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VIDEO: Today's Headline News from Associated Press

MANNING TAKES STAND, APOLOGIZES FOR HURTING US

 

FORT MEADE, Md. (AP) -- Bradley Manning has taken the stand during his sentencing hearing for leaking classified material to WikiLeaks and has apologized for hurting the United States and others.

 

Manning gave an unsworn statement Wednesday, which means he cannot be cross-examined by prosecutors. He began with an apology.

 

He says "I'm sorry that my actions hurt people. I'm sorry that it hurt the United States."

 

Manning says he understood what he was doing and the decisions he made. However, he says he did not believe at the time that leaking the information would cause harm.

 

Manning faces up to 90 years in prison for the leaks.

 

KIDNAPPED CALIF. TEEN SAYS CAPTOR DESERVED TO DIE

 

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The 16-year-old California girl kidnapped by a close family friend suspected of killing her mother and 8-year-old brother says he threatened to kill her if she tried to escape and got what he deserved when he died in a shootout with authorities in the Idaho wilderness.

 

Hannah Anderson went online barely 48 hours after her rescue Saturday and started fielding hundreds of questions through a social media site. Many were typical teenage fare - she likes singer Justin Bieber and her favorite color is pink - but she also answered queries about how she was kidnapped, how she survived captivity and how she is dealing with the deaths of her mother and brother.

 

The postings started Monday night, hours after her father publicly requested that the family be allowed to grieve and heal in private. Brett Anderson didn't respond to a text message seeking comment about his daughter's postings, which continued into Tuesday evening. The account was disabled Wednesday morning.

 

The postings appeared on the ask.fm social-networking site account for "Hannahbanana722" of Lakeside, the San Diego County community where the teen lived with her mother and brother.

 

Anderson declined interview requests from news organizations that posted to her account.

 

She was kidnapped Aug. 4 by DiMaggio, her father's best friend who was like an uncle to her and her brother, Ethan. DiMaggio had invited the children and their mother, Christina Anderson, 44, to his house in Boulevard, a rural town 65 miles east of San Diego.

 

Asked if she would have preferred DiMaggio got a lifetime prison sentence instead of being killed by FBI agents, she said, "He deserved what he got."