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This Week's Top Videos
Editor's Note: This post is a recap of the top five videos on CNN.com from the past week. So in case you didn't catch our best videos during the week, here is your chance to see what you missed.
This week's top video gained the attention of more than a million CNN.com viewers and featured chilling footage of the Texas tornadoes tossing tractor-trailers into the air. The second most watched video on CNN.com this week was the tragic firsthand account of the Oakland university shooting, followed by video examining Nadya Suleman's welfare application, the crash of an F-18 jet into a Virginia apartment complex and finally the timeline of the Trayvon Martin shooting.
Big rigs sucked into storm
Truck trailers are thrown around violently as a tornado rips through North Texas.
Shooting chaos captured on cell phone
Art Richards shot cell phone video at Oikos University where a gunman killed seven people.
Nadya Suleman admits being on welfare
Anger and outrage as "Octomom" Nadya Suleman, admits she's receiving food stamps. HLN's Nischelle Turner reports.
Witness: Jet crash a 'horrific sight'
Zack Zapatero describes what he saw when a Navy jet crashed into an apartment building in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Trayvon Martin's last minutes
Law enforcement expert Alex Manning analyzes a complete time line of the Trayvon Martin shooting, based on 911 calls.
Overheard on CNN.com: Yes, the ship sinks, but we can't get enough of Titanic story
Editor's note: This post is part of the Overheard on CNN.com series, a regular feature that examines interesting comments and thought-provoking conversations posted by the community. The entry includes 1,912 words.
Nearly 100 years ago, the Titanic set sail on its ill-fated maiden voyage. Readers discussed why this story resonates through history.
Why the Titanic fascinates more than other disasters
iReporter Doug Simonton of Tulsa, Oklahoma, shared photos of the cemetery these commenters mentioned:
Otasawian: "I am a resident of Halifax, Nova Scotia. The place where 150 of the victims are buried and the location of a museum dedicated to the tragedy. The Titanic disaster is an important part of Halifax and Nova Scotia folklore. I believe that the fascination of the Titanic disaster has to do with the fact that it has become a metaphor for instances when people mistakenly believe they have become invincible. Too often, individuals, corporations, political parties, sports teams and nations, etc., who have become powerful in their own right begin to believe that they are so strong they cannot suffer defeat. They begin to believe that they are 'too big to fail' and once this happens reality deals them a crippling blow. The sinking of the Titanic and the folklore/legend surrounding the Titanic disaster provide a reminder that no one or anything is invincible. All powerful individuals and groups are subject to fail due to the human characteristics of hubris and complacency that tend to creep into our minds when we believe that things are going well."
Quincy Brown: "Speaking of Halifax, I have been to that cemetery, that is shaped like a ship with the headstones. I found it interesting that the cemetery ship is pointing exactly in the same direction as the sunken Titanic. I find it interesting just how many parallels before the sailing, the sinking, and the aftermath has in life lessons. It's even more ironic that the word Titanic can even be used as a verb now. I have heard sailors talk about the Titanic. Naming your boat after Neptune's mortal enemy, the Titans, proudly exclaiming that God could not sink this boat, and have enough arrogance to try to stand before life and say nothing can stop you. There was no way this ship could have made it, yet so many who do the same sort of things even today, like running from the police, hurting people, doing bad things, think they are somehow above the law, above the people, and yet they all suffer a bad fate eventually. Life lessons time and time again in Titanic proportions."
Hubris again. FULL POST
Navy jet crashes into apartments in Virginia
[Updated at 6:05 p.m. ET] A Navy fighter jet experienced a "catastrophic mechanical malfunction" during takeoff Friday over the military community of Virginia Beach, Virginia, and rained a stench of jet fuel shortly before crashing into apartment buildings, according to residents and Navy officials.
The jet carried a student pilot in the front seat and an experienced instructor behind him, and the dumping of jet fuel was "one of the indications that there was a mechanical malfunction," Navy Capt. Mark Weisgerber told reporters.
The malfunction is being investigated, he said.
The two pilots, a police officer and three other people were taken to Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital, Dr. Thomas Thames, the hospital's vice president of medical affairs, told CNN affiliate WAVY.
None of the injuries was considered life-threatening, Thames said.
Virginia Beach Mayor William Sessoms told CNN that nine people suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
The crash and explosion ruptured the easy mood of spring break and the unfolding Easter and Passover holiday weekend, and the two-seater F/A-18 jet landed eerily upright in flames in a courtyard surrounded by five apartment buildings suddenly set afire, according to residents and authorities.
The two crew members ejected safely, the Navy said. Resident Pat Kavanaugh told CNN affiliate WTKR that he and others found one of them still strapped to his seat with a lacerated face. Kavanaugh said he was on his couch when he heard a loud boom and was startled to see a parachute hanging from the building.
FULL STORYMarion Barry's remarks on Asians' 'dirty shops' ignite criticism after primary win
[Updated Friday at 4:09 p.m. ET] Washington Councilman Marion Barry said Friday he could've rephrased his controversial remark about "dirty" Asian businesses in his district, but he refused to back down.
He said his adrenaline was flowing after Tuesday's primary victory, when he made the comment, and that he merely was trying to convey that the business community in his Ward 8 needs a new attitude. Asians run a large percentage of the ward's stores and small shops, he said.
“I said something that I probably could have phrased differently. What you mean is the same. You’re not going to have people who are exploiting us in this community. They’re going to be part of the community. We welcome all businesspeople here … but give us some jobs.”
Several lawmakers, including the D.C. mayor and some of Barry's fellow council members, condemned his remarks - criticism Barry downplayed earlier this week. CNN's Athena Jones, who interviewed Barry on Friday, also spoke to Korean shop owner Helen Lee, who said she was angered by the councilman's castigation.
"We work really hard to keep our facility clean and to serve, like, this community. We've been here for over 20 years now," said Lee's daughter, Miriam. "So it's really insulting for him to come out of the blue and say that we're dirty and that, you know, we should be replaced, basically because we've been here for so long."
Told of the Lees' sentiments, Barry again disregarded the criticism, saying, "Leadership requires leadership."
"If she’s mad at me, tell her put some money in this community. Hire some people in this community. Give money to various organizations in this community, " he said. "If she’s mad, then do something about it.”
Players react with disgust to Gregg Williams ordering Saints to target 49ers' heads, knees
In many ways, the "kill the head" speech by former New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams sounds like typical pregame, fire-up-the-troops rhetoric, but former and current players say there are several instances where the now-suspended coach crossed the line.
The speech has added new fire to an already scalding scandal in which the NFL alleges that the Saints administered a bounty program aimed at taking out opposing players.
The day before the Saints' January 14 playoff clash with the San Francisco 49ers, Williams started his speech by instructing his team to never apologize for how they play. No big deal.
Williams goes on to say, "Kill the head, the body will die," a twist on the frequent tutelage of boxer "Smokin'" Joe Frazier. It sounds nefarious given the recent attention given to concussions in football, but it could probably be written off as normal locker room bravado.
Except, and this is a big except, Williams starts naming players by name, and what's more, he starts naming anatomy: tight end Vernon Davis' ankle, running back Frank Gore's head, quarterback Alex Smith's chin and wide receiver Michael Crabtree's "outside ACL."
Former Detroit Lions cornerback Lamar Campbell, who retired in 2004, told the Detroit Free Press that Williams' speech began like many that Campbell heard during his playing days. Listening to it made him reminisce at first.
“You hear, ‘Knock the (expletive) out of him,’ and, ‘Kick his ass,’ and I love, ‘They’re going to be shocked with our contact, they’re going to be shocked with our speed, they’re going to be shocked with the way we strip,’ ” Campbell said Thursday. “I felt nostalgic reading it and then I get to a line that says, ‘Let’s see how many times we can bull rush and get that outside ACL,’ and it’s like, hold up. You had me and then, ‘Go get this guy’s ACL?’ Are you serious?”
Perhaps most disturbingly, Gregg Williams demands a big hit on kick returner Kyle Williams because of a recent concussion, something the New York Giants' Jacquian Williams and Devin Thomas caught heat for the following week when they said the same thing.
"We’ve got to do everything in the world to make sure we kill Frank Gore's head," Gregg Williams said on the tape. "We want him running sideways. We want his head sideways."
This could simply mean Williams wants his defense in the backfield so quickly that Gore has trouble getting upfield, that he wants Gore running east and west rather than north and south. Again, probably pretty typical of the instructions that defensive coordinators give to their men.
Even Williams' invocation to "knock the f*** out of" backup running back Kendall Hunter isn't as bad as it initially sounds because he follows it with world-class hyperbole.
John Daly sells souvenirs, aims for Masters return
Augusta, Georgia (CNN) - While most of golf’s greatest players plied their trade on the grounds of Augusta National this week, one worked the parking lot in front of the nearby Hooters restaurant.
John Daly, the winner of the 1991 PGA Championship and 1995 British Open, is spending Masters week selling shirts, hats and golf balls with his lion logo from tables set up outside his luxury motor home.
It’s a strategy to connect with fans on two levels.
“What sells I put on the website, what doesn’t, I don’t,” businessman Daly says of the display of wares.
John Daly signs an autograph outside his motor home near Augusta National Golf Club.
But buy here and you get to connect with Daly himself, and for golf fans it’s hard to resist the opportunity to get up close with the man who delighted them on the course.
President of Malawi dies after heart attack
Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika, once hailed as a positive steward for the southern African country, has died after a heart attack, government officials said Friday.
Mutharika was 78.
His body was flown to South Africa, the officials said.
The former World Bank economist first became president in 2004 after campaigning as an "economic engineer," and was re-elected five years later.
FULL STORYHiring slows, unemployment falls
Hiring slowed dramatically in March, clouding optimism about the strength of the recovery, CNNMoney's Annalyn Censky reports.
Employers added 120,000 jobs in the month, the Labor Department reported Friday, marking a significant slowdown in hiring from February, when the economy added 240,000 jobs.
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate fell to 8.2% as workers dropped out of the labor force.
FULL STORYFriday's live events
Some say the race to the Republican presidential nomination is over, while others argue that it's not over yet. Watch CNN.com Live for all the latest news and views from the campaign trail.
Today's programming highlights...
10:15 am ET - Obama addresses women's forum - President Obama will deliver remarks at the White House Forum on Women and the Economy in Washington.
CNN.com Live is your home for breaking news as it happens.
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