Track Palin arrested on domestic violence charges

Troopers responded to his home in Wasilla at 10:37 p.m. after a report of a disturbance.

Palin allegedly assaulted an acquaintance, then prevented her from calling police by taking away her phone, troopers said in a statement.

He then physically resisted troopers while being placed under arrest, authorities said.

Palin, 29, was charged with domestic violence, interfering with report of domestic violence, resisting arrest, and disorderly conduct.

He appeared in court in Palmer on Saturday. He said he was "not guilty, for sure," CNN affiliate KTUU reported.

Troopers said he was being held at the Mat-Su Pretrial facility in Palmer without bond. He doesn't have an attorney listed on the facility's website.

The incident is not his first arrest related to domestic violence. He was arrested in early 2016 and charged with domestic violence assault involving a female, interfering with a report of domestic violence, and possession of a weapon while intoxicated.

At the time, Sarah Palin attributed her son's actions to post-traumatic stress disorder he suffered after returning from 2008 combat mission in Iraq.

"What my own son is going through, what he is going through coming back, I can relate to other families who feel ramifications of PTSD and some of the woundedness that our soldiers do return with," the former Republican vice presidential candidate and governor of Alaska said then.

Track Palin was also charged with assault in December 2017 stemming from dispute with his father, Todd.

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What's ahead for inmate Cosby

It was his first day of what will be a lengthy stay in a Pennsylvania state prison.

But the 81-year-old's legal challenges are far from over. How long will he remain behind bars? What will that stay be like? And what about his potential appeals, or the civil defamation lawsuits against him?

Here are six things we know about Cosby's immediate future -- in prison, in the courtroom and in American pop culture.

He's getting new boots, and chocolate pudding

Cosby arrived Tuesday night to Pennsylvania's State Correctional Institute at Phoenix. The prison in Collegeville is about 30 miles northwest of Philadelphia and not far from the Montgomery County courthouse where he was convicted.

Cosby got one of the SCI Phoenix facility's 3,830 beds to start serving his sentence. The Department of Corrections said he was also given a few basics, including a uniform, toiletries, linens, towels and state-issued boots.

He is being housed in a single cell -- 7 by 13 feet -- in a unit adjacent to the infirmary, the prison said. He will be allowed phone calls and visitation in accordance with policy, as well as the opportunity to exercise as he goes through an evaluation process.

"We are taking all of the necessary precautions to ensure Mr. Cosby's safety and general welfare in our institution," said Corrections Secretary John Wetzel. "The long-term goal is for him to be placed in the general population to receive the programming required during his incarceration."

Cosby's first prison meal at SCI Phoenix was baked meatballs and rice, green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy, said Lisa Durand, spokeswoman for SCI Phoenix. Lunch on Thursday included a half-cup of gelatin, like the Jell-O dessert Cosby once hawked in TV ads. Saturday's menu has chocolate pudding.

The prison will accommodate his age and health issues

Cosby's attorneys had asked the judge to sentence him to house arrest because they said prison would be tough for Cosby, who is elderly, legally blind and famous.

Worden said that new inmates go through an evaluation process to determine which prison in the state system is best suited for them. They evaluate the inmate's needs, programs and health issues in deciding where to house them, she said.

That could mean Cosby remains at SCI Phoenix or is moved to another of the state's prisons.

Amy Worden, press secretary for the state Department of Corrections, said the Pennsylvania prison system has geriatric inmates, and most of their prisons, including SCI Phoenix, are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. There are also varying degrees of medical facilities across the system.

"The Department of Corrections has had high-profile inmates before, and I'm sure we'll have them again, so it's not that much out of the ordinary. He'll be treated like other inmates," Worden said.

As part of Cosby's sentence, he was determined to be a "sexually violent predator," a designation that requires him to take sex offender counseling at least once a month. In SCI Phoenix, he will find programs on that topic.

Cosby spokesperson Andrew Wyatt said Cosby's family is hoping that SCI Phoenix will be his final prison location, as the facility is new and he can be comfortable there, away from the general population. The prison is also only a 30- to 45-minute drive from Montgomery County, where Cosby has a home.

He could be released in three years

Cosby entered the prison Tuesday to begin a sentence that will last at least three years and no more than 10 years.

He was found guilty of three counts of aggravated indecent assault, each of which carries a maximum of 10 years in prison. But Montgomery County court Judge Steven O'Neill announced Monday that the charges had been merged into one because they all stem from the same event.

O'Neill sentenced Cosby to three to 10 years because, he said, "No one is above the law, and no one should be treated differently or disproportionally."

"This was a serious crime," O'Neill added. "Mr. Cosby, this has all circled back to you. The day has come, the time has come."

After three years, Cosby will be eligible to appear before a parole board and make his case to be paroled. At that point, he could be released from prison and allowed to serve out the rest of his 10-year sentence under supervision in the community, said the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole.

"Parole is a privilege, not a right; it is not automatic or guaranteed. It may be revoked for violations of the conditions of parole or for new criminal convictions," the board writes.

Cosby was also ordered to pay a fine of $25,000 plus the costs of prosecution -- a total of $43,611 -- as part of the sentence.

He intends to appeal

Cosby's attorneys have repeatedly said they plan to file an appeal in the criminal case.

"A second opinion isn't unreasonable, and as you know he intends to seek one," attorney Joseph P. Green said.

They have 10 days from the sentencing to file a notice of appeal. It's not clear what specific issues Cosby would challenge, but there are several possible focal points based on their previous criticisms.

One issue is the possible bias of Judge O'Neill. A defense motion earlier this month argued that O'Neill had a "nasty" personal conflict against the prior district attorney Bruce Castor.

The issue is important because in 2016, Castor testified there was a binding agreement that Cosby could not be prosecuted, but O'Neill disagreed, ruling the case could go forward.

O'Neill denied the defense's motion to recuse himself, saying it was not filed in a timely fashion and had no merit.

"This Court is confident that it has and can continue to assess this case in an impartial manner, free of personal bias or interest in the outcome," O'Neill wrote in the order.

Another possible line of appeal is O'Neill's decision regarding "prior bad acts" witnesses to testify at trial. Although the assault charges only dealt with Constand, O'Neill allowed five other women to testify that Cosby had incapacitated and assaulted them in prior incidents.

Prosecutors said these witnesses showed that Cosby had a common pattern or scheme in his assault of Constand. But Cosby's representatives said that O'Neill's decision to allow their testimony unfairly prejudiced the jury.

Finally, Cosby spokeswoman Ebonee Benson read aloud a statement from Cosby's wife Camille that challenged the legitimacy of a recorded phone call between Constand's mother and Cosby. Benson alleged that an audio analysis showed the recording had been doctored.

Cosby's defense team will be filing a motion "seeking immediate relief for the prosecution's use of this falsified evidence," Benson said. "The DA's use of this falsified audio clip at trial is deeply prejudicial, yet it represents just one of many issues that resulted in the denial of Mr. Cosby's right to a fair trial."

He still faces several civil lawsuits

Because of statute of limitations laws, the vast majority of assault accusations against Cosby could not be prosecuted in criminal court. Still, several women have sued him in civil court.

Three are defamation cases in which accusers say Cosby defamed them as liars, and two are civil assault lawsuits.

The most prominent was brought by Tamara Green in federal court in Massachusetts. Green, who says Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted her in 1970, filed a suit in December 2014. She accuses Cosby and his team of lawyers and representatives of defaming her and calling her a liar for speaking out about the alleged assault.

Six other women -- Therese Serignese, Linda Traitz, Louisa Moritz, Barbara Bowman, Joan Tarshis and Angela Leslie -- have joined that suit.

Attorney Joseph Cammarata said the case was stayed, or put on hold, until the conclusion of Cosby's criminal case. Now that Cosby has been sentenced, Cammarata told CNN that he's now in a position to lift that stay and move forward with the case.

One other defamation suit, filed by Katherine McKee, was dismissed by a federal judge in February. She has said she plans to appeal the decision.

Finally, Cosby faces at least two open civil assault lawsuits. Judy Huth, who says Cosby sexually assaulted her at the Playboy Mansion when she was 15, sued in December 2014. Chloe Goins sued in May 2016.

"Based on experience in civil suits filed against inmates in our custody, most of the proceedings are done through video conferencing," said Worden, the Department of Corrections spokeswoman.

And his legacy is forever tarnished

Cosby's groundbreaking entertainment career, including his roles on "I Spy" and "The Cosby Show," has largely been erased from the public eye in the past few years.

Re-runs of "The Cosby Show," long a staple of cable TV, were taken off the airwaves as the accusations piled up, and now are only available on Amazon Prime TV.

Universities that granted him honorary degrees have rescinded them, including Notre Dame and Yale. Temple University, where Cosby sat on the Board of Trustees for 32 years until his resignation in 2014, rescinded his honorary degree after his conviction.

In a column for CNN, film critic Gene Seymour wrote that Cosby's conviction in April was a final blow to the battered reputation of an American icon.

"One of the most ecumenically beloved entertainers of the last century will be known for the rest of his life as a sexual predator," he wrote. "And for many of us it may take the rest of our lives to unpack the ramifications."

So how does Cosby feel? The entertainer toured as recently as 2015 and said in a TV interview before his 2017 mistrial that he would like to eventually return to doing comedy.

"I want to get back to the laughter and enjoyment of things that I've written and things that I perform on stage," he said.

"I know the side that I'm on and the side that I'm hoping for, and after that, there's more work to be done," he added. "But I still feel that I have an awful lot to offer in terms of my writing, in terms of my performance."

CNN's Aaron Cooper and Jean Casarez contributed to this report.

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Elon Musk sued by SEC

Elon Musk is being sued by the SEC

Elon Musk has tweeted himself into serious trouble.

The Securities and Exchange Commission sued Tesla's CEO on Thursday for making "false and misleading" statements to investors. It's asking a federal judge to prevent Musk from serving as an officer or a director of a public company, among other penalties.

The complaint hinges on a tweet Musk sent on August 7 about taking Tesla private.

"Am considering taking Tesla private at $420," Musk said. "Funding secured."

The SEC said he had not actually secured the funding.

"In truth and in fact, Musk had not even discussed, much less confirmed, key deal terms, including price, with any potential funding source," the SEC said in its complaint.

That tweet, and subsequent tweets from Musk over the next three hours, caused "significant confusion and disruption in the market for Tesla's stock," as well as harm to investors, the SEC said. On the day of Musk's tweet, Tesla's stock shot up nearly 9%. It has declined substantially since then.

Tesla's (TSLA) stock dropped more than 11% in after-hours trading Thursday.

"This unjustified action by the SEC leaves me deeply saddened and disappointed," Musk said in a statement. "I have always taken action in the best interests of truth, transparency and investors. Integrity is the most important value in my life and the facts will show I never compromised this in any way."

Tesla's greatest invention is its 'Hype Machine'

Tesla and its board of directors said in a joint statement that they are "are fully confident in Elon, his integrity, and his leadership of the company."

"Our focus remains on the continued ramp of Model 3 production and delivering for our customers, shareholders and employees," the statement said.

Stephanie Avakian, co-director of the SEC's enforcement division, said at a press conference Thursday that the agency is committed to holding people accountable despite "celebrity status or reputation as a technological innovator."

The complaint alleged that Musk rounded up the go-private price to $420 per share "because he had recently learned about the number's significance in marijuana culture" and thought his girlfriend would find it funny. He was dating the musician Grimes.

Musk did not consult with any board members, employees or outside advisers before he sent the tweets, according to the SEC.

"This is serious. This is what you go after insider traders and market manipulators on," said Charles Whitehead, professor at Cornell Law School. "This is a serious allegation."

Musk abandoned the plan to take Tesla private less than three weeks after he first tweeted about it. He later said his "funding secured" comment was based on talks with Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, which he said had urged him to take the company private and offered to increase its investment in Tesla.

Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 7, 2018

The Justice Department is also investigating comments made by Musk, Tesla said last week. The company said it had received a voluntary request for documents and is cooperating. Tesla said it had not been subpoenaed.

Shareholders have also filed lawsuits charging that Musk made the claim to manipulate the stock price.

Musk has brought a string of bad headlines down on himself with erratic behavior. He has fired off tweets late at night and brushed off analysts on corporate earnings calls. He disparaged a man who was working to rescue boys trapped in a cave in Thailand, and sparred with journalists and investors he believed were unfair to him. Musk vowed to launch a website called Pravda to critique the media.

-- CNNMoney's Matt Egan and Jackie Wattles contributed to this report.

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Tesla's stock falls 12% after SEC sues Elon Musk

Facebook: Attack exposed info of 50 million users

Here's why quitting Facebook is so hard

An attack on Facebook discovered earlier this week exposed information on nearly 50 million of the social network's users, the company announced Friday.

The attackers exploited a feature called "View as" that lets users see their Facebook page the way someone else would. The attackers could then potentially use it to take over the accounts and use them exactly as if they were the account holders.

Facebook (FB) said it does not know who the attackers were or where they were based. It also said it has already fixed the issue and informed the FBI and other law enforcement, as well as lawmakers and regulators. It has also informed the Irish Data Protection Commission about the breach, a step required by Europe's GDPR regulations. The commission said it received the notification, but expressed concern with its timing and lack of detail.

More than 90 million users were forcibly logged out of their accounts by Facebook and had to log back in on Friday for security reasons. Users do not need to take any additional security precautions or reset their passwords, said Facebook. All logged out users will receive a notification about the issue from Facebook.

The company says it does not know if the affected accounts were misused in any way or if any user information was actually accessed. It has not determined if any specific locations or accounts were targeted. It has turned off the "View As" feature that the attackers exploited while it investigates.

Facebook says the vulnerability is the result of three distinct bugs, and originally appeared in July 2017 when the company made a change to a video uploading feature. The company first detected some unusual activity -- a spike in user access to the site -- on September 16, 2018. It launched an investigation and uncovered this attack on Tuesday of this week. On Wednesday it notified law enforcement and on Thursday evening it fixed the vulnerability and began resetting login tokens, according to Facebook.

The attackers stole Facebook "access tokens" which keep a person logged into their Facebook account over long periods of time so they don't have to keep signing in. Facebook reset all 50 million tokens, as well as tokens for an additional 40 million people who had used the "View as" feature in the past year as a "precautionary step."

"The reality here is we face constant attacks from people who want to take over accounts or steal information.... we need to do more to prevent this from happening in the first place," CEO Mark Zuckerberg said during a call with reporters shortly after the announcement.

The announcement is the latest issue for the company, which has struggled with security breaches, privacy issues and misinformation in recent years. Facebook says it is investing heavily in security going forward, and increasing the number of people working on security from 10,000 to 20,000.

"Security is an arms race and we're continuing to improve our defenses," said Zuckerberg.

-- CNN's Donie O'Sullivan contributed reporting.

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ACLU says Facebook ads let employers discriminate

Exclusive: Is Facebook doing enough to stop election meddling?

Facebook's ad targeting system is being used by some employers to unlawfully discriminate based on gender, a new complaint says, the latest in a string of allegations of discrimination being allowed in Facebook ads.

On Tuesday, the ACLU, law firm Outten & Golden, and labor union Communications Workers of America filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against Facebook and 10 other employers for allegedly using Facebook ads to discriminate against potential job seekers.

The complaint was filed on behalf of three female job seekers and a group of "thousands" of members represented by the labor union. The named complainants are also seeking to represent a broader proposed class of what the ACLU says is "millions" of Facebook users who may have been similarly impacted.

It alleges that job ads on Facebook were targeted exclusively to male users, and that most of these listings were for positions in male-dominated fields. As a result, all women and non-binary users were excluded from receiving the ads, according to the complaint.

"The employers for those jobs are probably thinking they need to fill them with people who look like the people who currently hold those jobs. The problem is, that is unlawful," Galen Sherwin, a senior staff attorney at the ACLU Women's Rights Project, told CNNMoney.

The complaint alleges that Facebook (FB) allows advertisers to target job ads based on age and gender. This is against federal and local laws, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Additionally, the government can forbid job advertising that discriminates based on sex, according to a Supreme Court ruling in 1973, the complaint said.

"I shouldn't be shut out of the chance to hear about a job opportunity just because I am a woman," said Bobbi Spees, one of the three complainants in the case, according to a press release.

"There is no place for discrimination on Facebook; it's strictly prohibited in our policies, and over the past year, we've strengthened our systems to further protect against misuse," Facebook spokesperson Joe Osborne said in a statement to CNNMoney. "We are reviewing the complaint and look forward to defending our practices." Facebook also said it would soon require all advertisers to consent to complying with its anti-discrimination policies and the law.

Juan Mundel, an assistant professor of advertising at DePaul University, noted that Facebook is "the biggest advertising agency in the world at the moment."

"While Facebook will do its best to satisfy regulations and make small adjustments, they won't actually make any decisions that will drastically affect their business model which allows it to hyper-segment consumers," he added.

According to ACLU's Sherwin, the fix is simple: She suggests Facebook stop making it an option for employers to select a gender for targeting job ads.

Mundel says, more broadly, Facebook could apply more oversight to determine if employers are appropriately and legally applying targeting for specific ad purposes.

Facebook isn't the only company allowing advertisers to target ads, according to Mike Yao, a technology and advertising expert at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

"Facebook is an easy target, but I think the problem goes way beyond Facebook," he said.

In the past, the company has faced criticism about its advertising platform and whether its systems allow for discrimination.

Most recently, the Department of Housing and Urban Development accused Facebook of violating the 1968 Fair Housing Act in August. It filed a formal complaint against Facebook claiming the platform lets landlords and home sellers use targeted ads to discriminate against potential buyers or renters based on race, sex, religion, disability and other factors.

In response, Facebook said it eliminated 5,000 targeting options that could be potentially misused to discriminate.

Last December, a ProPublica and New York Times investigation found that dozens of major employers, including Verizon, ran recruitment ads only for certain age groups. At the time, Facebook said age-based targeting is "an accepted industry practice."

The ACLU complaint also includes allegations that employers were able to target younger users on Facebook thereby discriminating by age.

In November, a separate ProPublica report found discriminatory advertisements were getting through Facebook's systems. ProPublica was able to purchase dozens of home rental advertisements targeted toward audiences that specifically excluded "African Americans, mothers of high school kids, people interested in wheelchair ramps, Jews, expats from Argentina and Spanish speakers."

Discriminatory housing-related advertisements are not allowed under the Fair Housing Act. The law prohibits the advertisement of homes for rent or sale and discriminating "based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin."

Update: Due to an error in an ACLU press release, this story originally misidentified the quoted complainant."

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Russian company had access to Facebook data

Russian company had access to Facebook user data

A Russian internet company with links to the Kremlin was among the firms to which Facebook gave an extension which allowed them to collect data on unknowing users of the social network after a policy change supposedly stopped such collection.

Facebook told CNN on Tuesday that apps developed by the Russian technology conglomerate Mail.Ru Group, were being looked at as part of the company's wider investigation into the misuse of Facebook user data in light of the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

Facebook told CNN that the Mail.Ru Group developed hundreds of Facebook apps, some of which were test apps that were not made public. Only two apps were granted an extension, lasting two weeks, that would have allowed them to collect friend data beyond the cut-off date, Facebook said.

Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a statement to CNN that Facebook's relationship with Mail.Ru deserved further scrutiny.

"In the last 6 months we've learned that Facebook had few controls in place to control the collection and use of user data by third parties. Now we learn that the largest technology company in Russia, whose executives boast close ties to Vladimir Putin, had potentially hundreds of apps integrated with Facebook, collecting user data. If this is accurate, we need to determine what user information was shared with mail.ru and what may have been done with the captured data," Warner said.

Related: Facebook's Cambridge Analytica scandal draws growing federal scrutiny

Prior to 2015, in some cases, when Facebook users interacted with the apps built by third-party developers on Facebook, the developer not only received data about that user, but also about the users' friends — including name, gender, birthdate, location, photos, and what they "liked" on Facebook.

In 2014 Facebook announced it was changing the policy, and would restrict developers' access to data on app users' friends by May 2015.

But two weeks ago, Facebook told Congress that it gave 61 companies, including Mail.Ru, an extension on access to the data beyond May 2015. The admission came in a list of written answers Facebook provided to the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Ime Archibong, Facebook's vice president of partnerships, told CNN on Tuesday that Facebook had not found any evidence that the Mail.Ru Group had misused Facebook user data, but acknowledged that the investigation is continuing and would not answer if Facebook even has the ability to determine how the Russian company used data derived from Facebook.

Facebook would not say how much user data the Mail.Ru Group obtained or if any data was obtained about American citizens. The company declined to elaborate on its methods for determining how Mail.Ru may have used personal data, citing confidentiality between Facebook and developers.

Archibong said that Facebook was devoting significant resources to investigating app developers, but he wouldn't say if Russian-built apps were being prioritized for investigation over others.

In a written statement provided to CNN after his interview on Tuesday, Facebook VP Archibong said, "Facebook is a global company with users all over the world so we work with developers globally to bring our services to people everywhere — as long as those developers adhere to our platform policies. Mail.ru, one of the top five largest internet companies in the world, has built apps for the Facebook platform and for other major platforms, including iOS and Android for years. We've found no indication of misuse with Mail.ru. If we find misuse, we ban the developers."

Related: Facebook investigating employee's links to Cambridge Analytica

Mail.Ru told CNN that it had not been contacted by Facebook about its investigation into the misuse of user data. Facebook told CNN it had contacted Mail.Ru about the investigation, but didn't say when it first reached out.

Mail.Ru Group is controlled by USM Holdings, a company founded by Alisher Usmanov, who was included on a list the U.S. Treasury Department published in January of Russian billionaires with ties to the Kremlin.

Russian investor Yuri Milner was the chairman of Mail.Ru Group until he stepped down in 2012. Milner told Forbes he served as a member of then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's innovation commission from 2009 to 2011.

The New York Times reported last year that Milner invested in Facebook and Twitter with hundreds of millions of dollars from Russian state institutions funneled through offshore shell companies, though Milner's companies have since sold those holdings. In interviews for that report, Milner said the Russian government money was no different from other international investments, and he said he focuses on business and philanthropy, not politics.

Mail.Ru's large portfolio of companies includes an online gaming division. Mail.RU told CNN in a statement that it had launched approximately 20 Facebook games.

The company said it acted in accordance with Facebook's terms and conditions and that it had not collected data on Facebook users, including Americans, other than to promote its "social games with social mechanics within Facebook."

The company said American users account for no more than 5% of its Facebook app audience.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg ordered an investigation into potential misuse of Facebook user data gathered through third-party apps a few days after the Cambridge Analytica story broke in March.

"We have a responsibility to protect your data, and if we can't then we don't deserve to serve you. I've been working to understand exactly what happened and how to make sure this doesn't happen again," Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post at the time.

An app developer working for Cambridge Analytica in 2014 built an online survey that gathered data on tens of millions of Americans, most of whom had never downloaded or taken the survey. Cambridge Analytica went on to work for Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.

The revelations came a few months after it emerged that the Internet Research Agency (IRA), a Russian government-linked troll group, posed as American activists on social media, including Facebook, in the run-up to the 2016 election and after.

In April of this year, Facebook removed pages it said the IRA ran targeting Russian-speakers. Similar pages are still active on Vkontakte, a Russian social media network owned by the Mail.Ru Group.

Despite Zuckerberg's pledge, Facebook's ability to determine how data on its users may have been stored is limited.

Sandy Parakilas, a former Facebook employee who now works at the Center for Humane Technology told CNN, "Unfortunately there is no way for Facebook to know what happened to the data once it left its servers, so there's no way for them to know if there was any misuse of not."

-- CNN's Jeremy Herb contributed reporting.

Correction: This article originally misstated why Mail.Ru said it had collected data on Facebook users, which was to promote its "social games with social mechanics within Facebook."

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In Florence aftermath, some return home but others still at risk of flooding

The couple returned home Thursday for the first time since Hurricane Florence hit, and it was nothing like they remembered it. Dirty water splotched the once white walls like paint, with a brown line at 6 feet marking the height of the flooding. Pieces of hardwood floors and furniture lay scattered on the soggy, puffy carpet.

Just above the brown water line on the wall, their wedding photos sat untouched, a glimmer of hope in an otherwise dreary homecoming.

"It is so hard to see it this way, we have been researching how to clean it up," Nathan Harvey told CNN affiliate WECT. "We knew it would be a mess, but this is ... so discouraging."

Rivers are still overflowing

Wilmington residents are slowly coming home to a new reality after swollen rivers and flooding from Florence cut off the city of 118,000.

But two weeks after Florence slammed the Carolinas coastline, overflowing rivers are still a concern as they make their way to the ocean. South Carolina officials say Georgetown County, where Waccamaw and Pee Dee rivers join other rivers on their way to the Atlantic Ocean, is especially at risk. The Waccamaw River is expected to crest Friday morning, according to spokesman Ryan Dickinson of the Coast Guard.

"The major concern for this crest is that this is the highest point that the river will rise to before it starts to fall back to below the record," CNN meteorologist Robert Shackelford said Friday.

"With the peak of flooding, there is chances for low lying areas to become flooded. It can also continue to impact roads that are used to bring supplies to people. "

The cresting is a result of flooding waters from small creeks flowing into large rivers, a process that can take days.

Georgetown dodged the brunt of Florence's ferocious winds, but it sits at the mouths of the Waccamaw, Great Pee Dee and Sampit rivers, making it especially vulnerable to flooding.

The Waccamaw River had swollen to record levels upstream, and in some areas water was headed downstream at historic levels.

Coast Guard crews have dispatched shallow water response boats in case they need to evacuate people in Georgetown and Myrtle Beach.

"During Matthew it crested around 14 feet, and we are preparing for it to crest possibly higher than that," Dickinson said.

In North Carolina, Gov. Roy Cooper warned residents to be on alert for high water even as rivers recede and more roads open.

Coastal waters are loaded with pollutants

Overflowing rivers and flooding concerns are not the only problem. The murky waters of the Florence aftermath are loaded with bacteria, viruses and other pollutants.

Officials are warning residents to stay out of contaminated coastal waters to avoid infections such as earaches, hepatitis, skin rashes and respiratory issues, the North Carolina Coastal Federation said.

"The public continues to swim in the ocean and sounds despite these advisories," said Todd Miller, executive director of the federation. "We feel it's vital to let people know that the state has not yet tested any waters to determine if they are safe for human contact."

Cooper said flooding has increased the population of mosquitoes, which can bring illnesses such as encephalitis, West Nile virus and Eastern equine encephalitis. He's ordered $4 million to help fund mosquito control in affected counties.

CNN's Samira Said contributed to this report.

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Florence is gone. Here come the scams.

These scams can come in the form of financial investment offers, loan schemes, charitable crowdfunding pages or countless other predatory tactics hidden beneath a veneer of altruism.

State and federal officials are warning Hurricane Florence survivors, and those who want to help them, about scams. Here's their advice.

Be wary of cold calls and unsolicited messages

"We know from experience that financial predators often take advantage of disasters to peddle their schemes and profit from the misfortune of others," Ronald W. Thomas, the director of the Virginia State Corporation Commission's Division of Securities and Retail Franchising said in an SCC release.

The SCC provided tips for Virginians to spot a scam:

"Red flags of hurricane-related scams include unsolicited email, social media messages, crowdfunding pitches or telephone calls promoting investment pools or bonds to help storm victims, water-removal or purification technologies, electricity-generating devices and distressed real estate remediation programs," the release reads.

The SCC also recommends that people:

• Delete unsolicited emails or messages
• Watch out for calls or solicitations that promise quick payouts or results

Double check contractors, and get it in writing

North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey cautioned survivors against not only falling for scams, but for participating in fraudulent or questionable insurance schemes in hopes of a quick fix. That could land someone in even greater trouble.

"Don't be tempted to conspire in a fraudulent insurance claim," Causey said in a release. "A fraudulent claim could result in your claim not getting paid. And since insurance fraud is a crime, you could end up with serious legal problems."

Causey also provided the following tips:

• Run all contracts and repairs by your insurance company first
• Demand references, identification and licenses from any contractors
• Most importantly, "get everything in writing."

Watch where and how you donate

Even if you're hundreds of miles from where Florence hit, your desire to help could land you in the center of a scam. The Federal Trade Commission has advice on how to avoid sinking your money into illegitimate crowdfunding or charity schemes. Here are some of them:

• Get detailed information about a charity before donating
• Watch out for organizations that aren't clear about their mission or where the money is going
• Avoid cash donations if possible
• Be wary of "pop-up" charity websites or organizations that seem to appear out of nowhere directly after a disaster.

The best way to ensure you're not getting scammed? Use common sense, and contact an expert. For givers, the FTC suggests sites like the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance, Charity Navigator and Charity Watch. For survivors and those rebuilding, experts suggest checking with your insurance company or your state's regulator from the North American Securities Administrators Association.

If you spot a scam, or fall for one yourself, report it to the National Center for Disaster Fraud.

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4-year-old Florence helps victims of the hurricane that shares her name

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Florence Wisniewski did not like her name used for a bad hurricane, so she set out to give it a new meaning.

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Residents warned to stay out of coastal waters in Florence aftermath

As a result, officials are warning residents to stay out of coastal waters to avoid contamination that can cause a series of infections, including earaches, hepatitis, skin rashes and respiratory issues, the North Carolina Coastal Federation said.

"The public continues to swim in the ocean and sounds despite these advisories," said Todd Miller, executive director of the federation. "We feel it's vital to let people know that the state has not yet tested any waters to determine if they are safe for human contact."

In North Carolina, Gov. Roy Cooper said flooding has increased the population of mosquitoes, which can bring illnesses such as encephalitis, West Nile virus and Eastern equine encephalitis. He's ordered $4 million to help fund mosquito control in affected counties.

Aside from the parasites, flooding remains a concern.

In Georgetown County, South Carolina, thousands of residents were urged to evacuate ahead of historic flooding in an area where multiple swollen rivers converge.

The county, which dodged the brunt of then-Hurricane Florence's ferocious winds, sits at the mouths of the Waccamaw, Great Pee Dee and Sampit rivers.

The Waccamaw River crested Wednesday, and will start a slow fall Thursday. The Great Pee Dee and the larger Waccamaw River had swollen to record levels upstream, and in some areas water was headed downstream at historic levels.

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What Cosby will eat behind bars

With the 81-year-old convicted sex offender serving three to 10 years for drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand, the Pennsylvania State Correctional Institute at Phoenix shared some of the meals served at the facility where he's now known as Inmate No. NN7687.

There are no truffles or caviar on the prison menu, which changes daily and offers meat and vegetarian options.

Thursday's breakfast will be one cup of Bran Flakes -- along with fruit juice, two slices of toast, milk and coffee.

For lunch the same day, the prison will serve a hamburger or soy burger, while dinner will be beans or poultry Italiano -- served with red sauce, rotini pasta and two slices of bread. Dessert will include a half-cup of gelatin, but it's unclear whether the prison serves the Jell-O brand of dessert that Cosby advertised for decades in TV commercials.

On other days of the week, breakfast will include cereal, toast or grits, along with the same breakfast beverages.

This weekend's lunch menu includes cheese pizza or veggie burgers, and breaded veal patty or tofu burger. During the week, the prison will serve different meals daily, including macaroni and cheese; hamburger or soy burger; and Santa Fe seasoned fish -- or bean burger -- with Mexican rice.

Cosby arrived Tuesday night at the prison in Collegeville -- 30 miles northwest of Philadelphia and not far from the Montgomery County courthouse where he was convicted.

His first prison meal at the facility was baked meatballs and rice, green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy.

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This is where Bill Cosby is serving his sentence

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Bill Cosby will serve three to 10 years for sexual assault at SCI Phoenix in Pennsylvania. Here's a look inside the maximum-security prison.

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'America's Dad' now has a new moniker: Inmate No. NN7687

Bill Cosby, sentenced to 3 to 10 years in prison, arrived Tuesday night at Pennsylvania's State Correctional Institute at Phoenix. The prison in Collegeville is about 30 miles northwest of Philadelphia and not far from the Montgomery County courthouse where the comedian was convicted of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand.

SCI Phoenix is brand new, state of the art -- and maximum security.

Cosby was "in good spirits last night," said Lisa Durand, spokesperson for SCI Phoenix.

He spoke to his wife, Camille, on the phone on Wednesday morning, Cosby spokesman Andrew Wyatt said. Cosby declined to have his family attend the sentencing hearing because he didn't want them harassed by the media, Wyatt added.

The Cosby children have no comment at this time, but Wyatt confirmed that an appeal is being developed.

In the meantime, Cosby got one of the SCI Phoenix facility's 3,830 beds to start serving his sentence. He was also given a few basics when he arrived, including a uniform, toiletries, linens, towels and state-issued boots, the Department of Corrections said.

Cosby is being housed in a single cell -- 8 feet by 13 feet and 10 feet tall -- in a unit adjacent to the infirmary, a press release from the prison said. Inmates at SCI Phoenix participate in a 6 a.m. "standing count" roll call, when they must stand and be counted, Durand said.

Cosby will be allowed phone calls and visitation in accordance with policy, as well as opportunity to exercise during the classification process.

"We are taking all of the necessary precautions to ensure Mr. Cosby's safety and general welfare in our institution," said Corrections Secretary John Wetzel. "The long-term goal is for him to be placed in the general population to receive the programming required during his incarceration."

Cosby's first prison meal at SCI Phoenix was baked meatballs and rice, green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy, Durand said. Lunch on Thursday includes a half-cup of Jell-O, the dessert Cosby once hawked in TV ads; Saturday's menu has chocolate pudding.

How prisons deal with new inmates

Amy Worden, press secretary for the state Department of Corrections, said new inmates go through an evaluation process that lasts between weeks and months to determine which prison is best suited for each inmate. They evaluate the inmate's needs and programs, along with his health issues, she said.

The state prison system has geriatric inmates, and most of their prisons are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. There are also varying degrees of medical facilities across the system. For example, SCI Laurel Highlands offers nursing home-like care for inmates that need it and can even do dialysis on site.

At his sentencing on Monday, Cosby's defense attorneys worried that Cosby's age, vision impairment and declining health could make him a target.

"Incarceration would impose excessive hardship on him given his disability and his age," attorney Joseph P. Green said. "How does he fight off people who are trying to extort him for a walk to the mess hall?"

Worden said Cosby's situation wouldn't be different from other inmates. As part of the overall evaluation, evaluators will decide if Cosby should be in the general population or in protective custody.

"The Department of Corrections has had high-profile inmates before, and I'm sure we'll have them again, so it's not that much out of the ordinary. He'll be treated like other inmates," Worden said.

When the prison opened in June, Secretary of Corrections John Wetzel described it as a "21st century institution with advanced security features, environmentally efficient infrastructure and modern work and housing spaces."

Prisoners can exercise at the gym, attend classes in more than 30 rooms, visit the barbershop and attend chapel services. They also can take vocational education classes in subjects including barbering, custodial maintenance or carpentry.

Cosby's sentence included lifetime mandatory sex offender counseling. In SCI Phoenix, he will find programs on that topic, as well as on recovery from alcoholism and drug addition, violence prevention, and more.

It was built to replace SCI Graterford, built in 1929. It has two correctional facilities, a shared administration/support building, and 1,200 full-time employees. It also has a 192-bed female transition unit to "focus on re-entry and family reunification," the state says.

CNN's Steve Forrest contributed to this report.

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Why Hollywood will not remove Bill Cosby's Walk of Fame star

Cosby was sentenced Tuesday to three to 10 years in prison for sexual assault, and dozens of women have come forward to say the actor-comedian drugged and raped them, but his star will remain on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

"The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historical record of entertainment figures past and present. Once installed, the stars become part of the historic fabric of the Walk of Fame, a 'designated historic cultural landmark,' and are intended to be permanent," said the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, which oversees the famous stretch of sidewalk.

"The stars only commemorate the recipient's professional accomplishments. It is regrettable when the personal lives of inductees do not measure up to public standards and expectations; however, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce does not remove stars from the Walk of Fame."

Nevertheless, CNN affiliate KABC reports that the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable has circulated a petition asking the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce to remove Cosby's star.

The disgraced TV icon once known as "America's Dad" was honored with his star in 1977. But the brass and terrazzo landmark at 6930 Hollywood Blvd. has had a rough time since sexual assault allegations against Cosby began surfacing in 2014.

Someone spray-painted the words "Serial Rapist" across the star this month -- the second time in four years that it has been vandalized.

Cosby has denied all the accusations against him.

He is not the only celebrity to see his name defaced on the sidewalks of Hollywood. President Donald Trump's star has been the target of repeated vandalism since he turned to politics. Earlier this month a street artist covered Trump's star with jail-like bars -- two months after police said they arrested a man for destroying the star with a pickax.

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Dallas police fire officer charged with fatally shooting man in his apartment

Guyger was fired during a hearing Monday, Hall said. Jean's mother, Allison, learned of Guyger's termination during a Sunday evening conference call with Hall, family attorney S. Lee Merritt said Monday.

"She also offered an explanation of why it took so long, explaining that she had to consider Ms. Guyger's Fifth Amendment protections specifically so that her termination action wouldn't compromise the criminal matter and lead to, really, the criminal allegations being thrown out altogether," he told CNN.

The Fifth Amendment prohibits self-incrimination and double jeopardy, and guarantees due process for those accused of crimes.

The 30-year-old Guyger said she shot and killed Botham Shem Jean, 26, after she thought she was entering her own apartment, not realizing she was on the wrong floor of her building, police have said.

An internal affairs investigation concluded that Guyger "engaged in adverse conduct when she was arrested for manslaughter" on September 9, according to a statement released on DPD's verified Twitter account.

The statement did not elaborate on the nature of the adverse conduct. The shooting was September 6.

Under civil service rules, Guyger has the right to appeal her discipline, the statement reads.

In the criminal case, Dallas County District Attorney Faith Johnson has said a grand jury could charge Guyger with a stiffer crime than manslaughter.

While Allison Jean was relieved by the news of Guyger's termination, calling it a "satisfactory solution," the family would still like to see Guyger indicted on a murder charge, Merritt said.

The attorney is preparing a civil rights claim in Jean's death. He said Guyger's termination makes his case stronger because it shows the city and police department think Guyger "obviously engaged in behavior that doesn't comport with a police officer," he said.

Botham Jean was scheduled to be laid to rest in his native St. Lucia on Monday. At a September 13 ceremony in Richardson, Texas, hundreds gathered to remember the "extroverted accountant" who "shared his love with everyone."

Guyger, who is white, was off-duty when she encountered Jean, an unarmed black man, in his apartment, police said. Still in her uniform, Guyger parked on the fourth floor of the complex and walked to what she believed was her apartment, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

The door was slightly ajar as she tried to use her key, which has an electronic chip. When she opened the door, she saw the interior was almost completely dark, according to the affidavit. She described seeing a large silhouette and, believing there was an intruder in her apartment, drew her firearm.

She issued verbal commands, but Jean, being in his own home, did not heed them, and Guyger fired two shots, hitting him once in the torso, the affidavit said.

Guyger, a four-year veteran, then entered the apartment, called 911 and started administering first aid to Jean. She turned on the lights while on the phone with 911, and only when asked for her address did she realize she was in the wrong apartment, she told police.

Jean died at a hospital. Guyger was released from the Kaufman County Jail after posting a $300,000 bond.

The shooting sparked days of protest. Police deployed pepper balls on demonstrators a week after the shooting. Protesters angry with the lack of public information in the case interrupted a City Council meeting to demand accountability and more police oversight in general.

CNN's Keith Allen and Meridith Edwards contributed to this report.

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Police fire officer in Botham Jean shooting case

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Amber Guyger, the police officer charged with manslaughter in the shooting death of Botham Shem Jean inside his Dallas apartment, has been fired from the department, according to a statement Dallas Police Chief U. Renee Hall.

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