Fox News anchors and analysts -- the best advice my Mother ever gave me

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Editor's note: In honor of Mother's Day we asked Fox News Channel anchors and analysts to share the best advice their mother's ever gave them. Here are the responses we received. We hope you'll enjoy reading and watching them as much as we did. 

Stuart Varney, Fox Business anchor, host, "Varney & Co."

Note: Mr. Varney believes his mother's advice is best related audibly. Please watch the video above to experience it. (You won't be disappointed!)

Gretchen Carlson, co-host, "Fox & Friends"

Each Mother’s Day I’m grateful for my mom Karen Carlson. But especially so this year. Last December, my mom had a serious health scare that forced me to contemplate the idea of losing her for the very first time. If you’ve never had one of those really scary phone calls, trust me. It puts life in perspective pretty quick.

My mom grew up in Chicago, the daughter of a minister who was a tomboy and smart enough to skip several grades. After moving to Minnesota, she graduated from high school early and received her college degree by 19. She met my dad at a Christmas Tea after seeing him standing at the punch bowl. And promptly announced to my grandmother back in the kitchen the man out in the living room would one day be her husband. Fifity-three years later they are still a great couple.

Growing up, I was lucky enough to have my mom at home. She spent countless hours helping me practice my violin and driving me all over the place for my lessons and recitals. She was also an avid volunteer in our community and our church. We always knew my mom could have been a CEO. Maybe that’s why it’s so fitting that for the last 7 years, she has been, running our family car business.

My mom is the strongest woman I know. She taught me life’s most valuable lessons including: never ever give up, make the most of your talents, make sure to give back, honor your faith in Christ, and yes, be sure to stop and smell the roses.

She may be a little easier on my kids now as “grandma” than she ever was on me. (Soda and cheetos before noon? Really?) But she’s also teaching them the life lessons I’ve been so fortunate to have all this time.

Happy Mother’s Day Mom! We love you!

Geraldo Rivera, anchor and contributor

“Go West young man,” author Horace Greeley advised 19th Century Americans. My mom’s best advice to me was cut from the same cloth. “Don’t stay on Long Island,” she told me as I drifted aimlessly after dropping out following my sophomore year at Maritime College. 

Uncertain of what to do next, I was 19-years-old and living back in my parents basement in their home in West Babylon, a working class suburb about 40 miles east of New York. 

“But where will I go?” I asked plaintively. “Your friend Frankie is moving to California, why don’t you go with him? There is a whole world out there,” she said, her voice tinged with conflict and melancholy, but also strength. “We’ll miss you, but what can you do around here, wash dishes at Republic Aviation?”  

Together with my dad, we scrapped together all the cash on hand, about $200, and a few days later I set out for the West Coast with my best friend Frankie DeCecco. 

Driving along Route 66, I discovered the wide world beyond my parents basement. 

Ultimately I found opportunity and ambition, and it was all because my now 93-year-old mom, Lillian Rivera had the strength to let me go.

Andrea Tantaros, co-host, "The Five"

My mother always taught me to have an attitude of gratitude, no matter what God brings your way. She also told me, "Andrea, adversity never leaves you where it finds you." She was right.

You learn more from your mistakes and hard times than good ones. Be thankful for those lessons.

Lauren Green, Religion Correspondent

One of the most memorable pieces of advice my mom gave me can't be repeated here. But I can assure you they were good words to keep in mind when dating, in a serious relationship, or even married! 

That being said, my mom has been such a strong force in my life and I can say in all honesty that she is unlike most moms in that no one will mistake her for Betty Crocker. 

She's no cook. And she will admit it. She was able through the years of living with the same  man and bringing up of five children, to put decent, or I should say edible, meals on the table. A Chef she is not! 

However, my mom can spackle and paint better than any handy man I know. And few years ago when I moved out of my apartment and had to fix a few holes in the wall from the mounted plasma TV, I didn't ask one of the building guys, I flew in  my 85-year-old mother in from Minnesota to do the job! And it was worth the price of the plane ticket. She made the wall perfect, better than new! 

She has a way about her. She has patched up many a broken walls, as well as many, if not more broken hearts. 

I would not be here if it weren't for her. That's a fact of course. She gave birth to me. But her love and support has gotten me through the most challenging times of my life. 

When I wanted to give in or give up, she gave me the reasons to carry on. She never said, "no," never said, "you can't do that." And so on this Mother's Day weekend I will be celebrating with my mom in the Big Apple to try to give to her a small portion of  what she has given me her entire life.  

John Stossel, anchor, "Stossel" 

My mom told me: “work hard, or you’ll freeze in the dark!”  Sometimes she changed it to:  
“Study harder…or you’ll starve in the cold!”

This is not parenting advice that I’d recommend to any parent!    

It messed me up.    

Although I did work hard…

Jehmu Green, Fox News political analyst

As a child, academic subjects were a breeze. Unfortunately for the schoolteachers at Matthews Elementary, my behavior didn't match my scholarly output. I challenged them at every turn and was frequently chided for being, "too bossy." 

My first vivid memory of actually feeling stressed was the day I learned Ms. Ibsen, my 6th grade teacher, was planning to call my parents and address my bad behavior. Terrified, I expected the punishment to be severe. 

Would I get spanked? Would I be forced to stand in a corner and hold my father's graduate school books until my outstretched arms burned? 

Surprisingly, after Ms. Ibsen reported my daily class disruptions, my mother sat me down and said firmly, "everyone isn't always going to like you and that is ok." 

She went on to explain that if I tried to be liked by everyone, I would have to sacrifice my uniqueness. She let me know that it was okay to speak freely and be true to myself. 

That day, I learned I could never stop everyone from forming negative opinions about me and it was actually okay if some folk didn't agree with me. 

Following her sage advice led me to become a social justice organizer and made it easier to take big and important risks early in my career. 

Today, my mother's 1983 version of "haters gonna hate," continues to serve me well. Being unafraid to be assertive helps me tackle fair and balanced debates with a smile. 

Knowing I can never please everyone helps me ignore the increasingly hostile and cynical side of social media.  

My mother, an immigrant from Liberia who at 69-years-old is still the hardest working person I know, could not have been more right: I can't please everyone. 

Thanks, Mommy.

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Before Babel? Ancient mother tongue reconstructed

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  The idea of a universal human language goes back at least to the Bible, in which humanity spoke a common tongue, but were punished with mutual unintelligibility after trying to build the Tower of Babel all the way to heaven. Now scientists havePieter Brueghel the Elder (1526/1530–1569)

The ancestors of people from across Europe and Asia may have spoken a common language about 15,000 years ago, new research suggests.

Now, researchers have reconstructed words, such as "mother," "to pull" and "man," which would have been spoken by ancient hunter-gatherers, possibly in an area such as the Caucuses or the modern-day country of Georgia. The word list, detailed today (May 6) in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could help researchers retrace the history of ancient migrations and contacts between prehistoric cultures.

"We can trace echoes of language back 15,000 years to a time that corresponds to about the end of the last ice age," said study co-author Mark Pagel, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom.

Tower of Babel

The idea of a universal human language goes back at least to the Bible, in which humanity spoke a common tongue, but were punished with mutual unintelligibility after trying to build the Tower of Babel all the way to heaven. [Image Gallery: Ancient Middle-Eastern Texts]

But not all linguists believe in a single common origin of language, and trying to reconstruct that language seemed impossible. Most researchers thought they could only trace a language's roots back 3,000 to 4,000 years. (Even so, researchers recently said they had traced the roots of a common mother tongue to many Eurasian languages back 8,000 to 9,500 years to Anatolia, a southwestern Asian peninsula that is now part of Turkey.)

Pagel, however, wondered whether language evolution proceeds much like biological evolution. If so, the most critical words, such as the frequently used words that define our social relationships, would change much more slowly.

To find out if he could uncover those ancient words, Pagel and his colleagues in a previous study tracked how quickly words changed in modern languages. They identified the most stable words. They also mapped out how different modern languages were related.

They then reconstructed ancient words based on the frequency at which certain sounds tend to change in different languages for instance, p's and f's often change over time in many languages, as in the change from "pater" in Latin to the more recent term "father" in English.

The researchers could predict what 23 words, including "I," "ye," "mother," "male," "fire," "hand" and "to hear" might sound like in an ancestral language dating to 15,000 years ago.

In other words, if modern-day humans could somehow encounter their Stone Age ancestors, they could say one or two very simple statements and make themselves understood, Pagel said.

Limitations of tracing language

Unfortunately, this language technique may have reached its limits in terms of how far back in history it can go.

"It's going to be very difficult to go much beyond that, even these slowly evolving words are starting to run out of steam," Pagel told LiveScience.

The study raises the possibility that researchers could combine linguistic data with archaeology and anthropology "to tell the story of human prehistory," for instance by recreating ancient migrations and contacts between people, said William Croft, a comparative linguist at the University of New Mexico, who was not involved in the study.

"That has been held back because most linguists say you can only go so far back in time," Croft said. "So this is an intriguing suggestion that you can go further back in time."

Follow Tia Ghose on Twitter @tiaghose.FollowLiveScience @livescience, Facebook& Google+. Original article onLiveScience.com.

Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Boston bombing suspect's mother looking to send body back to Russia

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An employee at the funeral home trying to find a burial site for the body of Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev tells Fox News that his mother has expressed interest in sending it back to Russia, as cemeteries are refusing to accept the remains.

Joseph Gliniecki, of Graham Putnam & Mahoney Funeral Parlors, said Monday that the funeral home is “exploring that as an option" and would have to file necessary paperwork with the Russian Embassy in the U.S.

He said the decision on the body will be up to the family, but added that the mother would like to send it back to Russia for burial “if at all possible.”

"Everyone wants him sent back to Russia," said Peter Stefan, the director of the home, according to NBC News.

Stefan pledged to ask the city of Cambridge to allow him to be buried in a city-owned cemetery because the brothers lived in Cambridge for the last decade.

But Cambridge City Manager Robert Healy said he is urging Tsarnaev's family not to make the request.

"The difficult and stressful efforts of the citizens of the City of Cambridge to return to a peaceful life would be adversely impacted by the turmoil, protests and widespread media presence at such an interment," Healy said in a statement Sunday.

Stefan said he hasn't been able to find a cemetery in Massachusetts willing to accept the remains of Tamerlan, who was killed following a gunbattle with police four days after the bombings. He said if Cambridge turns him down, he will seek help from state officials. Stefan said Monday that he is looking outside of Massachusetts and does not think Russia will take the body.

The Tsarnaev brothers are accused of carrying out the Boston bombings using pressure cookers packed with explosives, nails, ball bearings and metal shards. The attack killed three people and injured more than 260 others near the marathon's finish line.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was captured and remains in a prison hospital. He has been charged with using a weapon of mass destruction and faces a potential death sentence if convicted.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev's uncle, Ruslan Tsarni, of Montgomery Village, Md., and three of his friends met with Stefan on Sunday to wash and shroud Tsarnaev's body according to Muslim tradition.

Tsarni told reporters that he is arranging for Tsarnaev's burial because religion and tradition call for his nephew to be buried. He would like him buried in Massachusetts because he's lived in the state for the last decade, he said.

"I'm dealing with logistics. A dead person must be buried," he said.

He said he was grateful to Stefan for agreeing to arrange the burial and to his friends for accompanying him to Massachusetts to aid with the funeral.

"These are my friends who feel for me ... as I do understand no one wants to associate their names with such evil events," he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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View the original article here

Bride-to-be among 5 dead in California limousine fire, mother of survivor says

Published May 05, 2013

Associated Press

SAN MATEO, Calif. –  A limousine traveling on a major bridge in the San Francisco area burst into flames, killing five passengers who were trapped inside and injuring four others who escaped, authorities said.

The limo was carrying nine passengers and a driver when it caught fire late Saturday night on the San Mateo bridge, California Highway Patrol officer Art Montiel told the Contra Costa Times.

Five occupants became trapped, while the four others suffered injuries but managed to get out after the vehicle came to a stop on the bridge, the patrol said. The driver escaped uninjured.

KGO reports that the victims were all women who are believed to be in their 30s.

The blaze occurred around 10 p.m. PDT on westbound lanes of the bridge, which connects San Mateo and Alemada counties, about 20 miles southeast of San Francisco.

The patrol said that smoke started coming out of the rear of the limo, and the driver pulled over as the vehicle quickly became engulfed in flames. Officers were trying to determine the cause of the blaze, which wasn't the result of an accident.

"We have no idea right now where they were going or where they were coming from," CHP officer Amelia Jack told KGO.

Of the survivors, Jack said one had severe burns and three others suffered minor to moderate injuries that included smoke inhalation. The four were rushed to nearby hospitals for treatment.

Several lanes of the bridge were closed as officers investigated the cause of the deadly fire, but the patrol said one lane of traffic reopened early Sunday.

Authorities said the names of the dead would be released once families have been notifice.

View the original article here

I know the Tsarnaev brothers' mother

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  FILE - This combination of undated file photos shows Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, left, and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19. The FBI says the two brothers are the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing, and are also responsible for killing an MIT police officer, critically injuring a transit officer in a firefight and throwing explosive devices at police during a getaway attempt in a long night of violence that left Tamerlan dead and Dzhokhar captured, late Friday, April 19, 2013. The ethnic Chechen brothers lived in Dagestan, which borders the Chechnya region in southern Russia. They lived near Boston and had been in the U.S. for about a decade, one of their uncles reported said. Since Monday, Boston has experienced five days of fear, beginning with the marathon bombing attack, an intense manhunt and much uncertainty ending in the death of one suspect and the capture of the other. (AP Photo/The Lowell Sun & Robin Young, File)AP2013

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I started getting facials from Zubeidat Tsarnaeva (pronounced Zu-bey-da) six years ago when I was 17 at a spa in the Boston area. She soon after left the spa and contacted my mom to have us start coming to her house, at 410 Norfolk St., right on the line of Cambridge and Somerville.

All throughout my senior year of high school and four years of college I went to her house about three times a year. The last time I went to the house was in December and January of 2011/2012.

The first few years the third-floor apartment was often crowded with her two sons, now identified as the alleged Boston bombers, and her two daughters, one of which was around my age. It was definitely not a glamorous place to get a facial, as the “spa” was set up in her living room, and during these years the family expanded. 

The staircase was crowded with their shoes, the house filled with noises of arguing, cooking, etc. She would often apologize for this. Her daughters and Dzhokar, the younger son, always struck me as perfectly nice and normal kids about my age. As far as I knew the daughters also attended Rindge (the local public high school) along with their brother. 

She gave a damn good facial, often working on my skin for two or three hours, and this is why my sister, mom and I continued to go back to her home for years.

She started quoting a conspiracy theory, telling me that she thought 9/11 was purposefully created by the American government to make America hate Muslims.

During this time one of Zubeidat’s daughters, and then the other, were set up in arranged marriages, and started having kids. This was something I found slightly disturbing, as one was just my age (18-19) and didn’t seem to be happily married. 

Within two years I heard that she had been beaten badly and eventually filed for divorce, which was at first against her mother’s wishes. Later Zubeidat said that she had accepted the divorce because it was an unhappy marriage. Her daughter then moved back into the house with her child. Her younger son, Dzhokar, was often in the room or the room next door looking after his nephew while I was getting my facial. 

There were usually issues with parking on her crowded Cambridge Street. Sometimes she would have Dzhokar go down to the street to put the visitor-parking pass into my car window (Yes, I gave him my car keys). Once he moved my car, which made me nervous, as the street was so crowded and parking spots so small. Dzhokar was always friendly to me and seemed easy going. In 2010-11, there was a day when Dzhokar wasn’t home, so Zubeidat took the parking pass out to the street for me. 

I noticed that she first put on a hijab before going outside. She had never worn a hijab while working at the spa previously, or inside the house, and I was really surprised.

Between 2008 and 2012 I got to know her pretty well. During those 2-3 hours I spent a lot of time asking her about her personal life, background and her family. (I’m a writer and tend to ask people exhaustive questions about their personal lives, especially as interesting a character as this.) 

The hijab shouldn’t have surprised me so much, because she had become increasingly religious while I was in college. She often mentioned Allah, and the lessons of the Koran. “Allah will reward him,” she said once about my brother, when I told her that my brother and mom were close, and that I thought my brother would take care of my mom later in life. 

She started to refuse to see boys who had gone through puberty, as she had consulted a religious figure and he had told her it was sacrilegious. 

She was often fasting. 

She told me that she had cried for days when her oldest son, Tamerlan, told her that he wanted to move out, going against her culture’s tradition of the son staying in the house with the mother until marriage. 

She started saying things like, “Don’t worry, there aren’t men in the house today,” when I asked if I could use the bathroom, which I thought was kind of funny at the time, since I didn’t mind if there were men in the apartment or not.

In my last year of college I was getting a facial from her, and asking her about why she had originally come to the United States with her family about eight or ten years previously.  

She told me that she and her husband had been lawyers and political activists in Russia. They had fled the country after “something that her husband did.” Her daughter had recently been divorced at this time, and her daughter’s ex-husband had taken their child to Russia, refusing to return him. Finally the child was returned. 

When my mom asked Zubeidat how they had gotten the child back, she told her that “my [Zubeidat’s] husband is crazy” and everyone knew it. When he threatened the daughter’s ex-husband’s family, they returned the child. 

During this facial session she started quoting a conspiracy theory, telling me that she thought 9/11 was purposefully created by the American government to make America hate Muslims. “It’s real,” she said, “My son knows all about it. You can read on the Internet.” 

I have to say I felt kind of scared and vulnerable when she said this, as I am distinctly American, and was lying practically naked in her living room.

Throughout my years of knowing Zubeidat I certainly had more contact with her daughters, one of whom attended the Catherine Hinds Institute and aspired to open a spa, and Dzhokar, than with the older brother Tamerlan. 

Those three children were always friendly and kind to me. I think I only met Tamerlan twice, and he wasn’t friendly. Zubeidat certainly mentioned arguing with him, and being worried about him in general after he got his girlfriend pregnant. 

I never met Zubeidat’s husband. I know that a few years ago her husband got cancer, but she told us that the doctors had caught it early, and that he was doing well. She made one long trip to Russia in the period of 2011-2012.

While Zubeidat was very good at giving facials, I can say that her increased religious zeal and offensive political suggestions about 9/11 in part influenced my decision to not return to her home since January 2012. Those details aside, she struck me as a hard-working woman who cared a lot for her family. 

When my mom called me last week telling me about how she had seen the picture of Dzhokar this morning and called the FBI, I couldn’t believe it. 

As her client for years I felt affection for Zubeidat and was very distraught to hear that her sons could have committed such horrific crimes. 

When I read online that she had left for Russia a few months ago, my first reaction was to think that she might have known about the attacks her sons were planning. Articles online suggest that she is in Russia because of her husband’s poor health. I know that her husband often went to Russia without her, and for extended periods of time. 

She was also very close with her sons and showed many signs of political leanings herself. Of course this is only my personal conjecture, and to my knowledge there is no proof about the parent’s involvement at all.

The actions of the two men have been atrocious beyond words. I wrote this story in order to help clarify some of the untruths I read online during the first few days after the Boston Marathon bombing attacks, and I hope that any knowledge I have shared about the family can help investigators get to the bottom of these terrorist actions and not cause any further harm. 

Since writing the original article I have experienced enormous relief following the capture of Dzhokar. I continue to pray and think about the victims of the bombings and everyone in Boston.

Alyssa Kilzer is a 23-year old writer and yoga teacher. She is earning her Master's degree in Creative Writing, specializing in life-writing and non-fiction works. She is originally from the Boston area.

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View the original article here

Mother of bomb suspects eyed in radicalizing son; was on terror database

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  April 25, 2013: “I am going to the United States,” Anzor Tsarnaev, left, told reporters Thursday alongside the suspects' mother, Zubeidat Tsarnaeva. (Reuters)

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  The parents of Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Anzor Tsarnaev and Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, will be interviewed by U.S. authorities regarding the Boston Marathon bombing on April 15 that killed three people and injured nearly 200 others. (AP)

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The mother of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects is a "person of interest" to federal authorities seeking to learn who radicalized one or both of her sons, according to lawmakers, and a separate report said she was on a federal terrorism database some 18 months before the attack.

Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, who had reportedly become more militant in her Muslim faith around the same time as her son, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, was added to the classified intelligence database known by the acronym TIDE at the CIA's request. Two key lawmakers said authorities now want to know if she helped put her son, who died a week ago following a shootout with police in Massachusetts, on the road to radicalism.

"She is a person of interest that we're looking at to see if she helped radicalize her son, or had contacts with other people or other terrorist groups," Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md., the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, told reporters.

Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee, also pointed to Zubeidat as someone who may have led Tamerlan down the path toward Islamic extremism.

"The mother in my judgment has a role in his radicalization process in terms of her influence over him (and) fundamental views of Islam," McCaul said.

Tsarnaeva was put on the database after Russia told the CIA the mother and son were religious militants preparing to travel to Russia, the AP reported. It has already been widely reported that Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the 26-year-old suspect who died after a shootout with police in Massachusetts a week ago, was on the list.

The Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment database contains between 500,000 and 1 million names of people on the radar of various national security agencies, but a person's presence on the list does not automatically mean he or she is suspected of terrorist activity and does not automatically subject them to surveillance, security screening or travel restrictions.

Zubeidat Tsarnaeva said she was not planning to travel to the U.S. in the wake of one son's death and the other's arrest, though her ex-husband was planning to. But she told Fox News Friday that her ex-husband, Anzor Tsarnaev, was being taken Friday to a hospital in Moscow to treat what she described as "nerves, head, stomach and elevated blood pressure."

Anzor Tsarnaev had planned to fly to the U.S. from the semi-autonomous southern Russian republic of Dagestan as early as Thursday. His sons, 26-year-old Tamerlan and 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, are responsible for detonating two bombs at the Boston Marathon last week, killing three and injuring more than 180 people, according to federal law enforcement officials.

In a press conference on Thursday, Anzor Tsarnaev said he was coming to the U.S. to bury his eldest son and "find out the truth" — while his ex-wife, who sat beside him, questioned whether the attack even took place.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev, believed to be the mastermind behind the attacks, died in a fierce gun battle with police four days after the deadly attacks. His body has not yet been claimed.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was wounded in the gun fight with authorities, has been transported from the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center to the Federal Medical Center at Fort Devens in Ft. Devens, Mass., U.S. Marshals Service spokesman Drew Wade said. He faces a charge of use of a weapon of mass destruction that could carry the death penalty.

Speaking to reporters from the mountainous southern Russian region of Dagestan, Anzor Tsarnaev said Thursday that he still isn’t convinced his sons set the bombs on April 15.

“I am going to the United States,” Tsarnaev said, punctuating his words by banging on the table. “I want to say that I am going there to see my son, to bury the older one. I don't have any bad intentions. I don't plan to blow up anything."

The suspects' mother, who has an outstanding warrant for shoplifting, is apparently not planning to make the trip. She expressed sympathy for the victims, yet questioned whether the bombing occurred, suggesting red paint was used to simulate blood on Boston's Boylston Street.

"That's what I want to know, because everybody's talking about it — that this is a show, that's what I want to know," she told reporters. "That's what I want to understand."

The press conference Thursday came hours before New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that the two planned to detonate their remaining explosives in New York's Times Square. 

Anzor Tsarnaev — who has previously said he believes his sons were set up, despite Dzhokhar’s alleged confession from his hospital bed — said he planned to leave as early as Thursday.

"I am not angry at anyone," he said. "I want to go find out the truth."

But Zubeidat Tsarnaeva told Fox News that it will take her ex-husband at least two days to decide whether he is able to make the trip. She said the two were en route to a hospital in Moscow and will make further decisions about travel from there. 

Zubeidat Tsarnaeva remains wanted on felony shoplifting and property damage charges in Massachusetts, according to court officials, and is concerned she could be arrested. Tsarnaeva said she had been assured by lawyers, however, that she would not be.

She said she now regrets moving her family to the United States.

"I thought America was going to, like, protect us, our kids, it's going to be safe," Zubeidat Tsarnaeva told reporters. "But it happened, opposite. My kids just — America took my kids away from me."

Anzor Tsarnaev told reporters that Tamerlan stayed with him in Makhachkala, Dagestan’s capital, during a trip his eldest son made in January 2012. Tsarnaev said they visited relatives in Chechnya and worked on an apartment in Makhachkala, but stressed that they were always together, including during trips to mosques. Tamerlan had made the trip primarily to obtain a Russian passport, he said.

Anzor Tsarnaev, who said his relatives were receiving threats in Dagestan, said Tamerlan never showed particular interest in the plight of the Chechen people or its two recent wars.

On Wednesday, Anzor Tsarnaev confirmed to Fox News that FBI and Russian authorities had visited him, adding that FBI officials were polite while asking him questions.

The Tsarnaev family emigrated to the U.S. a decade ago, but both parents returned to Russia last year. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev became a U.S. citizen last year, but Tamerlan had not yet earned citizenship.

Also Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the bombings should spur stronger security cooperation between Moscow and Washington, adding that they also show that the West was wrong in supporting militants in Chechnya.

"This tragedy should push us closer in fending off common threats, including terrorism, which is one of the biggest and most dangerous of them," Putin said during his annual call-in show on state television.

Putin warned against trying to find the roots for the Boston tragedy in the suffering endured by the Chechen people, particularly in mass deportations of Chechens to Siberia and Central Asia on Soviet dictator Josef Stalin's orders.

"The cause isn't in their ethnicity or religion, it's in their extremist sentiments," Putin said.

Fox News' Amy Kellogg and The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

View the original article here

Sheriff says Ga. toddler killed by 7 dogs in yard as mother, other adults were inside house

ELLABELL, Ga. –  A toddler who slipped outside through a doggie door was mauled to death by her family's seven dogs in the backyard while the attack went unnoticed by child's mother and other relatives inside their home, a southeast Georgia sheriff said Thursday.

Bryan County Sheriff Clyde Smith said the child's grandmother told investigators she was lying in bed when she heard the pit bulls and pit bull mixes barking, and she looked outside her window to see them dragging the girl. Smith said she began yelling, "They're killing Monica!"

It was too late. Monica Renee Laminack, who would have turned 2 years old June 1, was dead by the time an ambulance arrived Wednesday evening. Animal control officers used drugs to euthanize the dogs at the home on a rural road in tiny Ellabell, about 30 miles west of Savannah. Deputies found the girl's shoes, diaper and shredded clothing scattered across the fenced-in yard, Smith said.

"They had dragged the child all over the yard and chewed her and chewed her," Smith said. "They tore her clothes all up."

The toddler lived in a modest, two-story house tucked away from the main road. The sheriff said four generations of the same family shared the home, including the child's 18-year-old mother, grandparents and two uncles who are still young boys.

The girl's grandmother, Michelle McIntyre, sat weeping on the tailgate of a pickup outside the home Thursday. Summer Laminack, the child's mother, sat next to her staring silently at the ground.

"She's in shock," Barbara Brauda, a friend who was visiting the family, told The Associated Press before a man approached and asked a reporter to leave the property. "She hasn't been doing a whole lot of crying because she's still numb."

The sheriff said at least three adult relatives were inside the home when the dogs killed the girl outside. No criminal charges had been filed Thursday. Smith said he expects charges will be brought after he's had a chance to discuss the case with the district attorney and the girl's family has been given time to hold her funeral.

"I can see child neglect at the very minimum," Smith said.

Relatives told investigators the dogs that mauled the child were essentially family pets — a mother dog and six offspring from a litter she had about 16 months ago, the sheriff said.

The dogs had their own doggie doors that let them come in and out of the house as they pleased. The family told deputies the dogs had never attacked a person, though one of them might have killed a cat, Smith said. He said relatives insisted the toddler would play with the dogs and even "use them as pillows while watching TV."

Smith said the dogs looked healthy and well-fed, and investigators found no signs they were being used as fighting dogs by their owners.

"They said they have never been aggressive to other people," he said. "Why they got started I have no idea."

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