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The death toll has climbed to at least 17 with dozens hospitalized after dangerous storms and tornadoes ripped acroâ€twitter.com/i/web/status/1…tr
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Arkansas' Baptist Health is treating at least 21 patients, 5 in critical condition, after a tornado hit the Littleâ€twitter.com/i/web/status/1…Fl
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A tornado touched down near Little Rock with reports of damage and injuries, the National Weather Service says, asâ€twitter.com/i/web/status/1…Ht
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Dominion's $1.6 billion defamation case against Fox News will proceed to a jury trial after a judge declines to decâ€twitter.com/i/web/status/1…GB
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Donald Trump is expected to be arraigned in Manhattan criminal court at around 2:15 p.m. ET on Tuesday, sources sayâ€twitter.com/i/web/status/1…i4
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Disgraced Paralympian Oscar Pistorius denied early parole from prison, 10 years after killing girlfriend Reeva Steeâ€twitter.com/i/web/status/1…3i
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The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against Norfolk Southern Railway Company following February's train deraâ€twitter.com/i/web/status/1…gl
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FDA: Darvon, Darvocet to be pulled
The pharmaceutical company that makes the prescription pain medications Darvon and Darvocet has agreed to withdraw the drugs from the U.S. market at the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the FDA said Friday.
The FDA says the drug, propoxyphene, puts patients at risk of potentially serious or fatal heart rhythm abnormalities. Since 2009, 10 million people have been prescribed some form of the drug.
"We recommend to physicians stop prescribing the drugs. As for patients, do not stop taking it, but we urge you to contact your health care professional. Do not delay," said Gerald Dal Pan, director of the FDA's Office of Surveillance and Epidemiology.
Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals Inc. manufactures Darvon and Darvocet, two brand name versions of propoxyphene. The FDA also asked generic makers of the pain medicine to voluntarily remove their products.
The decision to remove the drug came after the FDA reviewed a new trial study that looked at the drug's impact on heart rhythms.
Gotta Watch: Fast food f-bombs, driverless VW
Would you like an f-bomb with that? - A Sacramento, California, man was not amused when the receipt for his meal said f*** you ... twice. The man said he didn’t do anything to provoke the employees. We're thinking Cee Lo Green might have been in the back making the fries.
Israel reports hitting targets in Gaza
The Israeli air force struck three sites Friday in Gaza in response to rockets fired at communities in southern Israel, the Israel Defense Forces said.
Ten mortar rockets and a Grad rocket have been fired into Israel in the past two days, the military said. The mortar shells landed in open territory, but the Grad rocket hit near the city of Ofakim, causing some damage, said the military, commonly called the IDF.
Palestinian security sources said the strikes hit an Islamic Jihad base near Khan Yunes, a house in Deir El Balah, and an open space in Rafah. Four people were lightly wounded in the Deir El Balah strike, Palestinian medical sources said.
The military said in a news release that it "holds the Hamas terrorist organization solely responsible for maintaining the calm in the Gaza Strip and for any terrorist activity emanating from it."
"The IDF will also continue to respond harshly to any attempt to use terror against the state of Israel."
- CNN's Michal Zippori contributed to this report.
Florida airport considers ditching TSA
An Orlando, Florida, airport official wants to do away with the Transportation Security Administration and use a private firm to screen passengers.
Larry Dale, president of the Sanford Airport Authority in Orlando, is considering ditching TSA security personnel and replacing them with a private firm.
"Airports are unique...one size doesn't fit all," Dale told CNN's American Morning on Friday. Dale says his board and staff have been looking at other airports that provide their own security in preparation for making the switch at Orlando Sanford International Airport. Dale says his research shows that using a private security screening company would be "more efficient and more enjoyable to the public."
Dale's comments come during a week in which the TSA has been under fire for it's airport screening procedures, including imaging technology and pat downs. TSA is in charge of protecting the nation's transportation systems.
Private airport security is not uncommon. The TSA lists 17 airports that are currently participating in its Screening Partnership Program.
On the Radar: Court action, NATO summit, middle class
Derrick Yancey was found guilty of murdering his wife and a day laborer.
Legal action -Â Friday will be a busy day for court proceedings.
AÂ jury will begin deliberations in the DUI manslaughter trial of former major-league baseball player Jim Leyritz in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
A former Georgia sheriff's deputy convicted of two murders will be sentenced. A jury this month found Derrick Yancey guilty of murdering his wife and a day laborer. Yancey was arrested last year in Belize, where he had fled after escaping house arrest.
Also in Georgia, Senior U.S. District Judge Jack Camp Jr., charged with purchasing illegal drugs and passing them on to a stripper, is expected to plead guilty Friday in federal court in Atlanta. Camp, 67, is accused of buying cocaine, marijuana and prescription painkillers and giving them to an exotic dancer he met last spring.
Passenger on windshield crack: How can it happen?
On a Delta flight from Atlanta, Georgia to Orange County, California the captain came on the loud-speaker saying there was a problem in the cockpit – the cockpit windshield had cracked - and they needed to make an emergency landing in Dallas/Ft. Worth.
Passenger Mike Fleming was on the flight, updating his Facebook status while it was happening and took a photo of the damaged windshield. Fleming spoke to American Morning’s Kiran Chetry about the sudden emergency situation at 34,000 feet mid-air.
German minister: Suspicious bag was 'test device'
[Updated at 1:02 p.m.] A suspicious piece of luggage that was about to be loaded onto a flight in Namibia was a "test device" from a U.S. company that sells products designed to test security, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said in a news conference Friday in Hamburg, Germany.
Namibian Police on Friday warned that whoever is responsible for planting the device among the luggage of an Air Berlin flight Wednesday would be severely dealt with, warning that Namibia was not to be used as an unauthorized testing ground for aviation security.
"The preliminary investigations have revealed that the suspicious parcel does not contain any explosive substances; however, it is an explosive simulation training device, manufactured by an American-based company, 'Larry Copello Incorporated,' " Lt. Gen. Sebastian Ndeitunga, Namibia's top policeman, told reporters Friday at a news conference in Windhoek, the capital.
The device is a training aid to help screeners identify explosive devices, Larry Copello, founder and CEO of Larry Copello, Inc., told CNN Friday. Copello described the device as "non-hazardous ...not a threat to anyone."
Copello said his company sells such devices to law enforcement agencies, governments and corporate clients, but did not know to whom this particular device was sold. He learned of the Namibia incident on Thursday when the FBI called him. He said he is cooperating with the investigation.
An official with the U.S. Transportation Security Administration said Friday that they are working with German and Namibian authorities to determine the origin of the device and the reason it was to be transported on the plane.
U.S. sending tanks to Afghanistan for the first time
The United States is beefing up its firepower in Afghanistan by employing heavily armored tanks in Afghanistan for the first time in the nine-year war, a military spokesman said Friday.
The U.S. Marine Corps plans to use a company of M1A1 Abrams tanks in restive Helmand province by early spring, said Marine Maj. Gabrielle Chapin.
The M1A1 tank is the fastest and most deadly ground combat weapons system available. It will allow for more aggressive missions while mitigating risks to U.S. forces, the military said.
Royal wedding plans - let the intrigue begin!
Kate Middleton was spotted scouting out Westminster Abbey late Wednesday. Might that offer a clue to where the royal wedding will take place? Behind any wedding is a delicate logistical dance, but when it comes to the pressure of planning a royal wedding that delicate dance is magnified before the world.
Royal historian Hugo Vickers talks to American Morning’s Kiran Chetry about the protocol, pressure and palace intrigue that’ll ensue in the coming weeks and months as all eyes look toward William and Kate's nuptials.
Colombia declares state of calamity after rains affect 1.2 million
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos declared a state of calamity in 28 of the nation's 32 states Thursday due to heavy rains and flooding that have affected 1.2 million people.
Flooding and mudslides have killed 136 people, injured 205 and left 20 missing, the nation's Interior and Justice Ministry reported.
Emergency officials say the heavy rain has led to problems in 561 municipalities in the South American nation.
Santos made the announcement on national TV, saying the declaration will help get aid to those who need it.
Friday's live video events
8:00 am ET - Congress 'freshman class' photo - The newest members of Congress get their “class” photo taken on Capitol Hill.
9:00 am ET - Congress office lottery -Â New members of Congress find out which office they will be working out of via a lottery process.
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