The program run by New Orleans Saints coaches that rewarded rough tackles and potential injuries to opponents is drawing further criticism after audiotapes of Coach Gregg Williams pumping up players were released on Thursday. “He becomes human and we fucking take out that outside ACL,” Williams says in a tape dated January of this year. The audio was released by documentary filmmaker Sean Pamphilon and provides an ugly look into a brutal system—even by the standards of pro football. Williams also talks of “killing the head” to make a tackle more direct and violent.

United Nations Special Envoy Kofi Annan said Thursday that the humanitarian situation in Syria is worsening, even after the government agreed to pull troops out of civilian areas. Clashes occurred just a few miles from Damascus following President Bashar al-Assad saying that the government was complying with the cease-fire plan. The U.N. Security Council requested that the Syrian government hold to the April 10 deadline to remove the military from the country’s major cities. Annan said the Assad government indicated to him they will keep to the timeline, but noted that more far-reaching changes are needed.

President Barack Obama told supporters at a fund-raising dinner on Thursday night in Washington that he “cannot wait” to compare and contrast his plan for America with what the Republicans bring to the table this election cycle. As Mitt Romney has inched closer to securing the Republican nomination, Obama has begun calling out the former Massachusetts governor for backing a GOP budget plan that would cut programs that help the neediest. “It’s good to have the truth on your side,” Obama said.

Notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout—otherwise known as “the Merchant of Death”—was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Thursday, after being convicted in November for conspiring to sell surface-to-air missiles, to sell weapons to a foreign terrorist group, and to kill Americans. Thursday’s sentence ends Bout’s four-year drama with the U.S. government. He was arrested in 2008 in a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration sting operation in Thailand, when federal agents posing as Colombian rebels attempted to buy missiles, mines, and assault rifles from the former Soviet Air Force officer. Bout, 45, maintained his innocence even after his conviction and pleaded not guilty to the judge during Thursday’s hearing in Manhattan.

A U.S. appeals court delivered a blow to Google on Thursday, overturning a law that had been considered a landmark in setting rules for content-sharing websites. In Viacom’s $1 billion lawsuit, filed in 2007, a district judge had ruled that sites could not be held accountable just for being aware that users might upload videos illegally. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that “a reasonable jury could find that YouTube had actual knowledge or awareness of specific infringing activity on its website.” Legal experts called the decision a major loss for Google.

Attorney General Eric Holder unexpectedly complied with a random Republican judge’s demand for a memo explaining whether President Obama believes in the principle of judicial review, part of a political spat that exploded over the president’s warning to the Supreme Court not to overturn his health-care law. “The power of the courts to review the constitutionality of legislation is beyond dispute," Holder said in his letter, delivered to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday. Conservatives, including the Wall Street Journal editorial board, had picked up the charge that Obama was challenging the legitimacy of judicial review.

It turns out two-bedroom apartments in Manhattan cost more than the smallest town in America. A pair of Vietnamese businessmen bought the town of Buford, Wyo., for $900,000 at auction today after bidding started at $100,000. Only one person—Don Sammons—lives in Buford, which has a gas station, a three-bedroom house, and a couple of other small buildings all sandwiched on 10 acres of land. Sammons, who has lived in the town since 1980, owned Buford for 22 years and decided it was time to sell it so he could move to be closer to his son.

George Zimmerman has reportedly told his lawyers that he whispered “punks,” not a racial slur, before he shot and killed Trayvon Martin on Feb. 26 in Sanford, Fla. Earlier reports from audio of the 911 call had some claiming that Zimmerman used a racial slur, but forensic audio experts agreed that the word was “punks.” CNN independently reviewed the high-quality audiotapes, but could not reach a consensus on the word or phrase Zimmerman used.

Opponents of an Arizona proposal to limit birth control coverage sent knitted uteri with large, glued-on plastic eyes to more than 12 state lawmakers in clear plastic bags. Each gift was accompanied by a letter from a woman who is against the bill. Proponents of the bill say employers shouldn’t have to provide contraception if it violates the organization’s religious stance. Opponents say the measure would violate a woman’s right to privacy. Arizona lawmakers are expected to vote on the bill next week.

Today fans can rest a little easier knowing that NBC has signed Matt Lauer to a new multiyear contract. A formal announcement will be made during the show on Friday, but Steve Capus, the president of NBC News, confirmed the news on Thursday evening. There had been rumors that Lauer would leave once his contract was up later this year—perhaps to join his former co-host Katie Couric in a syndicated talk show. NBC has watched ABC’s rival program Good Morning America creep up in the ratings, and keeping Lauer was seen by many industry insiders as Today’s key to staying on top.

Following his victory in the D.C. Council's Ward 8 primary election Tuesday night, Marion Barry said, “We got to do something about these Asians coming in and opening up businesses and dirty shops,” according to a video posted by WRC-TV/NBC 4. “They ought to go. I’m going to say that right now. But we need African-American businesspeople to take their places, too.” Responding to backlash against his words, Barry’s Twitter account tweeted photos of several Asian restaurants insisting he meant that “WE can do a better job. I do NOT disparage the Asian community, but the fact is there r some bizs that can do better!”

Whitney Houston’s full autopsy was released Wednesday by the Los Angeles County coroner’s office, stating that she was found "lying face down in the bathtub filled with water” at the time of her death. A “spoon with a white crystal-like substance on it” and a “white powdery substance” were also found, the report said. Details of the autopsy of Houston, who died Feb. 11 at the Beverly Hilton hotel, had been previously leaked, but the full document had not been made public. A “rolled-up piece of white paper” was also found and Houston was described to have a “bloody purge coming from her nose.”

The Connecticut Senate passed a bill to repeal the death penalty early Thursday morning, and Governor Dannel P. Malloy says he will sign. Under the bill, the state’s harshest sentence will be life in prison without the possibility of parole. The 11 men currently on death row will still be executed. But William Petit, whose wife and daughters were murdered in a 2007 home invasion, said that defense lawyers may use the law to get their clients taken off death row and lawmakers should "at least be honest about it and call it a total repeal.”

The U.S. Coast Guard plans to sink an unmanned Japanese fishing vessel that has been drifting through the Pacific Ocean since a massive tsunami swept it from its moorings in March 2011. The 150-foot boat is heading towards Alaska and could endanger other ships. The Coast Guard plans to hit the ship with a cannon. Discovered last month near the coast of British Columbia, the ship is the first piece of tsunami garbage to reach North America.

There's new progress in the quest to figure out why autism occurs. Different teams of scientists, working independently, found that several children with autism had mutations in the same genes. The mutations are genetic glitches called de novo mutations—they're inherited, but occur during conception, and they're usually harmless. They're also increasingly common as the parents increase in age. The mutations discovered account for a fraction of autism cases, but the findings point a way forward for future research. Some experts say further research could turn up mutations that account for 15 to 20 percent of all autism cases.

After two decades without an ambassador in Burma, the U.S. State Department is taking modest steps to normalize relations with the Asian nation now that it has made progress toward democracy. Ruled by a military dictatorship, Burma had jailed several thousand political dissidents, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who just won a seat in the lower house of Parliament. Elections have been set for 2015, when roughly 75 percent of the seats will be up for grabs. The U.S. will look to name an ambassador and set up a U.S. Agency for International Development office.

Sheriff's Captain Jeff Donahue is in hot water after taking a pro golfer turned jewel thief out on the green to get tips on his swing. Frank Carrillo, imprisoned for stealing a World Series championship ring from a former Dodger at a charity golf event, had been transferred to the pastoral Catalina Island. There he befriended Donahue, the head of the local police force. They went to the course, Carrillo in his prison jumpsuit, or “country yellows,” and worked through his swing. Donahue is now under investigation.

Representative Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney have been saying such flattering things about each other over the last few days and it's prompted speculation of a vice presidential nomination. Even as Romney is eager to align himself with Ryan to solidify his conservative credentials, the Obama campaign is also trying to connect the two, hoping that the alliance will backfire in the general election. “He’s very much lashed to Ryan and the House Republicans,” says David Axelrod. “They share an economic view and a view on the budget,” which Obama advisers have taken to calling the Romney-Ryan budget.

Things aren't looking good for Rick Santorum. Mitt Romney's campaign moved to Pennsylvania on Wednesday, and a poll already shows him leading Santorum in his home state by five percentage points. The survey, by Public Policy Polling, has Romney getting 42 percent of the vote to Santorum's 37 percent. That's a huge shift from a month ago, when Romney polled at 25 percent and Santorum at 43 percent. Santorum's campaign has called the Pennsylvania primary, which is three weeks away, a must-win.

Syrian forces launched what activists called one of its most violent assaults yet on a Damascus suburb Thursday, shelling residential areas with tanks. According to Mohammed Saeed, an activist based in the suburb, they used troops as human shields as they marched into the area’s main square. A British human rights group, one of the most trusted observers of the uprising, confirmed a major military action in Douma, though there were no reports of deaths. As the violence was reported, Syria claimed to withdraw troops as part of a U.N. peace plan championed by Kofi Annan, an assertion that could not be confirmed.

American officials say Iranian agents tried to fan the violence that broke out after news of copies of the Quran being burned at a U.S. base in Afghanistan. Most of the protests ended, though several people were killed, but they raised concerns about Iran's ability to cause unrest in the region, and what the country might do if Israel strikes its nuclear facilities. However, the U.S. intelligence community is currently divided over how skilled Iran's provocateurs are. Referring to Iranian plans to assassinate Israeli ambassadors, a U.S. official tells The New York Times, “The attacks failed, so clearly there are kinks in Iran’s planning and tradecraft.”

You might need to think twice about what the guys at the Apple store told you about Macs being impenetrable. More than 600,000 Apple computers have installed malware known as the Flashback Trojan, a Russian antivirus company said Thursday. The trojan first appeared last September, presenting itself as an Adobe Flash update. It disables certain Mac security features, enabling criminal hackers to control the machine. Apple has released a security update to guard against the malware, but users who haven’t installed it remain exposed.

Too bad it was a cargo flight, so he never got to say the line. Australian Braden Blennerhassett made an emergency landing at Darwin airport when a bright yellow snake emerged from behind his dashboard and slithered down his leg shortly after takeoff. “You’re trying to be as still as you possibly can and when you’ve got your hands on the power levers,” Blennerhassett said. “You’’re kind of worried about the snake taking that as a threat and biting you.” The 26-year-old pilot was flying the twin-engine plane on a solo cargo run to a remote outback settlement, but returned to the airport after the snake appeared. “I’ve seen it on a movie once, but never in an aeroplane,” Blennerhassett said.

Firefighters rescued a 13-year-old girl from a suburban apartment in New Delhi, where she'd been locked while her bosses were on vacation. Sold to a job placement agency by her uncle, she was trapped working for a couple, both doctors, who paid her nothing, fed her little, beat her, and kept her under video surveillance to make sure she didn't steal extra food. The story caused a scandal in India, but it's far from unusual. The International Labor Organization has found that India has 12.6 million workers between the ages of 5 and 14, many working as domestic help, and many for India's rapidly growing middle class.  “The demand is so huge that the government is tending toward regulation rather than saying our children should not work but should be in school," says a lawyer with a group working against the trafficking of children.

Reports of a 77-year-old Greek pensioner killing himself in Athens's Syntagma Square have galvanized austerity protesters. Greek media identified the man as Dimitris Christoulas, a retired pharmacist, who allegedly shot himself after leaving a note protesting austerity measures. “I see no other solution than this dignified end to my life, so I don't find myself fishing through garbage cans for my sustenance,” the note read. People marched in the square and left flowers and notes at the site of Christoulas's death, but by evening the demonstrations had devolved into violent clashes with riot police.

The GOP primary hasn't officially ended, but President Obama is already starting to kick his general election campaign into high gear, as is presumed Republican nominee Mitt Romney. Obama's lead is consistent, according to 13 national polls from the last month, though it is relatively slight. More significantly, perhaps, is the president's lead in 12 swing states. He's up 51 percent to 42 percent in Colorado, Iowa, New Mexico, Nevada, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, and New Hampshire.

Scott Walker wants his opponents to lay off his family. The Wisconsin governor, who faces a recall election in June, said his mother and teenage son were "yelled at" at a grocery store and his children have been "targeted on Facebook." During an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network, Walker also blamed unions for pushing the recall election. "I think it's flat-out intimidation," he said. "I think what they clearly want to show is that if they win, they can take me out, and if they can take me out, they can take anybody out."

The grand-jury investigation into child-sex-abuse charges against Jerry Sandusky hampered a pretrial hearing on Thursday morning, as many details of the probe are still being worked out and major decisions are “still in flux,” Judge John Cleland said in adjourning the hearing. Lawyers in attendance were reportedly arguing over whether items found by prosecutors in Sandusky’s home can be used as evidence in court. Sandusky’s defense attorney had also requested that the judge discount critical evidence culled by prosecutors, including interceptions of telephone conversations between Sandusky and alleged victims.

President Obama thinks it's a bit silly that ladies aren't welcome at the Augusta Golf Club, which will host the upcoming Masters tournament. His press secretary Jay Carney told reporters Thursday, "His personal opinion is women should be admitted to the club." Carney couldn't speak to whether the President would play at a mens-only club, as they hadn't talked about it. The Augusta National Golf Club has not decided whether it will permit women at the Masters. Mitt Romney also said Thursday he thought women members should be admitted at Augusta.

Al Gore might not just have a lawsuit on his hands soon, but his Current TV could lose its cable spot with Time Warner. After firing and publicly feuding with Keith Olbermann, whose show reportedly brought in a majority of the network’s ratings (an average of 177,000 viewers tuned in each night), Time Warner may drop Gore’s network entirely if ratings sink significantly for two consecutive quarters. The fiery Olbermann’s prime 8 p.m. slot has been filled by CNN host Eliot Spitzer, but his show is already flailing and the network is also hampered by a lack of distribution across the country.

Rick Santorum met with conservative leaders on Thursday to ask them to pressure Newt Gingrich to drop out of the race, sources said. While it’s likely Mitt Romney will capture the GOP nomination, Santorum has lost several states by small margins—in amounts that are similar to the number of votes Gingrich has received. With Romney surging in Santorum’s home state of Pennsylvania, Santorum is reportedly seeking to work out a deal with Gingrich before then. “The leaders told us they wanted to stop Romney, defeat Barack Obama, and unite conservatives behind Rick,” said one Santorum aide.

Advocacy group Invisible Children has released a second video about African warlord Joseph Kony, after the first video was viewed more than 100 million times and renewed interest in the search for the missing warlord. “Kony 2012 Part II” addresses some of the concerns and criticisms raised about the organization since the first video. After that video went viral, Invisible Children’s cofounder Jason Russell was detained in Los Angeles on March 16 for masturbating in public and vandalizing cars, behavior that was later diagnosed as “reactive psychosis.”

A senior executive from Rupert Murdoch’s Sky News admitted on Thursday that he had authorized a journalist to hack into email on two separate occasions, and justified the hacking by saying it was "in the public interest." Sky News head John Ryley said the journalist had been authorized to hack into the email of John Darwin, the “canoe man” accused of faking his own death, and, in a separate incident, into the email of a suspected pedophile and his wife. Murdoch’s son, James, resigned on Tuesday from his position as the chief of BSkyB, Sky News’s parent broadcaster.

Keith Olbermann, who lasted less than a year at Current TV before being kicked off the payroll, is suing his former employer. Olbermann’s attorney, Patricia Glaser, said the suit will be filed sometime Thursday. Known for being difficult to work with, Olbermann had signed a five-year, $50 million contract with the struggling network. Current executives, including former Vice President Al Gore, decided to end the relationship because they felt Olbermann no longer represented the values of the company.

Here’s hoping she’s not a gold-digger. TMZ reports that Kanye West and Kim Kardashian are dating, after snapping a photo of the couple leaving a screening of The Hunger Games in New York City Wednesday. Kanye released a new song, titled “Theraflu,” with lyrics specifically penned for Kim. “I admit I fell in love with Kim ... ’round the same time she fell in love with him,” referring to NBA star Kris Humphries. The rapper, however, respected the relationship: “That’s cool, babygirl, do your thing.” But in a final blow to Humphries, Kanye says he’s lucky he “ain’t had Jay drop him from the team.” It’s unlikely that Jay-Z, part owner of the New Jersey Nets, would do that.

J.C. Penny has announced that it will cut 900 jobs, including 600 jobs from its corporate headquarters in Texas and 300 jobs when it shutters a call center in Pittsburgh. Executives said the number of calls the company receives has fallen more than 30 percent since the company launched a new pricing plan in February.  J.C. Penney aims to cut $900 million from its annual expenses by 2013. The move comes as the company is launching a redesign of its image under CEO Ron Johnson, who joined the company last year after overseeing Apple’s retail strategy.

The Center for Health Transformation, Newt Gingrich's health-care think tank, has filed for bankruptcy. The organization listed between $1 million and $10 million in liabilities to between 50 and 90 creditors and will be liquidating its assets. The demise of his think tank has been taken as a sign by some that Newt's presidential bid is on the same track. "This ends his campaign. He'll be completely on the defensive about this," said Merle Black, a professor of political science at Emory University. 

Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday condemned a group of Austrian dissident priests who have called for “long-needed reforms” on priestly celibacy and female clergy. About 15 percent of Austria’s priests signed an initiative to call for disobedience in June of this year. Speaking during Maundy Thursday mass in the Vatican, the pontiff said “disobedience” is not the raise concerns, and “we preach not private theories and opinions, but the faith of the Church, whose servants we are.” Maundy Thursday is when Catholic priests traditionally renew the vows they have made when they were ordained.