US President Barack Obama (R) sits down for a beer with Professor Henry Louis Gates (2nd L), police Sergeant James Crowley (2nd R) and Vice President Joe Biden to try to start a dialogue on better race relations in the Rose Garden at the White House on July 30.
Obama and Biden were in shirtsleeves, Sgt Crowley and Prof Gates wore suits. The beer was in mugs. Obama had a Bud Lite, Sgt Crowley had Blue Moon, Prof Gates drank Sam Adams Light and Biden, who does not drink, had a Buckler nonalcoholic beer. The four men munched peanuts and pretzels out of small silver bowls.
They came, they met, they drank. They did not apologise.
The much-anticipated beer summit of United States President Barack Obama, Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr, and Sergeant James Crowley of the Cambridge Police Department in Massachusetts took place on Thursday night, accompanied by minute-by-minute reporting from the White House press corps, countdown clocks from the cable news networks, and a last-minute addition by the White House in the form of Vice-President Joe Biden.
“What you had today was two gentlemen who agreed to disagree on a particular issue,” a poised and smooth Sgt Crowley, 42, said during a 15-minute press conference after the session. “We didn’t spend too much time dwelling on the past, and we decided to look forward.”
Professor Gates, 58, said he and Sgt Crowley now must foster sympathy among Americans about “the daily perils of policing on the one hand, and for the genuine fears of racial profiling on the other hand”.
The two men, accompanied by their families, first met each other in the White House library while each group was on individual tours of the White House.
“Nobody knew what to do,” Prof Gates said. “So I walked over, stuck out my hand and said, ‘It’s a pleasure to meet you.’ That broke the awkwardness.”
Sgt Crowley added that the families “had continued the tour as a group”. He described the interaction as very cordial.
Prof Gates concurred, saying: “We hit it off right from the beginning. When he’s not arresting you, Sergeant Crowley is a really likeable guy.
By the time the two men met Obama, they could already report progress and told the President that they had made plans to lunch together soon.
“I am thankful to Professor Gates and Sergeant Crowley for joining me...for a friendly, thoughtful conversation,” Obama said in a statement.
“I noticed this has been called the beer summit,” said the President before the meeting. “It’s a clever term, but this is not a summit, guys. This is three folks having a drink at the end of the day and hopefully giving people an opportunity to listen to each other.”
However , Gates's Daughter: Beer Summit Made 'Little Sense'.Elizabeth Gates, who joined her father at the White House, writes in "What I Saw at the Beer Summit" that the gathering "seemed to make little sense at all."
Police came together against President Obama statement that said police "acted stupidly" in arrest of Professor Gates in his own house.
Rumors began circulating likw wildfire a few weeks ago, that Omer Bhatti , a 25-year-old Norwegian rapper/performer is the secret son of Michael Jackson , a product of a one-night at the pike of his fame in the 80's with a fan from Norway. Joe Jackson drop a bombshell saying Omer Bhatti is Michael Jackson's son. Yup, MJ's Fourth child and I think he made this one himself. It was always rumored that Michael Jackson had a "secret son" or "love child," Omer Bhatti, who was mysteriously sitting with the Jackson family at Michael's funeral. No one took it too seriously because no one actually thought MJ had sex with a woman. Well, the speculation just came to an end because Joe Jackson confirmed in an interview with NewsOne that Omer is Michael's son. His son made with his own DNA unlike that blonde blue eye one. Jackson told NewsOne yesterday:
"Yes, I knew he had another son, yes I did. He looks like a Jackson, acts like a Jackson, can dance like a Jackson. This boy is a fantastic dancer."
Omer was the result of a one night encounter between Michael Jackson and PiaBhatti. Both Pia, Omer, and/or Omer’s legal father lived and/or worked for Jackson sometime during the pop singer’s career.
Jackson was introduced to Omer way back in 1996 he was highly impressed by the imitation dance move of then 12 years old Omer. On the following year Jackson invited the whole family at Neverland ranch to stay with him. Omer’s father Riz Bhatti worked as a chauffeur and Omer’s mother Pia Bhatti became the caretaker of Blanket.
Star Magazine is reporting that the youngest of Michael Jackson’s three children was mothered by a Norwegian dental hygienist, whose 25-year-old son is the rumored “secret lovechild” on the late pop icon.
Jackson never disclosed the identity of seven-year-old Prince Michael Jackson II’s (AKA “Blanket”) mother, revealing only that he was born to an anonymous surrogate, however Star claims Jackson’s longtime friend and former employee Pia Bhatti agreed to donate her eggs to the superstar after he learned that her son Omer – a rapper known as O-Bee — was the result of their one night stand in 1984.
“Pia was sworn to secrecy about Blanket. The agreement she had with Michael was that she would never reveal herself to be Blanket’s mom.”
According to the tabloid scoop, MJ struck up a deal with Pia to provide him with a third child. When approached by Star reporters, Bhatti refused to comment on the claims.
According to Star Magazine, the woman who gave birth to Michael Jackson's youngest child Blanket is Pia Bhatti, a Norwegian dental hygienist, whose 25-year-old son Omer Bhatti is the rumored “secret son” of Jackson.
"Pia was sworn to secrecy about Blanket," a source tells the magazine. "Michael always liked the mystique. He never wanted anyone to know the truth about any of his children."
Pia lives with her husband Riz in a graffiti-riddled suburb of Oslo, Norway. She is reportedly turning down all requests for interviews. So no one has actually confirmed that Pia is Blanket’s mom, but a source says. "you only had to see her with Blanket. She treated him as her own for one very good reason — he is.".
Rumors about Jackson having a fourth child have resurfaced after Omer Bhatti was spotted at the singer’s memorial.
Jackson reportedly told close friends several years ago that Omer was the result of a one-night stand he had with a fan, Pia Bhatti, in 1984. Omer lived at Jackson's Neverland mansion for several years as a child. Check out the photos of Omer Bhatti. The resemblance is there.
Michael Jackson’s secret son 25 years Omar Bhatti Norwegian rapper (mother Pia Bhatti) is no secret now, you will found him in most of the recent family photos. Even couple of weeks ago Omar Bhatti was allowed to sat in the front row circled by the Jackson family at the Michael Jackson’s memorial service at the Los Angeles .
MichaelJackson 25 year old rumored new son Omer Bhatti was welcomed by Michael Jackson’s family. A 25 year old Norwegian Omer Bhatti known as a singer-rapper was spotted sitting beside Jackson’s family at the time of the memorial. There were also rumored that Michael Jackson had a one-night stand with Pia Bhatti which is Omer Bhatti’s mother. There were also report that Omer Bhatti’s mother Pia Bhatti undergo a DNA test to prove that Omer Bhatti is Michael Jackson older son.
Jermaine Jackson Michael’s brother had announced that Omer Bhatti will be welcomed into the family if he could prove that he is the fourth child of Jackson.
Jermaine also added that he is not yet sure whether Omer is his brother’s son. But if he is a Jackson, he would be treated exactly the same as Michael’s three younger children, Prince Michael, 12, Paris Michael, 11, and Blanket (Prince Michael II) seven.
A US Official Tabloid Gossip report in 2004 claimed Michael had been telling his friends he was the father, but they were unsure whether or not to believe him.
However, Omer’s appearance and his physical similarities to Michel ’s official son Blanket, has indeed fuelled speculation that he might be the son of Michael Jackson
Jackson's personal life generated significant controversy. His changing appearance was noticed from the early 1980s, with changes to the shape of his nose and to the color of his skin drawing media publicity. He was accused in 1993 of child sexual abuse, although no charges were brought. He married twice, first in 1994 and again in 1996, and brought up three children, one of them born to a surrogate mother. In 2005, he was tried and acquitted of child molestation allegations. Jackson died at the age of 50 on June 25, 2009, in Los Angeles, California after suffering from cardiac arrest. His memorial service was broadcast live around the world. The Global Language Monitor reported that news of his death and the immediate aftermath was the second biggest story of the 21st century on the Internet, trailing only the election of Barack Obama to the US Presidency.
Image of Dr Conray Murray with Michael Jackons , the doc was with Micheal Jackson when he died.
It is believed that Dr. Conrad Murray owed at least $780,000 in settlements, mortgage, loans and needed a big payday when he became Michael Jackson's personal physician last spring.
The Las Vegas cardiologist owed at least $780,000 for settlements against his business, outstanding mortgage payments on his house, delinquent student loans, child support and credit cards. And that doesn't include the $68,000 the distributor of an energy drink says Murray, a one-time business associate, owes for skipping out on payments.
Court records chronicling Murray's woes in Las Vegas, where authorities searched his home this week as part of their manslaughter investigation into Jackson's death, help explain why — beyond basking in a celebrity's aura — Murray might have jumped at the $150,000-a-month Jackson's promoter was prepared to pay him to keep the star healthy through a series of concerts in London.
Murray hooked on with Jackson in May, as his bleak financial picture threatened to worsen. He already was under court orders to pay more than $363,000 for equipment for his heart clinic and $71,000 in student loans dating to the 1980s, a judgment that hit in April. Two lawsuits claiming he owes $240,000 more for unpaid equipment are pending in Nevada courts.
And Murray had appeared unable or unwilling to settle more modest debts — a nearly $3,700 judgment for not paying child support and two recent credit card company claims totaling $2,600.
Murray's 5,268-square-foot home near the 18th hole of a golf course offers no refuge — he's in "pre-foreclosure" after failing to make payments on his $1.66 million loan, records show. He stopped paying the $15,000-per-month mortgage in December and could lose the home by November, said Mary Hunt, the foreclosure officer handling the case for Stewart Title company.
Authorities investigating Jackson's death at his rented Los Angeles mansion believe Murray gave the star a fatal dose of the anesthetic propofol to help him sleep, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing. Propofol is commonly used for surgeries and is not meant as a sleep agent or to be given in private homes. Because of its potency, only trained anesthesia professionals are supposed to administer it and patients are to be constantly monitored.
Murray, 56, has not spoken publicly since Jackson's June 25 death. His lawyer, Ed Chernoff, has said the doctor did not prescribe anything that "should have" killed Jackson.
Neither Jackson nor AEG Live, the promoter for the London concerts, paid Murray for the two months the doctor worked for the pop star, according to Chernoff.
"Dr. Murray has lost the ability to make a living as a result of this investigation," he said. "His hope is he can forestall foreclosure until he can once again begin working as a doctor."
Also failed in bid to market Pit Bull drink in Trinidad and Tobago in 2005 and 2006. He owned partner then John Thomas the distributor about $68 ooo ."You always think you know a guy," Thomas said. "All the dirt is coming out now."
Paris Jackson, left, Prince Michael Jackson and Prince Michael Jackson II appear on stage during the memorial service for Michael Jackson at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Attorneys handling Michael Jackson's estate say they have asked a judge to approve an allowance for the singer's three children and his mother on Thursday morning July 23, 2009
Michael Jackson may have died owing an estimated $400 million, but in new court documents obtained by RadarOnline.com, the executors of the singer's estate assert there are "assets consist of real and personal property exceeding $500 million and that the estate is solvent."
Executors John Branca and John McClain also state they were successful in recovering over $5.5 million dollars in cash from a former unamed business advisor. RadarOnline.com has learned that the funds were in a personal Michael Jackson account and have been transferred to the Trust account.
The executors asked the Court to approve an allowance for Michael's mother Katherine Jackson and his three children, although the amount in blacked out in the documents.
Katherine has lived in the so-called Jackson family compound for 30 years with Michael paying all his mother's bills. The house, in L.A.'s Encino district, was owned by Michael and is now the property of his estate, which will continue to pay the mortgage and maintenance bills.
The legal documents also set the groundwork for some new Jackson family fireworks. It pointed out that "other members of Michael Jackson's extended family...have been and are currently residing in the Residence." An allowance for them has been requested as well but it is clearly a temporary move. The Executors have already put the Court -- and Michael's siblings on notice -- that they reserve the right to amend that allowance.
Attorney John Branca and music executive John McClain are serving as temporary administrators as spelled out in the King of Pop's will. The men are finishing several deals that they expect will generate "tens of millions of dollars of revenues."
They expect to submit those deals for court approval within the next week, the filings state.
The revelations were included in two motions requesting allowances for Jackson's three children and his mother, Katherine. The petitions state that Jackson was the primary source of income for his children and his mother, who receives some money from Social Security.
Katherine Jackson currently has custody of the three children, 12-year-old Michael Joseph Jr., known as Prince Michael; 11-year-old Paris Michael Katherine Jackson; and 7-year-old Prince Michael II, known as Blanket. The children and Jackson's mother are the only members of Jackson's family eligible to receive support from the estate, according to the court filings.
The monthly stipends that Branca and McClain hope to provide the Jacksons are redacted from the court records released Friday.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff refused to grant the allowances on Thursday, opting instead to consider them at a hearing on Aug. 3. The judge did allow the administrators to enter into deals that will bring reprints of Michael Jackson's 1988 autobiography, "Moonwalk" back to booksellers.
Branca and McClain "believe that the projected cash flow and the assets of the estate are more than sufficient to cover the payment of this of this amount as a family allowance for the benefit of the minor children."
Jackson paid for the expenses at the Jackson family home in the San Fernando Valley, the court filings state. The administrators plan to keep that arrangement, even though some of the expenses may go to other Jackson family members who also live at the home.
Jackson's children will receive Social Security benefits, which have been applied for but payments have not yet started. Their monthly stipends from the estate may be reduced, depending on much money they receive from Social Security, the filings state.
Cambridge police Sgt. James Crowley, far left, listens as a multiracial group of officers and union leaders, including Cambridge Police Patrol Officers Union President Steve Killion, foreground right, hold a news conference in Cambridge, Mass. Friday, July 24, 2009 to show support for Crowley, who was the arresting officer of Harvard Prof. Lewis Gates at his home. At center is Sgt. Leon Lashley, who was with Crowley at the scene of the arrest, said later he supports "100 percent" how Crowley handled the situation.
In this photo taken by a neighbor Thursday July 16, 2009, Henry Louis Gates Jr. center, the director of Harvard University's W.E.B. DuBois Institute for African and African American Research, is arrested at his home in Cambridge, Mass. Cambridge police officers attending are, Sgt. James Crowley, right, and Sgt. Leon Lashley, front right.
President Barack Obama smiles as he talks to the media in the briefing room at the White House in Washington, Friday, July 24, 2009.
FILE - This Aug. 23, 2006 file photo shows Harvard University Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., during a book signing moments before the screening of a segment of the Spike Lee documentary called "When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts," at the Old Whaling Church in Edgartown, Mass., on Martha's Vineyard.
President Barack Obama pauses as he talks to the media in the briefing room at the White House in Washington, Friday, July 24, 2009.
President Barack Obama gestures as he talks to the media in the briefing room at The White House in Washington, Friday, July 24, 2009.
President Barack Obama pauses as he talks to the media in the briefing room of the White House in Washington, Friday, July 24, 2009.
Cambridge Police Sergeants James Crowley (L) and Leon Lashley stand together at a news conference with representatives of various police unions in Cambridge, Massachusetts July 24, 2009. Sergeant Lashley was on the scene last week when Sergeant Crowley arrested prominent black scholar and Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. after responding to a call about a break-in at Gates' home in Cambridge.
The police union's combative press conference Friday was an example of how the profession closes ranks in times of trouble.
Mere hours after the police union of Cambridge, Mass., brazenly demanded an apology from the president of the United States, it – in essence – got it.
While President Obama's unscheduled appearance at a routine White House press conference was not an explicit apology, Mr. Obama acknowledged that he now regretted his choice of words in a Wednesday night press conference. He had said that Sgt. James Crowley "acted stupidly" for arresting Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. on his own front porch.
Hours earlier, a multiracial group of police officers had stood with Crowley in Massachusetts and said the president should apologize.
Obama conceded his words had been ill-chosen, but he stopped short of a public apology. He personally telephoned both Gates and Sgt. James Crowley, hoping to end the rancorous back-and-forth over what had transpired and what Obama had said about it. Trying to lighten the situation, he even commiserated with Crowley about reporters on his lawn.
Knocked off stride by a racial uproar he helped stoke, President Barack Obama hastened Friday to tamp down the controversy. Obama, who had said Cambridge, Mass., police "acted stupidly" in arresting black scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr., declared the white arresting officer was a good man and invited him and the professor to the White House for a beer.
t was a measure of the nation's keen sensitivities on matters of race that the fallout from a disorderly conduct charge in Massachusetts — and the remarks of America's first black president about it — had mushroomed to such an extent that he felt compelled to make a surprise appearance in the White House briefing room to try to put the matter to rest. The blowup had dominated national attention just as Obama was trying to marshal public pressure to get Congress to push through health care overhaul legislation — and as polls showed growing doubts about his performance.
"This has been ratcheting up, and I obviously helped to contribute ratcheting it up," Obama said of the racial controversy. "I want to make clear that in my choice of words, I think I unfortunately gave an impression that I was maligning the Cambridge Police Department and Sgt. Crowley specifically. And I could've calibrated those words differently."
"The fact that this has garnered so much attention, I think, is testimony to the fact that these are issues that are still very sensitive here in America," Obama said.
"I don't know if you've noticed, but nobody's been paying much attention to health care," the president said.
There were signs both that Obama's statement had helped to ease tensions and that his critics were not about to let that be the end of it: A trio of Massachusetts police organizations issued a statement thanking the president for his "willingness to reconsider his remarks." And a Republican congressman from Michigan, Thaddeus McCotter, said he would introduce a House resolution calling on Obama to apologize to Crowley.
He said the police officer "wanted to find out if there was a way of getting the press off his lawn."
"I informed him that I can't get the press off my lawn," Obama joked.
The case began on Monday, when word broke that Gates, 58, had been arrested five days earlier at the two-story home he rents from Harvard.
Supporters including Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson called the arrest an outrageous act of racial profiling. Public interest increased when a photograph surfaced of the handcuffed Gates being escorted off his porch amid three officers, two white and one black.
Cambridge police moved to drop the disorderly conduct charge on Tuesday — without apology, but calling the case "regrettable."
Meanwhile, the police union and fellow officers, black and white, rallied around Crowley, a decorated officer who in 1993 tried to give lifesaving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to Reggie Lewis, a black Boston Celtics player who collapsed at practice. Lewis could not be revived.
Crowley, 42, had been selected to be a police academy instructor on how to avoid racial profiling.
A multiracial group of officers and union officials stood with Crowley on Friday at a news conference to show support and to ask Obama and Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, who is black, to apologize for their comments. Patrick had called Gates' arrest "every black man's nightmare."
Obama's take on the situation: "My sense is you've got two good people in a circumstance in which neither of them were able to resolve the incident in a way that it should have been resolved."
Authorities searching Murray’s cardiology clinic had a search warrant indicating that the pop star’s death was being investigated as a manslaughter.
Conrad Murray was with Jackson in his final moments June 25 at the singer's rented mansion in Los Angeles and accompanied him to the hospital. He has cooperated with investigators.
Investigators from L.A. and Houston, as well as DEA agents, seize documents and computer files from Acres Home Heart and Vascular Institute, a cardiology clinic run by Dr. Conrad Murray.
Dozens of police and federal agents descended on the Houston clinic of Michael Jackson's doctor Wednesday in what his lawyer said was a search for evidence of manslaughter, thrusting the doctor back under suspicion in the singer's death.
Conrad Murray was with Jackson in his final moments June 25 at the singer's rented mansion in Los Angeles and accompanied him to the hospital. He has cooperated with investigators.
"The search warrant authorized law enforcement to search for and seize items, including documents, they believed constituted evidence of the offense of manslaughter," said the doctor's lawyer, Edward Chernoff, in a statement.
Murray, whose main practice and residence are in Las Vegas, was not present for the 3 1/2 -hour search by officers from the Drug Enforcement Administration, the LAPD Robbery-Homicide Division and the Houston Police Department. DEA spokeswoman Violet Szeleczky said investigators went to the Acres Home Heart and Vascular Institute, a cardiology clinic Murray opened in 2006, in search of records, but she declined to elaborate.
A DEA official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the warrant mentioned the anesthetic propofol. Police removed large quantities of the powerful drug from Jackson's Holmby Hills mansion, and DEA agents have been working with the manufacturer to trace the source of a specific lot number of the drug.
Propofol was not found in Murray's office, a source familiar with the search said. Investigators took Murray's Rolodex, business cards, information about his use of FedEx, e-mails he had received from a former employee, receipts for a storage unit and cellphone and pamphlets advertising a nearby sleep clinic, the source said. Officers took a folder containing a biography of Murray and a photocopy of a picture of him, the source said.
Murray, a 51-year-old cardiologist, opened the Houston clinic three years ago in honor of his father, a physician who had worked in the poor, predominantly black neighborhood for decades.
Murray traveled to Houston twice a month to see patients until May, when he suspended his practice to work full-time for Jackson, according to a biography provided by his lawyer.
Although Murray had been hired to care for Jackson at a monthly salary of $150,000, the performer was also seeing a number of other physicians, and the L.A. County coroner's office has subpoenaed medical records from several physicians.
The spotlight on Murray, however, has been the most intense because he was with Jackson at his home when the singer went into cardiac arrest.
USC law professor Jean Rosenbluth, a former federal prosecutor, said the reference to manslaughter in the search warrant provides some insight into detectives' interpretation of the evidence but ultimately may be irrelevant.
"You get a search warrant because you are investigating the possible commission of a crime, but all of this is just at the investigatory stage. All the time there are investigations where no one is charged with a crime in the end," she said.
She said that when the deceased is a global icon, "they are not going to leave any stones unturned."
"With the whole world watching they would want every 't' crossed and every 'i' dotted," she said.
An Indian judge accepted the confession of the lone surviving gunman from the shooting attacks in Mumbai, but said Thursday the trial would proceed anyway.
The young Pakistani gunman, Ajmal Kasab, unexpectedly confessed Monday to taking part in the November attack that paralyzed India's financial capital and killed 166 people.
The court had delayed a decision on whether to accept his confession and guilty plea, with prosecutors arguing that his statement was incomplete and saying his confession was a manuever to gain clemency. In response, Kasab said he was willing to be hanged for his actions.
"If I am hanged for this, I am not bothered," he said. "I don't want any mercy from the court. I understand the implications of my accepting the crime."
Kasab unexpectedly confessed Monday to taking part on the first day of the attacks in downtown Mumbai, India's financial and entertainment capital. His statement bolsters India's charges that terrorist groups in neighboring Pakistan were behind the well-planned attack, and that it is not doing enough to clamp down on them.
Kasab admitted spraying gunfire into the crowd at Mumbai's main train station, and described in detail a network of training camps and safe houses across Pakistan, giving the names of four men he said were his handlers.
He denied killing four Mumbai policemen whose deaths remain touchstones of grief and anger in India.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Islamabad was waiting for copies of the confession, but that it would not impede ongoing efforts at dialogue between the two nuclear-armed neighbors.
The court has issued arrest warrants for 22 Pakistanis accused of conspiring in the attack.
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Mumbai is reeling in the wake of a string of co-ordinated attacks by armed men which left scores dead and hundreds injured.
Security forces on Saturday killed the last of the attackers at the Taj Mahal, three days after the gunmen had holed themselves up with several hostages.
CCTV footage of the operation inside Mumbai's iconic Taj Hotel.
All crucial leads into the 26/11 attacks on Mumbai are coming from one man - Abdul Amir Qasab, the lone terrorist captured alive. But behind the capture is a story of grit, of a group of 5 policemen who trapped two terrorists, killed one, and got the other alive. Those policemen stopped the terrorists from spreading further mayhem in Mumbai.
Prof Henry Louis Gates is a prominent Harvard scholar
The US president has said police acted "stupidly" when they arrested a black Harvard scholar outside his own home.
President Obama said Wednesday night that racial issues still haunt America, even as he noted "the incredible progress that has been made."
Obama was asked at the end of his news conference about the arrest last week of Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. outside his home. The incident has sparked a national discussion about race relations.
Obama noted that "Skip Gates is a friend, so I may be a little biased here," and he referred to the professor's account of arriving home to find a jammed door, forcing it open and then being confronted by a white police officer looking for proof that Gates lived in the house. According to Gates's account, he showed the officer his ID and became angry when the officer would not identify himself.
The president said he understands the professor's outrage. If he were trying to "jigger into" his old house in Chicago, Obama said, he would assume that the police would be called on him as well. But once Gates showed his ID, he added, it seemed to him the officer should have considered the issue resolved.
"Now, I don't know, not having been there and not seeing all the facts, what role race played in that," Obama said. "But I think it's fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry; number two, that the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home."
"What I think we know, separate and apart from this incident, is that there's a long history in this country of African Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately. That's just a fact," Obama said Wednesday night. He said he had pushed for the passage of a bill in the Illinois legislature to address the problem.
Obama went on to say that he stood in the White House "as testimony to the progress that's been made."
"And yet the fact of the matter is . . . this still haunts us," he said. "And even when there are honest misunderstandings, the fact that blacks and Hispanics are picked up more frequently, and oftentime for no cause, casts suspicion, even when there is good cause."
During the confrontation between the two men, the 58-year-old professor reportedly said: "This is what happens to black men in America."
His lawyer said Prof Gates had just returned from a trip overseas and, upon arriving at the property with a driver, found his front door jammed and had to force it open.
By the time police arrived at the house, he and the driver had managed to get inside the property.
According to police, Prof Gates shouted at the officer and accused him of racial bias.
Prof Gates has said he was "outraged" by the arrest and called the officer, Sgt James Crowley, a "rogue policeman". Sgt Crowley has refused to apologise.
Mr Obama said: "I think it's fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry.
"Number two... the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home."
President Obama: "The Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home"
An initial disorderly conduct charge was dropped and Cambridge police called the arrest "regrettable and unfortunate".
Mr Obama said federal officials should work with local police to "improve policing techniques so that we're eliminating potential bias".
He said that when he was in the Illinois state legislature, he had worked towards a racial profiling bill because there was indisputable evidence that African-Americans and Hispanics were being stopped disproportionately.
Negotiations are reportedly underway between most of the major movie studios to secure the distribution rights to a film based on Michael Jackson’s rehearsals for his planned This Is It concerts, the AP reports. According to the AP, executives from Sony, Paramount, Universal and 20th Century Fox were all shown rehearsal footage, and Sony Corp. reportedly offered $50 million for the distribution rights. Sony appears to be the likeliest destination for the film, as the company already distributes Jackson’s catalog and has a 50/50 stake in the Sony/ATV Music Publishing deal with the Jackson estate. Footage of Jackson and his dancers performing “They Don’t Care About Us” during rehearsals was previously unveiled.
Whoever wins the bidding war will produce the film along with AEG Live — the concert promoters staging the This Is It concerts, who filmed Jackson’s rehearsals at Los Angeles’ Staples Center — as well as the Jackson estate. The high bid seems to back AEG Live CEO Randy Phillips’ claims that Michael was in good health during the rehearsals.
Additionally, AEG Live is also reportedly in talks to turn the This Is It concert into a TV special directed by Kenny Ortega, which could be the rumored all-star tribute discussed in the weeks following Jackson’s death. NBC is reportedly the front runner to acquire the television special with the price somewhere in the tens of millions. As Rock Daily previously reported, 31 million viewers watched the Jackson memorial on TV and roughly 30 million more streamed the video online during its Tuesday afternoon simulcast, suggesting a TV special would likely produce just south of Super Bowl numbers.
According to the AP, John McClain and John Branca, the two men named as executors in Jackson’s 2002 will, have been working quickly to secure deals for assets like the This Is It recordings in order to take advantage of the recent spike in Jackson-related sales. Since the King of Pop’s death, Jackson’s albums and compilations have surged up the charts from relative dormancy, and MTV reported yesterday that Jackson’s Thriller is on the verge of usurping the Eagles’ Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975) as the highest-selling album of all time.
McClain is reportedly also digging through Jackson’s vaults of unreleased material, a treasure trove that features songs like “A Place With No Name”, a portion of which leaked last week.
The Jackson clan is split by a bitter feud over Michael's will, it was claimed yesterday.
The eccentric pop star left 40% of his estate to mum Katherine, 40% to his three kids and the rest to charity.
But Katherine, 79, has hired a lawyer to challenge the executors Jacko chose - John Branca and John McClain. Son Randy, 47, backs her but most of his brothers do not.
Dad Joe, 79 - left out of the 2002 will - is said to have "asserted his influence" over his wife to get her to launch the legal battle.
Influential showbiz website tmz.com said: "Sources say she is being manipulated and doesn't have objections."
But Joe, speaking about his son's will, told chatshow host Larry King: "That's the way he wanted it.
"It's not going to hurt me that I was left out of his will. But it happened."
Katherine Jackson has reportedly hired the Jackson family Attorney Londell McMillan will reportedly challenge the will’s executors, even though there was a “no contest” clause in the document stating that if anyone disputed Michael’s wishes, they’d be written out as a beneficiary. Under the terms of the will, both Katherine and Michael’s three children were to receive 40 percent of Jackson’s assets, with the remaining 20 percent going to charity.
And the clan could be about to agree to bury him at his Neverland ranch, other reports say.
Katherine is said to have softened her opposition to his brothers' desire to make it his final resting place.
But that is said to depend on the site, controlled by private investors, being passed to his kids Prince, 12, Paris, 11, and Blanket, seven.
A source told People magazine: "Katherine would relent if it could be arranged for Michael's children to gain ownership. If they could have complete ownership, Katherine would approve."
But some locals in Santa Barbara, California, have formed a group to oppose Jacko being buried there.
Two light rail cars collided in San Francisco Saturday, injuring 48 people, four of whom were in critical condition, officials said.Muni personnel look over the two trains involved in an afternoon collision at the West Portal Station on Saturday.Several dozen people were injured on Saturday in a crash involving two San Francisco light-rail trains at the West Portal Station, the authorities said.
The mid-afternoon accident caused service delays into the evening between the West Portal and Castro stations in California's third largest city.
Initial reports indicating that a single-car train was traveling at low speed when it collided with a stopped train have not been confirmed, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (MTA) spokesman Judson True said in a statement.
The investigation of the accident is ongoing, True said.
There have been several such accidents in the United States in recent months.
Last month nine people were killed and more than 70 injured when a commuter train in Washington D.C. slammed into another that had stopped during the afternoon rush hour. The cause of the crash has not been determined.
Witnesses said the westbound L train barreled into the K train as it emerged from a tunnel connecting downtown San Francisco to the western neighborhoods of the city.
The front of the L train was smashed, while the K train sustained less damage. The operator of the L train was among the seriously injured.
Witnesses said more than a dozen people sat on benches along the boarding platform after the crash, some of them bleeding from their heads. Most of the passengers were adults.
The cause of the crash was under investigation. Judson True, a railway spokesman, said investigators would look at “mechanical and human issues.”
The crash was at least the third major transit accident in the United States since May.
Nine people were killed and more than 70 injured on June 22 when a Metro train slammed into another train stopped on the tracks in Washington. On May 8, more than 50 people were injured when a Boston subway trolley plowed into another train.
Officials look over the trains involved in the crash at the West Portal Station.
A Muni worker inspects the damage to two trains that were involved in a collision Saturday at the West Portal Station.
San Francisco firefighters talk with one of the victims involved in a two-train Muni crash at the West Portal Station on Saturday.
San Francisco firefighters and police officers coordinate which victims get transported from the West Portal Station according to the severity of their injuries after a two-train MUNI crash on Saturday.
A San Francisco fire captain inspects the damage after the Muni train on the left collided with the train on the right at the West Portal Station on Saturday.
Residents and Muni riders look on as emergency workers and firefighters attend to dozens of people injured when an L-Taraval Muni Metro train apparently rear-ended a K-Ingleside train.
Officials look over the trains involved in the crash at the West Portal Station.
Muni personnel and accident inspectors look over the two trains involved in an afternoon collision at the West Portal Station on Saturday.
Muni workers cover the damaged front end of a Muni train after a collision between an outbound L Taraval and K Ingleside train at the West Portal Station on Saturday.
Muni personnel prepare to move a damaged L Taraval Muni train after it collided with an outbound K Ingleside train at the West Portal Station on Saturday.
Muni spokesman Judson True answers questions from members of the media at the scene of accident after an outbound L Taraval and a K Ingleside train collided near the boarding platform at the West Portal Station in San Francisco on Saturday.
Muni workers inspect the rail track after two Muni trains collided at the West Portal Station in San Francisco on Saturday
Rescue workers transport one of several dozen people who were injured when two San Francisco light-rail trains collided Saturday afternoon at the West Portal Station. Rescue workers take a crash victim to an ambulance. About 20 were taken to hospitals.
A Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) train travels towards San Francisco in 2005
Medical personnel treat the injured Saturday at West Portal Station, where a light rail car hit another.
Emergency workers set up a triage area next to one of the trains involved in a two-train Muni crash at the West Portal Station.
Two light rail cars collided in San Francisco Saturday, injuring 48 people, four of whom were in critical condition, officials said.Muni personnel look over the two trains involved in an afternoon collision at the West Portal Station on Saturday.
At least 44 people were hurt after two light rail cars collided near a rail station in San Francisco on Saturday. None of the injuries appeared to be life-threatening.
The crash occurred at about 2 p.m. Saturday at Fourth and King streets, one block south of AT&T Park.
According to Muni officials, a one-car, T-Third train going west on King Street between Third and Fourth streets rear-ended a two-car N-Judah train that was stopped at the Fourth Street traffic signal. The back of the N-Judah train was heavily damaged in the crash.
"Based on the investigation so far, it appears as though the T-Third train was traveling at 17 mph," Muni spokesman Judson True said Tuesday. He said that section of roadway is a 3-mph zone for Muni trains.
Muni is also investigating whether the T-Third operator may have been on a cell phone at the time of the crash.
Other security camera shows interior of train when crashing.
