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NASA's Cassini spacecraft has sent back stunning images from its historic dive between Saturn and its rings.

Cassini is the first spacecraft to explore the 1,500-mile gap between Saturn and its rings. The orbiter used its dish-shaped high-gain antenna, which measures 13 feet across, as a protective shield during Wednesday's dive.

NASA explained that its Deep Space Network Goldstone Complex in California's Mojave Desert picked up Cassini's signal at 2:56 a.m. EDT on Thursday and data began flowing from the probe four minutes later.
TRUMP MAKES SPACE CALL TO RECORD-BREAKING NASA ASTRONAUT PEGGY WHITSON
"In the grandest tradition of exploration, NASA's Cassini spacecraft has once again blazed a trail, showing us new wonders and demonstrating where our curiosity can take us if we dare," said Jim Green, director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington, in a statement.

The spacecraft came within about 1,900 miles of Saturn's cloud tops during its epic dive and within about 200 miles of the innermost visible edge of the rings, according to NASA.

Cassini will make a total of 22 dives between Saturn and its rings as part of the orbiter's so-called "Grand Finale." Its next dive is scheduled for May 2.
NASA FINDS HIGHEST PEAK ON SATURN'S LARGEST MOON TITAN
The spacecraft has generated a trove of scientific data on Saturn and its moons during its mission. Earlier this month, for example, NASA announced that Saturn's moon Enceladus could support life thanks to the discovery of hydrogen.

After almost two decades in space, the orbiter's mission will end on Sept. 15 2017 when Cassini is scheduled to crash into Saturn.

The Cassini mission began on Oct. 15 1997 when the spacecraft launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station aboard a Titan IVB/Centaur rocket. Cassini arrived at Saturn in 2004.

NASA is partnering with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Italian Space Agency on the Cassini-Huygens mission. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), a division of Caltech, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate.
Follow James Rogers on Twitter @jamesjrogers

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NASA's Cassini spacecraft sends first images from Saturn rings dive

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NASA's Cassini spacecraft has sent back stunning images from its historic dive between Saturn and its rings. Cassini is the first spacecraft to explore the 1,500-mile gap between Saturn and its rings. The orbiter used its dish-shaped high-gain antenna, which measures 13 feet across, as a protective shield during Wednesday's dive.

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NBA player dies at 26 from heart attack

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There are so many memories Adam Ross wants to share, so many stories. One, though, stands out most among them all.

It was winter 2010. Eighteen months earlier, Ross had been introduced to a 7'0", 255-pound Brazilian named Fabricio Paulino de Melo. The teenager had recently enrolled in Sagemont School in Weston, Florida, where Ross was the basketball coach.

Melo had come to the United States without any parents-and without knowing much English-at the behest of some coaches and agent-like figures from Brazil. They believed the NBA was part of his future, even though he had only been playing basketball for a few years. A heart attack had killed his father when Melo was just a boy, and Melo's mother wanted her son to receive an education in the U.S. and to be able to continue playing basketball, too.

Melo had family in Miami. They sought out Sagemont and set up Melo with another family in town to serve as his host. He sat out his junior year of high school because of Florida's transfer rules but was permitted to practice with Ross, who had trouble pronouncing his name and began calling him Fab instead. Fab also linked up with an AAU team to continue honing his skills. He studied English by watching ESPN.

As a senior, Melo emerged as a dominant basketball force. The big schools came calling. In time, Ross himself received a call. Melo, the kid not even two years removed from living in Brazil, had been named a McDonald's All-American, an honor reserved for the top high school players in the country. Ross couldn't wait to share the news.

"(Melo) became so emotional afterwards," Ross recalled over the phone this week to Bleacher Report. "I don't think it's something that in a million years he ever expected, and it showed that he had made the right decision to come over."

Melo told Ross he needed a moment to himself. A few weeks later, he committed to Syracuse.

Seven years later, on Feb. 11, 2017, Melo's lifeless body was discovered in the Juiz de Fora home of his mother and his two sisters. A heart attack reportedly killed him, according to Bud Poliquin of Syracuse.com. He was only 26.

He never reached the heights his family and his friends assumed he would. He made it to college but spent two scandal-ridden years at Syracuse before leaving school. He made it to the NBA as a first-round pick but appeared in just six total games.

Yet those who knew him best don't consider his career a failure.

"Everyone is quick to label him a bust or a flop," Ross says, "but the truth is: put yourself in his shoes. Imagine that you're 16 and dropped in a foreign country without your parents and you're basically on your own, and if you don't become an NBA All-Star, we're going to call you a bust."

Less than a week has passed since Melo died. Ross pauses a moment, then continues.

"If you look at it that way, I'd say Fab was an overachiever. That's the story I'm still waiting for someone to write."

This story won't be that one. But it won't be about how much of a bust Fab Melo was either. Life, after all, isn't black or white.

To understand Fab Melo's life, you have to be willing to view it in gray.

Melo barely spoke English the first time he visited Syracuse. "All he wanted to do was stay in the hotel," says former Syracuse guard Scoop Jardine, who hosted him on that visit. Melo was just a high school junior at the time, still new to America and its big-time college basketball scene.

But as he grew more comfortable with the language and himself, Melo came out of his shell. A year later, he returned to campus, officially a member of the Orange. He became one of the more gregarious players around the locker room, where he was always flashing his large gap-toothed smile.

He loved dirty humor and rapping out loud to Lil' Wayne. He'd exchange jabs with Dion Waiters, who enjoyed poking fun at Melo's thick Brazilian accent. He'd greet friends with warm bear hugs and often short-circuit his own jokes by laughing before the punch line.

"He was such a people person," Jardine says. "He had such a big personality."

Nolan Hart was another teammate at Syracuse. "He just had a thirst for life," Hart says. "He was just this vibrant person. And the best teammate you could have."

"Fab was a happy go lucky guy who enjoyed the daily journey with his teammates and friends," Nick Resevy, another Syracuse teammate, says. "If other people was happy he was happy."

Melo struggled on the floor as a freshman but kept working. He battled senior center Rick Jackson in practices, taking issue with foul calls he deemed weak.

As a sophomore in 2011-12, he morphed into the beast the Orange hoped they had recruited. He averaged 7.8 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.9 blocks in 25.4 minutes per game, but his presence on the floor outshone his numbers. He was a defensive force, a house in the middle of head coach Jim Boeheim's stifling zone defense.

"That year, he was probably the best defensive center Syracuse has ever had," Hart says. "I don't think a lot of people, unless they're basketball junkies, realize how valuable he was on that end."

The on-court success enabled Melo to become more comfortable off the floor. He grew close to his teammates, especially Resavy, Matt Tomaszewski and his freshman-year roommate, Baye Moussa Keita. They'd kill time playing FIFA and watching Melo down heaping plates of chicken wings.

They'd pile into Resavy's black 2013 Toyota Corolla and, as Resavy described it, "go for an adventure." Sometimes, they'd try to drive uphill following snow blizzards; other times, they'd go to the mall or drive around Erie Boulevard. Once they went to a Friendly's and told the wait staff it was Melo's birthday (it wasn't). On the road, they'd always eat at a Cheesecake Factory or pull pranks on each other, like the time they got Melo to try on a Chinese finger trap.

"He thought his fingers were stuck," Keita says. "He thought he was going to pop them out."

When he didn't feel like going out, Melo would sit on his Target-bought sheets with Keita and talk. They'd reminisce about their respective home countries (Keita is from Senegal). Melo would brag about Brazil's weather and beaches. Sometimes, he'd mention how lucky he was to have chosen basketball over soccer.

"If not, I wouldn't be where I am today," Keita recalls Melo telling him. "But he didn't really bring up anything deeper about his home than that." He preferred to spend his time poking fun at his Muslim friend for not eating bacon or explaining to him why The Da Vinci Code was a great read.

He had good friends and was skyrocketing up NBA mock draft boards, and Syracuse was winning too. Melo was happy.

"Fab was a pleaser," Ross says. "He wanted everyone to be happy and proud of him."

But what happens to a pleaser when he stops pleasing?

"I really think we would have won the national championship if Fab hadn't gotten suspended," Griffin Hoffman, a former Syracuse teammate of Melo's, says. "He was the anchor of what I think is one of the best Syracuse teams ever."

In January 2012, Melo was suspended for an "academic issue." He missed three games but remained eligible for the rest of the regular season. Syracuse won its first 20 games of the 2011-12 campaign and went 17-1 in the Big East, which named Melo Defensive Player of the Year.

The Orange earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament and looked poised for a title run. Then, on March 13, the first day of NCAA action, the school announced Melo was suspended again, only this time for the remainder of the season. Syracuse's campaign came to an end in the Elite Eight.

Later, it came to light that Melo had been at the center of a sprawling investigation into the Syracuse athletic department. The NCAA had learned athletic staffers had pulled strings to keep Melo (along with other players) academically eligible. They wrote papers for him. They posed as him in emails to professors. Melo became a symbol for much of what is wrong with college athletics and a scapegoat for the Syracuse fans angry about the team's falling short of a title.

"People take things pretty seriously up here," says former Syracuse guard Eric Devendorf, who serves as an assistant strength coach for the team. "It can make life tough if they feel, right or wrong, that you let them down."

This wasn't Melo's first issue on campus either. A year earlier, he had been charged with criminal mischief after getting violent around an ex-girlfriend. According to a police report obtained by the Post-Standard's Robert A. Baker (via Syracuse.com), he snapped off the turn-signal control arm of her car while she was in the driver's seat.

But that incident didn't affect his eligibility. The academic scandal did, and Syracuse's fanbase turned on him.

"I think he felt dejected after that," says Hart. "He felt the fans let him down."

"He stopped talking to me for a bit around this time," Ross says. "He knew I was the guy who'd tell him things straight, and there was no reason for him not to do well in school."

A few months later, Melo, feeling that he was no longer welcome at Syracuse or with the NCAA, declared for the 2012 NBA draft.

His Syracuse friends hadn't spoken to him since he left the U.S. two years ago. Neither had Ross.

Melo's NBA career had fizzled out. The Boston Celtics had selected him at No. 22 overall, but he spent most of his time playing for the NBA Development League's Maine Red Claws. He played well too, even blocking a D-League-record 14 shots in one game.

He bounced around the D-League a bit, never sticking in one place for long. One time, when playing for the Texas Legends, the Dallas Mavericks' affiliate, he got into a heated exchange with head coach Eduardo Najera.

In 2015, he decided to continue his professional career back home. He lost touch with most of the friends he had made in Florida and Syracuse. He exchanged some quick texts with Jardine eight months ago but nothing more than that. At times, even friends in Brazil had trouble reaching him.

"We were in touch when he was happy," says Marcelo Starling, a childhood friend from Brazil, "because sometimes he wouldn't answer us on messages or phone calls."

"He was going through a hard time," says Pedro Leal, another childhood friend. "He saw his dream come and go."

Leal says he last spoke with Melo 10 months ago. They talked about life, his new basketball team and a rough breakup he was having trouble getting over.

"But he was trying to climb up again," Leal says. "I just think it's hard to do it once you've already fallen."

Melo never did like delving into his past. "It was tough for him, leaving his family," Resavy says. "It was a huge adjustment. He was homesick at times-we tried not to talk about it too much."

Resavy doesn't remember Melo ever bringing up his dead father. Neither do Melo's other friends. Nor did any of them ever meet his mother. Ross, a quasi father figure in Melo's life, didn't meet her until the night the C's drafted him.

"He grew up in a very tough environment," Ross says. "He lost a parent early on, saw many people close to him pass away or become incarcerated. He dealt with poverty and violence and a lot of things kids shouldn't have to deal with."

Still, friends like Starling say he was happy at the end. That he was enjoying his life back in Brazil, where he could both play basketball and be himself.

You can't help but wonder, though, what he thought about what his life had become. Was it worth leaving home and his family to play basketball, a sport others wanted him to play? Or was he just trying to please? Most of his friends say he loved the sport, but a few waver when asked.

"He definitely enjoyed being around his teammates and around the guys and going to battle with them," Resavy says.

"I think he liked basketball," Ross says after pausing a moment. "But it was more that he understood what it could do for him."
* An earlier version of this article mistakenly attributed the quote ("Fab was a pleaser. He wanted everyone to be happy and proud of him.") to Nick Resevy. That quote was said by Adam Ross. All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Yaron Weitzman covers the and other things, for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @YaronWeitzman, and listen to his -themed podcast here.

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Death of Once-Promising Fab Melo Leaves Friends Wondering What Could Have Been

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There are so many memories Adam Ross wants to share, so many stories. One, though, stands out most among them all. It was winter 2010. Eighteen months earlier, Ross had been introduced to a 7'0", 255-pound Brazilian named Fabricio Paulino de Melo...

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today is the weekends birthday

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Weeknd birthday today

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President Donald Trump hosts world leaders. Trump's aides were in constant touch with senior Russian officials during his campaign. There will be high-stakes cabinet votes and more executive actions. We're covering Trump's fourth week in office here

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nba player dies at 26 from heart attack

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There are so many memories Adam Ross wants to share, so many stories. One, though, stands out most among them all.

It was winter 2010. Eighteen months earlier, Ross had been introduced to a 7'0", 255-pound Brazilian named Fabricio Paulino de Melo. The teenager had recently enrolled in Sagemont School in Weston, Florida, where Ross was the basketball coach.

Melo had come to the United States without any parents-and without knowing much English-at the behest of some coaches and agent-like figures from Brazil. They believed the NBA was part of his future, even though he had only been playing basketball for a few years. A heart attack had killed his father when Melo was just a boy, and Melo's mother wanted her son to receive an education in the U.S. and to be able to continue playing basketball, too.

Melo had family in Miami. They sought out Sagemont and set up Melo with another family in town to serve as his host. He sat out his junior year of high school because of Florida's transfer rules but was permitted to practice with Ross, who had trouble pronouncing his name and began calling him Fab instead. Fab also linked up with an AAU team to continue honing his skills. He studied English by watching ESPN.

As a senior, Melo emerged as a dominant basketball force. The big schools came calling. In time, Ross himself received a call. Melo, the kid not even two years removed from living in Brazil, had been named a McDonald's All-American, an honor reserved for the top high school players in the country. Ross couldn't wait to share the news.

"(Melo) became so emotional afterwards," Ross recalled over the phone this week to Bleacher Report. "I don't think it's something that in a million years he ever expected, and it showed that he had made the right decision to come over."

Melo told Ross he needed a moment to himself. A few weeks later, he committed to Syracuse.

Seven years later, on Feb. 11, 2017, Melo's lifeless body was discovered in the Juiz de Fora home of his mother and his two sisters. A heart attack reportedly killed him, according to Bud Poliquin of Syracuse.com. He was only 26.

He never reached the heights his family and his friends assumed he would. He made it to college but spent two scandal-ridden years at Syracuse before leaving school. He made it to the NBA as a first-round pick but appeared in just six total games.

Yet those who knew him best don't consider his career a failure.

"Everyone is quick to label him a bust or a flop," Ross says, "but the truth is: put yourself in his shoes. Imagine that you're 16 and dropped in a foreign country without your parents and you're basically on your own, and if you don't become an NBA All-Star, we're going to call you a bust."

Less than a week has passed since Melo died. Ross pauses a moment, then continues.

"If you look at it that way, I'd say Fab was an overachiever. That's the story I'm still waiting for someone to write."

This story won't be that one. But it won't be about how much of a bust Fab Melo was either. Life, after all, isn't black or white.

To understand Fab Melo's life, you have to be willing to view it in gray.

Melo barely spoke English the first time he visited Syracuse. "All he wanted to do was stay in the hotel," says former Syracuse guard Scoop Jardine, who hosted him on that visit. Melo was just a high school junior at the time, still new to America and its big-time college basketball scene.

But as he grew more comfortable with the language and himself, Melo came out of his shell. A year later, he returned to campus, officially a member of the Orange. He became one of the more gregarious players around the locker room, where he was always flashing his large gap-toothed smile.

He loved dirty humor and rapping out loud to Lil' Wayne. He'd exchange jabs with Dion Waiters, who enjoyed poking fun at Melo's thick Brazilian accent. He'd greet friends with warm bear hugs and often short-circuit his own jokes by laughing before the punch line.

"He was such a people person," Jardine says. "He had such a big personality."

Nolan Hart was another teammate at Syracuse. "He just had a thirst for life," Hart says. "He was just this vibrant person. And the best teammate you could have."

"Fab was a happy go lucky guy who enjoyed the daily journey with his teammates and friends," Nick Resevy, another Syracuse teammate, says. "If other people was happy he was happy."

Melo struggled on the floor as a freshman but kept working. He battled senior center Rick Jackson in practices, taking issue with foul calls he deemed weak.

As a sophomore in 2011-12, he morphed into the beast the Orange hoped they had recruited. He averaged 7.8 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.9 blocks in 25.4 minutes per game, but his presence on the floor outshone his numbers. He was a defensive force, a house in the middle of head coach Jim Boeheim's stifling zone defense.

"That year, he was probably the best defensive center Syracuse has ever had," Hart says. "I don't think a lot of people, unless they're basketball junkies, realize how valuable he was on that end."

The on-court success enabled Melo to become more comfortable off the floor. He grew close to his teammates, especially Resavy, Matt Tomaszewski and his freshman-year roommate, Baye Moussa Keita. They'd kill time playing FIFA and watching Melo down heaping plates of chicken wings.

They'd pile into Resavy's black 2013 Toyota Corolla and, as Resavy described it, "go for an adventure." Sometimes, they'd try to drive uphill following snow blizzards; other times, they'd go to the mall or drive around Erie Boulevard. Once they went to a Friendly's and told the wait staff it was Melo's birthday (it wasn't). On the road, they'd always eat at a Cheesecake Factory or pull pranks on each other, like the time they got Melo to try on a Chinese finger trap.

"He thought his fingers were stuck," Keita says. "He thought he was going to pop them out."

When he didn't feel like going out, Melo would sit on his Target-bought sheets with Keita and talk. They'd reminisce about their respective home countries (Keita is from Senegal). Melo would brag about Brazil's weather and beaches. Sometimes, he'd mention how lucky he was to have chosen basketball over soccer.

"If not, I wouldn't be where I am today," Keita recalls Melo telling him. "But he didn't really bring up anything deeper about his home than that." He preferred to spend his time poking fun at his Muslim friend for not eating bacon or explaining to him why The Da Vinci Code was a great read.

He had good friends and was skyrocketing up NBA mock draft boards, and Syracuse was winning too. Melo was happy.

"Fab was a pleaser," Ross says. "He wanted everyone to be happy and proud of him."

But what happens to a pleaser when he stops pleasing?

"I really think we would have won the national championship if Fab hadn't gotten suspended," Griffin Hoffman, a former Syracuse teammate of Melo's, says. "He was the anchor of what I think is one of the best Syracuse teams ever."

In January 2012, Melo was suspended for an "academic issue." He missed three games but remained eligible for the rest of the regular season. Syracuse won its first 20 games of the 2011-12 campaign and went 17-1 in the Big East, which named Melo Defensive Player of the Year.

The Orange earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament and looked poised for a title run. Then, on March 13, the first day of NCAA action, the school announced Melo was suspended again, only this time for the remainder of the season. Syracuse's campaign came to an end in the Elite Eight.

Later, it came to light that Melo had been at the center of a sprawling investigation into the Syracuse athletic department. The NCAA had learned athletic staffers had pulled strings to keep Melo (along with other players) academically eligible. They wrote papers for him. They posed as him in emails to professors. Melo became a symbol for much of what is wrong with college athletics and a scapegoat for the Syracuse fans angry about the team's falling short of a title.

"People take things pretty seriously up here," says former Syracuse guard Eric Devendorf, who serves as an assistant strength coach for the team. "It can make life tough if they feel, right or wrong, that you let them down."

This wasn't Melo's first issue on campus either. A year earlier, he had been charged with criminal mischief after getting violent around an ex-girlfriend. According to a police report obtained by the Post-Standard's Robert A. Baker (via Syracuse.com), he snapped off the turn-signal control arm of her car while she was in the driver's seat.

But that incident didn't affect his eligibility. The academic scandal did, and Syracuse's fanbase turned on him.

"I think he felt dejected after that," says Hart. "He felt the fans let him down."

"He stopped talking to me for a bit around this time," Ross says. "He knew I was the guy who'd tell him things straight, and there was no reason for him not to do well in school."

A few months later, Melo, feeling that he was no longer welcome at Syracuse or with the NCAA, declared for the 2012 NBA draft.

His Syracuse friends hadn't spoken to him since he left the U.S. two years ago. Neither had Ross.

Melo's NBA career had fizzled out. The Boston Celtics had selected him at No. 22 overall, but he spent most of his time playing for the NBA Development League's Maine Red Claws. He played well too, even blocking a D-League-record 14 shots in one game.

He bounced around the D-League a bit, never sticking in one place for long. One time, when playing for the Texas Legends, the Dallas Mavericks' affiliate, he got into a heated exchange with head coach Eduardo Najera.

In 2015, he decided to continue his professional career back home. He lost touch with most of the friends he had made in Florida and Syracuse. He exchanged some quick texts with Jardine eight months ago but nothing more than that. At times, even friends in Brazil had trouble reaching him.

"We were in touch when he was happy," says Marcelo Starling, a childhood friend from Brazil, "because sometimes he wouldn't answer us on messages or phone calls."

"He was going through a hard time," says Pedro Leal, another childhood friend. "He saw his dream come and go."

Leal says he last spoke with Melo 10 months ago. They talked about life, his new basketball team and a rough breakup he was having trouble getting over.

"But he was trying to climb up again," Leal says. "I just think it's hard to do it once you've already fallen."

Melo never did like delving into his past. "It was tough for him, leaving his family," Resavy says. "It was a huge adjustment. He was homesick at times-we tried not to talk about it too much."

Resavy doesn't remember Melo ever bringing up his dead father. Neither do Melo's other friends. Nor did any of them ever meet his mother. Ross, a quasi father figure in Melo's life, didn't meet her until the night the C's drafted him.

"He grew up in a very tough environment," Ross says. "He lost a parent early on, saw many people close to him pass away or become incarcerated. He dealt with poverty and violence and a lot of things kids shouldn't have to deal with."

Still, friends like Starling say he was happy at the end. That he was enjoying his life back in Brazil, where he could both play basketball and be himself.

You can't help but wonder, though, what he thought about what his life had become. Was it worth leaving home and his family to play basketball, a sport others wanted him to play? Or was he just trying to please? Most of his friends say he loved the sport, but a few waver when asked.

"He definitely enjoyed being around his teammates and around the guys and going to battle with them," Resavy says.

"I think he liked basketball," Ross says after pausing a moment. "But it was more that he understood what it could do for him."
* An earlier version of this article mistakenly attributed the quote ("Fab was a pleaser. He wanted everyone to be happy and proud of him.") to Nick Resevy. That quote was said by Adam Ross. All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Yaron Weitzman covers the and other things, for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @YaronWeitzman, and listen to his -themed podcast here.

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Death of Once-Promising Fab Melo Leaves Friends Wondering What Could Have Been

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There are so many memories Adam Ross wants to share, so many stories. One, though, stands out most among them all. It was winter 2010. Eighteen months earlier, Ross had been introduced to a 7'0", 255-pound Brazilian named Fabricio Paulino de Melo...

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Two men and a teenager in Florida are behind bars after they attacked a disabled Navy veteran who was trying to protect a turtle that they were torturing, according to police and the vet's family.
MARINE VET SPEAKS OUT ABOUT VIRAL VIDEO SUPPORTING TRUMP TRAVEL BAN
Gary Blough said he came upon the group in Daytona Beach as they were taking the turtle and slamming it down as hard as they could on its shell. He asked them to leave the animal alone and then tried to help the turtle back into the water.

"While I had my head turned, two of them started hitting me in the back of the head and punching me," Blough told Fox 35. "Next thing I know we're in a scuffle and I'm fighting three of them at the same time defending myself."
VETERAN SAID HE WAS ASKED TO LEAVE POST OFFICE BECAUSE HE DIDN'T HAVE HIS SERVICE DOG'S IDENTIFICATION
He said the group began to punch and kick him, leaving him with a severely swollen eye and a bump on the back of his head.

After other people came to see the commotion, the suspects reportedly took off, but police later caught up with them nearby, charging all three with aggravated battery and animal cruelty.

"One of its legs was up here," said Blough to Fox 35, pointing toward some bushes next to an apartment building. "When he got slapped . . . it shot stuff outside. So, I don't doubt the turtle died."

Police identified the two adult suspects as Ryan Ponder, 23, and Johnnie Beveritt, 18. The third suspect was a 16-year-old boy.

Authorities told Fox 35 that when another officer went to check on the turtle later, it was gone; they believe the turtle died and sank into the water.

Blough's wife was horrified by what she saw.

"My husband, who is disabled, tried to save a poor animal's life and he gets beaten up," said Jennifer Blough.

Ponder and Beveritt reportedly were held on $15,000 bond at the Volusia County Jail. The teen is being held at a juvenile detention facility.
Click for more from Fox 35.

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Disabled Navy veteran beaten after defending turtle

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Two men and a teenager in Florida are behind bars after they attacked a disabled Navy veteran who was trying to protect a turtle that they were torturing, according to police and the vet's family.

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A chalk drawing of a dog has been identified as a work by Dutch master Rembrandt van Rijn, after it spent almost 250 years mistakenly credited to a German painter.

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Written by Judith Vonberg, CNN

A chalk drawing of a dog has been identified as a work by Dutch master Rembrandt van Rijn, after it spent almost 250 years mistakenly credited to a German painter.

The discovery of the work's true author has been described as "a sensation" by the Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum in Braunschweig, Germany.

Known as "the Braunschweig terrier," the image is believed to date from around 1637; it has been in the museum's collection since 1770.

Professor Thomas Doring, the museum's curator of prints and drawings, was first alerted to the error two years ago while cataloging the museum's 10,000 drawings for a digital archive.

"It's been on display for decades under the name of Johann Melchior Roos," he told CNN, "so the idea that this could be a Rembrandt was never considered before.

"But the boldness of the strokes, the variations in the shading from very gentle to quite violent and the expressive gaze [of the dog] -- these are very typical idiosyncrasies of Rembrandt's work."

Doring said his experience cataloging drawings by Rembrandt and his pupils during an earlier project was key to the discovery.

"I was used to looking out for the differences between Rembrandt's work and drawings by other artists," he explained.

To find out whether his suspicions were correct, he visited Vienna, Amsterdam and Paris, studying Rembrandt drawings and enlisting the help of other Rembrandt experts.

He said the response to his painstaking work had been unanimously positive.

"Two of the three leading scholars of Rembrandt's drawings told me they were fully convinced that this is a Rembrandt," he said. "Since then, the third has contacted me to say he also has no doubts."

"It's extremely rare for all of the experts in a field to agree on an issue as controversial as this," said Doring.

Rembrandt included many dogs in his paintings, and practiced by sketching animal studies in chalk.

According to a statement released by the museum, "the Braunschweig terrier" is very similar to the barking, jumping dog in Rembrandt's 1642 painting " The Night Watch", the star attraction at Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum.

The dog drawing, now with the correct artist's name attached, is to go back on display at the Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum as part of an exhibition that opens in April.

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rembrandt drawing "hidden" for 250 years - cnn

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Rembrandt drawing 'hidden' in museum for 250 years found

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Written by Judith Vonberg, CNN A chalk drawing of a dog has been identified as a work by Dutch master Rembrandt van Rijn, after it spent almost 250 years mistakenly credited to a German painter. The discovery of the work's true author has been described as "a sensation" by the Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum in Braunschweig, Germany.

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Ohio mom who lost daughter donated the childs heart, hears her daughters heart beating in another child.

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This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

CLEVELAND, Ohio-- A Cleveland mom meets the child who received her daughter's heart. It happened just in time for Valentine's Day, which is also National Organ Donation Day.

"I always say two beautiful girls, one beating heart," said Amber Travaglio.

Seven-year-old Melody was a healthy, loving little girl who enjoyed playing with her little brother, Vinnie, fostering animals and knitting hats for NICU babies.

"She was obsessed with knitting," said Amber. "She was special."

July 7, 2015, Melody suffered an unexplained and sudden asphyxic asthma attack. Melody, who is a nurse married to a police officer, quickly called 911 and began CPR.

A team of doctors and nurses at University Hospitals Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital tried hard, but were unable to save her.

"I just remember flailing onto her hospital bed with her and holding her, just screaming her name," said Amber, with tears streaming down her cheeks.

Amber decided to donate Melody's organs to continue her legacy of giving.

She passed away on July 9, which was the same day another little girl was celebrating her 4th birthday hospitalized in Atlanta.

Peyton Richardson was a completely normal, healthy child, too, until a cold virus attacked her heart.

"I never knew a common cold could do that," said her mother, Ashlyn Richardson.

Machines had been keeping Peyton's heart pumping for months when the family learned about Melody's heart. It was a perfect, lifesaving match.

"I just cried," said Ashlyn, "And I kept thinking of that person that lost their child."

Twenty months later, Amber traveled to Atlanta to meet Peyton and her family.

Both mothers were so excited; you could literally hear their hearts loudly pounding in unison as they finally embraced.

Next, Amber was able to meet and hug Peyton.

A surreal experience, she says, "I mean I grew that heart inside of me."

This Valentine's Day they hope people will see their journey and consider organ donation.

Lifebanc CEO Gordon Bowen says, "One organ donor can save up to 8 lives and one tissue donor can enhance the lives of more than 50 people."

Amber is still learning about the people Melody saved, and says just knowing they're out there gives her tremendous peace.

**The audio captured of the mother's hugging and hearts beating loudly was not a sound effect. That part of the video was unedited to show the powerful meeting** Read more, here.

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mother hopes to get tombstone for 7 year old

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Northeast Ohio mom who lost daughter hears her little girl's heart beating in another child

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CLEVELAND, Ohio- A Cleveland mom meets the child who received her daughter's heart. It happened just in time for Valentine's Day, which is also National Organ Donation Day. "I always say two beautiful girls, one beating heart," said Amber Travaglio. Seven-year-old Melody was a healthy, loving little girl who enjoyed playing with her little brother, [...]

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President Trump says his administration is running like a fine-tuned machine:President Trump told reporters today his administration is working "like a fined-tuned machine," in the wake of this week’s resignation of his national security adviser and the withdrawal of his nominee for secretary of labor secretary

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He made comment to reporters in the East Room on Thursday.

— -- President Trump told reporters today his administration is working "like a fine-tuned machine," in the wake of this week's resignation of his national security adviser and the withdrawal of his nominee for labor secretary.

"This administration is running like a fine-tuned machine," Trump said. "Despite the fact that I can't get my Cabinet approved, and they are outstanding people."

Ten of his 22 Cabinet-level nominees have yet to be approved, the most in U.S. history four weeks into a new presidency. "I've also worked to install a Cabinet over the delays and obstruction of Senate Democrats," he said.

"I turn on the TV, open the newspapers, and I see stories of chaos. Chaos. Yet it is the exact opposite."

His national security adviser, Mike Flynn, resigned from his post earlier this week amid questions about his communications with the Russian government during the transition period. And fast-food executive Andrew Puzder withdrew his nomination for labor secretary after questions about his employing an undocumented immigrant and his wife's now retracted allegations of abuse.

"We have made incredible progress," Trump said. "I don't think there's ever been a president elected who in this short period of time has done what we've done."

One of Trump's major moves so far - an executive order temporarily barring travel to the United States from seven Muslim-majority countries - is no longer in effect after being blocked by the federal courts.

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President Trump says his administration is 'running like a fine-tuned machine'

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He made comment to reporters in the East Room on Thursday. - -- President Trump told reporters today his administration is working "like a fine-tuned machine," in the wake of this week's resignation of his national security adviser and the withdrawal of his nominee for labor secretary.

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Paris puts boulders in streets to stop immigrants from sleeping rough.

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Coachella, a massive music and arts festival, and Stagecoach, a country music event, are typically held in April but were previously postponed until October.

Jun. 10, 2020 at 9:04 p.m. ET by Associated Press

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Coachella, a massive music and arts festival, and Stagecoach, a country music event, are typically held in April but were previously postponed until October. Jun. 10, 2020 at 9:04 p.m. ET by Associated Press

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The woman who replaced a slave owner at Yale

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a new name puts yale on right side of history and future (opinion) - cnn

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The amazing woman replacing a slave owner at Yale

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Yale's renaming of Calhoun College for computing pioneer Grace Hopper denounced a culture of bigotry and created a space to recognize women's voices, says Reshma Saujani.

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Puppy rescued from deep well after 10 days

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The rescue of a four-month old puppy from a well in Istanbul on Wednesday, February 15th was among the top trending topics on social media in Turkey.

A team of miners, firefighters and high-school students helped to pull the animal out in Beykoz district.

Screams of joy and triumph emerged at dawn from the top of the well as the puppy was lifted from the pit, footage obtained by Reuters showed.

Night-vision cameras and a hand-made device similar to forceps were used in the operation.

Teams from Turkey's disaster agency AFAD, coal mine workers and Istanbul municipality firefighters were dispatched to rescue the puppy, while high-school students developed a robotic arm to help lift it.

A hashtag of #Kuyu, meaning well in Turkish, was the second nation-wide top trending topic in Twitter.

After a visit to the veterinary clinic, the puppy was brought to Beykoz firefighters headquarters and has been adopted by them.

More from AOL.com:
Syria's Aleppo takes first tiny steps toward recovery
Hottest cut of all: Gaza barber wields blowtorch
Smile! More than 500 people gather for family photo-op

Read Full Story

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Puppy rescued from deep well after 10 days

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The rescue of a four-month old puppy from a well in Istanbul on Wednesday, February 15th was among the top trending topics on social media in Turkey. A team of miners, firefighters and high-school students helped to pull the animal out in Beykoz district.

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Its The Weekends birthday

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Figuring out the risk-to-benefit ratio of watching pornography may just top the ranks of controversial topics scientists can’t seem to completely agree on. But one thing’s for sure: Americans like watching porn — and lots of it. According to the website Paint Bottle, 30 percent of all data transferred online is porn. In a 2015 infographic, the porn site detailed that 70 percent of men consume the content compared to 30 percent of women. And the number of people consuming porn is rapidly increasing every week, according to the site.

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Figuring out the risk-to-benefit ratio of watching pornography may just top the ranks of controversial topics scientists can't seem to completely agree on. But one thing's for sure: Americans like watching porn - and lots of it.

According to the website Paint Bottle, 30 percent of all data transferred online is porn. In a 2015 infographic, the porn site detailed that 70 percent of men consume the content compared to 30 percent of women. And the number of people consuming porn is rapidly increasing every week, according to the site.

After lawmakers in Virginia recently proposed legislation that aims to implement greater restrictions on watching porn, Fox News talked to three psychologists to learn more about what scientists know - and don't know - about the potential health effects of its consumption.
How does porn affect the brain?
Studying porn and determining its health effects are tricky, experts say. That's because several parties - neurobiologists, psychologists, sociologists, and others - are weighing in on the topic, and their methodologies and study cohorts can vary vastly.

"One big-picture question has to do with how confident one can be - scientifically - that pornography consumption is causally related to the various harms identified in the resolution," Paul J. Wright, an associate psychology, socialization and media use professor at Indiana University Bloomington, told Fox News in an email. "To answer this question, one would have to identify a philosophy of cause that all agree to, standards for acceptable evidence, and then engage in systematic reviews of the literature associated with each hypothesized harm. In short, this would be a monumental effort, and likely would still lead to some disagreement among scientists, because although the promise of science is consensus, scientists rarely 100 percent agree on anything."

In their proposed legislation, Virginia lawmakers claim pornography is "addictive," promotes normalization of rape, may lessen the "desire to marry," and "equates violence with sex," encourages "group sex," "risky sexual behavior" and infidelity, among other effects.

Dr. William Struthers, a psychology professor at Wheaton College, a Christian liberal arts institution just west of Chicago, said while much of the legislation's tenets "seem to be pretty reasonable," another challenge that researchers face is technology is outpacing scientific studies.

"Any kind of pornography research is incredibly muddy water," Struthers told Fox News. "A lot of the research being drawn on was published 20 to 25 years ago, and that is very different from the pornography that is being consumed by young people now. The unfortunate truth is we can't keep up with the pornography that is being produced."
Can you be addicted to porn?
When it comes to alcoholism, gambling and drugs, the answer is clear: Addiction exists. Studies show a clear association between those behaviors and alterations in brain chemistry, which is coupled with physical withdrawal effects if the given behavior is restricted. But, "There really isn't the science to demonstrate that porn is in and of itself harmful and addictive," Ian Kerner, a licensed psychotherapist and sex counselor, told Fox News. "That has not been, in my estimation, scientifically or clinically proven."

Rather, Kerner argued, excessive porn viewing often presents as a comorbidity with another health issue, like anxiety, depression or bipolar disorder.

"When people get depressed, they may get lonely and tend to masturbate," he said. "If they're having anxiety, the problem occurs when the only way you know how to calm yourself is with masturbation ... in those cases, porn is the symptom, not the problem."

In fact, in Kerner's experience, ethical, so-called feminist pornography - which often features storylines, and always contracted, paid adults having consensual sex - can enhance couples' sexual experiences by helping partners get warmed up and be creative in the bedroom.

Perhaps counterintuitively, watching porn may also help keep some relationships intact, he said.

"I know a lot of men who travel and are happy to masturbate to porn rather than potentially pursue infidelity," Kerner said. "When there are natural libido gaps in a relationship - maybe one partner is interested in sex more than the other partner, maybe one just had a baby and can't have sex, or maybe illness is involved - porn is actually a really positive way to smooth over those libido gaps."

As for adolescents consuming porn, the Virginia legislators argue the average age of exposure to porn is 11 to 12 - a stat that certainly would scare any responsible parent, yet one Kerner argued, if true, suggests a deeper issue for discussion.

"If kids are learning about sex through porn, well, that's not a problem with porn - that's a problem with a lack of proper sex education," he argued. "If we live in a country that teaches abstinence only, the problem is there's no competing script to porn."
What don't we know about porn?
And yet, experts like Struthers argue that basic psychological science suggests frequent exposure to something like porn may indeed lead to normalization of harmful behaviors.

"The more you're exposed to something, the more you tend to see it as acceptable, whether it's violence, gambling or sexuality," Struthers said.

His concern, however, is the psychological effect that frequent exposure may have on developing brains.

"I think the questions we really need to be asking are, 'What are the secondary effects that porn has?'" he said, explaining that pornography may cause some people to see others as objects rather than people in non-sexual settings due to potentially reduced empathy.

Wright, the professor at Indiana University, who has conducted research on porn's potential influence on youths' behavior, speculated that most scientists in this area and at this level of debate would agree with some of the lawmakers' claims yet disagree with others.

But, he said one thing most would agree on is more can be done.

"Is there enough suggestive evidence of harm in terms of compulsive use and socialization toward attitudes and behaviors that most people perceive as antisocial that scientists should support policy efforts calling for further research, community and school education programs, and programs aimed at the prevention of harmful effects?" Wright said in an email. "I think the majority of scientists familiar with the research in this area would say, 'Yes.'"

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Figuring out the risk-to-benefit ratio of watching pornography may just top the ranks of controversial topics scientists can't seem to completely agree on. But one thing's for sure: Americans like watching porn - and lots of it. According to the website Paint Bottle, 30 percent of all data transferred online is porn.

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Nature study finds oceans level drop 2%in the last 50 years

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Ocean oxygen levels drop 2% in 50 years, Nature study finds

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Climate change is extending far beyond the threat of melting polar ice caps -- it's putting a dangerous stranglehold on life in oceans, too.

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TV recyclers found 100,000 dollars in old TV box set.

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More than $100,000 in cash was found inside a television that was being processed at an Ontario recycling plant in January, CNN partner CTV Network reported this week. The money was found inside a cash box, stashed into the TV console.

"There was like, four stacks of $50 bills, and I knew it was a large amount of money," Rick Deschamps, general manager of the plant told CTV. Deschamps praised his employee for being honest and turning the box over to authorities.

Along with the money, there were documents that led police to the unidentified 68-year old owner of the TV, who told investigators that he gave the set to a friend 30 years ago. He had apparently forgotten that the money was inside.

His plan at the time was to give the money to family members as an inheritance, police said.

The friend finally got rid of the television, not knowing that his trash would turn out to be a friend's treasure.

Now that the man has been reunited with his cash, police had this advice.

"Hopefully he's put it in a savings account now," Barrie Police Const. Nicole Rodgers said.

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Trash to $100,000 treasure: Cash found in old TV

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More than $100,000 in cash was found inside a television that was being processed at an Ontario recycling plant in January, CNN partner CTV Network reported this week. The money was found inside a cash box, stashed into the TV console.

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Joy Villa showed up to the Grammys in a "Make America Great Again" Dress

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A suspect is arrested for the murder of an 11 year old girl in Chicago.

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According to U.S. intelligence officials, there’s no dispute that the Russians are indeed making great efforts to get close to President Donald Trump and the people around him, whether those targeted know it or not.

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— -- It's every Russian spy's dream: to recruit a source inside the White House - or any place of power in Washington.

According to U.S. intelligence officials, there's no dispute that the Russians are indeed making great efforts to get close to President Donald Trump and the people around him, whether those targeted know it or not.

"They always targeted political figures," David Major, a retired FBI counterintelligence agent explained to ABC News. "They want to know who is a mover and shaker in our society, who affects it."

And today as questions continue to mount over what contacts Trump campaign aides may have had with Russian intelligence operatives, the White House continues to dispute media reports that any of the president's associates had such contact while on the campaign trail.

U.S. intelligence officials say the Russians are engaged in a massive campaign to infiltrate and disrupt American politics. It has gone on for decades, originally with the Cold War goal of placing a mole inside the White House, a retired KGB officer who once ran spy operations in Washington told ABC News.

A senior intelligence official told ABC News last night that no evidence gathered by the FBI so far suggests Trump associates knew they were talking to Russian intelligence officers. Those contacts being scrutinized by the FBI were first reported by The New York Times on Wednesday.

"These are not all sophisticated people, but they should have assumed or considered their Russian contacts might be spy service agents too," the official briefed on the investigation said.

Russia has repeatedly denied making contact with Trump aides during the campaign. The Russian Embassy declined requests for an interview this week. But in media reports, Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov has called the allegations "ridiculous."

The current version of Russia's espionage and political influence program has likely included so-called cut-outs and front men - people and organizations that can extract prized intelligence, gain influence or create upheaval without the targeted Americans' ever knowing who they're really dealing with.

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, told ABC News, "This is a theory of war, a 21st century theory of war that includes false information, that includes cyberhacking, that includes, you know, in effect, sowing chaos."

His committee is investigating Russian efforts to meddle in the recent election, and - as part of that bipartisan investigation - whether anyone in the Trump campaign was involved.

"I think this investigation is maybe the most serious thing that I'll take on in my public career," Warner said. "To me, what the Russians did in terms of their blatant interference in our election is unprecedented."

The White House remains under fire over the ouster of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who was seen in a video in Moscow in December 2015 seated next to Russian President Vladimir Putin at a celebration for a Russian propaganda station. At the time, Flynn was about to become the senior foreign policy adviser for Trump and was paid to attend the event.

On Monday, Flynn was fired by Trump after media reports suggested the top security adviser had likely had inappropriate conversations with the Russian ambassador over U.S.-imposed sanctions on Russia before he was appointed to his official government role. Flynn almost certainly won't face criminal charges for anything, though he may not have been completely forthcoming in an FBI counterintelligence interview, two officials said.

The Defense Intelligence Agency, which Flynn led until former President Obama had him dismissed over management issues, suspended the retired Army lieutenant general's security clearance yesterday. The DIA held his top secret/sensitive compartmented information clearance, and it is not uncommon for a clearance to be suspended during an investigation.

Flynn did not respond to a message left for him on Wednesday.

Now the question for Senate investigators and the FBI is why the Russians may have been courting Flynn going back as far as 2015 after his retirement and how he reacted to that effort.

"If by his actions - implied or implicit - there was an effort to undermine American foreign policy, that bothers me a great deal," Warner said.

But Flynn isn't the only one who is being examined.

Carter Page, a former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser, is also under the investigator's magnifying glass.

Page, claims he's done major business deals in Russia and defends its leaders - moves that raise the eyebrows of American intelligence officials.

Asked by ABC News' Brian Ross whether he agreed that Putin was a "thug," Page said he "thoroughly" disagreed.

Page is named as a central figure in the now infamous dossier that makes unsubstantiated allegations that the Trump campaign and the Russians were in cahoots.

In an interview with ABC News in January, Page called allegations that he was meeting with Kremlin officials on behalf of the campaign to coordinate the release of damaging information on Trump's opponents "so ridiculous that it's completely false and laughable."

And then there is Paul Manafort, a former Trump campaign manager, who once worked for pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine.

He too denies knowingly talking with anyone in Russian intelligence during the campaign, telling ABC News, "How am I supposed to know who is a Russian spy?"

The intrigue heightened late Wednesday when The Wall Street Journal picked up claims that U.S. intelligence officers were withholding intelligence from the 45th president over eroded trust because of his associates' Russian contacts and the FBI scrutiny of the White House.

But numerous officials said that was absurd.

"Any suggestion that the U.S. intelligence community is withholding information and is not providing the best possible intelligence to the president and his national security team is not true," the director of national intelligence's public affairs office said in a statement.

ABC News' Randy Kreider, Paul Blake, Alex Hosenball and Cho Park contributed to this story.

— -- It's every Russian spy's dream: to recruit a source inside the White House - or any place of power in Washington.

According to U.S. intelligence officials, there's no dispute that the Russians are indeed making great efforts to get close to President Donald Trump and the people around him, whether those targeted know it or not.

"They always targeted political figures," David Major, a retired FBI counterintelligence agent explained to ABC News. "They want to know who is a mover and shaker in our society, who affects it."

And today as questions continue to mount over what contacts Trump campaign aides may have had with Russian intelligence operatives, the White House continues to dispute media reports that any of the president's associates had such contact while on the campaign trail.

U.S. intelligence officials say the Russians are engaged in a massive campaign to infiltrate and disrupt American politics. It has gone on for decades, originally with the Cold War goal of placing a mole inside the White House, a retired KGB officer who once ran spy operations in Washington told ABC News.

A senior intelligence official told ABC News last night that no evidence gathered by the FBI so far suggests Trump associates knew they were talking to Russian intelligence officers. Those contacts being scrutinized by the FBI were first reported by The New York Times on Wednesday.

"These are not all sophisticated people, but they should have assumed or considered their Russian contacts might be spy service agents too," the official briefed on the investigation said.

Russia has repeatedly denied making contact with Trump aides during the campaign. The Russian Embassy declined requests for an interview this week. But in media reports, Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov has called the allegations "ridiculous."

The current version of Russia's espionage and political influence program has likely included so-called cut-outs and front men - people and organizations that can extract prized intelligence, gain influence or create upheaval without the targeted Americans' ever knowing who they're really dealing with.

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, told ABC News, "This is a theory of war, a 21st century theory of war that includes false information, that includes cyberhacking, that includes, you know, in effect, sowing chaos."

His committee is investigating Russian efforts to meddle in the recent election, and - as part of that bipartisan investigation - whether anyone in the Trump campaign was involved.

"I think this investigation is maybe the most serious thing that I'll take on in my public career," Warner said. "To me, what the Russians did in terms of their blatant interference in our election is unprecedented."

The White House remains under fire over the ouster of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who was seen in a video in Moscow in December 2015 seated next to Russian President Vladimir Putin at a celebration for a Russian propaganda station. At the time, Flynn was about to become the senior foreign policy adviser for Trump and was paid to attend the event.

On Monday, Flynn was fired by Trump after media reports suggested the top security adviser had likely had inappropriate conversations with the Russian ambassador over U.S.-imposed sanctions on Russia before he was appointed to his official government role. Flynn almost certainly won't face criminal charges for anything, though he may not have been completely forthcoming in an FBI counterintelligence interview, two officials said.

The Defense Intelligence Agency, which Flynn led until former President Obama had him dismissed over management issues, suspended the retired Army lieutenant general's security clearance yesterday. The DIA held his top secret/sensitive compartmented information clearance, and it is not uncommon for a clearance to be suspended during an investigation.

Flynn did not respond to a message left for him on Wednesday.

Now the question for Senate investigators and the FBI is why the Russians may have been courting Flynn going back as far as 2015 after his retirement and how he reacted to that effort.

"If by his actions - implied or implicit - there was an effort to undermine American foreign policy, that bothers me a great deal," Warner said.

But Flynn isn't the only one who is being examined.

Carter Page, a former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser, is also under the investigator's magnifying glass.

Page, claims he's done major business deals in Russia and defends its leaders - moves that raise the eyebrows of American intelligence officials.

Asked by ABC News' Brian Ross whether he agreed that Putin was a "thug," Page said he "thoroughly" disagreed.

Page is named as a central figure in the now infamous dossier that makes unsubstantiated allegations that the Trump campaign and the Russians were in cahoots.

In an interview with ABC News in January, Page called allegations that he was meeting with Kremlin officials on behalf of the campaign to coordinate the release of damaging information on Trump's opponents "so ridiculous that it's completely false and laughable."

And then there is Paul Manafort, a former Trump campaign manager, who once worked for pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine.

He too denies knowingly talking with anyone in Russian intelligence during the campaign, telling ABC News, "How am I supposed to know who is a Russian spy?"

The intrigue heightened late Wednesday when The Wall Street Journal picked up claims that U.S. intelligence officers were withholding intelligence from the 45th president over eroded trust because of his associates' Russian contacts and the FBI scrutiny of the White House.

But numerous officials said that was absurd.

"Any suggestion that the U.S. intelligence community is withholding information and is not providing the best possible intelligence to the president and his national security team is not true," the director of national intelligence's public affairs office said in a statement.

ABC News' Randy Kreider, Paul Blake, Alex Hosenball and Cho Park contributed to this story.

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It's every Russian spy's dream: to recruit a source inside the White House - or any place of power in Washington. According to U.S. intelligence officials, there's no dispute that the Russians are indeed making great efforts to get close to President Donald Trump and the people around him, whether those targeted know it or not.

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Former NBA player dies at 26 of a heart attack.

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There are so many memories Adam Ross wants to share, so many stories. One, though, stands out most among them all.

It was winter 2010. Eighteen months earlier, Ross had been introduced to a 7'0", 255-pound Brazilian named Fabricio Paulino de Melo. The teenager had recently enrolled in Sagemont School in Weston, Florida, where Ross was the basketball coach.

Melo had come to the United States without any parents-and without knowing much English-at the behest of some coaches and agent-like figures from Brazil. They believed the NBA was part of his future, even though he had only been playing basketball for a few years. A heart attack had killed his father when Melo was just a boy, and Melo's mother wanted her son to receive an education in the U.S. and to be able to continue playing basketball, too.

Melo had family in Miami. They sought out Sagemont and set up Melo with another family in town to serve as his host. He sat out his junior year of high school because of Florida's transfer rules but was permitted to practice with Ross, who had trouble pronouncing his name and began calling him Fab instead. Fab also linked up with an AAU team to continue honing his skills. He studied English by watching ESPN.

As a senior, Melo emerged as a dominant basketball force. The big schools came calling. In time, Ross himself received a call. Melo, the kid not even two years removed from living in Brazil, had been named a McDonald's All-American, an honor reserved for the top high school players in the country. Ross couldn't wait to share the news.

"(Melo) became so emotional afterwards," Ross recalled over the phone this week to Bleacher Report. "I don't think it's something that in a million years he ever expected, and it showed that he had made the right decision to come over."

Melo told Ross he needed a moment to himself. A few weeks later, he committed to Syracuse.

Seven years later, on Feb. 11, 2017, Melo's lifeless body was discovered in the Juiz de Fora home of his mother and his two sisters. A heart attack reportedly killed him, according to Bud Poliquin of Syracuse.com. He was only 26.

He never reached the heights his family and his friends assumed he would. He made it to college but spent two scandal-ridden years at Syracuse before leaving school. He made it to the NBA as a first-round pick but appeared in just six total games.

Yet those who knew him best don't consider his career a failure.

"Everyone is quick to label him a bust or a flop," Ross says, "but the truth is: put yourself in his shoes. Imagine that you're 16 and dropped in a foreign country without your parents and you're basically on your own, and if you don't become an NBA All-Star, we're going to call you a bust."

Less than a week has passed since Melo died. Ross pauses a moment, then continues.

"If you look at it that way, I'd say Fab was an overachiever. That's the story I'm still waiting for someone to write."

This story won't be that one. But it won't be about how much of a bust Fab Melo was either. Life, after all, isn't black or white.

To understand Fab Melo's life, you have to be willing to view it in gray.

Melo barely spoke English the first time he visited Syracuse. "All he wanted to do was stay in the hotel," says former Syracuse guard Scoop Jardine, who hosted him on that visit. Melo was just a high school junior at the time, still new to America and its big-time college basketball scene.

But as he grew more comfortable with the language and himself, Melo came out of his shell. A year later, he returned to campus, officially a member of the Orange. He became one of the more gregarious players around the locker room, where he was always flashing his large gap-toothed smile.

He loved dirty humor and rapping out loud to Lil' Wayne. He'd exchange jabs with Dion Waiters, who enjoyed poking fun at Melo's thick Brazilian accent. He'd greet friends with warm bear hugs and often short-circuit his own jokes by laughing before the punch line.

"He was such a people person," Jardine says. "He had such a big personality."

Nolan Hart was another teammate at Syracuse. "He just had a thirst for life," Hart says. "He was just this vibrant person. And the best teammate you could have."

"Fab was a happy go lucky guy who enjoyed the daily journey with his teammates and friends," Nick Resevy, another Syracuse teammate, says. "If other people was happy he was happy."

Melo struggled on the floor as a freshman but kept working. He battled senior center Rick Jackson in practices, taking issue with foul calls he deemed weak.

As a sophomore in 2011-12, he morphed into the beast the Orange hoped they had recruited. He averaged 7.8 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.9 blocks in 25.4 minutes per game, but his presence on the floor outshone his numbers. He was a defensive force, a house in the middle of head coach Jim Boeheim's stifling zone defense.

"That year, he was probably the best defensive center Syracuse has ever had," Hart says. "I don't think a lot of people, unless they're basketball junkies, realize how valuable he was on that end."

The on-court success enabled Melo to become more comfortable off the floor. He grew close to his teammates, especially Resavy, Matt Tomaszewski and his freshman-year roommate, Baye Moussa Keita. They'd kill time playing FIFA and watching Melo down heaping plates of chicken wings.

They'd pile into Resavy's black 2013 Toyota Corolla and, as Resavy described it, "go for an adventure." Sometimes, they'd try to drive uphill following snow blizzards; other times, they'd go to the mall or drive around Erie Boulevard. Once they went to a Friendly's and told the wait staff it was Melo's birthday (it wasn't). On the road, they'd always eat at a Cheesecake Factory or pull pranks on each other, like the time they got Melo to try on a Chinese finger trap.

"He thought his fingers were stuck," Keita says. "He thought he was going to pop them out."

When he didn't feel like going out, Melo would sit on his Target-bought sheets with Keita and talk. They'd reminisce about their respective home countries (Keita is from Senegal). Melo would brag about Brazil's weather and beaches. Sometimes, he'd mention how lucky he was to have chosen basketball over soccer.

"If not, I wouldn't be where I am today," Keita recalls Melo telling him. "But he didn't really bring up anything deeper about his home than that." He preferred to spend his time poking fun at his Muslim friend for not eating bacon or explaining to him why The Da Vinci Code was a great read.

He had good friends and was skyrocketing up NBA mock draft boards, and Syracuse was winning too. Melo was happy.

"Fab was a pleaser," Ross says. "He wanted everyone to be happy and proud of him."

But what happens to a pleaser when he stops pleasing?

"I really think we would have won the national championship if Fab hadn't gotten suspended," Griffin Hoffman, a former Syracuse teammate of Melo's, says. "He was the anchor of what I think is one of the best Syracuse teams ever."

In January 2012, Melo was suspended for an "academic issue." He missed three games but remained eligible for the rest of the regular season. Syracuse won its first 20 games of the 2011-12 campaign and went 17-1 in the Big East, which named Melo Defensive Player of the Year.

The Orange earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament and looked poised for a title run. Then, on March 13, the first day of NCAA action, the school announced Melo was suspended again, only this time for the remainder of the season. Syracuse's campaign came to an end in the Elite Eight.

Later, it came to light that Melo had been at the center of a sprawling investigation into the Syracuse athletic department. The NCAA had learned athletic staffers had pulled strings to keep Melo (along with other players) academically eligible. They wrote papers for him. They posed as him in emails to professors. Melo became a symbol for much of what is wrong with college athletics and a scapegoat for the Syracuse fans angry about the team's falling short of a title.

"People take things pretty seriously up here," says former Syracuse guard Eric Devendorf, who serves as an assistant strength coach for the team. "It can make life tough if they feel, right or wrong, that you let them down."

This wasn't Melo's first issue on campus either. A year earlier, he had been charged with criminal mischief after getting violent around an ex-girlfriend. According to a police report obtained by the Post-Standard's Robert A. Baker (via Syracuse.com), he snapped off the turn-signal control arm of her car while she was in the driver's seat.

But that incident didn't affect his eligibility. The academic scandal did, and Syracuse's fanbase turned on him.

"I think he felt dejected after that," says Hart. "He felt the fans let him down."

"He stopped talking to me for a bit around this time," Ross says. "He knew I was the guy who'd tell him things straight, and there was no reason for him not to do well in school."

A few months later, Melo, feeling that he was no longer welcome at Syracuse or with the NCAA, declared for the 2012 NBA draft.

His Syracuse friends hadn't spoken to him since he left the U.S. two years ago. Neither had Ross.

Melo's NBA career had fizzled out. The Boston Celtics had selected him at No. 22 overall, but he spent most of his time playing for the NBA Development League's Maine Red Claws. He played well too, even blocking a D-League-record 14 shots in one game.

He bounced around the D-League a bit, never sticking in one place for long. One time, when playing for the Texas Legends, the Dallas Mavericks' affiliate, he got into a heated exchange with head coach Eduardo Najera.

In 2015, he decided to continue his professional career back home. He lost touch with most of the friends he had made in Florida and Syracuse. He exchanged some quick texts with Jardine eight months ago but nothing more than that. At times, even friends in Brazil had trouble reaching him.

"We were in touch when he was happy," says Marcelo Starling, a childhood friend from Brazil, "because sometimes he wouldn't answer us on messages or phone calls."

"He was going through a hard time," says Pedro Leal, another childhood friend. "He saw his dream come and go."

Leal says he last spoke with Melo 10 months ago. They talked about life, his new basketball team and a rough breakup he was having trouble getting over.

"But he was trying to climb up again," Leal says. "I just think it's hard to do it once you've already fallen."

Melo never did like delving into his past. "It was tough for him, leaving his family," Resavy says. "It was a huge adjustment. He was homesick at times-we tried not to talk about it too much."

Resavy doesn't remember Melo ever bringing up his dead father. Neither do Melo's other friends. Nor did any of them ever meet his mother. Ross, a quasi father figure in Melo's life, didn't meet her until the night the C's drafted him.

"He grew up in a very tough environment," Ross says. "He lost a parent early on, saw many people close to him pass away or become incarcerated. He dealt with poverty and violence and a lot of things kids shouldn't have to deal with."

Still, friends like Starling say he was happy at the end. That he was enjoying his life back in Brazil, where he could both play basketball and be himself.

You can't help but wonder, though, what he thought about what his life had become. Was it worth leaving home and his family to play basketball, a sport others wanted him to play? Or was he just trying to please? Most of his friends say he loved the sport, but a few waver when asked.

"He definitely enjoyed being around his teammates and around the guys and going to battle with them," Resavy says.

"I think he liked basketball," Ross says after pausing a moment. "But it was more that he understood what it could do for him."
* An earlier version of this article mistakenly attributed the quote ("Fab was a pleaser. He wanted everyone to be happy and proud of him.") to Nick Resevy. That quote was said by Adam Ross. All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Yaron Weitzman covers the and other things, for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @YaronWeitzman, and listen to his -themed podcast here.

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Death of Once-Promising Fab Melo Leaves Friends Wondering What Could Have Been

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There are so many memories Adam Ross wants to share, so many stories. One, though, stands out most among them all. It was winter 2010. Eighteen months earlier, Ross had been introduced to a 7'0", 255-pound Brazilian named Fabricio Paulino de Melo...