CNN news 2007-08-30 加文本

cnn 2007-08-30



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Very good Wednesday afternoon to you. I'm Veronica De La Cruz at the cnn Center in Atlanta. Let's take a look at what's happening right NOW IN THE NEWS.

New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast are marking the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. As part of the somber ceremonies, President Bush is visiting both areas today. On that dreadful day back in 2005, Katrina made landfall early in the morning, south of New Orleans. It eventually flooded eighty percent of the city and also hammered coastal Mississippi. Its high winds and incredible storm surge flattened much of the Magnolia State, seventy miles shoreline. More than 1800 people were killed in Louisiana and Mississippi. At 81 billion dollars, Katrina is the costliest natural disaster in American history.

Well, NASA is saying there is no evidence that astronauts were flying drunk. Sources tell cnn the new findings are outlined in an internal NASA review expected out today. An independent committee had reported two alleged cases where astronauts were intoxicated and flight sergeants or other astronauts had raised concerns. NASA's sources tell cnn the report does not include any names.

And former astronaut, Lisa Nowak may be planning to plead temporary insanity. Nowak has pleaded not guilty to charges that she tried to kidnap a romantic rival. Her attorney filed papers this week, reserving the right to an insanity defense. According to the documents, Nowak has suffered from numerous psychiatric disorders. Nowak's attorney says she has also struggled with (quote)"marital separation and has lost 15% of her body weight".

GOP leaders want the Senate Ethics Committee to look into the arrest of a Republican Senator Larry Craig. The review can lead to a full investigation and accusations -trying to solicit sex in an airport men's room in June, that he tried to solicit sex. The Idaho Senator denies those allegations and calls his decision to plead guilty to a lesser charge a mistake.

And President Bush is about to ask Congress for more money for the War in Iraq, up to 50 billion dollars. That's according to the Washington Post. The paper says the request is expected to come next month after a top level report to Congress on the state of the war. A White House spokesman says there has been no decision about funding requests.

And those are your headlines at this hour. Don't forget to stay with cnn for more on any these stories as well as other news of the day.


Words&Expressions
Magnolia State: 木兰花州（美国密西西比州的称称）