NEW YORK – Like father, like son? The 4-year-old son of “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin wasn’t at all alarmed when he was recently bitten by a baby boa constrictor, according to his mother. “He picked one of them up and it bit him on the finger, and he was so …

This is a rush transcript of “Special Report With Brit Hume” from February 13, 2008. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have to make sure that whoever wins the most votes, the most …

DEKALB, Ill. – A small group of Northern Illinois University students joined hands in prayer Friday near the lecture hall closed off with yellow crime scene tape after a gunman opened fire less than 24 hours ago. The students came to campus to pray for the six victims who died, …

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Authorities say a fire that destroyed five South Carolina homes and forced the evacuation of 60 families was started by a man burning trash. A forestry official says 31-year-old Steve Matern was ticketed for allowing an illegal burn to escape. He faces up to a $465 fine …

TINLEY PARK, Ill. – Suburban Chicago police released a statement Wednesday from the only survivor who pretended to be dead during an apparent store robbery that left five people dead. The gunman remained on the loose after the Saturday attack at a Lane Bryant store in Tinley Park, Ill. Police …

TOKYO – Japan’s defense minister warned Friday that further crimes by U.S. troops here could shake the two countries’ alliance, while the foreign minister said Tokyo would install security cameras around U.S. bases and take other steps to deter crime. The warning of fraying ties by Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba …

U.S. cancer deaths rose by more than 5,000 in 2005, a somewhat disappointing reversal of a two-year downward trend, the American Cancer Society said in a report issued Wednesday. The group counted 559,312 people who died from cancer. The cancer death rate among the overall population continued to fall, but …

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – President Bush prodded Congress to pass an economic stimulus package Friday, pointing to “troubling signs” in a new report that ended a 52-month streak of national job growth. Bush was in the nation’s heartland pressuring Congress to boost the sagging economy with a plan of tax …

SALT LAKE CITY – A 27-year-old man was found dead on an Amtrak train as it arrived in Salt Lake City, police said. The man boarded the train in Reno, Nev., and was traveling to South Dakota, Det. Jeff Bedard said. According to passengers, the man was breathing heavily in …

A Roanoke, Va. cop was charged with driving under the influence after running the marked police car he was driving off the road, hitting a guard rail, The Roanoke Times reported. Shortly before the Saturday night crash police received a 911 call about someone driving erratically, police told the newspaper. …