New Ad Attacks McConnell Using Terrorist Video

Mitch McConnell

There's a new twist in Mitch McConnell's campaign (which has yet to draw an opponent). A liberal nonprofit group is airing an ad attacking the Senate Minority Leader that uses footage that appears to be from an Al Qaedarecruitment video.

Americans United For Change will spend $5,000 to air the spot, titled "Bad Company," in Lexington, according to spokesperson Lauren Weiner. The ad uses a video showing Adam Yahiye Gadahn, an American Al Qaeda spokesperson, explaining how to buy guns in the United States.

WATCH THE AD HERE

"Most Kentucky residents want background checks for gun sales, but Republican leader Mitch McConnell is against them. So who does agree with Mitch?" a narrator asks in the spot, citing a poll from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's gun control advocacy group, Mayor Against Illegal Guns, which shows 82 percent of Kentucky residents favor mandatory background checks for gun buyers.

Then California-born Gadahn is heard saying in a clip: "You can go down to a gun show at the local convention center and come away with a fully automatic assault rifle, without a background check, and most likely without having to show an identification card. So what are you waiting for?"

The ad urges viewers to call the Kentucky senator and "ask him why he's in such bad company."

McConnell is likely to continue to be targeted on gun control, but his opposition could help him in conservative Kentucky, as well as possibly ward off rumblings of a Tea Party challenger from the right. The U.S. Senate voted on Thursday to overcome a filibuster against tougher gun control measures, led by a group of Republicans that included McConnell. That cleared the way for debate around a package of gun control proposals, including universal background checks.

Americans United For Change says the ad will run during the evening news and during all three of the Sunday shows, as well as a spot right after the Masters on Sunday evening.

Tom McMahon, executive director of Americans United for Change, said in a statement that McConnell's position is "a slap to the face to all families whose loved ones were taken away by gun violence."

"What should give Sen. McConnell and fellow Republicans who oppose broader background checks great pause is that their position is so unpopular that virtually the only people who agree with them are big gun manufacturers, criminals, and terrorists. Talk about bad company," McMahon said in a statement.

McConnell's campaign manager Jesse Benton quickly responded to the ad calling Americans United for Change "rabid partisan extremists" who "have no interest in promoting what's right for Kentucky and they'll stop at nothing to attack its biggest advocate."

Benton then linked the group to Progress Kentucky, a Democratic superPAC that is alleged to have recorded a McConnell campaign strategy session that was leaked this week. The group did send out tweets in February attacking McConnell's wife former Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao and her ethnicity.

Currently, McConnell has no opponent, but he is in the position of being able to try and frame the different attacks as a liberal conspiracy out to get him. If he's successful at it, an ad like this could backfire for the group.

"The political left has proven they'll stop at nothing to target people who disagree with them. Racist attacks on Mitch's family, illegal bugging, and connecting him with terrorists won't stop him from fighting for the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Kentuckians," Benton said, adding about the attacks, "desperate and extreme would be an understatement. They are deplorable."

An opponent to McConnell has yet to emerge. Actress Ashley Judd decided last month not to run, while Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes is considering entering the race, but has yet to announce.

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Tears flow as 13 Serbian shooting victims buried

Mourners arrive to a cemetery prior to a mass funeral for the victims of a shooting in the village of Velika Ivanca, some 50 kilometers (30 miles) southeast of Belgrade, Serbia, Friday, April 12, 2013. The village of Velika Ivanca is preparing for the funerals of thirteen victims of a shooting that happened on Tuesday, April 9, 2013. Ljubisa Bogdanovic, a local and a Yugoslav wars veteran, went from house to house on April 9 in the village at dawn, cold-bloodedly gunning down his mother, his son, a 2-year-old cousin and ten other neighbors. (AP Photo/ Darko Vojinovic)

A relative of a victim grieves during a mass funeral in the village of Velika Ivanca, some 50 kilometers (30 miles) southeast of Belgrade, Serbia, Friday, April 12, 2013. Hundreds gathered in this Serbian village Friday to bury 13 people shot to death by a man whom many once knew as a quiet, helpful neighbor. (AP Photo/ Darko Vojinovic)

Spring storm socks Midwest, Deep South; 3 dead

GROTON, Conn. (AP) — A former submarine commander who faked his death to end an extramarital affair apologized Friday to the Navy, the sailors who served under him and his wife as he asked a panel of officers to allow him to stay in the service.

A lieutenant acting as a prosecutor countered that there's no place in the Navy for a man with the character of Cmdr. Michael P. Ward II.

Ward, a married 43-year-old, sent his mistress in Virginia an email in July posing as a fictitious co-worker named Bob and saying Ward had died unexpectedly, a Navy investigation found. Ward was relieved of his duties aboard the USS Pittsburgh in August, a week after he'd taken command, and has received a letter of reprimand for adultery and other military violations.

At the end of a daylong hearing of testimony from Ward's former superior officers, colleagues and shipmates, Ward himself, in his dress blues, acknowledged to the panel that he had had an affair and sent the bogus email to the woman in an effort to end it.

"The reason I did it was to sever the relationship," he said, "but the choice was ridiculous."

He said he accepted full responsibility for his actions and would regret them all his life, adding that he was grateful to his wife for standing by him.

"I want to apologize directly to my wife for the hurt and harm and humiliation I have caused her," he said as she sat in the front row, her eyes red.

The three-officer panel began deliberating after the hearing about whether to allow Ward to stay in the Navy and, if so, at what rank. A demotion could cost him up to $750,000 in retirement benefits.

The government argued that Ward discredited the Navy and that his removal put a strain on the fleet because officers had to be shuffled around to cover his removal.

"Commander Ward's actions show a complete lack of honesty, character and integrity," said Navy Lt. Griffin Farris, acting as prosecutor at the hearing.

Still, the Navy shouldn't throw away his talent and training, said high-ranking officers whom Ward has served under. They said he made an awful mistake and that he was a fast-rising, hard-working officer. He was honest with his chain of command from the beginning, his lawyer added.

"This man probably would have been an admiral someday, and he's brought shame on himself and he knows that," said Navy Cmdr. Daniel Cimmino, representing Ward.

But a senior enlisted sailor from the USS Pittsburgh told the panel that Ward at first denied the accusations.

The sailor, Master Chief Chris Beauprez, said he received a call on the submarine from a sister of Ward's girlfriend, who told him what Ward had done.

Beauprez said he told Ward about the call and Ward denied the woman's allegations, then said he'd address the situation himself. Beauprez testified that he had an implicit trust in what his commander said so he didn't take the matter up any further.

Days later, he said, he heard Ward was being dismissed.

A fellow Navy officer who had gone through training with Ward, Anthony Moore, testified that he heard about the affair when news of it first surfaced — including the detail that Ward had used the name Tony Moore in an online dating profile that he used to meet the woman.

"I was very surprised," Moore, who's based on a submarine squadron in Washington state, told the board by telephone. "And frankly, I was a little concerned for my reputation."

Navy officer in Conn. facing expulsion over affair

GROTON, Conn. (AP) — A former submarine commander who faked his death to end an extramarital affair apologized Friday to the Navy, the sailors who served under him and his wife as he asked a panel of officers to allow him to stay in the service.

A lieutenant acting as a prosecutor countered that there's no place in the Navy for a man with the character of Cmdr. Michael P. Ward II.

Ward, a married 43-year-old, sent his mistress in Virginia an email in July posing as a fictitious co-worker named Bob and saying Ward had died unexpectedly, a Navy investigation found. Ward was relieved of his duties aboard the USS Pittsburgh in August, a week after he'd taken command, and has received a letter of reprimand for adultery and other military violations.

At the end of a daylong hearing of testimony from Ward's former superior officers, colleagues and shipmates, Ward himself, in his dress blues, acknowledged to the panel that he had had an affair and sent the bogus email to the woman in an effort to end it.

"The reason I did it was to sever the relationship," he said, "but the choice was ridiculous."

He said he accepted full responsibility for his actions and would regret them all his life, adding that he was grateful to his wife for standing by him.

"I want to apologize directly to my wife for the hurt and harm and humiliation I have caused her," he said as she sat in the front row, her eyes red.

The three-officer panel began deliberating after the hearing about whether to allow Ward to stay in the Navy and, if so, at what rank. A demotion could cost him up to $750,000 in retirement benefits.

The government argued that Ward discredited the Navy and that his removal put a strain on the fleet because officers had to be shuffled around to cover his removal.

"Commander Ward's actions show a complete lack of honesty, character and integrity," said Navy Lt. Griffin Farris, acting as prosecutor at the hearing.

Still, the Navy shouldn't throw away his talent and training, said high-ranking officers whom Ward has served under. They said he made an awful mistake and that he was a fast-rising, hard-working officer. He was honest with his chain of command from the beginning, his lawyer added.

"This man probably would have been an admiral someday, and he's brought shame on himself and he knows that," said Navy Cmdr. Daniel Cimmino, representing Ward.

But a senior enlisted sailor from the USS Pittsburgh told the panel that Ward at first denied the accusations.

The sailor, Master Chief Chris Beauprez, said he received a call on the submarine from a sister of Ward's girlfriend, who told him what Ward had done.

Beauprez said he told Ward about the call and Ward denied the woman's allegations, then said he'd address the situation himself. Beauprez testified that he had an implicit trust in what his commander said so he didn't take the matter up any further.

Days later, he said, he heard Ward was being dismissed.

A fellow Navy officer who had gone through training with Ward, Anthony Moore, testified that he heard about the affair when news of it first surfaced — including the detail that Ward had used the name Tony Moore in an online dating profile that he used to meet the woman.

"I was very surprised," Moore, who's based on a submarine squadron in Washington state, told the board by telephone. "And frankly, I was a little concerned for my reputation."

First case of new bird flu strain found outside eastern China

BEIJING (Reuters) - The Chinese capital reported on Saturday its first case of a new strain of bird flu, state news agency Xinhua said, the first time it has been found in a human outside of eastern China.

The seven-year-old girl is in a stable condition in a Beijing hospital, the report said.

Two people who have had close contact with the child have shown no signs of being infected so far, Xinhua added.

The girl's parents are engaged in the live poultry trade, it said.

The girl developed a fever, cough, sore throat and headache - all flu symptoms - on Thursday morning before she was brought to the hospital, according to the report.

She was given the drug Tamiflu, received intravenous drips on Thursday night, and was transferred to an intensive care unit when her condition worsened, Xinhua said.

Her breathing has improved and temperature dropped, it said.

The website of China's state radio showed a photo of the girl lying in bed, wearing a large blue face mask and with a stuffed doll next to her.

So far 11 people have died of the H7N9 bird flu strain since it was confirmed in humans for the first time last month, with 44 infections in all having been reported to date.

Shanghai and the eastern provinces of Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Anhui had been the only confirmed locations of infection until the Beijing case.

The source of infection remains unknown, though the virus has been found in some birds in poultry markets that remain the focus of investigations by China and the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.

The new virus has caused severe illness in most of the people affected, leading to fears that if it becomes easily transmissible, it could cause a deadly influenza pandemic, though there has been no indication of that happening.

In a bid to calm public jitters over the virus, Chinese authorities have detained a dozen people for spreading rumors about the spread of bird flu.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Terril Yue Jones; Editing by Daniel Magnowski)