December 10th, 2013
10:30 AM ET
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Affleck Reveals Stalker Scare

Actress Jennifer Garner has been a major force behind California's new anti-paparazzi law-which increases the penalties for taking photos that invade a celebrity's right to privacy. She joined Halle Berry in front of the State Assembly in August,  tearfully testifying  to encourage its passing.

Now, Oscar winner husband Ben Affleck reveals why he's so protective of his kids when it comes to the paparazzi.

“In a new interview with Playboy Magazine, Affleck says a man who was allegedly stalking his actress wife, Jennifer Garner, and his family for years... basically used a crowd of paparazzi as cover to stand outside his daughter's pre-school,” reports CNN’s Nischelle Turner.

He says, "They used to take pictures of our children coming out of preschool, and so this stalker who had threatened to kill me, my wife and our kids showed up at the school and got arrested. I mean, there are real practical dangers to this."

Steven Burky was arrested in the 2009 incident, charged with violating a restraining order when police caught him. Burky was found not guilty by reason of insanity and later sent to a mental hospital by a judge, Turner reports.

Affleck explains in the article, he can handle the attention but he says his kids aren't celebrities they deserve a little privacy,

He says, "The tragic thing is, people who see those pictures naturally think it's sweet. They don't see the gigantic former gang member with a huge lens standing over a four-year-old and screaming to get the kid's attention."

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December 10th, 2013
10:30 AM ET
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Report: Spies Snoop Online Games

Spies with surveillance agencies in the United States and United Kingdom may have spent time undercover as orcs and blood elves, infiltrating video games like "World of Warcraft" in a hunt for terrorists "hiding in plain sight" online, reports CNN's Brian Todd.

That's the finding of the most recent round of documents released by National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden to British newspaper The Guardian.

Agents from the CIA, FBI and Pentagon and England's Government Communications Headquarters infiltrated WoW and virtual world "Second Life," as well as collecting information on the Xbox Live gaming network, according to the documents.

A 2008 NSA memo called online gaming a "target-rich communications network" where terrorists could communicate "in plain sight."

"And conceivably, terrorists could plan real attacks through these fantasy games," Todd says.

"Experts say, the fake identities, voice and chat capability, the ability to speak to others in real time, are all features of game play that terrorists find attractive."

None of the newly leaked documents, published this time in conjunction with ProPublica and the New York Times, mentioned specific terrorist activity foiled via the projects.

But apparently so many agents were engaged in playing video games for national security that a "deconfliction" group was created to make sure government agents weren't accidentally spying on each other.

Unlike traditional console and desktop games in which players compete in a closed environment, massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) allow players from around the world to team up and play together, often in real time using in-game communication tools.

"World of Warcraft" is the most popular online role-playing game ever. It peaked at about 12 million subscribers in 2010 and still has more than 7 million, according to Blizzard.

It's unclear whether the agencies had surveillance capabilities within the massively multi-player games that normal players would not. A spokesman for Blizzard Entertainment, which owns "World of Warcraft," told The Guardian it is unaware of any surveillance having taken place.

"If it was, it would have been done without our knowledge or permission," the spokesman said.

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Filed under: Internets • News • Social • Tech • Videos
December 10th, 2013
10:27 AM ET
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Leaders Pay Tribute to Global Icon Nelson Mandela

Presidents and prime ministers, celebrities and royals joined tens of thousands of South Africans to pay tribute to Nelson Mandela on Tuesday, in a memorial service celebrating a man seen as a global symbol of reconciliation.

"New Day's" Chris Cuomo had a front row seat to the ceremony and CNN's Errol Barnett  highlights great moments above.

In what has been billed as one of the largest gatherings of global leaders in recent history, world leaders from U.S. President Barack Obama to Cuba's Raul Castro gathered alongside street sweepers, actors and religious figures to pay tribute to the revered statesman who died last Thursday, aged 95.

Walking up the stairs onto the stage to deliver his speech, Obama shook hands with Castro, an unprecedented gesture between the leaders of two nations that have been at loggerheads for more than half a century.

FULL POST

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Filed under: News • Videos • World News
December 10th, 2013
10:17 AM ET
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Montana Bride Jordan Linn Graham Goes On Trial In Husband's Fatal Fall From Cliff

The defense and prosecution agree on this much: Jordan Linn Graham pushed her husband of eight days, and he fell off a cliff to his death in Glacier National Park in Montana.

The question for jurors will be whether Graham's act was murder or a case of self-defense that ended tragically, CNN's Kyung Lah reports.

The two sides set out their opening arguments Monday about what took place as Graham's trial began in U.S. District Court in Missoula, Montana.

Prosecutors said they would show that Graham, 21, was having serious second thoughts about her marriage before her husband's death and willfully lied to police after it.

But her defense lawyers said that the death plunge was an accident resulting from an argument. Graham initially lied to police, they said, because she was afraid she wouldn't be allowed to explain what happened on the cliff edge.Her husband, Cody Johnson, disappeared July 7. Four days later, the FBI says, Graham led friends and relatives to a popular spot in the park, where they found Johnson's body.

The defense and prosecution agree on this much: Jordan Linn Graham pushed her husband of eight days, and he fell off a cliff to his death in Glacier National Park in Montana.

The question for jurors will be whether Graham's act was murder or a case of self-defense that ended tragically.

The two sides set out their opening arguments Monday about what took place as Graham's trial began in U.S. District Court in Missoula, Montana.

Prosecutors said they would show that Graham, 21, was having serious second thoughts about her marriage before her husband's death and willfully lied to police after it.

But her defense lawyers said that the death plunge was an accident resulting from an argument. Graham initially lied to police, they said, because she was afraid she wouldn't be allowed to explain what happened on the cliff edge.

Her husband, Cody Johnson, disappeared July 7. Four days later, the FBI says, Graham led friends and relatives to a popular spot in the park, where they found Johnson's body.

See HLN Legal Analyst Joey Jackson and Legal Analyst Sunny Hostin weigh in on the trial on "New Day" Tuesday:

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