Washington (CNN) – Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Florida, narrowly escaped harm earlier this week after being caught up in a military coup in the African country of Niger.
Grayson's press secretary, Todd Jurkowski, confirmed to CNN that Grayson was close to the action. "He heard the gunshots. They were literally in the building next door."
The outspoken congressman was in Niger as part of a congressional delegation focused on science, technology and humanitarian relief, according to Jurkowski. When the situation began to unravel, Grayson was taken to the residence of the United States Ambassador to Niger, where he was placed under armed protection.
On Thursday, Assistant U.S. Secretary of State P.J. Crowley told reporters the U.S. Embassy was monitoring the situation and confirmed Grayson was safe at the embassy. Later that night, a Niger military official announced the country's constitution has been suspended.
(CNN) - The actress who lent her voice to a character with Down syndrome on a recent episode of Fox's "Family Guy" is defending the portrayal against attacks from Sarah Palin.
Andrea Fay Friedman, the actress who herself has Down syndrome, said the scene was merely meant to be sarcastic.
"I guess former Governor Palin does not have a sense of humor," she said in an e-mail to the New York Times. "I thought the line 'I am the daughter of the former governor of Alaska' was very funny. I think the word is 'sarcasm.' In my family we think laughing is good. My parents raised me to have a sense of humor and to live a normal life."
In Sunday's episode, a teenaged female character with Down syndrome told another character that "my mom is the former governor of Alaska." A song and dance routine by another character also used language that ridiculed people with disabilities.
Palin, whose 22-month-old son, Trig, has the genetic disorder, said on her Facebook page Monday that she was too angry to offer a coherent response so she had her daughter, Bristol, release a full statement on the family's behalf.
Washington (CNN) - Former Secretary of State Alexander Haig has been admitted to a hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, a hospital spokesman said.
Haig, 85, is at Johns Hopkins Hospital, said the spokesman, Gary Stephenson.
He was admitted on January 28 and is in critical condition, Stephenson said.
Haig was a top official in the administrations of three presidents - Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan.
He served as Nixon's deputy assistant for national security affairs beginning in 1970, then in January 1973 became vice chief of staff of the Army.
"His departure from the Nixon administration proved to be short lived," the Nixon Presidential Library and Museum Web site says in a biographical note on Haig. "Four months later, on May 4, 1973, he returned to the White House as chief of staff at the request of the president to fill the vacuum created by H.R. Haldeman's resignation on April 30."
Washington (CNN) –- The Republican National Committee raised $10.5 million in the month of January, the national party committee announced Friday.
The RNC also said it has $9.4 million in cash-on-hand and no debt.
The RNC raised $6.6 million in December 2009, CNN previously reported.
“The Republican National Committee ended January with a solid increase in our fundraising from just one month ago,” RNC Chairman Michael Steele said in Friday’s statement announcing the RNC’s latest fundraising total.
“Thanks to our many contributors, the RNC is on solid financial footing as we continue to build on the many tremendous Republican victories of the past year,” Steele also said.
Washington (CNN) - A long-awaited Justice Department internal investigation of Bush-era lawyers who authored so-called "torture" memos clears them of allegations of professional misconduct and recommends no legal consequences for their actions.
The report by the Justice Department ethics unit concludes the high-ranking lawyers who developed controversial legal opinions on waterboarding and other enhanced interrogation techniques may have exercised poor judgment but not professional misconduct.
The detailed examination of the legal guidance authored by Justice Department lawyers John Yoo and Jay Bybee found they did not constitute a professional breach that could have led to potential disbarment.
Washington (CNN) - Rep. Tom Price on Friday welcomed the "Party of No" critique that has been leveled at his party by national Democrats, but added he thought the label is "a little silly."
"This charge of saying no doesn't really bother me at all," Price told conservative activists gathered in Washington for the Conservative Political Action Conference. "In fact, I actually vote no a lot," the Georgia Republican said to applause and cheers.
Price, who is the leader of the conservative Republican Study Committee, rallied the CPAC crowd by ticking off a number of Democratic initiatives that he has voted no on.
"When Democrats borrow a trillion dollars for a pork filled stimulus, we stand up and shout 'No!'" Price said. "When they want to raise our taxes, increase our debt, take over our health care, what do we shout?" The crowd didn't hesitate: "No!"
Price, an adamant critic of the expansion of the federal government and of the Obama administration, echoed a sentiment oft-uttered at Tea Party rallies around the country: "We must take our country back."
"Take it back from a vile liberal agenda that is threatening everything we hold dear as Americans," Price said.
New York (CNNMoney.com) - Under pressure to do more for troubled homeowners, President Obama announced Friday a $1.5 billion program to help borrowers in the five states hit hardest by the housing crisis.
The initiative calls for pumping money into state housing agencies in California, Arizona, Nevada, Florida and Michigan to fund programs to prevent foreclosure for people who are unemployed or who owe more than their homes are worth.
Also, the agencies can assist homeowners having trouble securing loan modifications because of second liens, as well as promote affordable housing opportunities.
Obama unveiled the initiative, which will be funded with money from the TARP bank bailout, at events in Nevada, which has the highest number of underwater homeowners at 65% and the nation's second-highest unemployment rate at 13%.
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