trip to Egypt and "a life that led him toward an extremely intense ... fundamentalism."

"The question to ask today is if Mohamed was the only one that was indoctrinated. Was it just him or are there others?" Debuisson asked.

The first paratrooper killed, Imad Ibn Ziaten, was buried Sunday in his hometown in Morocco on the Mediterranean coast. Townspeople held French and Moroccan flags as soldiers carried the coffin to the grave.

"It is incomprehensible, it is unimaginable. Terrorism doesn't understand this. And above all we must not confuse Islam and fanaticism. They have nothing to do with one another," his brother Hatim Ibn Ziaten said.

French State Secretary for Defense Marc Laffineur accompanied the family to Morocco, saying he wanted to show that "France is in mourning." The other paratroopers were buried in France last week, and the Jewish children and rabbi were buried in Israel.

The killings have affected the race for French presidential elections in April and May, and raised concerns of tensions among France's large Muslim and Jewish communities.

Thousands of people in Paris and Toulouse marched silently Sunday urging unity and tolerance of all religions and cultures after the killings. An enormous French tricolor flag borne by dozens of marchers waved above the Paris march as it snaked away from the Place de la Bastille, birthplace of the French Revolution.

Many wear hoodies as churches remember Trayvon

Many wear hoodies as churches remember Trayvon

Rev. Raphael Warnock wears a hoodie during his morning sermon at the Ebenezer Baptist Church on Sunday, March 25, 2012, in Atlanta. Church-goers were invited to wear hoodies to services to show their support for justice in the case of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager who was wearing a hoodie on the night he was killed by a neighborhood watch captain in Florida.

EATONVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- Wearing hooded sweatshirts similar to the one that Trayvon Martin wore on the night he was killed, many preachers and worshippers echoed calls for justice Sunday in the shooting death of an unarmed black teenager in Florida last month.

The one-month anniversary of Martin's death is Monday. He was shot while wearing a "hoodie" as he walked home on a rainy night in a gated community. The neighborhood watch volunteer who shot him, 28-year-old George Zimmerman, is the son of a white father and Hispanic mother, and the demands to charge him in Martin's slaying have grown ever louder. He had called police to report the hooded figure as suspicious; Martin was carrying a bag of Skittles and a can of iced tea, talking to his girlfriend on his cellphone.

In African-American and other religious centers from Florida to Atlanta, New York and Chicago, messages from pulpits couldn't help but touch on a seemingly avoidable tragedy that continues to be rife with more questions than answers. But while the call continued for the arrest of Zimmerman, there were also pleas to use the incident to spark a larger movement.

"How do we turn pain into power?" the Rev. Jesse Jackson asked a standing-room only congregation of hundreds while preaching at Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church in Eatonville, Fla., about 20 miles from the site of the Sanford shooting. "How do we go from a moment to a movement that curries favor?"

Jackson preached a sermon entitled "The Substance of Things Hoped For." He called for Martin's "martyr" death to be used as an opportunity to revive the Civil Rights Commission and draw attention to long-standing issues. Very young children and teens sat in the choir behind him.

"The blood of the innocent has power," Jackson said to shouts of "Amen" and loud clapping.

Jackson invoked the names of Emmett Till, the 14-year-old boy bludgeoned and shot to death in Mississippi in 1955 for supposedly whistling at a white woman, and slain civil rights figures Medgar Evans and Martin Luther King, Jr.

"There's power in the blood of Emmett Till! There's power in in the blood of Medgar Evers! There's power in the blood of Dr. King!" declared the 70-year-old Jackson, who marched with King.

Jackson made a direct plea to change the "Stand Your Ground" self-defense law that many believe authorities in Florida used to avoid arresting him.

Amid the outcry over the lack of charges against Zimmerman, the Sanford police chief and state's attorney in the case have both stepped aside. The U.S. Justice Department has opened a civil rights probe into the shooting, and a grand jury is scheduled to meet April 10 to consider evidence in the case.

Zimmerman's attorney has said he believes the case falls under Florida's stand-your-ground law, which dictates that a person has the right to stand his or her ground and "meet force with force" if attacked. Attorney Craig Sonner has said Zimmerman is not a racist.

After Jackson's sermon, congregants said the civil rights activist's message resonated.

"This kind of activism never stopped in the church, that's what they do for us in the black community," said 34-year-old Nacia Bradley of Orlando. "That's what they're here to do."

Black churches have long served as catalysts for change and were instrumental during the civil rights era.

"The activism (in the church) is bigger and better than ever," said Kenneth Byers, 47, of Orlando. "Everything Rev. Jackson said was right on time."

At Chicago's St. Sabina Catholic Church, a predominantly black congregation, the Rev. Michael Pfleger wore the hood of his robe over his head while celebrating Mass. Pfleger, who is white, has long spoken out against violence.

During Mass, one congregant held a sign reading, "We are all Trayvon Martin."

In New York City, Middle Collegiate Church pastor Jacqueline Lewis said the church must assume both a spiritual and political role to end "the epidemic" of racism. She encouraged her congregants to send packages of Skittles to Sanford police, sign an online petition and attend an April conference on building multiracial congregations.

It's that sense of activism that resonated with Michael Ambrosini, who left the service wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt. He said he attends the church in part because "such violence dictates strong political action, and this church takes action."

In the nation's capital, the pastors of Reid Temple AME in Glenn Dale, Md. and Metropolitan AME in downtown Washington, both wore hoodies.

Reid Temple's pastor, the Rev. Lee P. Washington, put the hoodie on his head and held up a box of Skittles and a can of iced tea before his sermon, "Trusting God When You Don't Understand," in which he discussed the Martin case. Metropolitan AME is just blocks away from the White House, and President Barack Obama worshipped there with his family in January, 2011.

At Atlanta's historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Martin Luther King Jr. and his father once preached, dozens of people wore hoodies in Trayvon Martin's memory, including the Rev. Raphael Warnock.

"They said his name was Trayvon Martin. But he looked like Emmett Till," said Warnock, referring to the boy whose lynching more than a half-century ago raised awareness of the brutal realities of Jim Crow laws. "At least with Emmett Till someone was arrested. And that was in 1955."

The men charged with killing Till were acquitted by an all-white Mississippi jury, though they later confessed to the crime in a Look magazine article.

Ingrid Lester, 64, showed up for services wearing a hooded sweatshirt with a Skittles wrapper pinned to it. She said the Martin case reminded her of the struggle to end segregation in the 1960s, when she was a teenager. And she said the church had a crucial role to play now, just as it did then.

"We need a voice, and the church is our voice," she said.

At First Iconium Baptist, another predominantly black church in Atlanta, the Rev. Timothy McDonald told congregants at the early Sunday service, "We will not rest until Mr. Zimmerman who killed young Trayvon Martin is arrested. This could have been any one of our children."

76ers Top Celtics 99-86 As Collins Gets 400th Win

Elton Brand #42 of the Philadelphia 76ers dunks over Avery Bradley #0 of the Boston Celtics on March 23, 2012 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Elton Brand scored 20 points, and Spencer Hawes had 12 points and 10 rebounds to help the Philadelphia 76ers remain in first place in the Atlantic Division with a 99-86 victory over the Boston Celtics on Friday night.

The Celtics would have grabbed first with a win, knocking out a Sixers team that has held that spot for all but a few days this season. The Sixers outscored Boston by 20 points in the third quarter to take control.

For full story go to: http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/

Philly Holds ‘Million Hoodie March’ Rally In Response To Trayvon Martin Case

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – An entire nation is speaking up for Trayvon Martin, from his parents to the President of the United States.

“If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon,” said the President.

Today, Philadelphia will join the movement to find out why an unarmed teenaged boy was gunned down.

“This was virtually an assassination,” said Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter. “There was no reason for something like this to happen.”

For full story go to: http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/

Philadelphia Police Release Surveillance Video Of Tire Slashing Suspect

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – There’s been another round of tire slashings this week in the city’s Mayfair neighborhood. This time police have the suspect on video.

It happened Thursday around 9:30 in the evening.

“That night we had nine reported incidents, but according to the victims we interviewed there were a lot more tires. This is in the 3200 3300 blocks of Cottman,” said Philadelphia police Captain Jack McGinnis of Northeast Detectives.

For full story go to: http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/

Report: Sandusky called 'likely pedophile' in '98

Report: Sandusky called 'likely pedophile' in '98

FILE - In this Dec. 13, 2011 file photo, Jerry Sandusky, the former Penn State assistant football coach charged with sexually abusing boys, leaves the Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte, Pa. A psychologist who looked into a 1998 allegation against Sandusky told police at the time that his behavior fit the profile of a likely pedophile, NBC News reported Saturday, March 24, 2012.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) -- A psychologist who looked into a 1998 allegation against former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky told police at the time that his behavior fit the profile of a likely pedophile, NBC News reported Saturday.

Yet Sandusky was not criminally charged, nor placed on a state registry of suspected child abusers, and prosecutors say he continued assaulting boys for more than a decade until his arrest in November.

NBC obtained a copy of the campus police department's investigatory report on an encounter in which Sandusky was accused of having inappropriate contact with an 11-year-old boy with whom he had showered naked on the Penn State campus.

The police file includes the report of State College psychologist Alycia Chambers, who interviewed and provided counseling to the boy.

"My consultants agree that the incidents meet all of our definitions, based on experience and education, of a likely pedophile's pattern of building trust and gradual introduction of physical touch, within a context of a `loving,' `special' relationship," Chambers wrote.

However, a second psychologist, John Seasock, concluded that Sandusky had neither assaulted the boy nor fit the profile of a pedophile.

Chambers and Seasock did not immediately return phone messages left at their offices Saturday.

Centre County prosecutors ultimately decided not to charge Sandusky, and the case was closed until a statewide grand jury accused the retired defensive coordinator of abusing the boy and nine others over a 15-year period. Sandusky, who faces more than 50 counts of child sex abuse, has pleaded innocent and awaits trial.

Chambers' warning to authorities raises new questions about the university's failure to stop Sandusky. Eight of the 10 boys were attacked on campus, prosecutors allege.

In 2002, four years after the 1998 investigation, prosecutors say then-graduate assistant Mike McQueary caught Sandusky sexually assaulting a boy in the football showers. McQueary reported what he saw to coach Joe Paterno, who, in turn, reported the allegation to university officials. But no police investigation was ever done.

Penn State said in a statement Saturday that it would not comment, citing ongoing investigations.

Sandusky's attorney, Joseph Amendola, told The Associated Press on Saturday that Seasock's report was "exculpable" and that the 1998 incident was not as clear-cut as Chambers made it out to be.

"We could get five psychologists, child psychologists, who specialize maybe in sexual dysfunctions or pedophilia look at the same case and talk to the same people and come up with five different conclusions," he said in a phone interview.

The 1998 allegation was the first known complaint made to authorities about Sandusky. A woman called the Penn State police department, saying she was troubled after her 11-year-old son told her he had showered naked with Sandusky on campus.

Prosecutors say Sandusky lathered up the boy - known as Victim 6 in the state's current criminal case - bear-hugged him naked from behind, and picked him up and put his head under the shower. Detectives say that later, with police secretly listening in, Sandusky told the boy's mother the joint shower had been a mistake, and blurted: "I wish I were dead."

The woman's complaint triggered a separate review by state Department of Public Welfare, which found no indication of abuse by Sandusky.

But state welfare department investigator Jerry Lauro told AP in December that he didn't have access to the criminal investigative file. On Wednesday, he told The Patriot-News of Harrisburg that he never would have closed the case had he seen the reports from Chambers and the second psychologist, Seasock.

"The course of history could have been changed," Lauro told the newspaper, which first reported the existence of the twin psychological reports.

"The conclusions (Chambers) had drawn in her report were pretty damaging," Lauro told the paper. "I would have made a different decision. ... It's unbelievable, and it gets my blood pressure going when I think about it."

Seasock, who worked with Centre County Office of Children and Youth Services, interviewed the boy for an hour and wrote in his report - also included in the police file obtained by NBC - that he did not find any evidence of "grooming" or "inappropriate sexual behavior" by Sandusky.

"All the interactions reported by (the boy) can be typically defined as normal between a healthy adult and a young adolescent male," Seasock wrote.

Seasock, however, did not review Chambers' report or prior interviews with the boy before submitting his own report, the police report indicates, nor did he elicit key details, including the fact that Sandusky had kissed the boy and told him he loved him.

Amendola said that Chambers has refused to talk to the defense, but that he would try anew in light of the NBC report.

"Any argument the commonwealth had about privilege is out the window," said Amendola. He said he found the timing of the NBC report curious because it came several days after a judge ordered the attorney general to turn over the psychological reports to the defense unless prosecutors could persuade the court they are not subject to disclosure.

Chambers told NBC in an interview that she was horrified to learn that Sandusky allegedly continued assaulting boys long after she warned Penn State authorities about him.

"I was horrified to know that there were so many other innocent boys who had been subject to this, who had their hearts and minds confused, their bodies violated. It's unspeakable," she said.

Chambers told NBC her 1998 investigation found "behavior that was consistent with a predator, a male predator, a pedophile."

APNewsBreak: US says soldier split killing spree

APNewsBreak: US says soldier split killing spree

FILE - In this Sunday, March 11, 2012 file photo, men stand next to blood stains and charred remains inside a home where witnesses say Afghans were killed by a U.S. soldier in Panjwai, Kandahar province south of Kabul, Afghanistan. U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales was charged on Friday, March 23, 2012 with 17 counts of premeditated murder, a capital offense that could lead to the death penalty in the massacre of Afghan civilians, the U.S. military said.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. investigators believe the U.S. soldier accused of killing 17 Afghan civilians split the slaughter into two episodes, returning to his base after the first attack and later slipping away to kill again, two American officials said Saturday.

This scenario seems to support the U.S. government's assertion - contested by some Afghans - that the killings were done by one person, since they would have been perpetrated over a longer period of time than assumed when Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales was detained March 11 outside his base in southern Afghanistan.

But it also raises new questions about how Bales, who was formally charged Friday with 17 counts of premeditated murder and other crimes, could have carried out the nighttime attacks without drawing attention from any Americans on the Kandahar province base.

The two American officials who disclosed the investigators' finding spoke on condition of anonymity because the politically sensitive probe is ongoing.

Many details about the killings, including a possible motive, have not been made public. The documents released by the U.S. military Friday in connection with the murder charges do not include a timeline or a narrative of what is alleged to have happened.

Bales, 38, is accused of killing nine Afghan children and eight adults. The bodies were found in Balandi and Alkozai villages - one north and one south of the base, in Kandahar's Panjwai district.

Bales also was charged with six counts of attempted murder and six counts of assault in the same case.

U.S. investigators now believe that Bales walked off his base that night and killed several people in one of the villages, then went back to the base. The American officials, who are privy to some details of the investigation, said they do not know why Bales returned, how long he stayed or what he did while there.

He then slipped off the base a second time and killed civilians in the second village before again heading back toward the base. It was while he was returning the second time that a U.S. military search party spotted him. He is reported to have surrendered without a struggle.

Bales is being held in a military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.

There have been previous suggestions that Bales could have returned to base after the first set of shootings, but the American officials who spoke to The Associated Press on Saturday provided the first official disclosure that U.S. investigators have come to this conclusion.

Members of the Afghan delegation investigating the killings said one Afghan guard working from midnight to 2 a.m. on March 11 saw a U.S. soldier return to the base around 1:30 a.m. Another Afghan soldier who replaced the first and worked until 4 a.m. said he saw a U.S. soldier leave the base at 2:30 a.m. It's unknown whether the two Afghan guards saw the same U.S. soldier.

U.S. officials have said Bales left the base the first time armed with his 9mm pistol and M-4 rifle, which was outfitted with a grenade launcher.

Bales' civilian attorney, John Henry Browne, said Friday that he believes the government will have a hard time proving its case and that his client's mental state will become an important issue. Browne has said Bales suffered from the stress of serving four combat tours.

The decision to charge Bales with premeditated murder suggests that prosecutors believe they have sufficient evidence that he consciously conceived the killings.

The maximum punishment for a premeditated murder conviction is death. The mandatory minimum sentence is life imprisonment with the chance of parole.

Allen Iverson Won’t Join Dominican Republic Team

Allen Iverson Won’t Join Dominican Republic Team

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — The manager for Allen Iverson says the former NBA star will not play for a team in the Dominican Republic.

Gary Moore says Iverson has not signed nor is he considering signing with any team.

Earlier Thursday, Pueblo Nuevo team president Milton Nunez told The Associated Press the 36-year-old guard would play for his team.

For full story go to: http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/

Santorum on defensive as race turns to Louisiana

Santorum on defensive as race turns to Louisiana

Republican presidential candidate former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, speaks about the campaign at a rally in Shreveport, La., Friday, March 23, 2012. Santorum has strong support among many conservative voters in the state which his campaign hopes results in winning Louisiana's primary on Saturday.

WEST MONROE, La. (AP) -- Facing heightened pressure to revive his presidential bid, Rick Santorum was forced to explain another apparent misstep as he courted Louisiana voters Friday, the eve of a critical contest in a Republican nomination battle that increasingly favors Mitt Romney.

Santorum said he would support the eventual GOP nominee - if it isn't him - despite what he insists are similarities between front-runner Romney and President Barack Obama that make them indistinguishable on some issues. He caused an intraparty uproar earlier in the week after suggesting he'd prefer a second term for Obama over a Romney presidency.

"I've said repeatedly and will continue to say, I'll vote for whoever the Republican nominee is and I will work for him," Santorum said as he walked back his original comments less than 24 hours before Louisiana polls were set to open. "Barack Obama is a disaster, but we can't have someone who agrees with him on some of the biggest issues of the day."

The situation underscored Santorum's challenges ahead of a Louisiana contest he's favored to win. Santorum has had success in the South, having won last week's contests in Alabama and Mississippi. Regardless of the outcome Saturday, however, Romney will have collected more delegates than his opponents combined as the race then turns to more favorable territory in the coming weeks.

Santorum's continued missteps are complicating a candidacy already struggling to overcome major financial and organizational deficiencies. Before losing this week's Illinois primary, Santorum hurt himself by declaring that neither the economy nor the nation's unemployment rate was his top concern.

"I think the biggest development of the last 24 hours was Sen. Santorum's remarkable mistake in suggesting that re-electing President Obama was acceptable under any circumstance," Republican contender Newt Gingrich told reporters in Port Fourchon, La. "I just want to make very clear that I could not disagree with him more strongly."

And as his GOP opponents fought amongst themselves, Romney went after Obama on the second anniversary of his landmark health-care law, previewing a key argument in a potential general election matchup.

Standing in front of signs that read, "Repeal & Replace ObamaCare," as he campaigned in Louisiana, Romney called Obama's signature health care law an "an unfolding disaster for the American economy, a budget-busting entitlement and a dramatic new federal intrusion into our lives."

In attacking the law days before Supreme Court arguments over its constitutionality, the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination also confronted an issue that has plagued him throughout the GOP primary process. As governor of Massachusetts, Romney signed a health care law that required everyone in the state to carry health insurance or pay a penalty. It's a state version of the national mandate that is the centerpiece of Obama's overhaul - an idea that conservatives oppose as an example of government overreach.

Romney's steadfast support for the mandate at the state level has fueled continued conservative skepticism about his candidacy. And his attack on Obama's overhaul caught the attention of White House spokesman Jay Carney, who said Friday that the president would "not shy away from the opportunity to debate" the bill, particularly given Romney's background.

"That debate will be engaged in the fall if the Republican nominee feels so strongly about it," Carney said, referring to Romney as "one of the architects of this health care reform." "As many have noted in both parties, the individual mandate provision of the president's Affordable Care Act bears striking similarities to the individual mandate that was put in place in Massachusetts."

Meanwhile, Obama catapulted the death in Florida of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, already the focus of major national attention, into the presidential campaign.

"If I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon," Obama said.

Santorum was critical of local prosecutors, who declined to arrest the shooter, George Zimmerman, a 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who claimed self-defense and invoked Florida's' "Stand Your Ground" law. The law gives people wide latitude to use deadly force instead of retreating during a fight and explains why Zimmerman has not been arrested.

The failure to prosecute is a "chilling example of the horrible decisions made by people in this process," Santorum said. "Stand your ground is not doing what this man did."

Gingrich also criticized the shooter, whom he described as "a guy who'd found a hobby that's very dangerous."

Romney, like Obama, called the incident "a tragedy," and called for "a thorough investigation that reassures the public that justice is carried out with impartiality and integrity."

While attention to Martin's death overshadowed presidential politics at times Friday, Santorum tried to keep the pressure on Romney ahead of the Louisiana contest. Santorum argued that he is the only Republican candidate who can offer voters a stark contrast with Obama.

After testing his marksmanship with a .45 caliber semiautomatic Colt pistol, he told reporters: "If you don't have a choice, then a lot of voters are going to vote for what they have. That's why we have to have a choice."

Romney heads into Louisiana with a commanding delegate lead in the race to 1,144, the number needed to clinch the GOP nomination.

Romney has earned 563 delegates so far, compared to 263 for Santorum, 135 for Gingrich and 50 for Ron Paul, according to an Associated Press tally.

Louisiana offers a total of 46 delegates, but only 20 will be up for grabs in Saturday's primary. An additional 23 will be selected at the party's state convention in June and three others go to the state's Republican National Committee members.

And while Santorum tried to recover from one misstep, a supporter in the audience added an off-message wrinkle. As he fired the pistol, a woman in the crowd shouted: "Pretend it's Obama."

Santorum was wearing protective ear muffs. He said later that he didn't hear the remark but denounced it as "absurd."

The Secret Service, which provides security for Santorum, was trying to identify the woman.

Obama: 'If I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon'

Obama: 'If I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon'

President Barack Obama answers a reporter's question about the death of Trayvon Martin, Friday, March 23, 2012, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Urging Americans to "do some soul searching," President Barack Obama injected himself into the emotional debate over the fatal shooting of a teenager in Florida, turning the racially charged case into a personal matter for the nation's first black president.

"If I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon," Obama said Friday.

Obama's words also catapulted the death in Florida of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, already the focus of major national attention, into the presidential campaign. Three Republicans seeking Obama's job all used the word "tragedy" to describe the shooting, as the president did.

"I can only imagine what these parents are going through, and when I think about this boy, I think about my own kids," Obama said at the White House.

Obama said the parents of Martin, who was shot on Feb. 26 in Sanford, Fla., a suburb of Orlando, have a right to expect "that we're going to get to the bottom of exactly what happened."

Martin was shot by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, who said he was acting in self-defense. Zimmerman's father is white, and his mother is Hispanic. The shooting has stoked debate over race as well as other issues. Obama did not mention Zimmerman in his comments.

Republican presidential candidates quickly weighed in after Obama spoke.

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum called the shooting a "horrible case." Referring to Florida's "stand your ground" law, which gives people wide latitude to use deadly force rather than retreat during a fight, Santorum said: "Stand your ground is not doing what this man did."

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, campaigning in Louisiana, said the shooting was a "terrible tragedy, unnecessary, uncalled for, and inexplicable at this point."

Romney said it was "entirely appropriate for the district attorney to be looking into this and to have called a grand jury and to find out what the facts are. We hope that justice is done in this case."

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia also called it a tragedy and credited local authorities for empaneling a grand jury. "There's a point in there where there ought to be some kind of signal that's pretty clear that this is a guy who'd found a hobby that's very dangerous," Gingrich said of Zimmerman.

Florida is a large and diverse state that plays an influential role in presidential elections - it was a deciding factor in the 2000 election following a lengthy recount. The Orlando area in central Florida is particularly important, acting as a bellwether for statewide elections.

The case resonates with many black Americans, a key voting group during Obama's 2008 election, who see it as an example of bias toward blacks. Civil rights groups have held rallies in Florida and New York, saying the shooting was unjustified. Of Sanford's 53,000 residents, 57 percent are white and 30 percent are black.

Obama directed his message to Martin's parents, saying, "I think they are right to expect that all of us as Americans take this with the seriousness that it deserves, and we're going to get to the bottom of what happened."

He said that "every parent in America should be able to understand why it is absolutely imperative that we investigate every aspect of this and everybody pulls together, federal state and local, to figure out exactly how this tragedy happened."

The White House had said earlier in the week that it was "not going to wade into a local law enforcement matter" though offering sympathies for Martin's family. But that changed when Obama answered a shouted question following a Rose Garden ceremony to announce the president's choice to lead the World Bank.

Obama cautioned before speaking that he must "be careful so we're not impairing any investigation." But he said he was glad the Justice Department was investigating and that Florida officials had formed the task force.

"I think all of us have to do some soul searching to figure out how did something like this happen, and that means we examine the laws and the context for what happened as well as the specifics of the incident," Obama said.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said later that the president "had thought about" the case and "was prepared to answer that question when he got it."

Martin's parents, Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton, thanked Obama for his support, saying in a statement the president's words "touched us deeply and made us wonder: If his son looked like Trayvon and wore a hoodie, would he be suspicious, too?"

NAACP President Benjamin Jealous said in an interview that Obama "spoke from the heart of a parent and the experience of a parent of color, but also from the pulpit of our national leader. And we needed to hear all of those things in this moment."

Obama, early in his term, also spoke out after the arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr., a black Harvard University professor, by a white police sergeant in Cambridge, Mass.

Gates was arrested in his home after the police sergeant arrived to investigate a possible burglary. The charges were dropped, but Obama said the police had "acted stupidly." The president said later he should have expressed his concerns with different language and invited both Gates and Sgt. James Crowley to the White House for a chat and a beer.

The Justice Department and FBI have opened a civil rights investigation into Martin's death, and a grand jury is considering whether to charge Zimmerman. Martin's parents, civil rights activists and others who have reacted to the case say they won't be satisfied until Zimmerman is arrested.

Martin was returning from a trip to a convenience store when Zimmerman started following him, telling police dispatchers Martin looked suspicious. At some point, the two got into a fight, and Zimmerman pulled out his gun.

Zimmerman told police Martin attacked him after he had given up on chasing the teenager and was returning to his sport utility vehicle.

Police Chief Bill Lee stepped down temporarily this week to try to cool the building anger that his department had not arrested Zimmerman. Hours later, Gov. Rick Scott announced that the local state attorney, Norman Wolfinger, had recused himself from the case in hopes of "toning down the rhetoric" surrounding it.

Houston died from drowning, coroner says

Houston died from drowning, coroner says

FILE - In this April 25, 2010 file photo, singer Whitney Houston performs at the o2 in London as part of her European tour. Coroner's officials said Thursday, March 22, 2012, that Houston drowned, but her death was also caused by heart disease and cocaine use that suggested she was chronically using the drug. Houston died Feb. 11, in California at the age of 48.

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Whitney Houston was a chronic cocaine user who had the drug in her system when she drowned in a hotel bathtub, coroner's officials said Thursday after releasing autopsy findings that also noted heart disease contributed to her death.

The disclosure ended weeks of speculation about what killed the Grammy-winning singer on Feb. 11 on the eve of the Grammy Awards.

Houston was found submerged in the bathtub of her room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, and her death was ruled accidental. Several bottles of prescription medications were found in her hotel room, but coroner's officials said there weren't excessive quantities.

"We are saddened to learn of the toxicology results, although we are glad to now have closure," Patricia Houston, the singer's sister-in-law and manager, wrote in a statement to The Associated Press.

Beverly Hills police said in a statement there was no evidence of wrongdoing in connection with Houston's death.

Coroner's Chief of Operations Craig Harvey said cocaine and its byproducts were found in Houston's system, and the drug was listed as a contributing factor in her death. He said the results indicated Houston was a chronic cocaine user.

Toxicology results also showed Houston had marijuana, Xanax, the muscle relaxant Flexeril, and the allergy medication Benadryl in her system. Houston died just hours before she was scheduled to appear at producer Clive Davis' pre-Grammy Awards bash.

The singer also had a heart disease that caused blockages in her arteries. Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter said the condition is common in drug users, although he said it wasn't clear whether Houston had a heart attack on the day she died.

"It just beats up their heart and they will go to use and they will have a heart attack," he said.

The exact amount of cocaine in Houston's system was not disclosed Thursday but will be contained in a full autopsy report to be released in about two weeks, officials said.

Family and friends said after Houston's death that they didn't believe she was still abusing drugs.

"I don't think drugs was an issue for her before her death. I don't know what happened that day," Patricia Houston said in a recent interview with Oprah Winfrey.

Houston, 48, was buried in a New Jersey cemetery next to her father after an emotional four-hour funeral service that was attended by friends, family and superstars such as Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry, Alicia Keys, Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, Jennifer Hudson and Roberta Flack

Houston, a sensation from her first, eponymous album in 1985, was one of the world's best-selling artists from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s, turning out such hits as "I Wanna Dance With Somebody," `'How Will I Know," `'The Greatest Love of All" and "I Will Always Love You." But as she struggled with drugs, her majestic voice became raspy, and she couldn't hit the high notes.

Interest in her music skyrocketed after her death, pushing her songs back on to charts and into heavy rotation on the radio.

She influenced a generation of younger singers, from Christina Aguilera to Mariah Carey, but Houston's drug use derailed her career and took a heavy toll on her once pristine voice.

But by the end of her career, she was a stunning cautionary tale of the toll of drug use. Her album sales plummeted and the hits stopped coming. Her once serene image was shattered by a wild demeanor and bizarre public appearances. She confessed to abusing cocaine, marijuana and pills and was eventually unable to hit the high notes as she had during her prime.

"The biggest devil is me. I'm either my best friend or my worst enemy," Houston told ABC's Diane Sawyer in an infamous 2002 television interview with then-husband Bobby Brown by her side.

She had been attempting a comeback when she died. She had finished filming a remake of the movie "Sparkle" in which Houston sang the gospel hymn "His Eye is on the Sparrow." Producers of the film have said the singer was a complete professional on the set.

French standoff ends with suspect shot in the head

French standoff ends with suspect shot in the head

This undated and unlocated frame grab provided Wednesday, March 21, 2012, by French TV station France 2 shows Mohamed Merah, the suspect in the killing of 3 paratroopers, 3 children and a rabbi in recent days in France. An Islamic extremist who boasted of killing seven people to strike back at France died Thursday after jumping from his window, gun in hand, in a fierce shootout with police, a French minister said. The death of Mohamed Merah, 23, ended a more than 32-hour standoff with an elite police squad trying to capture him alive. Merah was wanted in the deaths of seven people, three paratroopers, three Jewish schoolchildren and a rabbi, all killed over 10 days. Another student and another paratrooper were wounded in his attacks.

TOULOUSE, France (AP) -- In a dramatic end to a 32-hour standoff, a masked French SWAT team slipped into the apartment of an Islamist extremist Thursday, sparking a firefight that ended with the suspect jumping out the window and being fatally shot in the head.

Mohamed Merah, 23, was wanted in the deaths of three French paratroopers, three Jewish schoolchildren and a rabbi - all killed since March 11 in what Merah reportedly told police was an attempt to "bring France to its knees."

Police had been trying to capture him alive since a predawn raid Wednesday to arrest him at his apartment in the southwestern city of Toulouse. The killings he was accused of - and boasted about to police - have shocked France, ignited fear in moderate Muslims about stoking discrimination and may even affect the country's upcoming presidential election.

The seven slayings, carried out in three motorcycle shooting attacks, are believed to be the first killings inspired by Islamic radical motives in France since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, speaking in Paris, said an investigation was under way to see if Merah, a French citizen of Algerian descent who claimed links to al-Qaida, had any accomplices.

His mother and a brother were detained Wednesday by police after the mother's computer became a critical link in tracking Merah down. The brother Abdelkader had already been linked to Iraqi Islamist networks.

The SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors Internet messages, reported Thursday that a lesser-known jihadist group was claiming responsibility for the attacks in France. SITE said Jund al-Khilafah issued a statement saying "Yusuf of France" led an attack Monday, the day of Jewish school shootings. There was no independent confirmation of the claim.

One top French counterterrorism official said on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to the media that the claim of responsibility could be "opportunistic," but said authorities were looking into it. Three other Interior Ministry officials declined immediate comment.

Authorities said Merah espoused a radical form of Islam and had been to Afghanistan and the Pakistani militant stronghold of Waziristan, where he claimed to have received training from al-Qaida. He also had a long record of petty crimes in France for which he served time in prison.

A U.S. counterterrorism official says Merah was on the list of known or suspected terrorists who are prohibited from flying to the U.S. The counterterrorism official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation, says Merah had been on the no-fly list since 2010. The list includes thousands of known or suspected terrorists.

Merah told negotiators he killed to avenge the deaths of Palestinian children and to protest the French army's involvement in Afghanistan.

After initially agreeing to surrender, Merah declared he would resist and that it would be either them or him.

"If it's me, who cares? I'll go to paradise," Prosecutor Francois Molins quoted Merah as saying.

Molins said Merah burst out of his bathroom when police gingerly entered his apartment Thursday morning, wildly firing his gun about 30 times before jumping out an apartment window.

"(He) launches an assault, charging police through the apartment and firing at them with a Colt .45, continuing to advance, armed and firing, as he jumps from the balcony," Molins said.

Merah fired "until he was hit by a retaliatory shot from the RAID (elite police unit), which felled him with a bullet to the head," Molins said, insisting that police fired in self-defense.

It was not clearly exactly when he was hit by the bullet to the head.

The prosecutor said police had gone in cautiously, using robot cameras to see if there were any boobytraps. Three members of the special squad were wounded Thursday, bringing the total of injured French officers throughout the standoff to five.

Merah, lying on the ground below his second-story apartment, was wearing a flak jacket and black djellabah robe. A Colt 45 - the type of weapon used in the three attacks - was at his side along with a sack, Molins said.

Merah had made "extremely explicit films" of all three deadly attacks, video since viewed by police, and claimed to have posted them online, the prosecutor said. Merah told investigators where to find the bag with the videos, caught by a camera that had been strapped to his chest and given to someone else to keep.

In the film of the March 11 attack that killed a paratrooper, the prosecutor said the gunman is heard saying: "You kill my brothers - I kill you."

In his film of the second attack, on March 15 that killed two paratroopers and wounded a third in nearby Montauban, Merah cried out "Allahu Akbar!" or "God is great" in Arabic, the prosecutor said.

Authorities spoke little about the video of the third attack at a Jewish school in Toulouse. A witness to another video of that rampage, from a school camera, said it was chilling and had described him shooting young children in the head.

A stash of arms was found in a car rented by Merah, including an automatic Sten pistol, a revolver, a pump-action rife and an Uzi submachine gun. Ingredients for Molotov cocktails were stashed on the apartment balcony. Inside, were three empty ammunition clips, a pot packed with pieces of ammunition and a Colt .45 with a near-empty clip.

Merah had told investigators where to find the car.

More than 200 special investigators had worked to track him down. They found his mother's computer, which he used to respond to an online ad posted by the first victim, a paratrooper trying to sell his scooter. They also found a Yamaha motorcycle shop where Merah suspiciously sought information about how to deactivate a GPS tracker.

After the standoff ended, Sarkozy announced tough new measures to combat terrorism. He said anyone who regularly visits "websites that support terrorism or call for hate or violence will be punished by the law." He also promised a crackdown on anyone who goes abroad "for the purposes of indoctrination in terrorist ideology."

The French president also appealed to citizens not to confuse violence with France's estimated 5 million Muslims.

"Our Muslim compatriots had nothing to do with the crazy motive of a terrorist," Sarkozy said, noting that Muslim paratroopers were among those killed.

The threat of radical Islam in France was apparently affecting the presidential race, in which Socialist Francois Hollande has long been the pollster's favorite to unseat Sarkozy, a conservative.

A poll released Thursday suggested that Sarkozy may benefit politically from the horror of recent days. The survey by CSA suggested Sarkozy would slightly dominate the first round of voting on April 22 but lose to Hollande in the May 6 runoff, by 46 percent to 54 percent.

The poll was conducted Monday and Tuesday, after the rabbi and three children were killed at a Jewish school but before details about Merah emerged. A total of 1,003 people were questioned by telephone.

Embattled Fla. police chief steps down temporarily

Embattled Fla. police chief steps down temporarily

George Zimmerman is seen in police mug shot provided by the Orange County, Fla., Jail, via The Mimai Herald, from a 2005 arrest. Zimmerman is the neighborhood watch captain who shot unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin, 17, in a gated community in Sanford, Fla. in February 2012.

SANFORD, Fla. (AP) -- The police chief who has been bitterly criticized for not arresting a neighborhood watch volunteer in the shooting death of an unarmed black teenager announced Thursday that he is temporarily stepping down to let passions cool.

Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee's decision came less than a day after city commissioners gave him a "no confidence" vote, and after a couple of weeks of protests and uproar on social media websites. Lee has said evidence in the case supported George Zimmerman's claim that the Feb. 26 shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was self-defense.

"I do this in the hopes of restoring some semblance of calm to a city which has been in turmoil for several weeks," Lee said.

Martin was returning from a trip to a convenience store when Zimmerman started following him, telling police dispatchers he looked suspicious. At some point, the two got into a fight and Zimmerman pulled out his gun.

Zimmerman told police Martin attacked him after he had given up on chasing the teenager and was returning to his sport utility vehicle.

The shooting ignited racial tensions in this Orlando suburb. Civil rights groups have held rallies in Florida and New York, saying the shooting was unjustified.

The police chief continued Thursday to stand behind his agency's investigation.

"As a former homicide investigator, a career law enforcement officer and a father, I am keenly aware of the emotions associated with this tragic death of a child. I'm also aware that my role as a leader of this agency has become a distraction from the investigation," Lee said.

It wasn't immediately how long the police chief would step aside. Martin's parents said that wasn't enough, and that Zimmerman should be taken into custody.

"We want an arrest, we want a conviction and we want him sentenced for the murder of my son," Martin's father, Tracy, said to fiery crowd of about 1,000 supporters in downtown Sanford.

Some people believed the police chief should step down for good.

"If they wanted to defuse a potential powder keg, he needed to resign," said pastor Eugene Walton, 58, who was born and raised in Sanford. "His inaction speaks loudly to the black community."

News of the police chief's decision to step aside spread quickly among the protesters, many of whom showed up more than two hours before the start of the rally. They chanted "The chief is gone. Zimmerman is next."

Some carried signs that said: "100 years of lynching, justifiable homicide. Same thing." Others sold T-shirts that read: "Arrest Zimmerman."

"It's the norm around here, where anything involving black culture, they want to wipe their hands of it," said Shella Moore, who is black and grew up in Sanford.

The Justice Department and FBI have opened a civil rights investigation, and the local prosecutor has convened a grand jury April 10 to determine whether to charge Zimmerman.

Before the rally, Martin's parents met with the local U.S. attorney, the deputy assistant attorney general for civil rights in Washington and the head of the FBI's Tampa office to discuss the investigation.

"We listened carefully to the concerns of the family and their representatives," Special Agent Dave Couvertier, an FBI spokesman, said in a statement. "We continue to extend our deepest condolences to Trayvon's family for their loss."

APNewsBreak: Massacre suspect had 2nd assault case

APNewsBreak: Massacre suspect had 2nd assault case

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) -- A second incident involving alcohol and violence has surfaced in the background of the Army staff sergeant suspected of killing 17 Afghan villagers.

A sheriff's department report released Thursday says Robert Bales was accused in 2008 in Washington state of shaking hands with a woman, pulling her hand into his crotch and then punching and kicking her boyfriend. It describes Bales as "extremely intoxicated."

Authorities say the case was referred to prosecutors who then did not file charges. A message seeking comment from Bales' attorney was not immediately returned.

Bales was arrested in 2002 for the drunken assault of a casino security guard. He completed anger management class in that case.

Knicks Beat 76ers 82-79 For 5th Straight Win

Baron Davis #85 of the New York Knicks drives to the basket against Elton Brand #42 of the Philadelphia 76ers on March 21, 2012 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Amare Stoudemire had 21 points and nine rebounds to lead the New York Knicks to their fifth straight victory, 82-79 over the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night.

Jeremy Lin scored 18 points and Carmelo Anthony had 10 to help the Knicks pull within three games of the Atlantic Division leaders.

Elton Brand had 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Sixers. Jrue Holiday scored 16.

For full story go to: http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/

Allen Iverson To Join Dominican Republic Team

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Former NBA star Allen Iverson is joining a regional basketball league in the Dominican Republic for a month.

Team president Milton Nunez told The Associated Press on Thursday the 36-year-old guard will play for Pueblo Nuevo. He declined to say how much Iverson will be paid.

Iverson is to arrive Sunday and play for his second-place team that same day against GUG in Santiago province, Nunez said.

For full story go to: http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/

Child Rushed To Hospital After Being Impaled By Part Of Dresser In Delaware County

HAVERFORD TOWNSHIP, Pa. (CBS) – A 3-year-old boy was rushed to an area hospital Thursday afternoon after he was severely injured in his home in Delaware County.

Police were called out to a home in the 1400 block of Robinson Avenue in Haverford Township at about 2:30 p.m. for reports of an object impelled in a child’s face.

For full story go to: http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/

Sixers Take On Knicks In An Imporant Atlantic Division Match Up

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – In this shortened NBA season, every game is more important. Tonight’s game against the Knicks, and Friday’s game against the Celtics are crucial for the Sixers if their goal of winning the Atlantic Division is going to become a reality. The once fading Knicks are now four games behind the Sixers, and the Celtics are just a game and a half behind.

The Knicks (22-24) team the Sixers will face tonight has the same players as the last time they played, but a new coach, and are winners of four in a row. Mike Woodson has taken over the reigns of the Knicks since Mike D’Antoni’s resignation, and the team has responded, moving back into the Eastern Conference playoff picture. Though two of the four wins have come against Toronto and Portland, the other two came in back-to-back wins over the Indiana Pacers.

For full story go to: http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/

Death Of Victim In 2008 Case Prompts New Investigation And Possibility Of More Serious Charges For Marlton Man

MARLTON, NJ (CBS) – The death of the victim in a 2008 case has prompted a new investigation and created the potential for new charges for a Marlton man.

The death of 23-year-old Christine McGhee of Warminster has the Berks County District Attorney’s office looking into whether or not it will file third degree murder charges against 24-year-old Michael Morrone of Marlton, NJ.

For full story go to: http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/

2 Children Shot On South Philadelphia Playground, Possible Retaliation

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Two young people are hospitalized after being shot at a playground in South Philadelphia late Tuesday evening.

The shooting happened at about 9 p.m. at the Sach’s Playground located at 4th Street near Washington Avenue.

According to investigators, a 12-year-old boy suffered a gunshot wound to his right ankle and a 15-year-old girl suffered a gunshot would to her left thigh.

For full story go to: http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/

Police: 6-Year-Old Died Of Malnutrition, Abuse, Parents In Custody

Floyd Wimes, Tina Wimes

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – A young boy has died and his parents are in police custody on charges related to neglect and abuse.

According to sources, six-year-old Khalil Wimes weighed only 29 pounds when he died of malnutrition and blunt force trauma in a local hospital Tuesday night.

“He suffered from malnutrition because nobody’s feeding him,” said Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey. “I mean like any six-year-old child, you’re depending upon your parents to take care of you. Or some other adult.”

For full story go to: http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/

Former Pa. House Speaker Perzel Gets 2½-5 Years in Prison For Corruption

John Perzel, at the Dauphin County Courthouse.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS) — Former Pennsylvania house speaker John Perzel (R-Phila.) will spend 30 to 60 months in prison for his role in a scheme to use public resources for campaign purposes.

Perzel, 62, also was ordered to pay $1 million in restitution, and will spend an additional five years on probation.

For full story go to: http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/

Parents of dead Fla. teen to appear at NYC march

Parents of dead Fla. teen to appear at NYC march

FILE - This undated family photo shows Trayvon Martin. College students around Florida rallied Monday, March 19, 2012, to demand the arrest of a white neighborhood watch captain who shot the unarmed teen in February, though authorities may be hamstrung by a state law that allows people to defend themselves with deadly force.

NEW YORK (AP) -- The father of a black teenager shot to death by a neighborhood watch captain in Florida said he was "honored" by a march being planned for New York City in support of his son.

"I feel very honored that New York would do a rally in my son's honor," Tracy Martin told The Associated Press on Wednesday, hours before what was being called the Million Hoodie March was supposed to take place.

"It means a lot to me and my family knowing that people across the country, across the world, are coming together to get justice for Trayvon."

Martin's son, 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, was killed Feb. 26, in Sanford, Fla. He was returning to a gated community in the city after buying candy at a convenience store. He was unarmed and wearing a hooded sweat shirt at the time.

The shooter, George Zimmerman, has not been charged in the shooting and has said he shot the teen in self-defense after Martin attacked him. Police said Zimmerman is white; his family says he is Hispanic.

The case has ignited a furor against the police department of the Orlando suburb of 53,500 people, prompting rallies and a protest in Gov. Rick Scott's office Tuesday. The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division said it is sending its community relations service this week to Sanford to "address tension in the community."

Earlier in the week, the federal agency opened a civil rights probe into the shooting, and in Florida, Seminole County State Attorney Norm Wolfinger said a grand jury will meet April 10 to consider evidence in the case.

Martin said he and his son's mother, Sybrina Fulton, found out about the march after arriving in New York City, where they have done some interviews about the situation. They got in touch with the organizers to say they would come and speak to the attendees.

The timing of Martin's parents being in the city when the march is happening is "incredible," said Daniel Maree, one of the organizers. He heard about the case earlier this week, he said.

"I was outraged and wanted to do something about it," Maree said.

In recent days, information surrounding the teen's death has been coming out, including 911 calls, and on Tuesday, an account from his family's lawyer of a conversation he had with his girlfriend in the moments before his death was released.

Asked how he was holding up as all this information comes out, Tracy Martin said he was trying to stay strong.

"I don't feel this is the time to break down, even though it's a very troubling time in my life," he said. "I've told myself, when I get justice for Trayvon, then I'll have my time to break down."

Army examining mental health programs

Army examining mental health programs

FILE - In this Aug. 23, 2011 Defense Video & Imagery Distribution System photo, Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, left, 1st platoon sergeant, Blackhorse Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division participates in an exercise at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif. From working in penny-stock boiler rooms that drew numerous complaints, to an unpaid $1.5 million fraud arbitration judgment, to a failed investment partnership with a former high school teammate who later played in the Super Bowl, Bales has a trail of shaky financial dealing in the United States, records show.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Army inspector general is conducting a system-wide review of mental health facilities to determine whether psychiatrists overturned diagnoses of post-traumatic stress disorder to save money, a move that comes as the case of a U.S. soldier suspected of killing 16 Afghan civilians has brought fresh attention to the strains of war.

Army Secretary John McHugh told Congress on Wednesday that the service is trying to determine whether the change in diagnosis was isolated or a common practice. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., who pressed McHugh at a committee hearing, said the forensic psychiatry unit at Madigan Army Medical Center on Joint Base Lewis-McChord is being investigated for reversing diagnoses based on the expense of providing care and benefits to members of the military.

"Not only is it damaging for our soldiers, but it also really furthers the stigma for others that are - whether they're deciding to seek help or not today," Murray said.

Since 2007, more than 40 percent of the cases involving candidates for retirement had been overturned, according to statistics cited by Murray. Of the 1,680 patients screened at Madigan, more than 690 had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. The psychiatric team reversed more than 290 of those diagnoses.

"The surgeon general (Lt. Gen. Patricia Horoho) has asked the inspector general of the Army to go and examine all of the similar facilities and locations," McHugh told Murray and members of the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee. "To this point, we don't see any evidence of this being systemic. But as you and I have discussed, we want to make sure that where this was inappropriate, it was an isolated case, and if it were not, to make sure we address it as holistically as we're trying to address it at Madigan."

What Murray referred to as the "invisible wounds of war" have moved to the forefront of the national debate after a shooting spree earlier this month in two Afghan villages that left women and children dead. A suspect in the case, Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, 38, is being held in Fort Leavenworth, Kan., while a military investigation continues. Bales, who enlisted in the military after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, did four tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to court records and interviews.

"We have in the military writ large over 50,000 folks in uniform who have had at least four deployments," McHugh said.

Bales was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, of the 2nd Infantry Division, which is based at Lewis-McChord. Whether Bales sought treatment at Madigan is unknown.

Army officials said they are committed to strengthening the psychological resilience of its troops and leadership is taking deliberate steps to ensure help is available to soldiers and families dealing with PTSD and other psychological effects of war.

Army officials say soldiers sent to war may be checked up to five times, including before being deployed, during combat, once they return home and six months and a year later. Every soldier returning from deployment completes what the Army calls a Post Deployment Health Assessment and a face-to-face interview with a mental health professional. The Army screens soldiers for depression and PTSD, asking questions to find out about any social stressors, sleep disruption and other problems. Those who are detected as having problems go on to a second phase of screening.

Officials say, however, that no test is considered diagnostically definitive for mental illness in general or PTSD in particular.

More than 134,900 Army personnel were diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries between 2000 and 2011. Of those, 75 percent or more than 100,000 were diagnosed as having a mild or regular concussion. Army policy calls for every service member involved in a blast, vehicle crash or a blow to the head to be medically evaluated.

Asked specifically about the Bales' case, McHugh said he was confident in the military justice system.

Holiday, Young Lead 76ers Past Bobcats 105-80

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Jrue Holiday had 20 points and six assists as the first-place Philadelphia 76ers defeated the Charlotte Bobcats 105-80 on Monday night to snap a three-game losing streak and sweep the three-game season series between the teams.

Holiday, coming off a career-high 30 points in Saturday’s night loss at Chicago, was 8-of-13 shooting from the field and made all four shots from the free-throw line.

For full story go to: http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/

Nutter Aide Disputes Finding of Widespread Racism in Phila. Fire Dept.

(Philadelphia fire chief Lloyd Ayers, at head of table, listens as mayor’s chief of staff Everett Gillison, third from left, makes a point to the PICA board. Credit: Steve Tawa)

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Mayor Nutter’s top point person at City Hall took issue today with a consultant’s report that pointed to a “racial divide” in the Philadelphia Fire Department.

Nutter chief of staff Everett Gillison (third from left in photo) disputes Berkshire Advisors’ contention that the department is “rife with racial division”. He says that doesn’t square with the view of a majority of the 2,100-member department.

For full story go to: http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/

Now a Bronco, Manning says hello to his new team

Now a Bronco, Manning says hello to his new team

New Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning holds a Broncos jersey with his name and number at the conclusion of an NFL football news conference at the Broncos headquarters in Englewood, Colo., on Tuesday, March 20, 2012.

DENVER (AP) -- Peyton Manning stood next to John Elway, holding up a bright orange jersey with the No. 18 on it.

Yes, that could take some getting used to.

And now if Manning's surgically repaired neck cooperates, these two quarterbacks - one in the Hall of Fame, the other headed there one day - think they might be taking a similar photo together, only next time they'll be holding a Super Bowl trophy.

Manning was introduced as the new quarterback of the Denver Broncos on Tuesday, the four-time MVP taking the spot once held by Elway, who as Broncos vice president engineered the deal to bring the NFL's most sought-after free agent to town.

It's a deal that could also mark the end of Tim Tebow's days in Denver - a bold move, for sure, but one Elway was more than willing to take.

"Plan B?" he said. "I don't have a Plan B. We're going with Plan A."

After his photo op with Elway and owner Pat Bowlen, Manning answered many of the questions that have been bouncing around since March 7, when his old team, the Indianapolis Colts, released the quarterback and set in motion one of the most frenetic free-agent pursuits in history.

On the neck injury that kept him off the field through 2011: "I'm not where I want to be. I want to be where I was before I was injured. There's a lot of work to do to get where we want to be from a health standpoint."

On his potential role in being the man who could bring about the end of Tebow's popular stay in Denver: "I know what kind of player Tim Tebow is, what kind of person he is, what an awesome year it was. If Tim Tebow is here next year, I'm going to be the best teammate I can be to him. He and I are going to help this team win games. If other opportunities present themselves to him, I'm going to wish him the best."

On Elway's role in leading him to choose Denver over other suitors, the most serious of which were the Titans and 49ers: "I'm seeing him as the leader of a franchise. I really liked what he had to say. Everyone knows what kind of competitor he is as a player. I can tell he's just as competitive in this new role. That got me excited."

And so, the deal was sealed.

Manning has a five-year, $96 million contract and plans to retire in Denver. His familiar No. 18 was actually retired - a tribute to Denver's first quarterback, Frank Tripucka, who was more than happy to let Manning bring it out of mothballs. The Broncos, meanwhile, have some protection in the way the contract was formulated. There's no signing bonus. Manning will get $18 million guaranteed for next season, but must pass a physical before each season, starting in 2013, to get paid.

"I don't consider it much of a risk, knowing Peyton Manning," Elway said. "I asked him, `Is there any doubt in your mind that you can't get back to the Peyton Manning we know of?' And he said, `There's no doubt in my mind.'"

It was 14 years ago that Bowlen stood on the podium in San Diego, lifted the franchise's first Super Bowl trophy and proclaimed: "This one's for John."

But this franchise hasn't been anywhere near what it was since Elway retired a year later with a second title in tow.

His return to the front office last year set off a whirlwind of activity that landed the Broncos in the playoffs. But Elway has always been in this to win Super Bowls and he's throwing his hat in with Manning, the 50,000-yard passer who redefined the quarterback position through the 2000s, not Tebow - who seems most comfortable carrying and not throwing the ball.

"Tim Tebow's a great kid. If I want someone to marry my daughter, it's him," Elway said. "Tim is a great football player, but with the opportunity that presented itself here, we had to take advantage of that."

He said no decision has been made on Tebow's future, but he seemed to be preparing the quarterback's fans to say goodbye.

"That's the tough part of this business," Elway said.

Manning, who turns 36 on Saturday, said he made a quick connection with Elway, who won his two Super Bowls in Denver after his 37th birthday. Since No. 7's retirement, a long string of quarterbacks have come to Denver, trying in vain to replace the unreplaceable. If anyone can get out of that shadow, Manning could be the man.

He's got two trips to the Super Bowl and one title, 11 Pro Bowls and was the fastest player to reach 50,000 yards and 4,000 completions.

Long known as a master student of the game, there are hours of highlights available that begin with Manning standing at the line of scrimmage, surveying a defense, checking out of a play - or two - then calling the right one and getting the Colts to the end zone.

It's expected he'll be able to run his kind of offense in Denver, which reverted to an option-style system to maximize Tebow's potential last year.

One other factor in Manning's decision to play outdoors in the Mile High City: The nearly $40 million in salary cap room the Broncos have, putting them in the mix for quality free agents, possibly including Manning's former teammates Jeff Saturday and Dallas Clark.

Anything to get a championship or two in the few years he's got left.

"I realize I don't have 14 years left, by any means," Manning said. "This isn't something where I'm just building a foundation to do something in two years or three years. This is a `now' situation. We're going to do whatever we can to win right now. That's all I'm thinking about right now."

The status of Manning's neck, however, will be an ongoing issue. It's one thing to throw through the entire route tree on a practice field, which he did to pretty much everyone's satisfaction, quite another to take a blindside hit from a 300-pound defender, which hasn't happened since he was surgically repaired.

"There's no question I have work to do," Manning said. "I've been very open with the Broncos, really all the teams, about my medical history, about where I am, about how I feel. I really let them tell me. I've put all the cards out on the table, working out for three teams, going through my entire medical history, not just this past year. I couldn't sell myself when it came to that. I had to let them tell me and decide this was something they wanted to do."

Feds, Fla. probe teen's shooting by watch captain

Feds, Fla. probe teen's shooting by watch captain

FILE - This undated family photo shows Trayvon Martin. College students around Florida rallied Monday, March 19, 2012, to demand the arrest of a white neighborhood watch captain who shot the unarmed teen in February, though authorities may be hamstrung by a state law that allows people to defend themselves with deadly force.

SANFORD, Fla. (AP) -- An unarmed black teenager shot to death by a neighborhood watch captain told his girlfriend moments before he was killed that he was being followed, a lawyer said Tuesday as federal and state prosecutors announced they would investigate.

"'Oh he's right behind me, he's right behind me again,'" 17-year-old Trayvon Martin told his girlfriend on his cellphone, the Martin family's attorney said.

The girl later heard Martin say, "Why are you following me?" Another man asked, "What are you doing around here?'" attorney Benjamin Crump said.

The phone call that recorded Martin's final moments was disclosed as the U.S. Justice Department opened a federal civil rights probe into the Feb. 26 shooting and the local prosecutor convened a grand jury to investigate.

The neighborhood watch captain, George Zimmerman, has not been charged and has said he shot Martin, who was returning to a gated community in Sanford after buying candy at a convenience store, in self-defense after Martin attacked him. Police say Zimmerman is white; his family says he is Hispanic.

The case has ignited racial tensions in this Orlando suburb of 53,500 people, sparking rallies and a protest in Gov. Rick Scott's office on Tuesday. The Rev. Al Sharpton is joining Sanford city leaders at a town hall meeting later Tuesday to discuss the investigation.

Police say Zimmerman was bleeding from his nose and the back of his head, and told police he had yelled out for help before he shot Martin.

Crump told reporters Tuesday that Martin cried out when a man bearing a 9mm handgun came at him.

Martin called his 16-year-old girlfriend in Miami several times on Feb. 26, including just before the shooting, Crump said. The discovery of the lengthy conversations, including one moments before the shooting, was made over the weekend by Martin's father by checking his son's cell phone log, Crump said.

"She absolutely blows Zimmerman's absurd self-defense claim out of the water," Crump said of Martin's girlfriend, whose name was withheld.

Martin, who was in town from Miami to visit his father in Sanford, told the girl on his way back from the store he'd taken shelter the rain briefly at an apartment building in his father's gated community, Crump said. Martin then told the girl he was being followed and would try to lose the person, Crump said.

"She says: `Run.' He says, `I'm not going to run, I'm just going to walk fast,'" Crump says, quoting the girl.

After Martin encountered Zimmerman, the girl thinks she heard a scuffle "because his voice changes like something interrupted his speech," Crump said. The phone call ended before the girl heard gunshots.

The last call was at 7:12 p.m. Police arrived at 7:17 p.m. to find Martin lying face down on the ground.

Zimmerman was handcuffed after police arrived and taken into custody for questioning, but was released by police without being charged. Police have interviewed Zimmerman two times since then.

Crump called the treatment patently unfair and asked if Martin would have received the same treatment if he had been the shooter.

"We will not rest until he is arrested. The more time that passes, this is going to be swept under the rug," Crump said.

Crump said he plans to turn over information about the call to federal investigators; a grand jury in Seminole County is also likely to subpoena the records. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is also involved in the state case.

Former federal prosecutors said there are limitations to a Justice Department civil rights probe, which typically would involve a sworn law enforcement officer accused of abusing his authority.

In this case, they said, it's not clear whether Zimmerman had any actual law enforcement authority or if the Sanford Police Department did anything improper. Zimmerman had a permit to carry a gun, but it was not required for his neighborhood watch patrol.

"I think the community has the feeling that there's some type of cover-up," said Jeffrey Sloman, former U.S. attorney in Miami. "At least the department's involvement makes sure it gets some review. He wasn't a police officer. I'm sure that this is going to be a tough case to prosecute."

Sanford officials went to Washington Tuesday to meet with Justice Department officials handling the probe, and the department's Civil Rights Division said its community relations unit would go to Florida this week to "address tension in the community."

"If we made missteps over the course of this, we're going to correct those actions," Mayor Jeff Triplett said. "If we made an error, I want someone to tell me. There's people who do this for a living. I don't. I want someone to hold us to that standard."

Authorities may be hamstrung by a state "Stand Your Ground" law that allows people to defend themselves with deadly force and does not require a retreat in the face of danger. Asked Tuesday if that law needs change, Republican Gov. Rick Scott said "it's always positive to go back and think about existing laws."

Seminole County State Attorney Norm Wolfinger said a grand jury will meet April 10 to consider evidence in the case.

An online petition urging local authorities to prosecute Zimmerman has drawn more than 500,000 signatures at website Change.org. About 50 defense attorneys and protesters filled the lobby in the governor's office Tuesday to deliver a letter seeking an independent investigation and a task force to study racial profiling. They applauded when Scott came out of his office to talk to them.

"I will make sure justice prevails," Scott said. "I'm very comfortable that (state law enforcement) is going to do the right thing. They're not going to let somebody do something wrong and get away with it."

Sharpton is attending the town hall meeting at a local church Tuesday night to discuss how the investigation is being handled. Students rallied on Monday at Florida A&M University's campus in Tallahassee and outside the Seminole County Criminal Justice Center.