Bratton on "chilling" memento ex-LAPD cop sent to network

(CBS News) More than a dozen local, state, and federal authorities have joined the three-state manhunt for Christopher Dorner, the ex-LAPD officer suspected of killing three people in a vendetta against the police force.

Thursday afternoon, the search shifted to the snowy mountains around Big Bear Lake, about 80 miles east of Los Angeles, where police found his burned-out pickup truck and tracks leading away from the vehicle.

Bill Bratton, Los Angeles Police Chief while Dorner served on the force said Friday that the truck was "possibly a diversionary tactic to just draw people up into that area when he's actually heading south."

Bratton said that despite the increasingly complex search, "the LAPD is superbly equipped for" the hunt.

"The Southern California police community is incredibly well networked with each other," Bratton said. "The manhunt that is underway is coordinated, sophisticated, and very complicated."

This undated photo released by the Los Angeles Police Department shows suspect Christopher Dorner, a former Los Angeles officer with former Police Chief William Bratton.

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AP Photo/Los Angeles Police Department

Bratton does not remember Dorner personally but did pose for a photo with him before he was deployed to serve in the Navy. Referencing the photo, Bratton said "chances are this is when he was being deployed into the military. I bring them up into my office and wish them well ... and give them a good luck charm."

The good luck charm -- a ceremonial coin -- was one of the props Dorner used, along with a lengthy manifesto, to indicate his targets. Dorner mailed CNN a package and the manifesto referencing Bratton. The package included the ceremonial coin, with Bratton's name on it and three bullet holes in it.

"[It's] very chilling when you see that," Bratton said. "It's a custom that you give as a sign of respect, a good luck charm for those who are going overseas. When you see that that a coin that was given in friendship and respect has three bullet holes, it's certainly very chilling."

Turning to the tactical elements of Dorner's rampage, John Miller -- CBS News senior correspondent and former head of the LAPD Major Crimes Division -- said the attacks likely took a "remarkable amount of pre-staging" and added that "somebody who put that much pre-staging planning into a series of events ... it's doubtful that they didn't put the same amount of planning into the end game ... It makes you wonder what his plan is for the end game."

Bratton said he found it "very surprising that now with all this attention he has brought onto himself, he has not started to reach out to the media to exploit it ... it's very interesting that he has stayed quiet."

Miller explained that Dorner "cut off all his cell phones and other connections" on Jan. 31 and Bratton said, "he's aware that anything he uses electronically can be immediately zeroed in on so he's possibly staying quiet because of that understanding.

As they look to bring the manhunt to an end, "the police are certainly on edge," Bratton said, emphasizing that Dorner is "an incredibly dangerous individual."

Miller added, "He has brought this to a certain pinnacle. It seems like he is going to be moving towards however he wants this to wrap up.

For more with Bratton and Miller on "CTM," watch the video above.

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Blizzard of 2013: Monster Storm Bears Down

A blizzard of possibly historic proportions is set to strike the Northeast, starting today and bringing up to 2 feet of snow and strong winds that could shut down densely populated cities such as Boston and New York City.

A storm from the west will join forces with one from the south to form a nor'easter that will sit and spin just off the East Coast, affecting more than 43 million Americans. Wind gusts will reach 50 to 60 mph from Philadelphia to Boston.

"[It] could definitely be a historic winter storm for the Northeast," Adrienne Leptich of the National Weather Service in Upton, N.Y., said. "We're looking at very strong wind and heavy snow and we're also looking for some coastal flooding."

The snow began falling in New York City shortly before 7 a.m. ET. The snow is expected to mix with some sleet and then turn back into snow after 3 p.m.

Airlines have started shutting down operations between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. at major airports in the New York area as well as in Boston, Portland, Maine, Providence, and other Northeastern airports. More than 4,000 flights have been cancelled on Friday and Saturday, according to FlightAware. Airlines hope to resume flights by Saturday afternoon.

New York City is expecting up to 14 inches, which is expected to start this morning with the heaviest amounts falling at night and into Saturday. Wind gusts of 55 mph are expected in New York City and Cape Cod, Mass., could possibly see 75 mph gusts.

PHOTOS: Northeast Braces for Snowstorm

Weather Forecast: Northeast Braces for Monster Blizzard Watch Video

Winter Storm to Hit Northeast With Winds and Snow Watch Video

Boston, Providence, R.I., Hartford, Conn., and other New England cities canceled school today. Boston and other parts of New England could see more than 2 feet of snow by Saturday.

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick declared a state of emergency Friday afternoon and announced a ban on all traffic from roads after 4 p.m. It is believed that the last time the state enacted such a ban was during the blizzard of 1978.

Beach erosion and coastal flooding is possible from New Jersey to Long Island, N.Y., and into New England coastal areas. Some waves off the coast could reach more than 20 feet.

"Stay off the streets of our city. Basically, stay home," Boston Mayor Tom Menino warned Thursday.

Blizzard warnings were posted for parts of New Jersey and New York's Long Island, as well as portions of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, including Hartford, New Haven, Conn., and Providence. The warnings extended into New Hampshire and Maine.

To the south, Philadelphia was looking at a possible 4 to 6 inches of snow.

Thousands of flights have already been canceled in anticipation of the storm. Amtrak said its Northeast trains will stop running this afternoon.

Bruce Sullivan of the National Weather Service says travel conditions will deteriorate fairly rapidly Friday night.

"The real concern here is there's going to be a lot of strong winds with this system and it's going to cause considerable blowing and drifting of snow," he said.

Parts of New York, still reeling from October's Superstorm Sandy, are still using tents and are worried how they will deal with the nor'easter.

"Hopefully, we can supply them with enough hot food to get them through before the storm starts," Staten Island hub coordinator Donna Graziano said.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said plows and 250,000 tons of salt were being put on standby.

"We hope forecasts are exaggerating the amount of snow, but you never can tell," Bloomberg said Thursday.

Residents of the Northeast have already begun to hit stores for groceries and tools to fight the mounting snow totals.

The fire department was called in to a grocery store in Salem, Mass., because there were too many people in the store Thursday afternoon trying to load up their carts with essential items.

"I'm going to try this roof melt stuff for the first time," Ian Watson of Belmont, Mass., said. "Just to prevent the ice dam. ... It's going be ugly on that roof."

ABC News' Max Golembo and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Violence mars funeral of Tunisian opposition leader

TUNIS (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Tunisians turned out on Friday to mourn secular opposition leader Chokri Belaid, whose assassination has deepened a political crisis and led to violent protests against the Islamist-led government.

Teargas and smoke from burning cars at times wafted over the Tunis cemetery where Belaid was buried in the country's biggest funeral since independence leader Habib Bourguiba died in 2000.

Braving chilly rain, at least 50,000 people gathered to honor Belaid in his home district of Jebel al-Jaloud in the capital, chanting anti-Islamist and anti-government slogans.

Belaid's assassination has shocked a country which had hitherto experienced a relatively peaceful political transition since an uprising that inspired others around the Arab world.

It has heightened tensions between dominant Islamists and their secular opponents against a backdrop of frustration at the lack of social and economic progress since President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was forced to flee the country in January 2011.

"The people want a new revolution," shouted mourners in Tunis, who also sang the national anthem.

Violence erupted near the cemetery as police fired teargas at demonstrators who threw stones and set cars ablaze. Police also used teargas against protesters near the Interior Ministry, a frequent flashpoint for clashes in the Tunisian capital.

Police arrested 150 people during the disturbances in Tunis, Interior Ministry spokesman Lotfi Hidouri said.

Crowds surged around an open army truck carrying Belaid's coffin, draped in a red and white Tunisian flag, from a cultural center in Jebel al-Jaloud towards the leafy Jallaz cemetery, as a security forces helicopter flew overhead.

"Belaid, rest in peace, we will continue the struggle," crowds chanted, holding portraits of the politician killed near his home on Wednesday by a gunman who fled on a motorcycle.

Some demonstrators denounced Rachid Ghannouchi, leader of the ruling Islamist Ennahda party. "Ghannouchi, assassin, criminal," they chanted. "Tunisia is free, terrorism out."

CLASHES IN GAFSA

Police fired teargas to disperse anti-government protesters throwing stones and petrol bombs in the southern mining town of Gafsa, a stronghold of support for Belaid, witnesses said.

Crowds there had chanted "The people want the fall of the regime", a slogan first used against Ben Ali.

In Sidi Bouzid, the southern town where the revolt against the ousted strongman began, about 10,000 marched to mourn Belaid and shout slogans against Ennahda and the government.

Banks, factories and some shops were closed in Tunis and other cities in response to a strike called by unions in protest at Belaid's killing, but buses were running normally.

Tunis Air canceled all its flights because of the strike, a spokesman for the national airline said, adding that normal service would resume on Saturday.

After Belaid's assassination, Prime Minister Hamdi Jebali, an Islamist, said he would dissolve the government and form a cabinet of technocrats to rule until elections could be held.

But his own Ennahda party and its secular coalition partners complained they had not been consulted, casting doubt over the status of the government and compounding political uncertainty.

On Friday Jebali reiterated his plan for a cabinet of technocrats, saying this would not need the approval of the National Constituent Assembly because he was not dissolving his government, but would replace all of its members.

"This government is ready," he told reporters, without disclosing the names of his new ministers.

"HOPE EXISTS"

No one has claimed responsibility for the killing of Belaid, a lawyer and secular opposition figure.

His family have blamed Ennahda but the party has denied any hand in the shooting. Crowds have attacked several Ennahda party offices in Tunis and other cities in the past two days.

"Hope still exists in Tunisia," Fatma Saidan, a noted Tunisian actor, told Reuters at Belaid's funeral. "We will continue to struggle against extremism and political violence."

She called for national unity, saying: "We are ready to accept Islamists, but they don't accept us."

While Belaid had only a modest political following, his criticism of Ennahda policies spoke for many Tunisians who fear religious radicals are bent on snuffing out freedoms won in the first of the revolts that rippled through the Arab world.

Secular groups have accused the Islamist-led government of a lax response to attacks by ultra-orthodox Salafi Islamists on cinemas, theatres and bars in recent months.

The economic effect of political uncertainty and street unrest could be serious in a country which has yet to draft a new constitution and which relies heavily on the tourist trade.

Mohamed Ali Toumi, president of the Tunisian Federation of Travel Agencies, described the week's events as a catastrophe that would have a negative impact on tourism, but he told the national news agency TAP no cancellations had been reported yet.

France, which had already announced the closure of its schools in Tunis on Friday and Saturday, urged its nationals to stay clear of potential flashpoints in the capital.

The cost of insuring Tunisian government bonds against default rose to its highest level in more than four years this week and ratings agency Fitch said it could further downgrade Tunisia if political instability continues or worsens.

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HP tightens worker rules for China suppliers

SAN FRANCISCO: ELGAUS computer maker Hewlett-Packard said on Friday it is cracking down on abuses of student workers and temporary labor used by its suppliers in China.

The move by HP came as Silicon Valley neighbor and rival Apple continued a program to improve conditions for employees at facilities in China that produce its coveted gadgets.

HP announced new guidelines for student and temporary workers in China intended to reinforce local labor laws and introduce "beyond regulatory expectations" for suppliers.

"Student and temporary workers are two very vulnerable groups within the Chinese workforce," said Sanna Johnson, executive director of the Center for Child Rights and Corporate Social Responsibility in China.

"They are often entering the workplace with limited experiences and support."

HP cooperated with the center on the changes.

"We have worked closely with leading Chinese stakeholders to develop our new student and temporary worker guidelines to ensure the highest standards of ethical workforce management," said HP senior vice president of supply chain operations Tony Prophet.

Along with mandating fair compensation, HP guidelines require that workers be free to quit or lodge grievances without facing reprisals.

The number of student workers must be limited to "acceptable levels" with the majority of employees having full-time status, according to HP. In addition, student workers' jobs must complement their primary areas of study.

HP said the new guidelines take effect immediately and that compliance will be tracked with ongoing audits as well as through a key performance indicator program that collects performance data about suppliers.

HP boasts an extensive supply chain that spans more than 45 countries and territories.

Apple last year ramped up its vigilance regarding underage workers, excessive overtime and other abuses at China plants contracted to make its devices.

- AFP/de

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Freebie Friday: Get a 50GB Box cloud account for free

"Uh, yeah, sure, I'm with Dell. I love Dell. I'm the farmer in the Dell. I listen to Adele. Gimme my 50GB."

(Credit:
Box)

Recently, cloud-storage service Box was offering free 25GB accounts to new customers.

I meant to write it up, but other things got in the way. Good thing, too, because now Box is offering free 50GB accounts to new customers. My foot-dragging is your gain.

Before I go any further, take note that the signup page says "Dell Exclusive Offer." There's no indication you need to actually be a Dell customer or employee or anything like that, but there's always the chance Box will get flooded with unintended/unwanted sign-ups and decide to end or even rescind the offer. (Anyone remember the SiriusXM Internet Radio debacle?)

That said, I just signed up, and it looks like I'm good to go. Your mileage may vary.

Box, of course, is one of the older, larger, and more established cloud-storage services. I mention that because people tend to get skittish about handing their data to unknown and/or startup sky-folk.

Normally when you sign up for a freebie account, you get 5GB of space. This is 10 times that much, enough to actually be practical for say, backing up big ol' music or photo libraries. The only hitch: The maximum file size is 250MB. That precludes any big ol' videos you might want to send sky-ward.

Box offers apps for pretty much every mobile platform, and now has a desktop utility for Dropbox-style folder syncing (one area where Box used to fall seriously short). You can also share files with friends, family members, co-workers, etc., with just a few clicks or taps. In other words, Box is a full-blooded cloud-storage service.

And 50GB free, for life, with no strings attached is just too good to pass up. Even if you don't need this kind of space today, you might need it tomorrow -- so sign up while you can! I have no idea how long this offer will run.

Bonus freebie: If you're willing to sign up for a Green Man Gaming account (free) and a Playfire account (also free), then link those two accounts, you can get four free PC games this weekend. The titles include Ninja Blade, Superstar V8 Next Challenge, and Unstoppable Gorg. Combined value: over $50!

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Syrian soldiers dance to Usher in online video

BEIRUT A video posted online purportedly shows Syrian soldiers taking a break from the country's civil war by bopping around to American R&B star Usher's hit song "Yeah!"

The soldiers dressed in camouflage combat gear — some armed with automatic rifles or rocket-propelled grenades poking out of their flak jackets — form a conga line and shimmy past the camera grinning.

Near the end of the video, they stop dancing and break into their version of an oft-heard battle chant in the Middle East: "With our souls, our blood, we sacrifice for you Bashar!" as black smoke billows from a building in the background. In a jarring finale, they shoot bursts of automatic gunfire in the air.

The video, which was allegedly filmed in southern Syria, appeared to be authentic and the uniforms consistent with those worn by Syrian soldiers. It appeared on both pro-regime social networking sites and anti-regime YouTube channels, as is normal for such material.

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Suspect Tried to Flee Country Before Cop Shooting

The fired California cop who set off a region-wide manhunt after allegedly shooting three police officers this morning -- one fatally -- had initially gone to a yacht club near San Diego where police say he attempted to steal a boat and flee to Mexico.

Police say that former police officer Christopher Jordan Dorner, 33, who officials believe posted an online manifesto outlining his plan to "terminate" his former colleagues and their families, is armed with a long gun and might have several other guns and high-capacity magazines. He is also believed to have access to military uniforms because he has served in the Navy.

"We are considering him armed and dangerous," Lt. Julia Engen of the Irvine Police Department said.

Police allege that he went to the yacht club Wednesday night at Point Loma, Calif., near San Diego to steal the boat. He aborted the attempted theft when the boat's propeller became entangled in robe, law enforcement officials said. It was at that point he is believed to have headed to Riverside, where he allegedly shot two police officers.

"He pointed a handgun at the victim [at the yacht club] and demanded the boat," Lt. David Rohowits of the San Diego Police Department said.

Police say the rifle marksman shot at four officers in two incidents overnight, hitting three of them: one in Corona, Calif., and the two in Riverside, Calif.

Sgt. Rudy Lopez of the LAPD said two LAPD officers were in Corona and headed out on special detail to check on one of the individuals named in Dorner's manifesto. Dorner allegedly grazed one of them but missed the other.

"[This is an] extremely tense situation," Lopez said. "We call this a manhunt. We approach it cautiously because of the propensity of what has already happened."

The Riverside Police Department said two of its officers were shot before one of them died, KABC-TV reported. The other is in stable condition with two gunshot wounds, police say.

"They were on routine patrol stopped at a stop light when they were ambushed," Lt. Guy Toussant of the Riverside police department said.

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In the manifesto Dorner published online, he threatened at least 12 people by name, along with their families.

"Your lack of ethics and conspiring to wrong a just individual are over. Suppressing the truth will leave to deadly consequences for you and your family," Dorner wrote in his manifesto.

A badge and identification belonging to Dorner have been found in San Diego, according to San Diego police Sgt. Ray Battrick. Dorner's LAPD badge and ID were found by someone near the city's airport, and turned in to police overnight, The Associated Press reported.

Police around Southern California are wearing tactical gear, including helmets and guns across their chests. The light-up signs along California highways show the license plate number of Dorner's car, and say to call 911 if it is seen. The problem, police say, is that they believe Dorner is switching license plates on his car, a 2005 charcoal-gray Nissan Titan pickup truck.

Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck said today that 40 protective details have been deployed to protect officers and their families.

"We are taking all measures possible to ensure safety of our officers and their families," he said.

Dorner is also believed to be responsible for the weekend slayings of an assistant women's college basketball coach and her fiancé in what cops believe are acts of revenge against the LAPD, as suggested in his online manifesto.

Lawrence was found slumped behind the wheel of his white Kia in the parking lot of their upscale apartment complex in Irvine Sunday and Quan was in the passenger seat.

"A particular interest at this point in the investigation is a multi-page manifesto in which the suspect has implicated himself in the slayings," Maggard said.

Police said Dorner's manifesto included threats against members of the LAPD. Police say they are taking extra measures to ensure the safety of officers and their families.

The document, allegedly posted on an Internet message board this week, apparently blames Quan's father, retired LAPD Capt. Randy Quan, for his firing from the department.

One passage from the manifesto reads, "I will bring unconventional and asymmetrical warfare to those in LAPD uniform whether on or off duty."

"I never had the opportunity to have a family of my own," it reads. "I'm terminating yours."

Dorner was with the department from 2005 until 2008, when he was fired for making false statements.

Randy Quan, who became a lawyer in retirement, represented Dorner in front of the Board of Rights, a tribunal that ruled against Dorner at the time of his dismissal, LAPD Capt. William Hayes told The Associated Press Wednesday night.

According to documents from a court of appeals hearing in October 2011, Dorner was fired from the LAPD after he made a complaint against his field-training officer, Sgt. Teresa Evans, saying in the course of an arrest she had kicked a suspect who was a schizophrenic with severe dementia.

After an investigation, Dorner was fired for making false statements.

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Khamenei rebuffs U.S. offer of direct talks

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran's highest authority, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Thursday slapped down an offer of direct talks made by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden this week, saying they would not solve the problem between them.

"Some naive people like the idea of negotiating with America, however, negotiations will not solve the problem," Khamenei said in a speech to officials and members of Iran's air force carried on his official website.

"If some people want American rule to be established again in Iran, the nation will rise up to face them," he said.

"American policy in the Middle East has been destroyed and Americans now need to play a new card. That card is dragging Iran into negotiations."

Khamenei made his comments just days after Joe Biden said the United States was prepared to meet bilaterally with the Iranian leadership. "That offer stands but it must be real and tangible," Biden said in a speech in Munich.

With traditional fiery rhetoric, Khamenei lambasted Biden's offer, saying that since the 1979 revolution the United States had gravely insulted Iran and continued to do so with its threat of military action.

"You take up arms against the nation of Iran and say: 'negotiate or we fire'. But you should know that pressure and negotiations are not compatible and our nation will not be intimidated by these actions," he added.

Relations between Iran and the United States were severed in 1979 after the overthrow of Iran's pro-western monarchy and diplomatic meetings between officials have since been very rare.

ALL OPTIONS STILL "ON THE TABLE"

Currently U.S.-Iran contact is limited to talks between Tehran and a so-called P5+1 group of powers on Iran's disputed nuclear program which are to resume on February 26 in Kazakhstan.

Israel's Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor said he was skeptical the negotiations in Almaty could yield a result, telling Israel Radio that the United States needed to demonstrate to Iran that "all options were still on the table".

Israel, widely recognized to be the only nuclear power in the Middle East, has warned it could mount a pre-emptive strike on Iranian atomic sites. Israel sees its existence as directly threatened by the prospect of an nuclear-armed Iran, given Tehran's refusal to recognize the existence of the Jewish state.

"The final option, this is the phrasing we have used, should remain in place and be serious," said Meridor.

"The fact that the Iranians have not yet come down from the path they are on means that talks ...are liable to bring about only a stalling for time," he said.

Iran maintains its nuclear program is entirely peaceful but Western powers are concerned it is intent on developing a weapons program.

Many believe a deal on settling the nuclear issue is impossible without a U.S.-Iranian thaw. But any rapprochement would require direct talks addressing many sources of mutual mistrust that have lingered since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution and the subsequent U.S. embassy hostage crisis in Tehran.

Moreover, although his re-election last November may give President Barack Obama a freer hand to pursue direct negotiations, analysts say Iran's own presidential election in June may prove an additional obstacle to progress being made.

(Additional reporting by Dan Williams; Editing by William Maclean and Jon Boyle)

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Greenlight sues Apple, with eye on cash pile

NEW YORK: US hedge fund Greenlight Capital on Thursday filed suit against Apple as it boosted pressure on the tech giant to unleash to shareholders the value of its huge capital stockpile.

Greenlight sued the maker of iPhones and iPads to block a shareholder vote that includes a proposal, supported by management, to make it impossible for the Apple board to decide to issue preferred stock.

The hedge fund alleged that Apple violated US securities policies by "bundling" the proposal on preferred stock with two other shareholder-friendly measures.

Doing so forces shareholders to accept or reject all three measures together, rather than separately, which Greenlight says violates a Securities and Exchange Commission rule.

More broadly, Greenlight argues that eliminating Apple's power to issue preferred shares would restrict Apple's ability to return value to shareholders.

"Like many other shareholders, Greenlight is dissatisfied with Apple's capital allocation strategy," Greenlight founder David Einhorn wrote in a letter to Apple shareholders.

"The combination of Apple's low (and shrinking) price-to-earnings multiple and $137 billion (and growing) hoard of cash on the balance sheet supports Greenlight's contention that Apple has an obligation to examine all options to create and unlock additional value," Einhorn said.

Greenlight is seeking to build support for its proposal that Apple issue a "perpetual preferred stock" that could carry, in Einhorn's suggestion, a four percent dividend, allowing shareholders to better share in its idle cash pile.

Such a "more shareholder-friendly capital allocation policy," Einhorn said in the letter, "would unlock hundreds of dollars of value per share."

Greenlight said it has held discussions with Apple, but the company rejected the proposal "outright" in September 2012.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Apply shares were up more than one percent at $459.50 in midday trade on Thursday.

- AFP/de

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The 404 1,204: Where we're BioShocked by space rocks (podcast)

(Credit:

HyperVocal)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Clouds and strife: Building the world of BioShock Infinite.

- The bootleg games of Nairobi's Diamond Plaza.

- Leaked video appears to reveal Google's touch Chromebook.

- Someone forgot to pay their bill at MichelinGuides.com, now Michel in Guides.

- The FBI's official tips to avoid being sexually extorted online.

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