Opinion: An unfair portrait of Rice

Susan Rice withdraws her name from consideration for State Articles have claimed Rice is undiplomatic and difficult to work for Amar Bakshi says those descriptions clashed with the reality of working for Rice He says Rice demonstrated openness, honesty and passion as a boss Editor's note: Amar C. Bakshi, a first year student at Yale Law School, is a former special assistant to U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice and a former producer for CNN.com. Follow him on Twitter: @amarcbakshi (CNN) -- U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice withdrew her name from consideration Thursday for secretary of state. Over the past few months, a slew of articles have criticized Rice's personality. The Daily Beast recently ran a piece titled "Susan Rice's Personality Disorder." These articles allege that America's U.N. ambassador is "brusque," "dismissive," "undiplomatic," "shrill" and awful to work for. I felt compelled to write something because these caricatures of Rice bear no resemblance to my former boss. I worked for Susan Rice in 2009 and 2010 as her special assistant in the Washington office of the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. Over the past few weeks, I have talked to other junior staffers for Rice—current and former—who all share my surprise at the way she has been described. Junior staffers see a side of their "principal"—Washington-speak for boss—that others do not. Being a special assistant involves a wide swath of activities: couriering papers, sitting in on meetings and delving into some policy issues. In this multifaceted role, my colleagues and I saw Rice as a boss, as a diplomat and as a person. In each arena, Rice demonstrated a rare combination of openness, honesty and passion. Read more: Susan Rice withdraws from consideration as secretary of state Early on in the job, I delivered a 50-page paper on Afghanistan to Rice. Before I could set it down on her desk, she asked, "What do you think of it?" I hadn't read a word and froze. I soon found out that this was typical of Rice. She always asks people at all levels what they think; she's not concerned with hierarchy or status, just ideas. You see this in her strategy meetings, which always involve staff at all levels. You also see this when Rice tours foreign countries. She is just as interested in the stories of people on the streets as the proclamations of ministers—and often more so. Become a fan of CNNOpinion Stay up to date on the latest opinion, analysis and conversations through social media. Join us at Facebook/CNNOpinion and follow us @CNNOpinion on Twitter. We welcome your ideas and comments. As a diplomat, Rice can be extraordinarily charming. She can put new acquaintances instantly at ease. But she can just as easily snap them to attention. Rice has little patience for dissembling and her insistence on thorough preparation means that she invariably knows the subject matter as well as—and usually better than—her interlocutor. This enables Rice to move from charm to hard substance in an instant, getting to the heart of an issue quickly. Some people have criticized this aspect of Rice's personality as "undiplomatic." If diplomacy is the art of talking and doing nothing, then perhaps they're right. But that has never been Susan Rice. Rice is in government because she believes in strengthening America and improving this world. Rice believes that advancing core principles serves U.S. interests in the long run. You can see this belief guiding her approach to issue after issue, in meeting after meeting. Read more: Rice's letter to the President Rice is down to earth, too, which won the loyalty of her slightly younger staffers in particular. She has an inexplicably vast collection of go-go music—a D.C. invention. She has mastered social media and new technology, but only after overcoming a healthy dose of skepticism. And she has a general demeanor, some combination of athlete and wonk, that conveys cool. Rogers: Rice was facing uphill battle I don't mean to minimize the serious policy issues she has handled as U.N. ambassador, a member of President Obama's Cabinet and a lifelong public servant. One op-ed is not enough space to engage her many accomplishments in government and the various policy disputes that inevitably arise over 20 years in high office. All I can say in this short piece—and say with total confidence—is that Susan Rice is a wonderful person and an inspiring boss. Washington is filled with people seeking power for its own sake; people embroiled in partisan politics; petty people; imperious, dismissive people; people who put themselves before others. But that is not Susan Rice. Follow @CNNOpinion on Twitter Join us at Facebook/CNNOpinion The views expressed in this commentary are solely those of Amar C. Bakshi.

Child-killer's release draws outrage

Canadian doctor who stabbed his children freed from mental hospital Cardiologist Guy Turcotte confessed, served 46 months Children's mother, also a doctor, says she wants answers Jury found Turcotte not responsible because of mental illness Montreal, Canada (CNN) -- Canadians expressed outrage Thursday after the release of Guy Turcotte, a cardiologist who in 2009 confessed to killing his children as they slept in their beds. What many wanted to know was how a father who stabbed his children dozens of times could be free after 46 months of confinement. Those voices echo the grief of Turcotte's ex-wife, Dr. Isabelle Gaston, the mother of 5-year-old Olivier and 3-year-old Anne-Sophie. As Gaston pored over her children's autopsy reports, she wished she had no idea what they meant. But as a physician and a coroner, she knows it's true: Her children suffered a long, gruesome death. "I knew it was not a short death. You know, my little boy received 20 stabs of a knife, he had seven marks of defense," she told CNN in an interview at her home before Turcotte's full release. "He had no wound that was the one that gave him death," she added, trying to hold back tears. "My little girl, she had 19 wounds, maybe she was luckier? Because she had one that was more mortal than the other. But she felt 19 shots, that's for sure," Gaston said. Turcotte confessed to killing his children in February 2009 but a year later a Canadian jury failed to convict him of the murders, finding him not criminally responsible due to mental illness. At trial, Turcotte testified that he was distraught over his crumbling marriage and snapped, insisting he blacked out and doesn't remember killing his children. The jury believed the testimony of two psychiatrists paid for by his defense. They testified that Turcotte could not have known what he was doing when he repeatedly stabbed his children. "Why don't I accept that he is mentally ill is when I look at the facts," Gaston said. "We have a person that is a cardiologist that never had a psychiatric incident, not at all. I have trouble to understand how someone in five hours or six hours will do an interview of someone and have a conclusion that he is not a danger to society or is mentally insane." Even the Canadian government has weighed in, calling Turcotte's release "unacceptable." "We believe that Isabelle Gaston does not deserve to live in fear of her children's killer and neither do victims of similar crimes across Canada," said James Moore, a federal cabinet minister. The Conservative government of Prime Minster Stephen Harper is drafting legislation to make it more difficult for mentally ill offenders to be released from psychiatric facilities, but the pending legislation is not expected to influence Turcotte's case. In fact, Turcotte told the psychiatric review board that released him that he is looking forward to leading a normal life in the future and hopes to practice medicine and have children again. "To know that my children faced the person that they should have trusted the most and they were left by themselves to die. No one holding their hand," Gaston said. "I struggle, OK, I struggle all the days, every day of my life and I think till I die I will struggle."

NATO: Syrian regime near collapse

Rights group urges rebels to abide by international accords amid report of "horrible abuses" Collapse of Syrian regime appears inevitable, NATO chief says Syria's apparent use of Scud missiles is "reckless," Anders Fogh Rasmussen says Opposition group calls for rebels to protect religious, cultural sites (CNN) -- Defeat could be near for Syria's embattled regime, NATO and Syrian ally Russia said Thursday. "I think now it's only a question of time," NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in Brussels, Belgium, where he and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced the deployment of two Patriot air-defense batteries to Turkey's border with Syria. The al-Assad government is "approaching collapse," Rasmussen said. "I urge the regime to stop violence, to realize what is the actual situation and initiate a process that leads to the accommodation of the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people." Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov offered a similar view from Moscow, noting what he said were rebel reports that victory was imminent. 17-year-old Syrian risks life to rescue Panetta: U.S. monitoring Syria closely The Syrian opposition vice president Seeing a Syrian chemical weapons plant No diplomatic solution in Syria Securing Syria's chemical weapons Obama recognizes Syrian opposition "We need to look the facts in the eye," the state-run RIA Novosti news service quoted Bogdanov as saying. "Unfortunately, we can't exclude a victory by the opposition." His comments came as opposition groups said they had seized a military base near Damascus and amid calls by the Local Coordination Committees for rebels to push for the fall of the capital. "We all know that the battle is not going to be easy and that the regime will defend its existence by the most brutal means, as we have become accustomed to seeing," the opposition group said. "We know that the regime will spare no resources in destroying any hold it may have before its collapse, as we have witnessed in all other Syrian cities." Diplomatic efforts to help end the 21-month conflict, which opposition activists say has claimed more than 42,000 lives, have so far failed. A rebel victory would unleash a host of complications for the shattered country, including the need to quickly assemble a functioning government; to provide humanitarian assistance as winter approaches; and to address the status of the chemical weapons currently held by regime forces. U.S. official: Syria uses Scud missiles against rebels The regime has shown no signs of backing down. On Thursday, the LCC reported that 138 people had been killed by government forces, including seven children and four women. Sixty-nine of the deaths occurred in Damascus and its suburbs, it said. Syrian state TV, citing a foreign ministry official, denied Thursday Western accusations that the government has used Scud missiles against rebels inside the country, a move analysts and world leaders have described as a dangerous escalation in President Bashar al-Assad's campaign against the rebellion. A U.S. official said Syrian forces in Damascus loyal to al-Assad had fired at least four short-range Scud missiles from the capital into northern Syria, presumably at rebel groups. Rasmussen said NATO also had detected launches this week. "We can't confirm details of the missiles, but some of the information indicates they were Scud-type missiles," Rasmussen said. "The use of such indiscriminate weapons shows utter disregard for the lives of the Syrian people. It is reckless, and I strongly condemn it." Aleppo Today TV becomes vital news source amid Syria's chaos The predictions of defeat for al-Assad and his forces come amid rising international recognition of the Syrian opposition. On Tuesday, President Barack Obama extended U.S. recognition to the rebel coalition. The more than 100 nations in the Friends of Syria group followed suit on Wednesday and pledged at least $110 million in humanitarian aid. Coalition Vice President George Sabra said rebels were pleased with the gestures, but had hoped the United States would go further by naming the group not just as a legitimate representative of the Syrian people but as their sole legitimate representative. Syrian officials belittled the declarations. Information Minister Omran al-Zoebi said the recognition was comparable to Syria recognizing "Liverpool Football Club as the sole representative of the British people while in fact it represented very little," Britain's Independent newspaper said. As fighting subsides, Aleppo residents find little left Also Thursday, Amnesty International urged rebel leaders to free a Ukrainian journalist accused of working with Syrian government officials and to respect international accords on human rights. "There are increasing reports of opposition forces carrying out horrific abuses of captured government soldiers, journalists and some other civilians," Amnesty said Thursday. "The coalition must condemn these grave abuses in the strongest possible terms and do its utmost to prevent them." The LCC called on rebels to deliver a knockout punch to the regime while protecting civilians, religious sites and the nation's cultural heritage. It also urged rebels to preserve any documents found in offices of state security services seized by rebels in preparation for possible war crimes trials. "These documents contain massive amounts of incriminating evidence against the regime and its symbols and will be required to hold the regime accountable, compensate victims and retain a historical record of decades of state behavior," the group said. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said U.S. government-trained medical workers have reached an estimated 410,000 patients in Syria, performed 22,370 surgeries and had partnered with a group -- which she would not identify for security reasons -- that has set up 20 field hospitals in the country. "I don't think any of us has a crystal ball as to exactly how this is going to go, but we do believe that the Assad regime's days are numbered," Nuland said. "The opposition in recent days and weeks has made a number of significant captures, in particular major military facility outside of Aleppo with the last Sheik Suleiman base and other important military installations." She urged Russian officials to withdraw support for the al-Assad regime. An afternoon with a Syrian bombmaker CNN's Barbara Starr, Tom Watkins, Jill Dougherty, Mike Mount, Ben Brumfield and David Ariosto contributed to this report.

Oregon mall to reopen after shooting

Flowers and candles sit outside the Clackamas Town Center mall in Clackamas, Oregon, on Thursday, December 13. The Clackamas County Sheriff's Office identified Jacob Tyler Roberts, 22, as the gunman who entered the mall with a AR-15 semiautomatic assault rifle, killing two and wounding another before taking his own life. A makeshift memorial graces the Clackamas mall sign on December 13. A mall security officer stands at the entrance to the Clackamas Town Center mall on Thursday. Emergency vehicles gather outside the mall after a gunman opened fire, killing two people on Tuesday, December 11. Two people walk in front of the lit windows of the mall on Tuesday night. The Clackamas Town Center mall is filled with emergency vehicles and law enforcement. Memebers of a SWAT team take position outside the mall. Lt. James Rhodes of the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office works with other responders in the parking lot of the mall. Panicked customers rushed to the exits when the gunman opened fire. Some people huddled behind store counters and hid behind racks of clothing. Authorities closed entrances and exits in the mall parking lot, said Lt. Gregg Hastings of the Oregon State Police. A law enforcement officer talks to people waiting outside the mall. NEW: A vigil will be held Friday night at the soon-to-be reopened mall On Tuesday, a man killed two people and then himself, authorities say Wounded teenager is still in serious condition Shooting was "out of character" for Roberts, the woman who raised him says Happy Valley, Oregon (CNN) -- For three days, Clackamas Town Center has been a crime scene. On Friday, it will be a shopping mall, once again. Yet the Oregon shopping center's scheduled 9 a.m. reopening -- announced on its Facebook page -- does not close the books on the many questions tied to Tuesday's fatal shooting. Hear police audio during mall shooting Investigators have identified Jacob Tyler Roberts, 22, as the man responsible for the bloodshed and panic at the mall, located in the community of Happy Valley, about 10 miles southeast of Portland. Remembering the victims Aleshire: 'Knew him as a kind person' Cops search for motive in mall shooting What is really going on in our society? Wearing a load-bearing vest and hockey mask, Roberts used a semi-automatic rifle to shoot three people on the mall's second floor, killing two of them, according to authorities. He then ran down a corridor and back hallway that led downstairs. It was there, police say, that Roberts took his own life. The one shooting victim who didn't die of her injuries, Kristina Shevchenko, remained in Oregon Health & Science University Hospital on Thursday. The 15-year-old suffered a collapsed right lung and injuries to her liver after being shot in the chest, Dr. Laszlo Kiraly told reporters Wednesday. She was in serious condition Thursday, as she had been the day before, said Todd Murphy, a spokesman for the Portland hospital. Authorities haven't offered more insights publicly, meanwhile, into the man they say shot Shevchenko, 54-year-old Cindy Ann Yuille and 45-year-old Steven Mathew Forsyth. No motive has been given to explain why Roberts did what he did. On his Facebook page, Roberts describes himself as a "pretty funny person that takes sarcasm to the max." The central image is a "Follow Your Dreams" slogan painted on a wall and stamped "Cancelled" in red -- a work by famed street artist Banksy. The woman who raised Roberts after his mother died of cancer when he was 2 described him as "fun and caring" and a "totally cool dude." Choking back tears, she called Tuesday's shooting "completely out of character" and apologized for the pain and panic Roberts had caused. "Never could I imagine him being part of something like this," Tami Roberts, his biological aunt -- though she referred to herself as his mother -- told CNN affiliate KPTV. "What Jake did was wrong but, as his mother, he will always be in my heart. I love him very much." The woman described the suspected gunman as fun-loving and adventurous while growing up. Roberts planned to "be a hero" and join the Marines, Tami Roberts said. But that dream was dashed when he broke his foot at age 17, and "he lost purpose." The two hadn't spoken in about four years, after they had a "falling out ... because he didn't want to get up and look for a job ... and he got really depressed and he got really angry." After that, Tami Roberts said she thought of him daily and still loved him deeply -- even though she can't explain his actions. "Every day of my whole life, I was proud of him," she said. "I'm just not proud of him right now." Staffers at Oregon City High School, where Roberts helped out in the school's counseling department before his graduation, are trying to come to grips with what happened. "I found him to be a very polite young man, soft-spoken, nice smile," said Arnold Bunting, a counseling department staffer. "And I'm just really surprised that somebody with his personality would end up doing something like this." The Oregon Department of Justice is offering "to help pay for at least 10 counseling sessions" for those rattled by Tuesday's shooting. In its post announcing stores will reopen Friday, Clackamas Town Center stressed it won't forget all those affected by the violence -- from Yuille, Forsyth and Shevchenko to the scores of others who saw their holiday shopping devolve into chaos. A candlelight vigil is planned for 7 p.m. Friday at a mall entrance. "Please continue to keep the victims, their families and the entire community in your prayers during this difficult time," the mall said. CNN's Dan Simon reported on this story from Oregon, and Greg Botelho reported and wrote from Atlanta.

All eyes on Kerry for secretary of state

Sen. John Kerry, D-Massachusetts, appears to have the inside track to be nominated as secretary of state. Sen. John Kerry looks like the front-runner to replace outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Senate Republicans have been touting Kerry for that Cabinet post in recent weeks Kerry has a long history of overseas experience, starting with his childhood (CNN) -- Now that embattled U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice has withdrawn her name from secretary of state consideration, attention is turning toward Sen. John Kerry, D-Massachusetts, the other top candidate to replace outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Republicans opposed to a Rice nomination have bandied about Kerry's name for weeks, and Thursday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told CNN that Kerry would be a "popular choice with the Senate." It's ironic that several prominent Republicans are rallying behind Kerry, just eight years after their party demonized him during his failed 2004 presidential campaign against President George W. Bush. Kerry remembered that experience in a statement he released about Rice. "As someone who has weathered my share of political attacks and understands on a personal level just how difficult politics can be, I've felt for her throughout these last difficult weeks, but I also know that she will continue to serve with great passion and distinction," Kerry said. Hear Susan Rice explain why she withdrew Brazile: Rice was attacked viciously Kerry, McCain rib each other about jobs The senior senator from Massachusetts is noted for the experience, gravitas and relationship-building skills that could help him succeed as the United States' top diplomat. In his current role as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Kerry has traveled the globe on behalf of the Obama administration to mend frayed relationships. Most notably he has traveled to Pakistan after a series of incidents, including the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, that had set relations back. World travel is second nature to Kerry. While he was born in Denver, on December 11, 1943, he spent much of his childhood overseas, living in Berlin, then went to a Swiss boarding school at age 11. After graduating from Yale University in 1966, Kerry was deployed to Vietnam as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy. Kerry served as a gunboat officer on the Mekong Delta, earning the Silver Star, the Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts. Upon his return home in the early 1970s, Kerry gained public recognition as the head of the group Vietnam Veterans Against the War and for his anti-war testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In 1972, Kerry ran his first campaign, a losing effort for a congressional seat in Massachusetts. He eventually entered politics in 1982 as lieutenant governor under Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis. Two years later, Kerry won the U.S. Senate seat he has held for five consecutive terms. The Vietnam experience came back to haunt Kerry during the 2004 presidential election. A Republican-funded group called "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" aired campaign ads accusing Kerry of lying to receive two of his five combat decorations and criticizing his anti-war activism. The incumbent Bush won the Electoral College vote 292 to 252 and racked up 3 million more votes than Kerry nationwide. After winning his fifth senate race in 2008, Kerry took over the Senate Foreign Relations Committee the next January. And while Kerry has a powerful voice outside the Obama administration in his current role, with Rice out of the running, a path to the Cabinet has one less obstacle for the man Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, jokingly called "Mr. Secretary" last week. Read more: Rice once looked like shoo-in Ted Barrett and Jamie Crawford contributed to this report from Washington.

Family confirms Jenni Rivera’s remains have been identified

Jenni Rivera's family has confirmed that her body has been positively identified, following statements by state officials that DNA tests on her remains had been verified Thursday. "We have received 100 percent confirmation that my sister Jenny has gone to be with the Lord," her brother Pedro Rivera, Jr. said in a press conference outside father Pedro Rivera's Los Angeles-area home on Thursday. "They did show pictures to my brothers of the body, but not the full body. Juan  was able to say 'that was my sister' and he said 'I don't need more.' Gus also said that was our sister.'" Rivera added that the two brothers, who arrived to the scene of the tragic incident on Wednesday, did not wait for the DNA results to confirm that their sister had passed away in the plane crash. "They didn't have to wait for the DNA," explained Rivera. "They just knew it was my sister and now they are flying back to Los Angeles with the body." RELATED:  Jenni Rivera's daughter Chiquis breaks silence: "You're on my mind" A Mexican state official had confirmed Thursday afternoon that Jenni Rivera's remains had been positively identified, ending days of speculation surrounding the Mexican-American star's death in a plane crash near Monterrey in northern Mexico on Dec. 9. Nuevo Leon state security spokesman Jorge Domene, a spokesman for Nuevo Leon State, said that DNA tests confirmed Rivera's remains, reported a Telemundo reporter on the scene.  The 43-year-old entertainer's remains have been cremated and delivered to her brother, musician Lupillo Rivera. RELATED: Jenni Rivera, advocate and champion of women The remains of Rivera's entourage – her makeup artist, stylist, publicist and attorney, as well as the two pilots who navigated the Learjet 25 plane – who accompanied her on the flight following her sold out concert at Arena Monterrey were also been identified by The Forensic Medical Service of Monterrey, Mexico, the Associated Press. Saavedra had previously told reporters that she still had hopes her daughter would be found alive. At the press conference Thursday, Pedro Rivera, Jr. stated that plans would soon be underway for a free public service in remembrance of the deceased singer in Los Angeles. He also added that arrangements would be made to organize a concert in her memory as well and that any details about his sister's will would be disclosed at a later date by their younger sister Rosie. Like this: Be the first to like this.