fame. he dreams of a career in show business. dan simon, cnn, san francisco. >> he might just get one. it's your choice. check out the runners-up on my facebook page. "cnn newsroom" continues with randi kaye. >> i love that kid, too cute. >> he is great. not shy at all. >> have a great day. thank you. 30,000 troops out of afghanistan by the end of next year. an administration source tells cnn that is the plan for the draw-down. president obama is expected to lay out the plan in a speech tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m. eastern. of course, we will bring it to you live right here on cnn. the first of those troops should be coming home this summer. during meetings at the white house last week, u.s. commanding general in afghanistan, general david petraeus, offered several options to the president. here's where we are right now in

afghanistan. since operations began nearly ten years ago, 1,522 u.s. troops have died there. 185 this year. there are around 100,000 u.s. troops, many of them committed to the nato-led international security force. so what do the american people think? in a recent cnn opinion research corporation poll, 74% said at least some troops should be withdrawn. 39% think all the troops should come home now. 18% think the current levels need to be maintained. joining me to talk about this is general james "spider" marks. glad you're with us. what about this 30,000 number we are hearing quite a bit about? is it a good starting point for withdrawal? >> you know, randi, the 30,000 is what the president put in when he proclaimed the surge and when he supported the request for additional troops about a year and a half ago. clearly, the removal of that surge force gets you back to the

level where it existed for many years. so beyond that, what we're looking at is a u.s. presence that's already been declared through 2014 and the conclusion of our mission there. but what's unclear is what does that mission look like from 2014 going forward. i think the very short answer is the initial reduction that we'll see by the end of this year will probably be pretty minimal in number. we've heard numbers like 5,000 to 6,000. over the course of the next year, which gets this force through another fighting season during 2012, then a draw-down by the end of the year gets you back to where we were about a year and a half ago. >> the president has promised what he called a significant withdrawal by july, or starting in july. what number do you think we should consider to be significant? >> you know, that is truly based on conditions on the ground. a 5,000 withdrawal is significant to the commander on the ground that loses that 5,000. that's almost unacceptable.

so my point is the number depends upon where you sit and how you view this condition that you're confronted with. any number is going to have a different type of a flavor. so my point being, clearly there's a large political, almost fundamentally it's a political decision the president is making. >> does any withdrawal, no matter how many troops come out, does that withdrawal send a dangerous message to the taliban and al qaeda in afghanistan? if they know that we're leaving, might they just bide their time there? >> that's a very good point. absolutely. bear in mind that the united states has declared by secretary gates this past weekend, is involved in initial conversations with the taliban. clearly we need to try to differentiate between taliban and al qaeda and the different motivations that exist. it's not trying to be too arcane but what's important to realize is that we're trying to make a deal with the taliban. our enemy currently in afghanistan, who have harbored al qaeda for years.

so can we do that? well, we've demonstrated that we were able to do that in iraq with the awakening a few years ago. clearly we would like to see that take place in afghanistan. so the message clearly could be look, we're leaving, you guys are going to have at it. but what we want to do obviously before we make that departure is ensure that conditions in terms of the afghan security forces and the political conditions on the ground in afghanistan have been met. >> just quickly, you brought up robert gates. earlier today, he said the president must take public opinion into account because people are just tired of ten years of war. do you agree with that? >> absolutely. it drives all decisions. every aspect of warfare is political. that absolutely is a piece of this decision. >> general james "spider" marks, always great to have you on the show. appreciate your insight. thank you. now we want to show you some amazing video. a string of tornadoes ripped through the midwest yesterday.

take a look at this. pretty incredible. this was the scene in nebraska last night. several homes near the nebraska/kansas border were destroyed. the national weather service says there were preliminary reports of 43 tornadoes across the midwest last night. the strongest tornado hit kansas, which the national weather service has preliminarily rated as an ef-3. historic wildfires across the country are also proving to be a force of destruction. in florida, two firefighters died while battling the blue ribbon fire after it flared up again. back in arizona, some residents are now being allowed to go home after being evacuated nearly two weeks ago. the wallow fire, the biggest wildfire in the state's history, has burned more than a half million acres in eastern arizona but in texas, it is a different story. nearly 2,000 people in towns near houston are evacuating with one of the largest wildfires in the history of east texas closing in on their homes. chad myers is closely watching these conditions with us. seems like several historic fires have popped up in this

fire season. can you give us perspective on that? >> there has been wind this fire season. not like there's not always some wind, but there have been days where winds are blowing 65 miles per hour. so you have fires all the way through parts of west texas into new mexico, into colorado, back into arizona, obviously and even northern mexico. i want to put this into perspective. because of the drought that's been there, the largest number of wildfires we have ever seen up to this date look like this. four pictures of fires all happening literally at the same time, almost every different corner of our universe from wsvn on the top right, that's miami, then back to the top left, albuquerque, then tucson and then down to the south and southeast, the wallow fire. that's literally miles and miles square miles burned, yet these firefighters continue to do unbelievable work. i think we just need to put this

into perspective on how many homes have not been lost by the fires here. here's what the firefighters have to deal with for today and tomorrow. phoenix will be 108. tucson will be 103. if we take a look at tomorrow, it will be 113 in phoenix. the hottest day of the year so far. when it gets this hot, sometimes humidity can come up as well. it's called the monsoon season, the southwest monsoon. that can help bring rainfall in, at least an afternoon shower, to put some natural water on a place in tucson now, hasn't rained in 71 days. >> that doesn't sound good for them. chad, thank you very much. check back with you a little later on. jon huntsman has joined the republican race for president. he made his speech from liberty state park just across the water from the statue of liberty today. the same place ronald reagan launched his campaign from 30 years ago. huntsman is a former governor of utah who quit his job as ambassador to china earlier this year. in his speech today, huntsman talked about what kind of campaign he wants to run, and about his former boss, president

obama. >> we will conduct this campaign on the high road. i don't think you need to run down someone's reputation in order to run for the office of president. of course we'll have our disagreements. that's what campaigns are all about. but i want you to know that i respect my fellow republican candidates and i respect the president of the united states. >> that was earlier today. right now, this is a live picture of the podium where jon huntsman is about to speak at a town hall in exeter, new hampshire. we'll have more on huntsman and his candidacy in our next hour. "30 rock" star and comedian tracy morgan went back to nashville today to say i'm sorry. morgan returned after going off on a homophobic tirade during a standup routine there earlier this month. he apologized with the gay and lesbian alliance against defamation by his side. kevin rogers, who exposed the details of morgan's rant on his

facebook page, here's what morgan said about his change of heart. >> i don't really see gay or straight. i just see human beings now. i pride myself on 20 years, 18 years of standup, of using it to heal people and not hurt. that was my whole thing. i hurt people with this. >> in the next hour, we'll hear more on what morgan had to say and revisit with kevin rogers in a live interview, follow-up to his emotional chat with us and morgan's apology. so what happens to the walmart case now that the supreme court put the brakes on the massive job discrimination suit? we'll talk live with the lead plaintiff next. just one phillips' colon health probiotic cap a day

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personal pricing now on brakes. tell us what you want to pay. we do our best to make that work. deal! my money. my choice. my meineke. walmart says it's been vindicated by yesterday's supreme court decision tossing out a class action lawsuit that accused it of discriminating against female employees. a company executive said quote, as the majority made clear, the plaintiff's claims were worlds away from showing a company-wide discriminatory pay and promotion policy. walmart has a long history of providing advancement opportunities for our female associates. unquote. a lower court had ruled that the suit could be heard as a class action case on behalf of hundreds of thousands of current and former walmart workers. yesterday's 5-4 supreme court decision reversed that ruling, saying the case does not merit class action status. the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit is betty dukes, a

walmart greeter in california. she joins us now from berkeley along with her lawyer, brad seligman. i would like to start with you, betty. i'm sure you must be disappointed with this verdict. what did you think when it was handed down? >> well, when i received notice that we had -- the verdict was in, of course i was disappointed because the verdict was going to affect the case greatly, but yet even with the judges' decision from the supreme court, we're still focused on going forth and my role in the case as plaintiff, my lawsuit against walmart is still up, up and running. i'm determined to have the merits of my case heard in federal court in the near future. >> what motivated you, betty, to file this suit in the first place? >> well, as you know, the suit was filed a decade ago, ten years ago, in 2001. i had been working for walmart

for 17 years, started back in 1994. well, over a period of time prior to actually filing this lawsuit in federal court, i had observed in my store that there was disparity in promotion, mainly between men and women. i did notice in my store that men were going forth in upper management more readily than women. >> brad, i will bring you in here in just a second. betty, i have one more question for you. if you are planning to move forward, with your suit, do you plan to do that alone or possibly with a smaller group? >> my lawyers will strategize what will be the best thing for us to go forward but i am hoping that women that's been out there that have let their voices add to this lawsuit, do not be discouraged. we are still very strong in our

determination to see this through and prove that there has been mass discrimination against women at walmart, even if we have to do it one by one. >> so brad, how does this change things for betty and the others? will her case be any tougher to pursue as an individual lawsuit without this class action status? >> let me first say that it's really important to bear in mind, the supreme court did not rule that walmart did not discriminate. it did not rule that walmart is off the hook. in fact, walmart is going to face literally thousands of individual lawsuits, because one of the peculiarities of class action law is even though the court has said this particular class action can't go forward, the deadlines for all the women in the class going back to december 26, 1998, have been frozen all these years. and all those women today have timely live claims of discrimination. we're pursuing a strategy that

looks at several different options. number one, we're considering whether we can file narrower or smaller class cases to bring numbers of women in. number two, we will intervene a number of women into the existing case in the northern district of california federal court, where betty dukes and the other five plaintiffs have live claims today. number three, we will consider filing suits in other states. number four, most importantly, we will be filing eeoc charges, that is charges with the united states equal employment opportunity commission, across the country, for thousands of women who have claims. and the most important thing here is yes, it makes it harder. yes, it makes it much less efficient and much less efficient to move this forward, but this is a burden that walmart's going to bear also. the cost of litigating against thousands of claims is going to make this quite a nightmare for walmart. we're prepared to go forward on this. >> the court has said the case can go forward because it's just too big, too big of a group of

people. but betty, walmart says they feel some vindication here. i take it you don't agree with that? >> well, of course they feel vindicated. that is why they have steered this case to the united states supreme court. as you know, in the federal courts in california, we have won all the appeals that they have leveled against us. when we get to the supreme court, we have five very conservative judges that's on the bench and it was all appointed by the previous bush administration. so walmart knew they could get up to the supreme court, that they had an advantage over us, and not only with the supreme court they thought they could depend on, the majority of corporate america, not all, a lot of corporate america also signed on with walmart in their favor and corporate america, they do have friends that are

sitting on the united states supreme court bench. >> betty -- we will have to leave it there. i'm sorry. thank you both. be sure to keep us posted on your case as well as you do move forward. how many americans do you think are unhappy in their jobs? 20%? 30%? 40%? 50%? the answer and the reasons why in two minutes. give them the gift of financial security from new york life. we've been protecting families for over 166 years. new york life. the company you keep. her morning begins with arthritis pain. that's a coffee and two pills. the afternoon tour begins with more pain and more pills. the evening guests arrive. back to sore knees. back to more pills. the day is done but hang on... her doctor recommended aleve. just 2 pills can keep arthritis pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is lara who chose 2 aleve

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all right. i'm out of here. no, not really. but that is what a lot of disgruntled american workers are thinking these days, despite the high jobless rate and a weak economy. a new report from a leading out placement and consulting firm says half, that's right, half of u.s. employees are actively eyeing the exits or have a less than favorable opinion of their employers. for more on this report, alison kosik joins us. why are so many americans unhappy at work? >> reporter: you know what the number one reason is? they're not happy with how much they're being paid. we can understand that. wages stagnated during the recession. there are other issues, too. they're upset with career development. most workers don't think promotions go to the most qualified person. also, health care benefits factor in here. workers are shouldering more of the cost these days. this high turnover rate is an issue for employers, too. they could wind up losing a good worker because they're unhappy. but you know what, as well, the

disgruntled worker may not work as hard. there are all these ramifications in here contributing to the unhappy worker. >> are you surprised to see such high numbers in a weak economy? millions of americans would do just about anything right now for a job. >> reporter: yeah, i agree with you there. millions of americans are looking for a job. but many companies, the reality is they're still reluctant to hire. also, what's happening here is people are working double time. this is kind of adding to that dissatisfaction. employers cut workers during the recession so the workers who were left had to do more work. they had to work twice as hard. there is that certain sort of burnout factor in the high level of job dissatisfaction we are seeing. >> even if they aren't looking for a new job, how many are just flat out unhappy? >> reporter: 30% are so unhappy, they are ready to say good-bye, ready to quit. another 21% have a negative view of their company. they are completely checked out. these negative feelings actually

are at all career levels, not just lower rung positions where you see most of the disgruntled employees. you know what, surprisingly they're not looking for work, looks like they're going to stay put until the economy picks up because the reality is, there's stiff competition out there. job seekers are vying for the very same jobs as millions of other out of work americans are looking for. so sometimes it may be better just to stay where you are until the economy picks up a bit. >> these days, if you're not happy, just fake it, right? hold on to that job. >> reporter: fake it, exactly. >> thank you so much. for all the latest financial news, be sure to join christine romans for your bottom line each saturday morning at 9:30 a.m. 23 minutes past the hour. time for some top stories we are following along with you. mark kelly, the u.s. astronaut who commanded the final flight of the space shuttle "endeavour" announced today he is retiring to spend more time with his wife, gabrielle giffords, as she

recovers from a gunshot wound to the head. the two also have a memoir in the works. he said today i am humbled to announce after 25 years of service to our country, i am retiring from the united states navy and leaving nasa effective october 1st. first lady michelle obama and daughters malia and sasha are now in south africa. earlier this morning, mrs. obama met with the former south african president nelson mandela and planned to meet with desmond tutu and a number of young women. in london, a 19-year-old has been arrested in connection with that massive cybersecurity breach at sony. the play station network went down back in april after the personal information of more than 70 million users was compromised. police say the teen may have also hacked into a number of international businesses and intelligence agencies, including, yes, the cia. why the celebration at stonehenge? it is the start of summer.

the summer solstice officially came at 1:16 eastern time. that is the moment when the sun was directly over the tropic of cancer and the earth's tilt toward the sun was at its maximum. in your face, graphic warnings about the danger of cigarettes. new package labels unveiled today. before you light up, give us two minutes. do is change the way we're thinking about them. a couple decades ago, we didn't even realize just how much natural gas was trapped in rocks thousands of feet below us. technology has made it possible to safely unlock this cleanly burning natural gas. this deposits can provide us with fuel for a hundred years, providing energy security and economic growth all across this country. it just takes somebody having the idea, and that's where the discovery comes from.

the fda today unveiled new very graphic warning labels for

cigarette packages. it's hoped that pictures of a diseased lung or dead body will make people think twice before lighting up. cnn senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen is here with the details to walk us through some of the new warning labels. >> first i want to show the current one. couldn't be more boring. black and white, text and it's kind of invisible on the pack of cigarettes. that's what the fda says, they used the word invisible. instead of invisible, they are doing this. half the cigarette pack, randi, half the cigarette pack, not some little tiny thing, this is real right here. the branding's here. picture of a dead guy. smoking can kill you. can't get more direct than that. warning, cigarettes cause cancer. >> that is so disturbing. >> cigarettes are addictive. >> these will be on one side of the package? >> both. >> oh, on both? >> front and back. 50% of the surface area. tobacco smoke can harm your children. why are they doing this? because one in five american adults smokes cigarettes,

443,000 people die every year from tobacco related death. >> is there any data or is it too early to show that such graphic warnings like this can be effective? >> other countries are way ahead of us. they did this years and years ago. they studied it to see if they worked. these were graphic. look at this. all right. that's new zealand. you think ours are graphic? okay. here's another one. this is thailand. even this did not really seem to bring down smoking rates to a great degree. i think that's important to note here. while it might be great they're doing these new labels, studies have shown maybe modest decreases but nothing to write home about. >> besides this, because this is so extreme, is there anything else that can actually deter people from smoking? >> what's weird about this, it's extreme but the effect is relatively modest. people don't start quitting in droves when they see this. they see this and say oh, man, i know i should quit, but don't necessarily quit. what makes people quit? we have data, hard numbers for you. this is in new york city. in 2001, they had a 21.5%

smoking rate. in 2009, 15.8%. that's a big drop in eight years. what did they do between those years? tax increases, dictated smoke-free workplaces, free patch programs and anti-smoking advertisements, sort of similar to these. then another tax increase. so all of these things together is what it takes to get people to stop smoking and randi, when i asked experts which of these, they're like tax increase number one. >> maybe even $1 on every pack might help. >> you are not the only person to have that idea. $1 -- >> it wasn't my idea. >> okay. $1 per pack, a tax, would do this, according to the american cancer society. 1.4 million american adults would quit smoking. 1.7 million kids would never start. 1.3 million lives would be saved. follow the money. that's what the experts tell me. >> but it is an addiction. so many people have tried to quit, even with a tax or even with the graphic pictures on the cigarette packs, and they just can't. >> they just can't. but some people can.

taxes really work. pictures combined with other things really work. so is it addictive? yes. but are there things that help, yes, there are. >> do everyone a favor and try. >> right. >> that's all i ask today of all of you. >> that's a great request. >> elizabeth, thank you. what would you do if you had no money to pay for health care? would you borrow from a friend or play the lottery? this north carolina man did something way more unusual. what do you got? restrained driver... sir, can you hear me? just hold the bag. we need a portable x-ray, please! [ nurse ] i'm a nurse. i believe in the power of science and medicine. but i'm also human. and i believe in stacking the deck.

32 minutes past the hour. here's a look at some of the headlines and news that you may have missed. starting next month, u.s. troops in afghanistan will begin to come home. president barack obama is expected to outline his plan on troop withdrawal in a speech tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. eastern. it's expected 30,000 surge forces will pull out of the country by the end of 2012. about 100,000 troops are in afghanistan right now. about three-quarters of americans polled this month said they support pulling some or all u.s. forces from that country. jon huntsman has joined the republican party's 2012 presidential field. the former utah governor was also president barack obama's ambassador to china. as he announced his candidacy at liberty state park in new jersey, he stressed the need for change in leadership. >> what we now need is leadership that trusts in our strength, leadership that doesn't promise washington has all of the solutions to our problems, but rather, looks to

local solutions from our cities, towns and states. leadership that knows we need more than hope. leadership that knows we need answers. >> huntsman's more moderate views on some social issues could make his path to winning the nomination difficult. he is the eighth major gop candidate for president. a north carolina man found a very unique solution to get health care. he robbed a bank of just $1, then sat down to wait for the police to show up. he says that way he will get the medical attention he needs in jail for free. >> first time i've ever been in trouble with the law. i'm sort of a logical person and that was my logic. that's what i came up with. >> the 59-year-old says he has a growth on his chest, two ruptured discs and a problem with his left foot. he does not have a job and

figured jail would be the best place to get free medical care and a place to stay. he says he's hoping for a three-year sentence but may not get as much. police are charging him with larceny, not bank robbery since he took only $1. flight cancellations will continue into wednesday as travelers in australia and new zealand find themselves stranded again. several airlines canceled their flights after an ash cloud from a volcano in chile moved into the air space. the same ash plume had disrupted travel earlier this month when it drifted across the atlantic and indian ocean. ash can damage aircraft engines. sure is nice to look at, though. air travelers are just not happy. an american customer satisfaction survey released today says customer satisfaction has dropped to 65 on a 100 point scale. the biggest turnoffs for passengers have been higher fuel prices and baggage fees. looks like business travelers are the unhappiest of the bunch and that is not good news for the airline industry considering a whole lot of its revenue comes

from this group. will gay couples in new york get to say "i do" soon? the vote on gay marriage is up in the air. the latest right after the break.

in new york, debate continues in the senate on a bill that would legalize same sex marriage in the state. the debate has drawn supporters and critics to the state capital in albany. as we mentioned yesterday, democratic supporters of the bill had hoped for a vote on the measure. it's already passed in the assembly. a vote didn't happen and it's now expected later this week. joining us from albany to talk more about this is brian elner, senior strategist for the human rights campaign, a group that's been in the trenches fighting for the passage of the bill.

thanks so much for joining us. i want to ask you, what is your understanding of why there wasn't a vote last night? what was the holdup? >> sure. look, i know there are a lot of new yorkers and a lot of americans who wanted us to have a vote last night. the fact is for anyone who understands albany politics, this is very typical for an end of session. a lot of different bills that have nothing to do with marriage equality have backed up. one on regulation, one on a real property tax cap. they're dealing with those. when those are dealt with, our hope and expectation is they will have a vote on marriage equality. it's like just before going off on vacation and you're on the tarmac and the captain says we're ready to take off except there are seven planes in front of you. it's that sort of experience. we're waiting for takeoff. as soon as the bills get done, we expect to be next. >> as you wait for takeoff, you are working hard on the tarmac, it appears. the human rights campaign working hard behind the scenes. what has your group been doing to try and get this bill passed? >> we have been doing a lot. look, first of all, we have a

governor who has been extraordinarily supportive on this issue. it's one of his top priorities. he's shown a lot of courage in pushing this. we also have a super majority of new yorkers who support it. record high, almost 60% of new yorkers support marriage equality. what we have been doing all across the state and in the field is making sure that constituents have their voices heard by their legislators or heard by their legislators. there's no mistaking the widespread support. we have pulled together really remarkable coalition of business leaders, professional athletes, celebrities, mayor mike bloomberg has been very active here as have senators schumer and gillibrand. the coalition is broad and bipartisan. we have report support upstate, downstate, in suburbs and city, republicans, democrats, independents. in new york, this is a very moderate mainstream issue. actually, of course, what we're fighting for is quite a conservative value, the right for couples to make a life-long commitment to the person they love and protect their families.

that's what we're fighting for here. >> we know a similar measure came up for vote in new york in the senate there in 2009. how is the political and public landscape different today than it was in 2009 that maybe it would turn your way? >> sure. it's different in a number of respects. as i mentioned, we have a very strong governor who is championing this and is also enormously popular. that helps of course in any fight. but we have also seen a marked shift in public opinion. it's reflected nationally in the polls. over 50% of americans support marriage equality. here in new york, it's a super majority, nearly 60%. we have also seen republicans being very supportive and it sort of mirrors what we saw federally with the repeal of don't ask don't tell, where republicans joined with democrats to repeal that piece of legislation and here, we hope republicans will join with democrats and pass a marriage equality law in the coming days. >> we hope to get an answer and a vote on it this week.

appreciate your time. do keep us posted. thank you. >> thank you for having me. a young girl's nightmare, kidnapped into the world of sex slavery. it happens virtually every day. survivors speak out, next. your favorite foods fighting you? fight back fast with tums. calcium rich tums goes to work in seconds. nothing works faster. ♪ tum tum tum tum tums nothinso i takeaster. one a day men's 50+ advantage. as a manager, my team counts on me to stay focused. it's the only complete multivitamin with ginkgo to support memory and concentration. plus it supports heart health. [ bat cracks ] that's a hit. one a day men's. when i got my medicare card, i realized i needed an aarp... medicare supplement insurance card, too. medicare is one of the great things about turning 65, but it doesn't cover everything. in fact, it only pays up to 80% of your part b expenses. if you're already on or eligible for medicare,

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neighboring india. a few lucky ones are rescued or escaped. actress demi moore spoke to some at a border crossing point. what follows is an excerpt of a cnn documentary, "nepal's stolen children." >> today i'm with honorata at the airport boarding a plane for india, or to be precise, to take me to the border nepal shares with india. it's a border that thousands of girls are trafficked each year into brothels of mumbai, delhi, calcutta and other indian cities. in just four hours at the border, i saw several thousand people crossing over. honorata introduces me to mighty nepal's own border guards. their slight appearance belies an intense determination which is born from their own experience. all of the guards were themselves trafficked into brothels.

there are 50 guards working across ten checkpoints. every day at the border, they will intercept on average 20 girls at risk of being trafficked. can you explain to me like how it exactly works? >> she says every girl they watch, and they watch the men also. they watch and as soon as they catch the suspect, they ask question. after questioning, if they find that whatever they're saying is not true, then if it is a boy, they hand over the boy to the police station. then they take the girl and go to the transit hall. >> be sure to tune in to cnn sunday at 8:00 p.m. eastern for the world premiere of the documentary narrated by demi moore only on cnn. 45 minutes past the hour.

here's a look at our top stories. a russian jet liner crashed and exploded into flames in the country's northwest area. 44 people on board were killed. eight survived. five are in critical condition. the accident happened last night after the plane had taken off from moscow. the plane apparently veered away from the airport and attempted to land on a highway. nato says one of its drone helicopters went down in libya today. a spokesman said the unmanned drone was a u.s.-made fire scout chopper. the spokesman wouldn't say whether it was shot down or crashed in mechanical problems. libyan state media says the drone was shot down. yemen's embattled president plans to return to his homeland friday. that's the word from one of his senior advisors. he is being treated in saudi arabia after being wounded when his compound was shelled by rebels. opposition leaders have demanded that he step down and they call reports of his return a lie. all right. so when you think lasers, what is the first thing that comes to

mind? those pointer pens for presentations, maybe? a weapon used by an evil master wi mastermind in a james bond film? this may change in two minutes. we talk to scientists engineering lights from human cells. (screams) when an investment lacks discipline, it's never this obvious. introducing investment discipline etfs from russell. visit russelletfs.com r a prospectus, containing the investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses and other information. read and consider it carefully before investing.

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every day on this show, we do a segment called the big eye, all about big ideas, solutions to problems and innovation. today's big i could literally light up your life. imagine if you could do with your hand what the alien e.t. did with his pointer finger here in the scene from the universal pictures classic movie, have it just light up just like that. well, our next guests say they have figured out how one day we could do just that. joining me now, malta gather and andy young, both ph.d.s at harvard medical school. thanks so much for joining us. this is really cool. i mean, to imagine that we might be able to do this one day. the science sounds like it's something from the future or an x-men comic book. briefly tell us how this works and how far along you actually are in making this a reality. >> okay. absolutely, randi. laser was invented 50 years ago.

and first made with the ruby and semiconductor lasers has revolutionized our society. you can find it in the cd player or at the supermarket and also the laser pointer. and about -- this project was started about five years ago with the pure curiosity. what about the biological material? can you generate laser light from biological systems? and our work focused recently that showed that indeed this is possible. and as you mentioned, that now we can envision thinking something like a laser beam coming out of the eye and e.t.-like glowing light on the fingertip at your will and as a way to communicate visual communication or interface with a control, the electronic devices remotely. and our work shows one way -- this is still a little bit of challenge remaining and how to integrate this in humans safely. >> right. we're going to get to that -- >> we'll get to that in just a

second. but let me ask you, what inspired you here? i understand you thought to use jellyfish in some way? >> well, that's correct. exactly. so the jellyfish is really a very important part of the research in the sense that jellyfish produce this green fluorescent proechbt and this protein is at the heart of our laser because it emits bright green light when you expose it to a pulse of blue light. this is what we used. we started with cells and genetically programmed them to produce this in the jellyfish. we took a single cell and placed it behind between a pair of mirrors and these mirrors ensure that any green light that the cells generates bounces forth and back between the two mirrors, and this is exactly the principle of a laser. once the light starts bouncing you get amplification and some of the light will leak out and this is the laser beam you can see coming out of the laser. >> so andy, just very quickly, what might this be used for one day in it's pretty cool to think

of your finger lighting up. but in terms of real science. >> so in medical areas there are a lot of effort going on to use light to detect the disease, disease diagnosis, or treat the disease. for example, you can shine the laser light and then detect the signals that's only coming from the cancer cells to detect these little tumors before it becomes a problems. and early stage diagnosis it's very important. also, for example, inject some drugs into the body and then using light activate drugs at your will at certain locations. these are very fascinating projects. but one of the common problems is to deliver light deep inside the body. and that's a problem because the light gets scattered and gets absorbed. and our work indicates that instead of delivering light from the outside you may be able to generate light from the tissue directly for diagnosis and therapeutic purposes. in other ways also you can amplify light and as they pass,

as they propagate through the tissue to enhance the efficacy of treatment and diagnosis. >> well, we wish you lots of good luck with bringing this to market, and be sure to keep us posted. malte, andy, appreciate your time. thank you. and for more on living lasers check out our blog, cnn.com/ali. and don't forget to tune in tomorrow, same "big i" time, same "big i" channel. newt gingrich loses more muscle in his campaign. this time it's the finance guys who are leaving his side. your political update straight ahead. [ male announcer ] do you know how you will react

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time now for a cnn political update. and the iowa battleground is heating up. cnn deputy political director paul steinhauser joining me from washington. hi, paul. so who's making waves in iowa? >> well, that person would be tim pawlenty, the former governor of neighboring minnesota. you know, randi, of course iowa important. its caucuses kick off the presidential primary caucus calendar. we've just confirmed that pawlenty's going to be the first republican presidential candidate to go up with ads in iowa. it's going to start tomorrow. it's going to run through the july 4th holiday. and it's going to play in most of the major media markets. listen, it's just another sign, another example of how important iowa is to pawlenty's chances of winning the nomination. he really has to do well there. next -- in august in that crucial straw poll in ames and

then of course in the caucuses next february, if he wants to win the nomination. he could get a tough fight, though, from a fellow minnesotan. and i'm talking about michele bachmann, the congresswoman from that state. later this month we expect her to formally announce her candidacy where else? waterloo, iowa where she was born. randi? >> seems to make sense, i guess. what's this about george pa taki considering a run for president? >> guess where he is. iowa. another one. let's talk about pataki. iowa. i don't know. it's a good question. listen, pataki four years ago, the former new york governor, four years ago he spent a lot of time in iowa. he was thinking about running for the white house. he ended up never running for the republican presidential nomination. he was asked about it yesterday. he said, listen, i'm not running but i'm not ruling it out. i guess we'll keep our eyes on pataki a little bit. we'll see. >> yeah. and what are you hearing about more problems for the gingrich campaign? >> he had more people it seems jumping ship. the gingrich campaign just confirmed to us about an hour ago that two of the top finance people, you know, the

fund-raisers for the gingrich campaign-r quitting. remember it was just a couple weeks ago at the beginning of the month where he lost most of his top advisers and staffers to his campaign. now, campaign cash is important. listen, i don't care how good a speaker you are, how many ideas you have, you need campaign cash to run a successful campaign. so this could be another problem for gingrich. but he says he's going to continue to -- for the nomination. randi, that's what i've got right now. >> all right, paul, thank you so much. check back with you later on. and your next update from the best political team on best political team on television is just an hour away. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com the legal battle between the defense and prosecutors is back on in the casey anthony murder trial. little caylee's skull the focus now. you're looking at a live picture from inside the orlando courtroom, where the defense is continuing to make its case. the big question right now is how long caylee's body was left out in the woods. leaves and roots are telling, if not key clues to possibly unlocking the answers. a forensic plant expert

testified that caylee's remains may have been in the woods for as little as two weeks. but here's what she told prosecutors when they pressed her. >> so you're not of the opinion that the body had only been there for two weeks? correct? >> it's possible. >> okay. it's also possible it was there for a great deal longer than two weeks? >> yes. >> but more troubling, the judge ruled anthony's lead defense attorney is breaking some major rules set by the court. his tactics are becoming a big concern, especially because of what it could mean to the trial. so i want to bring in "in session" legal contributor sunny hostin who's been keeping a close eye on this case daily. sunny, listen with me first to what judge perry said about the defense concerning one of their witnesses. >> the court will find that this violation is not inadvertent, that it should have been clearly

communicated to the expert. >> the judge was ruling on a defense witness who was supposed to testify about the decomposition fluid in anthony's car trunk, but the judge essentially, sunny, limited what this witness can tell jurors. more importantly, the judge made that ruling because he says the defense was intentionally trying to keep the expert's opinion from prosecutors. so how big of a deal, or maybe not, is this? >> it's a big deal. i mean, no attorney, randi, wants to hear the words "violation" and that it was willfully done as opposed to inadvertently done. this judge made it very clear early on that any expert that was going to testify needed to file a report with the other side explaining what opinions he or she would testify to. this was made as clear as i think could be. now the judge finding that this witness did not do it because jose baez didn't tell him that that requirement was there was extremely significant. the judge didn't go so far,

though, randi, as to preclude his testimony. he's testifying right now as we speak about a few other things. but he is going to perhaps allow him to testify about this touch dna and the possibility of the decomposition fluid being tested in the trunk after a potential fry hearing. so significant in terms of jose baez's career because this judge has said at the end of the day, at the end of the proceedings he is going to address these discovery violations. >> and let's talk about some of the evidence. this forensic plant expert who testified about the leaves growing through caylee's eye socket and skull. how important and credible are her findings, do you think, to jurors? >> you know, i think that certainly some of the jurors did hear that she gave a range. on direct examination by the defense she said caylee's remains could have been there for as little as two weeks. and that really dovetails quite nicely with the defense's theory that roy kronk, the meter

reader, somehow staged her remains there. but it isn't inconsistent with what the prosecution is alleging, which is that they could have been there for a much longer period of time. she did say that as well. so i think the bottom line is that the defense may be able to use this in closing arguments, but the prosecution can use it as well. >> and there's also this new information from prosecutors about a former inmate who was a cellmate with casey anthony. ironically, this former cellmate had a child who drowned in a pool and was discovered by her child's grandfather. what could this mean? this very similar story to what the defense is putting forward as their theory. what could all this mean? >> well, we heard about it today from the prosecution, and it's perhaps letting us see a little bit of what the prosecution's rebuttal case may be. we know that the defense theory in this case is that caylee anthony died by accidentally drowning. but the prosecution is telling the judge that there was an

inmate at the same time that casey anthony was being held who had a child die accidentally and whose grandfather found the child dead in a swimming pool, but that connection hasn't quite been made, the prosecution says, between this inmate and casey anthony. the inmate says she never directly spoke to casey anthony. but the prosecution says they're continuing their investigation to see perhaps if indirectly casey anthony found out about that and what is the big takeaway there, of course, is that perhaps that is where she got the material for her theory that caylee anthony drowned in the pool. so we'll hear more about this, i think, from the prosecution, depending on the outcome of their continuing investigation. >> yeah, especially because she has been caught in many lies early on in the investigation. so who knows? but after jurors left for lunch, sunny, the defense attorney, jose baez, complained to the judge about this cd that contains some stuff from casey anthony's desktop computers. what was the objection there?

>> yeah. you know, i think it was a bit of showmanship, meaning i just got this information from the prosecution. the judge said this is not really a big deal. of course the prosecution is continuing its obligation to give you more information. and so it seemed a bit of sour grapes from jose baez, who now has been caught in not the first discovery violation, sort of trying to point the finger at the other side, and the judge said, uh-uh, that's not going to fly here, the prosecution didn't do anything wrong. >> all right. sunny hostin, great to have you on to talk about this. thank you. and we want to show you some amazing video right now. a string of tornadoes ripped through the midwest yesterday. take a look here. pretty incredible stuff. this was the scene in nebraska last night. several homes near the nebraska-kansas border were destroyed. the national weather service says there were preliminary reports of 43 tornadoes across the midwest last night. the strongest tornado hit kansas, which the national

weather service has preliminarily rated an ef3. president obama expected to lay out his plans for withdrawing troops from afghanistan tomorrow evening. officials say the 30,000 surge troops deployed late last year would be pulled out completely by the end of next year. right now there are about 100,000 american troops in country. the first troops were deployed when the u.s. invaded afghanistan right after the 9/11 attacks back in 2001. jon huntsman has joined the republican race for president. he made his announcement from liberty state park, just across the water from the statue of liberty. the same place ronald reagan launched his campaign 30 years ago. huntsman is a former governor of utah who quit his job as ambassador to china earlier this year. in his speech today huntsman said he respects his former boss but also said he and the president have a difference of opinion about how to help the country. we'll have much more on huntsman and his candidacy later this hour. the fda today unveiled new, very graphic warning labels for

cigarette packages. you can see some of them here. it's hoped that pictures of a diseased lung or dead body will make people think twice before they light up. cigarette packages will now carry one vivid color image and warnings about the dangers of smoking. examples of the warnings include cigarettes are addictive, cigarettes cause cancer, and smoking can kill you. mark kelly, the u.s. astronaut who commanded the final flight of the space shuttle "endeavour," announced today that he is retiring to spend more time with his wife, gabrielle giffords, as she recovers from a gunshot wound to the head. the two also have a memoir in the works now. he said in a statement today, "i am humbled to announce that after 25 years of service to our country i am retiring from the united states navy and leaving nasa, effective october 1st." after weeks of apologizing for his anti-gay rant at the ryman auditorium comedian tracy morgan returned to nashville today. we'll tell you what he said and find out whether one man who was in the audience at that ryman performance accepts his apology.

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or visit one of our local offices today, and we'll provide the coverage you need at the right price. liberty mutual auto insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? comedian tracy morgan was back in tennessee today for the first time since his anti-gay rant during a performance at nashville's ryman auditorium. well, this time he was at the nashville convention center to deliver a personal apology. >> i don't have a hateful bone in my body. i don't believe that anyone should be bullied or just made

to feel bad about who they are. i totally feel that in my heart. i really don't care who you love. same sex or not. as long as you have the ability to love. that's the important thing here. >> and kevin rogers was in the audience during that anti-gay rant earlier this month. and his comments about it on facebook helped spark national outrage. today he joined tracy morgan at the news conference, and now he's coming back on our program. kevin, we spoke with you right after this had happened, right after you posted your comments on facebook. today you sat next to tracy morgan at the news conference. you spoke with him. what did he say to you? and did you buy it? did you think he was sincere? >> i had a great opportunity to meet with tracy prior to the press conference. and you know, he stood in front of me, and we actually met eye to eye as he told me how sorry he was for just the fact that he, as he called it, bummed me out or hurt my feelings.

and genuinely from him i really felt that he had been hurt by the idea that he had hurt other people or possibly had discussed something that could hurt other people. >> so you did think he was sincere? >> i do. i felt that it was directly from his heart. and him discussing just how much it really hurt him. he didn't realize that as a comedian his voice was as far-reaching as it was. you know, and like the same thing with myself, i didn't realize my voice was as far-reaching as it has become. >> several other members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender community were there today. how did his remarks sit with the rest of the people? >> i believe that they felt the same as i did. it was just a very genuine, open communication that we had prior to the press conference. and the members of the community had the opportunity to address their concerns and let tracy

know how they felt about what he had said. and then he had the opportunity to say the same thing to them, that you know, he truly was sorry and that going forward he wants to take this opportunity to make this into a positive and do good things with it. >> has this been enough for you, this so-called apology tour of his? and if so, where do we go now? has this grown bigger than tracy morgan? >> i think this is much larger than tracy. i think this has opened up a dialogue now in our country to where we discuss, you know, what's appropriate in comedy and daily conversations and hopefully not making light of such important issues like bullying and issues that face lgbt community members. >> you know, i want to ask you because the day you came on our program on a personal note i know that you had to come out to your mom before you appeared on cnn with me to talk about this. so i just want to ask you, on

that personal note how you're doing with your family and how life is going for you these days. >> everything's -- everything's great. everything with my family's great. there's been an outpouring of love from my aunts, uncles, all of them have been calling my mom and my dad and talking to them about their unconditional love for me. and actually, i spoke to my mom just prior to the interview to let her kind of know what was going on, and we had a good discussion. and you know, she continues to be proud of me and check in on me and make sure i'm okay. so it's been great. it's really nice to be free. >> yeah, i'm sure. well, it sounds like you have a great mom and a great family, and i'm sure they're impressed by the power of your voice since you were first to post these comments online. so we certainly appreciate you, kevin, bringing it to our attention and coming back on the show to button it up with us, as we say. thank you. >> yeah, thank you, randi. so guess who michelle obama

met with today in south africa. here's a hint. he's a former prisoner turned president turned retiree. details right after this.

first lady michelle obama is on the first full dave her trip to south africa. with her are her two daughters malia and sasha. during a visit to the mandela foundation today the former south african president actually sent word that he wanted to meet them. joining us with details from johannesburg. tell me, how did the meeting come about, and where did they actually meet? >> hey there, randi. i mean, since the announcement was made that the first lady of the united states would be coming to south africa, the question was asked repeatedly, will she be meeting nelson mandela, and the white house said, well, it will 2kethis wil his health. of course, this is a man who's 92, he's turning 93 in a few weeks' time, and his health has been an issue. doctors are constantly monitoring him. so the media didn't actually know that this meeting was going to happen.

but of course mr. mandela probably admires the obamas just as much as they admire him. he had nothing but praise for president obama when he was inaugurated in 2009. so he was probably just as excited to meet michelle obama as she was to meet him, randi. >> oh, yeah. and i'm looking at the pictures of them that were taken all together. boy, those smiles, they're big. but how is mandela's health these days? >> he seems fine. i mean, he's not receiving outside visitors. that's why there was a big question mark around whether mrs. obama will actually get to meet him. but his health seems fine. his pictures show a man who looks strong. he's gained some weight since the last time we saw him when he was sick. so he seems to be doing fine. unfortunately, we don't really have much details of what they discussed. but if you do have the pictures, you do see mr. mandela holding a book in his hands. this is actually his latest book

that has not yet been released, and we're told by the nelson mandela foundation that actually the first lady got a copy after the visit. and they've asked her to review it and give them their thoughts -- her thoughts before they actually release the book, randi. >> wow. what a special moment for the two of them. what else can you tell us mrs. obama is doing on her south african visit? >> look, she's got an action-packed six days. i mean, she has been so busy. today she met one of south africa's first ladies. you know that the south african president has several wives. and then after that she actually met with a couple of people, local south africans who they've selected about 75 women from all over africa to actually get an opportunity to interact with mrs. obama. and i think, you know, what i'm getting from this visit, from the tweets that i've been getting all day is that south africans are quite taken aback by her humility. i'll just tell you some of the -- read you some of the

tweets that i'm getting. this is one of the 75 women that is spending time with mrs. obama. and she said "from kings to ministers and then myself, mrs. obama gave each individual her undivided attention." so really, people are feeling that she's a very warm person. she also went and visited a preschool in a very impoverished area, and she started -- she opened a book with malia and sasha, and they started reading to the kids. they actually read "the cat in the hat." she said she used to read the book to her daughters all the time. so you know, she's got that personal touch. and really, people are taken aback and they're really admiring how down to earth she really is, randi. >> nkepile, those are great details. thank you so much for getting those and bringing them to us. thank you. 21 minutes past the hour. time for a look at some top stories that we're following. nato says one of its drone helicopters went down in libya today. a spokesman said the unmanned drone was a u.s.-made fire scout chopper. the spokesman wouldn't say

whether it was shot down or crashed due to mechanical problems. libyan state media says the drone was shot down. according to syrian state tv, president bashar al assad ordered another general amnesty today for those accused of crimes. it's the second known amnesty overture from the embattled syrian leader since protest erupted in the middle eastern country and it concerns any alleged unlawful acts that occurred before monday. planning to get away this fourth of july? well, you'd better book fast. although airfares for the holiday weekend have held steady through most of june they are expected to jump 10% by thursday. based on travelocity's historic airfare data. that gives last-minute vacationers very little time to book their trips before prices start climbing. the extensive menu of airline fees is growing again. at least at one low-cost carrier. florida-based spirit airlines has announced, get this, it will charge a $5 fee for passengers who ask an agent to print their boarding pass at the airport.

five bucks for that print job. you can, though, bypass the fee by checking in online and printing your own boarding pass or by checking in at an airport kiosk. for now. coming up next, a look at some developing severe weather and some amazing tornado video from nebraska. keep it here. one a day men's 50. it's the only complete multivitamin with ginkgo to support memory and concentration. plus it supports heart health. [ bat cracks ] that's a hit. one a day men's. (rawhen an investmentrsation) lacks discipline, it's never this obvious. introducing investment discipline etfs from russell. visit russelletfs.com r a prospectus, containing the investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses and other information. read and consider it carefully before investing.

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farther to the east today into iowa in places, but nebraska, kansas, all the way back down even into oklahoma yesterday and a couple up in north dakota and a line of weather that rolled through northern kansas. here's a picture. i just want you to see it because i can't even describe in words what you can see in pictures here. a large tornado was on the ground. estimated now to be about 135 to 165 miles per hour. not that far from harlan county reservoir and also back out there into parts of central nebraska. it's going to be another hot day today. the hot weather is going to be lingering around from phoenix all the way back down to tucson. and that's going to affect the firefighting effort. the winds have died down. for t for the firefighters out in the southwest the winds are much better now, five, ten miles per hour, but the heat will be on for the next ten days. temperatures every afternoon above 105 to 110 right in that fire line. highs for tomorrow across parts of the southwest as well. phoenix, 113. you're under advisories.

if you can stay inside, one of those swamp cooler days. they will work tomorrow. it is not the monsoon season out there just yet. but the heat is on, and it's not going to go away. at least the wind has died down for a second. the wind has done something different in the southern hemisphere as we go off the radar. the wind has pushed the volcano ash from chile all the way across the southern atlantic into the southern pacific. and as it continues to move, that ash cloud has run right on through and over all of antarctica. and antarctica itself here is now stuck in the middle of a ring of ash. there's chile right there. and this ash is circling the entire southern hemisphere. that circling of the southern hemisphere is causing flight delays. why? because you cannot fly a jet plane through an ash cloud. when the ash goes into the jet engi engine, the jet engine is so hot, it melts the ash back into lava, and then as it comes back out the other side the back of

the jet it crystallizes and turns into obsidian, that blass you find sometimes on volcanic beaches. well, the entire southern hemisphere being affected by those winds there and also that ash and obviously at this point summer solstice, it's winter down here, people are trying to get out of the way. they can't even fly to get out for their winter vacation. it is summer solstice today, the longest day of the year, the shortest night. and even up in northern alaska the sun doesn't even set. randi. >> long day, long workday. it all kind of comes together today, doesn't it? all right, chad, thank you. >> you're welcome. well, for all those who smoke new images on cigarette packs may make you change your mind. we'll show them to you right after this break. we could've gone a more traditional route...

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29 minutes past the hour. here's a look at some of the headlines and news you may have missed. smokers, beware. these vivid color images will soon cover 50% of cigarette packs. new government regulations mandate these graphic labels to warn people of the dangers of smoking. it's part of the fda's plan to reduce smoking and must be in place by september 2012. as you can imagine, tobacco companies are not taking this very well. they say the new requirements violate the first and fifth amendments and have complained to the fda. a 19-year-old suspect has been arrested near london for the sony hackings. london police say the man's computer will be examined for clues and for links to the hacker group lulzec. the hacking into sony's playstation network and sony pictures' website earlier this year cost the company millions. a russian plane made a premature descent and crashed and burst into flames in

northwest russia. 44 people have been killed and eight injured in the crash. nearly 140 rescue workers have been working tirelessly at the accident site. investigators have recovered the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder from the site of the crash. officials say preliminary information suggests it was due to pilot error in poor weather conditions. all right. pay attention here to this story. a north carolina man is in jail for holding up a bank for, yes, just one dollar. james verone says he wanted to go to jail. it's his way of making sure he gets the medical attention that he needs for free. >> first time i've ever been in trouble with the law. so it's not -- you know, i'm sort of a logical person. and that was my logic. that's what i came up with. >> interesting logic. 59-year-old verone says he has a growth on his chest, two ruptured discs, and a problem with his left foot. he does not have a job and figured jail would be the best place to get free medical care. also a place to stay.

he says he's hoping for a three-year sentence but he may not get that much. it's finally anthony weiner's last day in office. the congressman was forced to resign after a sexting scandal broke out, costing him his job. weiner announced his intention to quit last week after it became known he had sent lewd photos of himself to several women. the weinergate scandal had turned into quite a sideshow, and fellow democrats urged him to step down to get rid of the "distraction." jon huntsman is joining the republican race for president. these are live pictures of him greeting supporters there. he says that he respects his opponents and respects the president. we'll take a look at his message and his chances, next.

jon huntsman has joined the republican crowd running for president. here's how he kicked off his campaign today. >> we're not just choosing new leaders. we're choosing whether we're to be yesterday's story or tomorrow's. everything is at stake. this is the hour when we choose our future. i'm jon huntsman, and i'm running for president of the united states. thank you all. >> that was earlier today. now we want to show you some more live pictures of jon huntsman greeting the crowd, greeting supporters, now that he is officially a candidate. he promised to respect his fellow candidates and even said he respected the president, his former boss when he was ambassador to china. huntsman is also a former

governor of utah. cnn's senior political analyst gloria borger joins me now from washington. so gloria, does huntsman move to the head of the pack just by virtue of getting into the race now? >> well, i think you'd have to say, randi, that he moves into the top tier. just by virtue of his resume and by virtue of his message. and there's one more important thing to consider here, which is while mitt romney has a lot of big donors, about half of the big donors, i'm told, in the republican party are kind of sitting back and waiting. and there's a lot of people who believe that this message, that crossover message would have appealed to these big donors because more than anything else they want somebody who can beat barack obama. but i'd also have to say from watching that speech this morning when you declare in the same place that ronald reagan declared in 1980 you have to understand that the bar is pretty high for giving a terrific announcement speech and

i don't think he quite jumped over that bar. >> i want you to take a look, though, at this cnn opinion research poll with me. 71% say that they're unsure about him. so how does jon huntsman fix that? >> well, first of all, it's name i.d. 71% of republicans are unsure about him because they're not really sure who he is, right? and so he's got to introduce himself to republican primary voters, which he's going to try and do. but also, his strategy here really, randi, is the sense that he can appear to a broader swath of the republican electorate. you know, in the 2010 mid-terms we saw really conservative tea party voters come out. his strategist that i talked to bet that people voting in the primaries again want to win, particularly in a state like new hampshire, where independent voters can vote in a republican

primary. for the first time since 1996 there's no democrat running. so say, they turn out in the republican primary. they believe that those are the voters that will be attracted to a jon huntsman. >> and just real quickly, gloria, how does he explain that he worked for the obama administration and as the obama administration says supported many of president obama's policies? >> yeah. i was before him before i was against him. right? remember that? i think that's tough because he has to explain to voters that he's running on principle, that it's just not a matter of politics. and when you talk to his staff, they say look, when a president asks you to serve you serve, just as he did serve ronald reagan and both bushes. but i do think he's going to have to talk about his evolution and particularly on issues like barack obama's energy policy, which he supported and now does not support. and conservatives are not going to be drawn to that, i can tell you that. >> all right.

it's a long road to 2012, gloria. i can feel it already. >> it sure is. >> thank you very much. >> yep. and turning now to president obama's plan to withdraw u.s. troops from afghanistan, here to talk about that with us is michael holmes. so he's supposed to make this big announcement tomorrow night. >> yeah, yeah. the question has been all along how many troops will he draw down, when will they be drawn down? exactly. and barbara starr's been talking to contacts, and i got an e-mail just earlier saying the talk around the hill is that he's going to do 10,000 by the end of the year. and then another 10,000 by the end of 2012. so that's -- sorry, another 20,000 by the end of 2012. so that gives you 30,000, which were the surge troops. >> so these were the surge troops. >> that's right. who went in in december of 2009. so that's going to -- it pretty much was the promise he made. he said he was going to start doing this around right now. so this is the announcement. the thing is that defense secretary gates and generals like odierno and petraeus, they

were hoping it would be a lot smaller than this, it would be 3,000 to 5,000 this year so that more -- and that they would be mainly support troops so, you'd have more combat boots on the ground during this fighting season as they call it. >> it's a tough decision. even gates today saying the president should maybe take into account public opinion before he makes this decision. >> yeah. >> he's got a lot of people in his ear. >> a lot of people want these troops to come back as well. the interesting thing to remember, too, is at the end of the -- even once the 30,000 are out, there's still 68,000 troops there on the ground. so there's still a lot of boots on the ground. but this all ties in as well with these early feelers being put out to the taliban and what we were talking about the other day, that the commanders want to keep the pressure on the taliban militarily while those feelers are being explored, those contacts are being explored. >> we've been following, talking quite a bit about greece. i mean, there's no question greece is in trouble, they're broke. >> yeah. >> and they have to raise something like $71 billion or something to try and get out of debt. >> the figures are staggering. they got a big confidence vote going on right now in the greek

parliament. it's thought that the government will survive this confidence vote because the alternative is no good. i mean, there's no great result in this. we're expecting the results of that in about -- i think it's going to be a couple of hours or so. what they've got to do is push through something like nearly $40 billion in tax hikes and spending cuts by june 28. the default deadline is july 15. if they default, i mean, it doesn't bear thinking about, really. the contagion potential is huge. it could flow into countries that are already teetering economically like even ireland, portugal, and others. banks would fail. the imf warning it could create a second global meltdown, financial meltdown. >> it's amazing, though, what they're doing to try and get back on track. they're selling -- >> selling the farm. >> highways. >> yeah, highways. >> airports. >> all sorts of government stuff being sold off to try to pay the bills. they've got to raise billions and billions and billions of dollars just to stay afloat. and what they're doing with all these cutbacks is trying to qualify so that they get more

bailout money to just keep going and pay the debt. >> because they've already gotten some, right? >> they've already gotten some. this is the second tranche. and there's a third one coming as well. at least $150 billion at stake here. they need this. and a lot of people are saying, well, should you just let them go? i mean, just cut them loose. >> the old too big to fail -- >> it is. because they borrowed big during the good times and now they're paying for it. the austerity measures are so strong. people there, you've seen them rioting in the streets as well. >> yeah. it hasn't been pretty. all right, michael, thank you. thanks for the update. does it matter what state you live in? it does. when it comes to your job, your taxes, and your expenses. how well is your state doing compared to others in economic growth? we're going to show you next. [ male announcer ] this is lara.

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welcome back. when it comes to the economy, there are clear winners and losers among states. in the past decade the u.s. economy has actually shifted. and that impacts you, your quality of life, job, expenses, taxes, you name it. which is why we wanted to take a look at some new numbers released by the bureau of economic analysis in today's big breakdown. so let's start on the positive side, shall we? we'll start with the winners. you see the states that are here in green. well, those are the economic powerhouses that have emerged in the past decade. the red, of course, yeah, not the powerhouses. they're the losers. the big winner, right there, texas. texas is the country's second

largest economy, replacing new york. and in one of the biggest economic shifts in the past 50 years, its economy is on track to outgrow california as the top state economy. the lone star state gained nearly a full percentage point in its share of the u.s. economy to 8.3% last year. that may not sound like a lot, but this kind of growth and economic clout has happened only two times in the past half century. california in the 1980s and texas itself during the 1970s. oil boom. so take a look now here, next to texas, florida's share of the nation's economy increased more than any other state. the growth came mostly from retiring seniors who brought their wealth with them, of course, to the sunshine state. and now we have virginia, another winner. thank the government, its politicians, government workers, and their families. the suburbs of washington, d.c. packed with government workers were key to virginia's growth, according to this study. and that is the same for its neighbor, maryland.

okay? there we go. and take a look here at california. there are states like california. it's still the nation's biggest state economy at $1.9 dtrillion. its growth has leveled off from 2000 to last year. its share of the national economy shrunk faster than all but three states, actually. which brings me to states that lost the most. michigan and ohio. they were the only states whose economy shrank so much that their economies are smaller now than they were actually ten years ago. what this shows is a dramatic re-alignment of the nation's economy away from industrial states like michigan, loaded wemt with empty factories toward states fueled by raw materials, government, and senior citizens. very interesting study. the high cost of death row. three times the price of life without parole. should states abolish the death penalty just to save money? our stream team weighs in on that topic, next.

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cash-strapped states are looking for all kinds of ways to cut their budgets. in a new study out of california points to a big money pit. the death penalty. according to that study,

california pays around $300 million per execution. attorneys' fees, the appeals process, and housing the inmates are all part of the equation. much more than the cost of life without parole. it's a bigger concern for california because they have nearly twice as many death row inmates as any other state. florida is number two. texas is number three. so we want to put the question to our stream team today. should cash-strapped states get rid of the death penalty? on the team today is kent shydigger, legal director of the criminal justice legal foundation, and richard dieter, executive director of the death penalty information center. this is certainly a hot topic. kent, i'd like to start with you. leaving out the moral debate here, okay? this is just about money. from a purely economic standpoint should the death penalty be abolished? >> no. as the study pointed out, we have been to the legislature many times with reform proposals and those reform proposals have been killed by the legislature in committee every time we've been there.

death penalty doesn't need to cost as much as it does. we know what to do. we've drafted legislation. we've proposed legislation. the legislature simply needs to enact three forms needed to bring these cases to a conclusion much faster than they presently are, at much less cost. >> richard, let me bring you in here. is the kind of increased cost seen in california do you think the same for other states? >> well, all states have experienced that it's more expensive to have the death penalty than to have a system of sentencing people to life without parole. and that's why states like illinois, new york, new jersey, new mexico all within the past few years have decided not to spend any more money-a bollish it, it's really not doing anything for the safety of society. >> kent, you've said the process should be streamlined to save money, but others argue that if you just choose life in prison then the costly appeals process, all the lawyers, all those days in court wouldn't take place.

what do you say to them? >> it's not true that the appeals process couldn't take place at all. a life without parole sentence is still a sentence. the person is still entitled to paem. he can still file habius corpus petitions. and as far as the guilt phase of the trial goes, there really is no moral justification for spending a penny less if a person's going to be sentenced to life without parole to make sure he's properly convicted than if he were to be sentenced for death. the additional expense comes primarily from reviewing over and over and over again the decision on the choice of punishment. and we simply don't need as many reviews as we have. >> so richard, what's the answer? to save money. i mean, should there be a cap, do you think, on how long an inmate can be on death row before they're either put to death or transferred possibly to the general population? >> you know, my sound was cut off, but i think what was being asked about was the whole appeals process. and you know, we do need appeals, whether we're on death row or life imprisonment. but -- >> i was actually asking -- i

was actually asking richard, sorry, if there should be a cap on how long somebody should be on death row. would that help keep costs down? >> yeah. i mean, you can't have a cap on time. you have to allow them a certain amount to argue their appeals. the problem in california is there's 300 people who don't even have a lawyer to start their appeals. you know, that's the system. because it would cost more money than even they're spending now to get to that point. so you can't cut out the appeals or say it's all over five years if they haven't yet had a lawyer. that's the situation in california. >> and kent, i'd like to give you the last word here. instead of doing away with the death penalty, should states maybe just scale back the number of crimes that carry that penalty? >> well, that isn't the problem. it certainly isn't the problem in california because we already sentence about half as many -- a larger proportion of the murders to death as other states. so the real problem is getting

these appeals done. and it can be done faster and it can be done at less cost than it is now. if the legislature would simply enact the proposals we've proposed time and time again. >> kent, richard, we appreciate you both weighing in on this topic. it's getting a lot of attention. thank you. and it's time now for a cnn political update. and summer brings talk of swimming pools, family vacations, and campaign cash. cnn deputy political director paul steinhauser back with us from washington. really, paul? campaign cash? i don't know. how does that fit into summer? >> some good flow there, right, randi? well, here's why. we've got a presidential campaign going on, right? so where's vice president joe biden today? he's in chicago. he's going to be headlining, he's going to be the main attraction at a democratic national committee slash obama re-election campaign fund-raiser at navy pier. now, that's a nice place to be. and it's been a busy week for the top two guys because president obama remember last night he was fund raidsing, headlined two fund-raisers in d.c. for the campaign. and on thursday he's going to be

in new york city. we're seeing kind of a pickup here when it comes to fund-raising as the second quarter comes to a close. remember it ends at the end of this month. >> he said some record amount that he would like to raise, the president did? >> yeah, remember last time around in '08 he shattered all roar, he raised $750 million almost. that broke every record. they want to raise $60 million, sources tell us, by the end of the second quarter. now, it's crucial, especially on the republican side, we know the president's going to raise a lot of money but check out the republican numbers when they start coming in in early july to see how strong those campaigns are. remember in this early time in the campaign before people are voting campaign cash is almost like a barometer on how a campaign is doing. that's why we look at those numbers so often. >> so what's more important i'm just curious because you've been doing it a long time, is it campaign cash or the name recognition? or does the campaign cash get you the name recognition? >> or maybe the other way around. both are important. both are important. but the most important thing will be in january and february when the votes actually start happening in the caucuses and primaries, randi. >> all right. paul steinhauser in washington

for us. paul, thank you. and your next update from the best political team on television is just one hour away. so if you're not careful where you relieve yourself, the flush could cost $32,000. our number one story of the day in my "xyz," next. (screams) when an investment lacks discipline, it's never this obvious. introducing investment discipline etfs from russell. visit russelletfs.com r a prospectus, containing the investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses and other information. read and consider it carefully before investing.

time now for my "xyz." and today i'm taking you to portland, oregon where an entire reservoir had to be drained after a guy did something he

definitely should not have. would you believe that he unzipped his pants and urinated right into the reservoir? which is a key supplier of drinking water. luckily, a security camera caught the 21-year-old guy in the act, shut down the reservoir immediately. then of course they had to drain it, all 8 million gallons of drinking water, at a cost of $32,000. as one reporter covering this story put it, that's like a $32,000 flush. some critics said that was an overreaction, that animals do this in the water all the time. yeah, that's comforting, right? but the city went ahead with it anyway. the guy who did it may be charged with a misdemeanor, but for now he's reportedly offered to pay for the cleanup if and only if he gets a job. he also offered some community service as well. i'll leave it there. "cnn newsroom" continues right now with brooke baldwin. >> i read about that this morning. i don't know. ok