More Arrests at Occupy Wall Street Protests

Scott Eells/Bloomberg via Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- The “Occupy” protests taking place across the country heated up as demonstrators in Oakland, Calif. -- who had been evicted from their camp over safety concerns -- returned amid heavy police presence, while New York protesters were arrested in a clash with officers during a late-night solidarity march.

At least 10 people were arrested in New York late Wednesday, according to NY1, after several tussles broke out as protesters marched up from Zuccotti Park to Union Square in a show of solidarity with demonstrators in Oakland.

Wednesday night’s march began with a general assembly meeting where Occupy Wall Street protesters agreed to release some of their funds and some tents to the protesters in Oakland -- the movement sits on a bankroll of nearly $500,000. The demonstrators then began marching from Zucotti Park around City Hall up Broadway and into the heart of New York’s Soho neighborhood to cheers -- and some jeers of “get a job.”

The march quickly turned into a game of cat and mouse between the NYPD and protestors, some of whom were goading police with screams of “no justice, dirty pigs, cops come here.”

Several people were arrested as police unsuccessfully tried to keep protesters on sidewalks.  Officers were able to keep demonstrators from marching across the Brooklyn Bridge.

Protesters removed rope lines which police had set up, and eventually the cops allowed them to march and they left the scene.

Once the march reached the West Village neighborhood police reappeared behind the protesters who began to splinter off into smaller groups until eventually the action died down.

In Oakland Wednesday, protesters returned to a relatively peaceful scene where for the previous 24 hours several violent clashes had broken out, leading police to repeatedly use tear gas to disperse crowds.  Tuesday morning, authorities forcibly removed the tent city in Frank Ogawa Plaza that had been their camp for several weeks.

Crowds grew steadily in Oakland throughout Wednesday and around 7:30 p.m. protesters began to knock down the fences that had been erected around the lawn at Frank Ogawa Plaza, according to ABC News Bay Area affiliate KGO-TV.  By 10:30 p.m. Oakland’s City Center BART Station had been blocked off by police.

A crowd of roughly 1,000 gathered at Frank Ogawa Plaza and listened to speakers criticize city officials while urging the protesters to remain peaceful.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Exclusive: Madoff 'Can Live with' Fraud Victims' Anger, but Not Family's

Mario Tama/Getty Images(BUTNER, N.C.) -- Convicted Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff was forced to "let...go" of his wife almost a year ago and is plagued by "horrible nightmares" as he sits in a North Carolina prison, he told ABC News' Barbara Walters in an exclusive interview.

Though he said he "can live with" the anger of people he defrauded out of billions of dollars, and he is adjusting to the rhythms of life in prison, even at 73 years old, he is troubled by anger and turmoil within his own family.

"Not seeing my family and knowing they hate me" is the worst thing about being in prison, he said. "I betrayed them."

Asked what he'd like to say to his grandchildren, he said, without apparent emotion, "I am sorry to have caused them pain."

As he sat across from Walters during a two-hour conversation at the Federal Correction Complex at Butner, N.C., on Oct. 14, Madoff often seemed to be trying as much as possible to feel no pain himself.

Madoff said he passes the time by reading, recently finishing a book about Wall Street robber barons.

The man who ran a Ponzi scheme of more than $60 billion has held six or seven different jobs in prison, he said, and he makes $170 a month.

He said he is relieved to be free from years of fear he'd be discovered as a fraud and finally has overcome thoughts of suicide.  

Repeatedly throughout the interview he told Walters that he was guilty of the crimes that put him in prison, saying "I deserved to be punished. I deserved to go to jail."

"I feel safer here than outside," Madoff said. "Days go by.  I have people to talk to and no decisions to make...I know that I will die in prison.  I lived the last 20 years of my life in fear.  Now I have no fear -- nothing to think about because I'm no longer in control of my own life."

Though Madoff has people to talk to in prison, his family situation is far more complicated.  He has not spoken to his wife, Ruth Madoff, since after the suicide of their son, Mark Madoff, on Dec. 11, 2010.  And Mark Madoff's widow, Stephanie Madoff Mack, has told ABC News she holds Bernie Madoff responsible for her son's death and, "I'd spit in his face," if she ever saw him again.

Madoff told Walters that his wife used to visit him at the prison weekly and they spoke on the phone daily.  In order to visit Butner, N.C., Ruth Madoff would drive 12 hours alone, stay at a motel overnight and drive 12 hours back to Florida, which was hard on her.

But after their son's suicide, the couple had an emotional final meeting at the prison at which Ruth Madoff "asked me to let her go, which I understood," Madoff said.

Madoff told Walters he has not reached out to his wife since that final meeting.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Injured Occupy Oakland Protester Identified as Iraq War Veteran

KIMIHIRO HOSHINO/AFP/Getty Images(OAKLAND, Calif.) -- The group Iraq Veterans Against the War has identified the demonstrator who endured a skull fracture after Occupy Oakland protesters clashed with police Tuesday night.

According to the organization’s statement, Scott Olsen, also a member of Veterans for Peace, was “shot in the head with a police projectile while peacefully participating in the Occupy Oakland march.”

A news release from Mike Ferner, Occupy Oakland’s interim director, said that Olsen’s condition was stable but serious.

Olsen, 24, a former Marine, did two tours of duty in Iraq before leaving the military in 2010.  Formerly of Wisconsin, he now lives and works in Daly, Calif.

On Tuesday, a number of clashes erupted between police as a group of nearly 500 protesters marched from the main branch of the Oakland Public Library to City Hall to reclaim the camp they’d been evicted from earlier in the day.

According to Ferner, a video with slow-motion footage showed police tossing a flash-bang into a group of people standing around someone in the street, though it was not clear whether Olsen was the person on the ground.

Authorities have denied reports that they used flash-bang canisters to help break up the crowds, saying the loud noises came from large firecrackers.

During a late-night news conference, Oakland Interim Police Chief Howard Jordan told reporters that authorities had no other choice then to use tear gas, saying the protesters were throwing rocks and bottles at officers.

According to Ferner’s statement, a Veterans for Peace member, Josh Sheperd, who’d witnessed Olsen’s injury, said that after police fired tear gas, bean bags and flash-bangs and warned demonstrators to leave, “people in the rear of the crowd threw eggs at the police.”

The statement from the Iraq Veterans Against the War said that Olsen was sedated at a local hospital and would be examined by a neurosurgeon.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Supreme Court Will Soon Discuss Petitions on Healthcare Law

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) -- President Obama and opponents of the Affordable Care Act should know in a little more than two weeks if the Supreme Court will rule on the national healthcare law by next year.

The high court will discuss five petitions from three appeals court decisions on the law at a conference set for Nov. 10, with its findings made public four days later.

Given its full slate of cases, the earliest the judges could hear arguments about the constitutionality of the law is late February, although late March is more probable with a ruling likely coming in June.

At the core of the case is whether the government can mandate Americans to purchase medical coverage.  If the Supreme Court strikes down this provision, the rest of the healthcare law might not stand up to legal scrutiny.

So far, appeals courts have been split on the issue.  Meanwhile, 26 Republican attorneys general have filed a petition for the court to overturn the Affordable Care Act in its entirety.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Blackbeard's Cannon Lifted from Ocean Floor off North Carolina

Karen Browning/N.C. Department of Cultural Resources(RALEIGH, N.C.) -- Archaeologists lifted a 300-year-old cannon from the pirate Blackbeard's ship off the coast of North Carolina Wednesday.

The eight-foot-long cannon was covered in sand and ocean debris called "concretion," which will take archaeologists and students at East Carolina University as many as eight years to crack through before getting to the metal cannon, according to Jennifer Woodward, secretary of the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, which oversees the project.

"It was perfect.  It's a beautiful day, the crews were out earlier this morning, several boats out there witnessed it," Woodward said.  "It looks like it's covered in concretions, with cement all around it, and there will be lots of things attached to it."

Woodward said that in past recoveries of cannons from the ship, bits of rope, lead shot and gold dust had been found encased with the recovered artifact.  Researchers have also found wine glass stems and a leg shackle, likely used in the slave trade, she said.  Twelve cannons have been lifted from the ship so far.

Blackbeard, whose real name was Edward Teach, was the captain of the Queen Anne's Revenge, a captured French slave ship.  In 1717, he successfully blockaded the harbor in Charleston, S.C., where he demanded money and goods from the townspeople for weeks.

He used Ocracoke on the Outer Banks of North Carolina as his base of operations.  It was there that he met his end in 1718.

Lauren Hermley, a researcher with the group, said that Blackbeard likely grounded the ship on purpose before it sank, giving the pirate and his crew time to take off the big ticket items -- treasure troves of silver, for example.

He was rumored to have a treasure hidden somewhere, but if he did, the secret died with him.  The artifacts that remain are jackpots only to archaeologists and history buffs.

Hermley noted that the recovery of artifacts has been going on since 1997, and is expected to last until 2013.  Artifacts from the ship are on display in North Carolina museums and museums around the country.  It is the largest underwater archeological project in the country, she noted.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Bernie Madoff and Wife Ruth Attempted Suicide

Stephanie Madoff(NEW YORK) -- The wife of convicted Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff says that she and Bernie were so upset after the collapse of his multi-billion-dollar fraud that they decided to commit suicide together on Christmas Eve.

"I don't know whose idea it was, but we decided to kill ourselves because it was so horrendous what was happening," Ruth Madoff told Morley Safer of CBS News. "We had terrible phone calls. Hate mail, just beyond anything and I said, '...I just can't go on anymore.'"

Ruth Madoff says that she and her husband downed pills, Ambien and perhaps Klonopin on Christmas Eve 2008, just after their sons Mark and Andrew had turned Bernie into federal authorities. She says she didn't mix the pills with alcohol because she was afraid they would vomit the pills back up.

"I took what we had, he took more," said Ruth. "We took pills and woke up the next day....It was very impulsive and I am glad we woke up."

Ruth's son Mark committed suicide two years later, on Dec. 11, 2010, the second anniversary of his father's arrest. Mark's wife Stephanie told Chris Cuomo of ABC News' 20/20 that Mark felt Ruth was wrong to stand by Bernie.

"He couldn't understand how she could continuously stand by this man who ruined so many lives, who ruined his life," said Stephanie.

Stephanie said she blamed both Ruth and Bernie for her husband Mark's death.

"Yes, I'm angry at her," said Stephanie.

"If you're angry at her," asked Cuomo, "how do you feel about Bernie?"

"I hate Bernie Madoff," answered Stephanie. "If I saw Bernie Madoff right now, I would tell him that I hold him fully responsible for killing my husband and I'd spit in his face."

Ruth went into hiding in Florida after Madoff went to prison, even dying her hair red in an effort to avoid being recognized when she returned to New York.

Bernie Madoff, now 73, is currently serving a 150-year sentence for fraud in a federal prison in North Carolina.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

After ‘Occupy’ Arrests, Protesters Plan to Keep Marching

Spencer Platt/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- After nearly 170 arrests across the country Wednesday at camps associated with the ‘Occupy’ movement, protesters said they plan to continue marching and occupying parks after curfews, defying police and city orders.

“Occupy Oakland will reconvene every day … until the camp is reestablished,” a note on Occupy Oakland’s website said after police dismantled and raided the group’s camp in Frank Ogawa Plaza late Tuesday night, arresting more than 100 people.

Fifty-two people were arrested without incident in Atlanta after refusing to vacate Woodruff Park at the closing time of 11 p.m.

In New York City, where the movement began over five weeks ago, protesters marched up from Zuccotti Park in the downtown financial district to Union Square in a show of solidarity with demonstrators in Oakland.  Activists marched through the evening traffic, but it was a mostly peaceful demonstration.  Still, several arrests were reported as protesters clashed with police throughout the night.

No arrests were reported in Orlando, Fla, but after midnight, police began moving items and people out of Beth Johnson Park, including the local “Occupy” group’s flag.

Oakland, Calif., was the most tumultuous scene, with allegations of police violence.  Pictures have emerged from a skirmish showing a woman in a motorized wheel chair engulfed in tear gas and an Iraq war veteran being carried to safety after suffering a skull fracture from a projectile allegedly thrown by police.

The Oakland Police Department did not respond to multiple messages left by ABC News Wednesday.  However, at a press conference late Tuesday, Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan said police intervened after the protesters reportedly began throwing items at officers.

Jordan added that police were only using tear gas and bean bags, not rubber bullets, as had been reported.

Despite the arrests, protesters in all three cities and others around the country said they will remain resolute.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

TSA Takes Its Sexy Back, Removes 'Freaky' Note Author

Jill Filipovic(NEW YORK) -- The Transportation Security Administration announced Wednesday it has identified the officer who penned "highly inappropriate" sex advice on an official form to a passenger after finding a "personal item" in the traveler's luggage and has removed the employee from screening duties.

New York blogger Jill Filipovic got an unusual surprise courtesy of the TSA officer on Monday when she opened her bags after a flight to Dublin, Ireland. Inside, on a TSA search notification, someone had scrawled "GET YOUR FREAK ON GIRL" in big capital letters -- apparently referring to a "personal item" discovered in Filipovic's luggage.

"TSA quickly launched an investigation and identified the employee responsible. That individual was immediately removed from screening operations and appropriate disciplinary action has been initiated," the TSA wrote on its blog Wednesday. "The handwritten note was highly inappropriate and unprofessional, and TSA has zero tolerance for this type of behavior."

Filipovic, who tweeted a picture of the note and posted an entry on it the Feministe.us blog, initially said that though she thought the message was "a total violation of privacy...I also just died laughing in my hotel room."

Later, when speaking to ABC News, Filipovic said that after consideration she found the note "offensive" and said she would be filing a complaint after her travels.

"I hope they do see the complaint, they'll look into it and remind their staff that going through people's personal belongings is a responsibility that should be treated with some modicum of professionalism," Filipovic said Monday.

A spokesperson for the TSA told ABC News Monday it was possible that any number of people who handle the bags could have left the note, but their subsequent investigation appears to have revealed the uniformed culprit.

The TSA said in its blog that it reached out to Filipovic personally to apologize for the "unfortunate incident." Filipovic was not immediately available for comment on this report and has not tweeted or blogged about the TSA admission.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Gen. James Amos: Marine Corps Is the ‘Cheap Force’

Official Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Heather Golden/ Released(WASHINGTON) -- Gen. James Amos, commandant of the Marine Corps, said Wednesday that in the face of a shrinking defense budget, the armed services would not turn against one another and fight for funds.

“The relationship has never been better than it is today,” Amos said of the ties between the Army and the Marine Corps Wednesday at the Council on Foreign Relations. “It’s better than it’s ever been in my 41 years of service.”

Responding to a question about whether there was a whisper campaign begun by the Marines against the other services, he said he had not heard of it.

“If there’s anyone who can keep the tribes together, it’s Marty Dempsey,” Amos said, referring to Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Martin Dempsey.

However, Amos sold the Marine Corps as the “cheap force,” and said America needed a military “that’s not going to break the bank.”

“You get a lot of bang for your buck,” Amos said of the Marines. “We don’t need fancy hotels or air conditioning.”

Amos said the Marines Corps planned to go down to 186,000 personnel from 202,000 -- cuts approved by former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. He added that he was not sure 186,000 was the floor. For those looking to join the Marines now, he said, there was such a backlog that it would be at least eight months before being sent to boot camp.

He added that there would also be some cuts in ground vehicles, from 40,000 to 30,000.

“I will not ask for anything I want, just things I need,” he said. “What is it that’s good enough to get us through the next eight to 10 years?”

In addition, he said, pay raises and housing, health and retirement benefits would be looked at.

“We’re paid pretty well,” he said. “Is there room to adjust inside? Yeah, I think there is room. We’re going to need to look at that.”

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Snow on Halloween for the Northeast?

iStockPhoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- Trick-or-treaters in the Northeast may need coats to go with their costumes if Mother Nature has her way. There are two storms heading towards New York City, Boston and Washington D.C., and each has the potential to bring the region its first snow of the season.

Part of the snowstorm that is bringing 1-2 feet of snow to the Front Range of the Rockies will break off and move east, resulting in snow for parts of New England and higher elevations in the interior Northeast on Thursday afternoon. Some inland areas could see 2-4 inches of snow by Thursday night.

Major East Coast cities will likely see chilly rain with temperatures in the 40′s and 50′s. The snow and rain will end Thursday night with colder and blustery conditions on Friday.

The second storm will be a nor’easter that will likely bring New York City, Boston, Washington D.C., Baltimore, and Philadelphia their first snowflakes of the season on Saturday. The major cities should expect to receive mostly sprinkles and flurries, nothing more than a dusting.

The storm will develop early Saturday off the coast of the Carolinas and move up the Northeast during the day. The storm, depending on its route, may dump up to a foot of snow in the interior of the Northeast.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio