WAVERLY, Tenn. - The 19-year-old son of country music singer Craig Morgan was found dead after a tubing accident on the Tennessee River in Humphreys County, CBS affiliate WTVF reported.
Officials with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency confirmed that Jerry Greer"s body was pulled from Kentucky Lake, which is part of the Tennessee River, around 9 p.m. Monday.
The emergency call came in just after 4 p.m. Sunday. More than 12 hours after the initial report, officials said the search has turned into a recovery mission.
Officials with the Humphreys County Sheriff"s Office confirmed the teen"s identity as Jerry Greer, son of Craig Morgan [Greer], WTVF reported.
Sheriff"s Office Chief Deputy Rod Edwards said two teenagers were tubing when they had an accident and one teen. Greer, didn"t surface. Both were wearing life jackets.
The Sheriff"s Office requested assistance from rescue organizations across the state. About 50 boats joined the search. Authorities say crews were using an underwater vehicle to scan a search on the river where the water is up to 15 feet deep at points.
In a statement, Greer"s family confirmed his death. They said he was 2016 graduate of Dickson County High School, and planned to play football for Marshall University in the fall.
"The family is grateful for the outpouring of support and requests prayers at this time as they privately mourn this terrible loss," the statement read. "Jerry is survived by parents Craig and Karen Greer, sister Aly Beaird and brother-in-law Ryan Beaird, brother Kyle Greer and fianc Chelsea Rogers and brother Wyatt Greer."
After news of the teen"s death, country music stars began taking to Twitter to send their condolences to Craig Morgan"s family.
2016 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Fifteen years after a floundering Ultimate Fighting Championship was purchased for $2 million, the promotion has been sold for approximately $4 billion to a group led by Hollywood talent agency WME-IMG.
The agency and UFC on Monday confirmed the sale, believed to be the largest for a sports team or franchise in history. It surpasses the $2 billion price tag for the NBA"s Los Angeles Clippers in 2014 and Major League Baseball"s Los Angeles Dodgers in 2012, and the $1.47 billion for Manchester United soccer club in 2005. The deal is backed by private equity firms Silver Lake Partners, which owns WME-IMG, and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, along with the investment firm of billionaire Michael Dell, founder of Dell Computers.
UFC"s long-time CEO Lorenzo Fertitta said he is confident that the new ownership group, "with whom weve built a strong relationship over the last several years, is committed to accelerating UFCs global growth. Most importantly, our new owners share the same vision and passion for this organization and its athletes.
According to The New York Times, which first reported the completion of the long-rumoured sale, the deal was officially signed on the weekend following the landmark UFC 200 in Las Vegas, which drew 18,202 fans paying a live gate of $10.8 million both company records for an event held in Nevada.
"We"ve been honoured to have UFC and a number of its athletes as clients and couldn"t be happier to take our relationship to this next level as the organization"s owner and operating partner," WME co-CEO Ari Emanuel said.
Were now committed to pursuing new opportunities for UFC and its talented athletes to ensure the sports continued growth and success on a global scale.
Lorenzo Fertitta and brother Frank Fertitta will step down from day-to-day operations but will retain a small minority interest. UFC president Dana White, one of the faces of the promotion, will continue on in his current role. Prior to the sale, the Fertitta brothers owned approximately 80% of the company, while the Abu Dhabi government owned around 10% (which it will continue to hold) and White had a 9% share.
No other sport compares to UFC, said White in a statement. Im looking forward to working with WME-IMG to continue to take this sport to the next level.
UFC was created by Semaphore Entertainment Group in 1993 as a pay-per-view entity, introducing early stars like Royce Gracie, Ken Shamrock, Dan Severn and Tank Abbott. The company was initially wildly successful, drawing upwards of 300,000 buys on pay-per-view without television programming at a time when the PPV universe was just a fraction of what it is today. Its controversial bouts at first, there were no weight classes and only a handful of rules soon attracted the attention of powerful foes such as Sen. John McCain and cable executive Leo Hindery, however. When UFC was pulled from most pay-per-view systems in 1996 and 1997, it started a financial downturn that nearly ended the promotion.
In 2001, Dana White, at the time representing fighters Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell, went to his high school friends the Fertitta brothers, who were then big players in the casino business, and suggested purchasing UFC from SEG owner Bob Meyrowitz. After a brief period of negotiations, the $2 million sale was completed.
Though UFC was finally sanctioned in Nevada and back on cable systems" pay-per-view, it took four years and approximately $40 million in losses before the new ownership Zuffa LLC finally hit the jackpot. With stars such as Ortiz and Liddell, Randy Couture and Matt Hughes, the company signed a cable TV deal with Spike TV and scored big with reality-TV competition The Ultimate Fighter. By 2006, UFC surpassed boxing and professional wrestling as the top entity on pay-per-view.
Over the past decade, UFC has been sanctioned across the United States and Canada, while taking events across the globe, from Australia to Brazil, Japan to Germany, Macao to United Arab Emirates. Stars such as Georges St-Pierre, Anderson Silva, Forrest Griffin and Brock Lesnar have been replaced in recent years by Conor McGregor, Ronda Rousey and Jon Jones, with Lesnar returning after a five-year absence to anchor UFC 200.
Although the UFC has received occasional criticism from fighters for its pay scale, its ability to control talent costs is a major factor in its profitability. Its position atop MMA also allows it to match the sport"s top fighters against each other consistently, setting it apart from the hopelessly fractured world of boxing.
The UFC"s price tag has drawn gasps since it was first rumoured earlier this year, but the consortium is getting a sports property with a unique niche and ample growth potential.
WME purchased IMG, the sports and event management group, in 2013, and the talent agency has evolved into a multifaceted entertainment company. The organization already made moves into niche sports properties last year by buying Professional Bull Riders and forming an e-sports gaming league with Turner Broadcasting.
With more than 500 athletes under contract, the UFC stages roughly 40 events per year and is broadcast in more than 150 countries, reaching 1.1 billion television households. The promotion has built a large roster of endorsement deals and sponsorships with A-list companies like Bud Light and Harley-Davidson, and its subsidiary ventures include everything from its Fight Pass digital streaming service to more than 100 branded fitness centres.
The UFC also recently began construction in Las Vegas on a 180,000-square-foot, campus-style corporate headquarters that also will house training and rehabilitation facilities for its fighters.
The UFC appears on the Fox network and cable affiliates as part of its seven-year broadcast deal, which ends in 2018. With rights to live sporting events considered prime programming, UFC"s next contract is expected to be extraordinarily lucrative, with both Fox and ESPN among the likely bidders.
Said White: Our goal has always been to put on the biggest and the best fights for our fans, and to make this the biggest sport in the world."
Whoopi Goldberg at the Oscars on February 28, 2016 in Hollywood.(Photo: VALERIE MACON, AFP/Getty Images)
Whoopi Goldberg says she"s returning to The View for another year in the fall.
She tweeted the news Monday, saying she"s ready to continue annoying, or delighting, daytime viewers.
ABC confirmed thecontract renewal.
Goldberg, 60, the longtime moderator of the show and second longest-serving member of the current cast (since September 2007), made the announcement just months after she was reportedly on the way out, after battlingwith her bosses in the final year of a four-year contract, according to unnamed sources quoted in the National Enquirer, Fox News and the New York Post.
But keeping track of the comings and goings, controversies and blow-ups andtears and traumas at The View can be a full-time job.Michelle Collins left only last month(Variety said she was fired) after just one season, and her replacement has not been announced.
Joy Behar, a member of the original cast of the series, which premiered in August 1997, left in 2013 and returned in 2015. ABC says she will return this fall for the show"s 20th season.
But the future roles of Candace Cameron Bure,Paula Faris and Raven-Symone are unclear. .
Over the years, numerous co-hosts have signed up and then departed, includingElisabeth Hasselbeck, Sherri Shepherd, Jenny McCarthy, Rosie Perez, and Rosie ODonnell (twice). Barbara Walters, the veteran ABC newswoman who created the show, retired in 2014 but returns for occasionalvisits.
Oscar-winner Goldberg, one of those rare entertainers who has a fullhouse of awards (Emmy, Grammy, Golden Globe,Oscar, Tony),has been embroiled in controversies over the years, most recently when she continued to defend fellow comedian Bill Cosby as innocent until proven guilty of charges of drugging and/or raping nearly 60 women in episodes dating back decades.
Eventually, she conceded that in the court of public opinion, "all the information out there kind of points to guilt.I can"t say any more, "innocent until proven guilty" because there"s no way to prove it.It looks bad, Bill," she said, addressing Cosby.
Still, Goldberg continues to be a mainstay of the female chat show,for which she has won a Daytime Emmy Award.
Meet The Incredible Gymnasts Representing USA For 2016 Rio Olympics
Former WNBA center Liz Cambage has been included in a 12-strong Australian squad that is aiming to win a medal at a sixth consecutive Olympic women"s basketball tournament.
This time, the so-called Opals want gold in Rio de Janeiro.
Cambage, Laura Hodges and Rachel Jarry return from the squad which lost the semifinals to the United States at London 2012 and finished with the bronze. Penny Taylor and Erin Phillips return after missing the London Games.
"Gold is always the goal but we know there is a long way to getting the chance," said Taylor, who has two Olympic silver medals and, at 35, will be the oldest member of the squad.
Taylor plays for the Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA and has regular exposure to the top Americans.
"They are the defending gold medalists and are the pinnacle of our sport," she said. "They"re always who we see as our biggest competitor and we just want to give ourselves another chance to get in a position to be able to face them."
Australia coach Brendan Joyce left out three-time Olympic medalist Suzy Batkovic and picked seven first-time Olympians in his squad. Lauren Jackson, who won three Olympic silver medals and one bronze, retired earlier in the year because of knee injuries.
Marianna Tolo, Australia"s highest scorer at the 2014 world championships, recently returned from a 10-month injury layoff for an eight-game trip to Europe to confirm her place in the Olympic squad.
The Australians travel to Dallas next week for warmup matches against Canada, France and the Olympic and world champion U.S. team.
The Opals open their Olympic campaign against Brazil on Aug. 6 and have group matches against Turkey, France, Japan and Belarus.
Theresa May Is on Course to Be Next U.K. Prime Minister
The first thing to know about Theresa is that she is tough. There is no point, internally as a minister, or externally as a foreign country, thinking that in a negotiation with her you are going to gain ground easily.
I remember US officials complaining to me in 2012 about her refusal to extradite Gary McKinnon, the computer hacker with Aspergers syndrome accused of hacking into the Pentagon. This was a decision made by the Home Secretary after considering all the facts, I said, as a weary look came over them. Mrs May is known in government for going into things thoroughly, I went on, but she is not known for changing her mind once she has made a decision. When shes decided something, my advice is to accept thats the end of it.
The disgruntled Americans rolled their eyes knowingly. They did indeed grudgingly accept that there was nothing further they could do. When it comes to getting people to desist from an argument, it helps enormously if they know the person they are dealing with has consistency and resolve. Theresa May has those attributes.
Theresa May, the UKs home secretary, will be the countrys next prime minister. Her final rival for the Conservative Party leadership, Andrea Leadsom, withdrew from the race on Monday morning, citing overwhelming support for May among Conservative MPs. Prime Minister David Cameron then announced that he would formally resign by Wednesday, ushering May into the top job.
Mays tenure will not be easy. Shell be taking over at time of intense crisis: The Brexit referendum has thrown the UK into what one expert calls its worst political crisis since May 1940. Its not an exaggeration to say that Mays tenure will shape the course of British and European history for the foreseeable future.
Understanding May who she is, and what drives her is critical to understanding the events that will unfold in the next months and years. So heres a quick guide to the next occupant of 10 Downing Street where shes coming from politically, what shes said about Brexit, and why she may be facing an impossible dilemma as the UKs next leader.
May is a fairly moderate conservative except on immigration (Jack Taylor/Getty Images)
Since Mays election to Parliament in 1997, shes taken fairly liberal stances on a number of social issues. She made a name for herself in 2002, when she delivered a speech telling her fellow Conservatives that they need to stop being the nasty party in UK politics.
Shes an avowed feminist: She led a fight to close the UKs gender wage gap in 2008 and frequently confronts sexist comments about her fondness for stylish shoes.
To the extent that Mays political credo is evident, she is a liberal Conservative, the Financial Timess George Parker and Helen Warrell wrote in a 2014 profile. Shes supportive of gender equality, champion of female representation at Westminster and a backer of gay marriage.
But her record doesnt always fit the liberal description: For instance, she twice voted against legalizing adoption by gay couples in the early 2000s. This is especially true when it comes to immigration.
Since 2010, May has served as home secretary, the UKs top social and domestic Cabinet post. During her time in office, she has repeatedly expressed vociferous opposition to the UKs historically high immigration levels.
When immigration is too high, when the pace of change is too fast, its impossible to build a cohesive society, she said in one 2015 speech. Its difficult for schools and hospitals and core infrastructure like housing and transport to cope. And we know that for people in low-paid jobs, wages are forced down even further while some people are forced out of work altogether.
None of this is true the data shows that immigrants havent stressed the UK economy and in fact have contributed to its growth. But that hasnt stopped May from taking some fairly draconian steps to lower immigration.
Most infamously, May used her power as home secretary to impose a rule that would block skilled immigrants from permanently settling in the UK if they made less than 37,000 a year (roughly $53,000 at pre-Brexit exchange rates). Anyone who made less than that would be deported. Mays own Home Office estimated that the rule could cost the British economy more than $200 million, but she went through with it anyway.
Mays tenure as Home Secretary was also particularly unpleasant for LGBTQ migrants.
Aderonke Apata, an LGBT rights activist from Nigeria, was told by Home Office lawyers who rejected her asylum claim last March that she could not be a lesbian because she had children. May described Apatas fight against deportation as a publicity stunt, Dawn Foster writes at the London Review of Books. This was not an isolated incident, Foster explains:
Time and again during Mays tenure at the Home Office, people fleeing countries where homosexuality is illegal were asked to explain why they didnt look lesbian or why they didnt attend local Pride marches; others were subjected to extensive invasive questioning about their s*x lives; some even felt compelled to provide documentary evidence of their sexuality.
In a certain sense, then, this makes May the right person for a post-Brexit Britain. The campaign for leaving the European Union was dominated by anti-immigrant rhetoric: EU rules required the UK to accept migrants from any other country inside the EU, which was unpopular with a huge number of Britons. Indeed, polling data suggests that anti-immigrant sentiment was the single most decisive factor in Britain voting to leave.
An anti-migration vote begat an anti-migration prime minister.
May opposed Brexit weakly and politically and now will have to deal with the terrible fallout
Given Mays high-profile stance on immigration, you might have expected her to have been a vocal supporter of the campaign to leave the EU. Interestingly, she wasnt. In fact, May was the only major candidate for Conservative leadership who supported remaining.
Her support, however, was pretty lukewarm. The UKs Loughborough University tallied up the number of statements to the press on Brexit made by leading political figures between early May and early June, a critical pre-vote period. It found that May made a tiny number of appearances far fewer than most similarly famous UK politicians, and even fewer than the German chancellor, Angela Merkel:
(Loughborough University/HuffPost UK)
British political observers saw this as a calculated strategy: May would formally side with the Conservative leadership in opposing a Brexit (that is, a British exit) but take a lukewarm stance in order to remain politically palatable to Brexiteers in the event that the Leave campaign won.
This could all be part of Mrs May"s plan: to cast herself as the Brexit-friendly Remainer who can appeal to her colleagues in the Out camp with her toughness on immigration, the Telegraphs Asa Bennett wrote before the vote. Her restrained approach to campaigning for Remain has helped her avoid alienating Tory [Conservative Party] Brexiteers, and the polls suggest her reputation has held up better than some of her potential leadership rivals.
Indeed, Mays pandering to the Brexit crowd continued after the vote and in much more impactful ways.
You see, the Brexit referendum actually wasnt a binding vote. In order for the UK to actually exit the EU, the British government has to formally submit notification under Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. Cameron refused to do that, saying it would be up to his successor to manage the transition. That left open the possibility that his successor would choose not to submit Article 50 notification either, essentially nullifying the Brexit vote.
But May has repeatedly promised not to do that, with Brexit means Brexit being something of a catchphrase during her leadership campaign. "As prime minister, I will make sure we will leave the European Union, May said on Monday, per the BBC. She promised there would be no attempts to remain inside the EU nor attempts to rejoin it by the backdoor.
Thats pretty unequivocal.
However, she has also pledged not to trigger Article 50 immediately upon taking the top job. She wants the UK to wait until at least the end of the year, in an attempt to negotiate terms with the EU that would preserve British access to European markets without having to allow unfettered immigration.
We shouldnt invoke Article 50 immediately, she said in one interview. Whats important for us is that we get the right deal.
The problem, however, is that the EU leadership is unlikely to agree to any such deal. They dont want to reward Britains vote with favorable exit terms, for fear that voters in other countries (like Greece, France, or the Netherlands) will take this as a sign that they could get a similar deal. So far, EU leaders have been adamant that Mays right deal wont be on offer.
So unless May can change the EU leaderships mind, shes in a pretty impossible position. Either she unilaterally exits the EU without a deal, which would tank the British economy by cutting off access to vital EU markets, or she goes back on her own promise that Brexit means Brexit, which would likely be political suicide.
Its a very, very tough way for the UKs second female prime minister to start off her job and one that might just set her up for failure.
2016 Great Britain - Post-Qualifying: Hamilton promises to "make a bang" for British fans Thousands of fans stayed behind after the race to congratulate Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton said he was "blown away" by the support he received from the home fans during his dominant victory in the British Grand Prix.
"It"s mesmerising to see so many people so cheerful," said Hamilton. "Just seeing how positive everyone was, the constant love that"s shown.
"I really feel like we did it together. It is a long journey we have been on, and there is real love there."
It was Hamilton"s fourth win in his home race and third in succession.
And it brought him level with 1992 world champion Nigel Mansell as the most successful driver at Silverstone.
The Mercedes driver, who led every lap from pole position, described it as "a perfect weekend".
And it got even better for him three and a half hours after the race when stewards penalised his team-mate Nico Rosberg 10 seconds because Mercedes had broken rules on how much help a driver can be given over the radio.
That dropped Rosberg to third place and cut the German"s championship lead over Hamilton to just one point.
Hamilton dominated, especially in the wet at the beginning of the race
"I am really happy because it is so easy to come into this weekend with the wrong energy," he said. "But to come in feeling fresh, powerful, strong and confident and deliver is what I plan to do every weekend.
"This has been the best week of the year, without doubt."
The win was Hamilton"s fourth in the past five races, which has enabled him to make up nearly all the ground he lost with a difficult start to the season in which he had to start two of the first four races from down the grid as a result of technical problems.
"I feel like I would have won in China and Russia if I didn"t have the problems I had," Hamilton said.
"But I would definitely say through that rough patch I was going through in terms of reliability, it is hard to handle when you want to win the world championship as much as I do.
"But I really feel that since that low after Barcelona [where Hamilton and Rosberg crashed out on the first lap], I was able to cultivate a very positive and strong mental attitude, and that"s what I have today.
"That"s how I"ve won as many races as I have and it"s something I plan to continue."
The world champion jumped into the crowd after getting out of his car... ...And spent time with thousands of fans after the podium celebration Plus, he performed his usual victory "Brucey bonus"
Subscribe to the BBC Sport newsletter to get our pick of news, features and video sent to your inbox.
