Monday
A guy named Franklin has been away from the civilized world for more than 30 years, serving several life sentences behind bars.We're meeting at the Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Bonne Terre, Missouri, where on Wednesday he is scheduled to die by lethal injection.A gla** partition separates us, and we're speaking via a closed line telephone. The prison guard has put a wireless microphone on Franklin, who is shackled at the ankles, his wrists cuffed to the chain around his waist. Franklin's hair is wild and alive, unlike his expressionless answers when he speaks about his murder victims
Tuesday
Four months after he was acquitted of murdering teenager Trayvon Martin, George Zimmerman is expected to return to court Tuesday in Florida's Seminole County -- this time after his girlfriend said he pointed a shotgun at her.Zimmerman, charged Monday with felony aggravated a**ault, is due to make his first appearance in front of a judge at 1:30 p.m. ET in Sanford, Florida.He was arrested Monday afternoon at the Apopka home of his girlfriend, Samantha Scheibe, after she called 911, said Dennis Lemma, chief deputy with the Seminole County Sheriff's Office
Wednesday
President Barack Obama awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom – the nation's highest civilian honor - to 16 people, from former President Bill Clinton and iconic talk show host Oprah Winfrey to the late astronaut Sally Ride, in ceremonies Wednesday."This is one of my favorite events every year," said the President. "This year it's just a little more special, because this marks the 50th anniversary of President Kennedy establishing this award."Obama noted that members of the Kennedy clan were in attendance: Robert Kennedy's widow, Ethel Kennedy, and JFK grandson and son of U.S. amba**ador Caroline Kennedy, Jack Schlossberg
Thursday
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, frustrated by Republicans who have been blocking President Barack Obama's nominees, Thursday moved to introduce the so-called nuclear option.The controversial move is a rules change that could make a partisan environment even more divisive because it would take away a sacrosanct right for any party in the Senate minority–the right to filibuster."That's why it's time to get the Senate working again," Reid said. "Not for the good of the current Democratic majority or some future Republican majority, but for the good of the United States of America. It's time to change. It's time to change the Senate before this institution becomes obsolete."