text: -lrb- cnn -rrb- the rev.

text: robert h. schuller , california televangelist and founder of the television ministry `` hour of power , '' died thursday , according to his family .

text: he was 88 years old .

text: schuller , also the founder of crystal cathedral megachurch , had been diagnosed with esophageal cancer in august 2013 , a release from `` hour of power '' said .

text: `` my father-in-law passed away peacefully early this morning .

text: he was a great dad and a great man of god , '' said schuller 's daughter-in-law , donna schuller , in a twitter message .

text: schuller 's life followed an almost shakespearean arc .

text: he was born in a iowa farmhouse without running water and longed to preach from his earliest days .

text: in his autobiography , `` prayer : my soul 's adventure with god , '' he described standing alone by a river and picturing himself delivering sermons to a rapt congregation .

text: after attending a hope college and western theological seminary in michigan , he met his wife of more than 60 years , arvella , while preaching at her church -lrb- she was the organist -rrb- .

text: with their young family in tow , the schullers caravanned west to california , where he rented a drive-in theater and preached from the roof of the snack bar .

text: it was beneath the dignity of christian ministry , some local pastors huffed .

text: the `` passion pits '' where teenagers necked was no place for the gospel .

text: schuller was undeterred , and he quickly outgrew the drive-in .

text: he called the explosive growth of his tiny congregation a `` miracle , '' though his many mainstream critics had other names for it .

text: his confident , breezy version of christianity -- too breezy , by some estimations -- drew hordes of seekers and lapsed christians who were put off by the hellfire fulminations of many post-war american preachers .

text: schuller sold a softer , gentler message , which borrowed heavily , he acknowledged , from the father of the feel-good gospel , norman vincent peale .

text: he preached not to convert or condemn people , but to encourage them , a sentiment he called `` possibility thinking . ''

text: people loved it .

text: `` evangelicalism at its best wants to be innovative and reach people , '' said timothy larsen , a professor of christian thought at wheaton college in illinois .

text: `` and schuller was a master at that . ''

text: `` what he got right is that the gospel is good news , '' larsen continued .

text: `` and he preached an uplifting message about personal transformation and uplift and hope . ''

text: some of schuller 's favored phrases , though , struck others as cornpone christianity .

text: `` turn your hurt into a halo ? ''

text: said randall balmer , a professor of american religious history at dartmouth college , citing one such phrase .

text: `` that 's pretty weak tea . ''

text: still , balmer gives schuller some credit .

text: `` it may be bad theology , but it 's brilliant marketing . ''

text: in 1970 , schuller began broadcasting `` hour of power , '' believed to be one of the first , if not the very first , sunday service to be shown regularly on television .

text: with his genial smile , priestly robes and gray hair , he looked and talked like a guy who wanted nothing more than to see his flock succeed .

text: the show , which ran for decades , reached millions , making schuller a televangelist before the term became tarnished by the sins of his many successors .

text: schuller 's crowning achievement , at least architecturally , still stands in orange county , california , though it is now owned by the roman catholic church .

text: the crystal cathedral , a great gleaming edifice with 10,000 glass panels , gave worshipers a look at the clouds that house the heavens , while schuller preached in the pulpit below .

text: the message was clear to many : the road to the former ran through the latter .

text: during the 1980s and 1990s , schuller 's star continued to rise , with presidents stopping by the crystal cathedral -- often during campaigns , it should be said -- and future megachurch pastors like rick warren and bill hybels seeking his advice .

text: as schuller aged , though , his family was beset by a succession scandal straight from the pages of `` king lear . ''

text: he tried to install his only son , bobby jr. , as pastor of crystal cathedral .

text: but the preaching styles of father and son were too different for the congregation -- measured at times at 10,000 strong -- to countenance .

text: bobby schuller jr. left `` hour of power '' and the pulpit at crystal cathedral after a short time .

text: as the family searched for a new successor and tussled over finances , viewers and donations to the church and its television show dropped precipitously .

text: crystal cathedral ministries filed for bankruptcy in 2010 , citing debts of more than $ 43 million , according to the associated press .

text: schuller 's empire , which once soared as high as his glassy cathedral , had fallen to dust .

text: eventually , schuller 's grandson , also named bobby , took over `` hour of power , '' though at a different church .

text: in a statement on thursday , the younger schuller recalled standing atop crystal cathedral 's 12-story tower of hope with his grandfather as they surveyed the surrounding landscape .

text: `` you could see the whole world from there , '' he said .

text: people we 've lost in 2015 .

text: cnn 's stella chan reported from los angeles .

summary: the rev.

summary: robert schuller , 88 , had been diagnosed with esophageal cancer in 2013 .

summary: his tv show , `` hour of power , '' was enormously popular in the 1970s and 1980s .

publication: cnndm


text: -lrb- cnn -rrb- never mind cats having nine lives .

text: a stray pooch in washington state has used up at least three of her own after being hit by a car , apparently whacked on the head with a hammer in a misguided mercy killing and then buried in a field -- only to survive .

text: that 's according to washington state university , where the dog -- a friendly white-and-black bully breed mix now named theia -- has been receiving care at the veterinary teaching hospital .

text: four days after her apparent death , the dog managed to stagger to a nearby farm , dirt-covered and emaciated , where she was found by a worker who took her to a vet for help .

text: she was taken in by moses lake , washington , resident sara mellado .

text: `` considering everything that she 's been through , she 's incredibly gentle and loving , '' mellado said , according to wsu news .

text: `` she 's a true miracle dog and she deserves a good life . ''

text: theia is only one year old but the dog 's brush with death did not leave her unscathed .

text: she suffered a dislocated jaw , leg injuries and a caved-in sinus cavity -- and still requires surgery to help her breathe .

text: the veterinary hospital 's good samaritan fund committee awarded some money to help pay for the dog 's treatment , but mellado has set up a fundraising page to help meet the remaining cost of the dog 's care .

text: she 's also created a facebook page to keep supporters updated .

text: donors have already surpassed the $ 10,000 target , inspired by theia 's tale of survival against the odds .

text: on the fundraising page , mellado writes , `` she is in desperate need of extensive medical procedures to fix her nasal damage and reset her jaw .

text: i agreed to foster her until she finally found a loving home . ''

text: she is dedicated to making sure theia gets the medical attention she needs , mellado adds , and wants to `` make sure she gets placed in a family where this will never happen to her again ! ''

text: any additional funds raised will be `` paid forward '' to help other animals .

text: theia is not the only animal to apparently rise from the grave in recent weeks .

text: a cat in tampa , florida , found seemingly dead after he was hit by a car in january , showed up alive in a neighbor 's yard five days after he was buried by his owner .

text: the cat was in bad shape , with maggots covering open wounds on his body and a ruined left eye , but remarkably survived with the help of treatment from the humane society .

summary: theia , a bully breed mix , was apparently hit by a car , whacked with a hammer and buried in a field .

summary: `` she 's a true miracle dog and she deserves a good life , '' says sara mellado , who is looking for a home for theia .


text: -lrb- cnn -rrb- if you 've been following the news lately , there are certain things you doubtless know about mohammad javad zarif .

text: he is , of course , the iranian foreign minister .

text: he has been u.s. secretary of state john kerry 's opposite number in securing a breakthrough in nuclear discussions that could lead to an end to sanctions against iran -- if the details can be worked out in the coming weeks .

text: and he received a hero 's welcome as he arrived in iran on a sunny friday morning .

text: `` long live zarif , '' crowds chanted as his car rolled slowly down the packed street .

text: you may well have read that he is `` polished '' and , unusually for one burdened with such weighty issues , `` jovial . ''

text: an internet search for `` mohammad javad zarif '' and `` jovial '' yields thousands of results .

text: he certainly has gone a long way to bring iran in from the cold and allow it to rejoin the international community .

text: but there are some facts about zarif that are less well-known .

text: here are six : .

text: in september 2013 , zarif tweeted `` happy rosh hashanah , '' referring to the jewish new year .

text: that prompted christine pelosi , the daughter of house minority leader nancy pelosi , to respond with a tweet of her own : `` thanks .

text: the new year would be even sweeter if you would end iran 's holocaust denial , sir . ''

text: and , perhaps to her surprise , pelosi got a response .

text: `` iran never denied it , '' zarif tweeted back .

text: `` the man who was perceived to be denying it is now gone .

text: happy new year . ''

text: the reference was likely to former iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad , who had left office the previous month .

text: zarif was nominated to be foreign minister by ahmadinejad 's successor , hassan rouhami .

text: his foreign ministry notes , perhaps defensively , that `` due to the political and security conditions of the time , he decided to continue his education in the united states . ''

text: that is another way of saying that he was outside the country during the demonstrations against the shah of iran , which began in 1977 , and during the iranian revolution , which drove the shah from power in 1979 .

text: zarif left the country in 1977 , received his undergraduate degree from san francisco state university in 1981 , his master 's in international relations from the university of denver in 1984 and his doctorate from the university of denver in 1988 .

text: both of his children were born in the united states .

text: the website of the iranian foreign ministry , which zarif runs , can not even agree with itself on when he was born .

text: the first sentence of his official biography , perhaps in a nod to the powers that be in tehran , says zarif was `` born to a religious traditional family in tehran in 1959 . ''

text: later on the same page , however , his date of birth is listed as january 8 , 1960 .

text: and the iranian diplomacy website says he was born in in 1961 .

text: so he is 54 , 55 or maybe even 56 .

text: whichever , he is still considerably younger than his opposite number , kerry , who is 71 .

text: the feds investigated him over his alleged role in controlling the alavi foundation , a charitable organization .

text: the u.s. justice department said the organization was secretly run on behalf of the iranian government to launder money and get around u.s. sanctions .

text: but last year , a settlement in the case , under which the foundation agreed to give a 36-story building in manhattan along with other properties to the u.s. government , did not mention zarif 's name .

text: early in the iranian revolution , zarif was among the students who took over the iranian consulate in san francisco .

text: the aim , says the website iranian.com -- which cites zarif 's memoirs , titled `` mr. ambassador '' -- was to expel from the consulate people who were not sufficiently islamic .

text: later , the website says , zarif went to make a similar protest at the iranian mission to the united nations .

text: in response , the iranian ambassador to the united nations offered him a job .

text: in fact , he has now spent more time with kerry than any other foreign minister in the world .

text: and that amount of quality time will only increase as the two men , with help from other foreign ministers as well , try to meet a june 30 deadline for nailing down the details of the agreement they managed to outline this week in switzerland .

summary: mohammad javad zarif has spent more time with john kerry than any other foreign minister .

summary: he once participated in a takeover of the iranian consulate in san francisco .

summary: the iranian foreign minister tweets in english .


text: -lrb- cnn -rrb- for the first time in eight years , a tv legend returned to doing what he does best .

text: contestants told to `` come on down ! ''

text: on the april 1 edition of `` the price is right '' encountered not host drew carey but another familiar face in charge of the proceedings .

text: instead , there was bob barker , who hosted the tv game show for 35 years before stepping down in 2007 .

text: looking spry at 91 , barker handled the first price-guessing game of the show , the classic `` lucky seven , '' before turning hosting duties over to carey , who finished up .

text: despite being away from the show for most of the past eight years , barker did n't seem to miss a beat .

summary: bob barker returned to host `` the price is right '' on wednesday .

summary: barker , 91 , had retired as host in 2007 .