5 Things to Know This Morning
5 Things to Know This Morning
— -- Your look at the five biggest and most buzz-worthy stories of the morning.
1. Door Falls Off Bono's Learjet During Flight to Germany
A private plane carrying U2 lead singer Bono experienced an in-air incident Wednesday, with a rear door falling off the Learjet 60, an official with the German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation confirmed.
“The Learjet lost a door where the luggage was put in,” Germout Freitag told ABC News.
2. Immigration, Keystone Top First Day of Lame Duck
A political gambit by an endangered Senate Democrat broke loose long-stalled legislation to force approval of the Keystone XL pipeline as the lame-duck Congress returned to a Capitol where results of last week's GOP blowout are still sinking in.
The move by Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu came as some conservatives were spoiling to drag must-pass spending bills into their battle with President Barack Obama over his planned executive action on immigration, raising at least the possibility of a government shutdown next month or next year.
Landrieu is an underdog to win a fourth term in a runoff next month with GOP Rep. Bill Cassidy. She's a supporter of the Canada-to-Texas pipeline but was unable to win a vote on it, which has been a flash point in her race. Cassidy's version recently passed the House and GOP leaders immediately scheduled another vote on it for Thursday.
The Keystone XL issue was an unexpected addition to a lame-duck agenda focused on keeping the government running past a Dec. 11 deadline.
3. Arkansas Governor Pardons His Son for 2003 Drug Conviction
Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe says he will pardon his son for a felony crime dating back more than a decade.
The pardon stems from Kyle Beebe's 2003 conviction for possession of marijuana with intent to deliver, a class C felony. He was given three years supervised probation and fines at the time, when his father was serving as the state's attorney general, according to ABC affiliate KATV in Little Rock.
"Mr. Governor, I am asking for a second chance at life. I am asking for a second chance to be the man that I know that I can be," Kyle Beebe wrote in his pardon application to his father, the station reported.
4. Robin Williams' Death Report Finds Lewy Body Dementia
Robin Williams had a common but difficult to diagnose condition known as Lewy Body Dementia and this may have contributed to his decision to commit suicide in August, according to documents included in his autopsy report.
The coroner in San Rafael, California, released its autopsy report as well as a pathology report from the University of California San Francisco documenting the comedian's condition.
All people with LBD have dementia, and sometimes appear confused and disoriented and exhibit unusual behavior, said Angela Taylor, the director of programming for the Lewy Body Dementia Association. According to the coroner’s report, Williams had been acting strangely before his death. He is said to have kept several watches in a sock and was very concerned about keeping the watches safe.
5. Harlem Globetrotters Player Makes Amazing 82-Foot Backward Shot
Harlem Globetrotters player Corey “Thunder” Law already owned the Guinness world record for farthest basketball shot.
Why not try it backward?
Law achieved his second record Wednesday, standing near one basket at Phoenix’s US Airways Center – and tossing the ball over his head behind him and across the length of the court, a looping arc that found its target more than 82 feet away.
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